Green vs. Bannister; an update

Written by Bob Griggs, Publisher

Yesterday, I opined on an AJC article about the latest tiff between Commission Chairman Charles Bannister and District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green. I agreed with Bannister’s comment that the county shouldn’t buy its way out of a lawsuit over a rezoning denial by purchasing the subject property for a park, especially if the parks and greenspace plan for the area doesn’t call for another tract.

Apparently, however, Green’s solution is exactly how this situation should be resolved.

The property in question has frontage on both Satellite Blvd. and Beaver Ruin Road. According to the Park and Recreation Department’s plan, additional greenspace is sorely needed in this area.

The county’s legal staff has reportedly advised the Commission that the 2005 denial of a rezoning to a multi-family designation cannot be defended; the county will lose in court if it goes that far. A consultant’s study concluded that the propertly, currently owned by developer Wayne Mason, is suitable for a 300-unit apartment complex.

Moreover, Mason is willing to sell the property at the county’s appraised price. Green reportedly convinced Mason to donate approximately 21 acres of floodplain; additional land that is more than adequate for a passive park.

Bannister reportedly doesn’t want to do business with Mason, and he certainly doesn’t want Green, his odds-on 2008 challenger, to get any credit for quashing apartments and bringing more greenspace to District 1.

Add to that the fact that, in the first meeting of the 2007 Commission on Tuesday, Green surprised Bannister with $6 million in cuts to his budget proposal. Now you’ve got more than enough motivation for Bannister to engage in a little underhanded political gamesmanship.

Because land purchases are first discussed in executive (closed) session, Bannister needed an excuse to get his side of the story into the public domain. I understand that Bannister has told others that the property is unbuildable and has no road frontage at all, and that Green is trying to help a wealthy developer dump a dog of a property. Maybe he will explain why the Parks and Rec folks have reportedly endorsed the purchase if it is such an undesirable tract.

Within two hours of the end of the Tuesday Commission meeting, Bannister received an email from community activist and unsuccessful 2006 District 4 Commission candidate Butch Poss. The email read, in part:

Some friends of mine have asked me to ask you about a potential land purchase by the county…. This has to do with app. 30 acres off Satellite near the recycling center. Supposedly we are considering purchasing this property for about $150,000 per acre…. from what I am being told this property might be less desirable than most due to partial wetlands and accessibility. Anyway, would you mind giving me some details as well as your opinion as to the value of this property and the benefits it may bring to our county? I would also certainly appreciate input from other commissioners who have studied this case and would like to respond.

Green’s comments to the AJC indicate that she considers the timing of the email and some of the content evidence that Bannister had solicited Poss to send the correspondence. 

Why Butch Poss?

I suppose that Poss' email prompt to Bannister could have been a coincidence; or else why would Poss act, as it now appears, as Bannister’s stooge? Why are Bannister and Poss apparently kindred spirits on this issue?

The connection apparently goes back to last year’s election. Poss ran a grossly-underfunded campaign against incumbent Kevin Kenerly. He was joined by a young development attorney, Jodie Rosser. You may recall that Poss came in third in the primary while Rosser faced Kenerly in a run-off. Rosser ultimately lost by a fairly small margin, probably because of last-minute news articles detailing her refusal to cooperate with the District Attorney’s Office in its investigation into the infamous “Kenerly Las Vegas gambling video” and the campaign literature sent anonymously to District 4 voters. Campaign consultant Bill McKinney was indicted on multiple violations of Georgia’s campaign finance law.

Bill McKinney is a decades-long friend and business associate of Chairman Bannister. Evidence indicates that McKinney not only (allegedly) conducted the illegal smear campaign against Kenerly but also secretly ran Rosser’s campaign. In addition, McKinney’s girlfriend was paid thousands for public relations and writing services.

Just days after his primary loss, Poss received $1,500 contributions from Bannister and State Representative John Heard. Both Bannister and Heard are friends and candidate clients of McKinney. The money represented a fifth of Poss’ total contributions and helped him retire his campaign debt.

A few days later, Poss endorsed Rosser, McKinney’s secret client and Bannister’s only hope to defeat Kenerly, who more often than not sides with Beaudreau and Green on contested Commission votes.

As an apparent Bannister ally, it is reasonable (and extremely disappointing for me) to conclude that Poss was complicit in Bannister’s surreptitious attempt to cast Green’s support of the greenspace purchase in a bad light.

Politics in Gwinnett…. it’s going to be an exciting two-year run-up to the 2008 Chairman’s election.