How public money is spent — and how it’s requested — is raising new questions in College Park, where city officials are offering no answers.
“There is a problem with the money,” Mayor Bianca Motley Broom said.
During the Oct. 6 city council meeting, Mayor Bianca Motley Broom received no response when she raised concerns about consent agenda items that include approving millions of dollars, which she said seemed to be placed there to avoid discussion and scrutiny.
Many of those funds were for controversial projects spurred by Councilman Roderick Gay. And there are separate allegations that residents are being paid in exchange for their vote in the upcoming election.
During the council meeting, Motley Broom chose to speak at the audience podium during public comment because council did not choose to move items off the consent agenda for discussion.
She challenged a total of $10 million designated for the construction of a new botanical garden at Camp Truitt, which has no master plan or feasibility study. A total of $5.5 million had already been designated for the project, and the consent agenda item was requesting an additional $5 million, which council approved on Monday.
The botanical garden and, separately, the 9th Annual Ward 4 Citywide Festival on Oct. 11 at Phillips Park are projects championed by Councilman Gay.
The consent agenda included a request — and received approval — for $300,000 toward paving the parking lot beside the park. That brings the total cost of the paving project to nearly $1 million.
“The math ain’t mathing,” Motley Broom said.
SaportaReport learned that the parking lot was paved before the formal approval of funds, and a tall LED sign has been installed featuring an image of Gay.
Gay has refused to answer SaportaReport’s calls, text messages, or emails. He advised the news site to contact the College Park communications director, who in turn referred the reporter to City Manager Lindell Miller.
Miller did not respond to the email inquiry.
During Monday’s meeting, council also approved a consent agenda request for $105,000 for the festival.
Council had previously allocated $100,000 for this year’s event, the mayor said, adding that another $65,000 had been raised.
“That is a gross abuse of our spending,” Motley Broom said.
Criticizing the council, the mayor said the consent agenda should not be misused. In a preview of the meeting posted on her website, Motley Broom shared an invoice from Alabama-based vendor C&M Southern Midways showing $10,000 paid to the company, and another $12,000 due on the day of the festival for 10 carnival rides.
“It is unclear how the remaining $87,000 will be used,” she wrote. “The fact that this item made it to our consent agenda with this little detail is indicative of a major problem in our process. We can and should do better.”
To participate as vendors at the festival, businesses were required to bring a $60 gift card upon arrival, while food truck vendors were required to provide a $200 gift card. The city has not clarified how those gift cards will be used. Some residents on social media have expressed concerns that the cards might be for personal use by Councilman Gay.
City Council candidate Steve Alexander, who is Gay’s opponent in the November election, said during public comment that when his campaign team canvasses door-to-door, some residents have asked how much they will be paid for their votes — implying that such offers have been made by others.
In a separate instance, a general ledger report of elected officials’ use of community enhancement funds, posted by the mayor on her website, shows that Councilman Joe Carn purchased 200 MARTA Breeze Cards for $1,200 in September.
On Thursday, Carn said that for years he has distributed the cards to residents in need.
“A lot of times I will purchase cards to help folks make it to work,” he said. “The majority of these cards are for the job readiness program. We also have a jobs fair on Nov. 1, where residents who come will be getting a Breeze card.”
Residents on the Facebook page, “Speak Up College Park, Georgia” are voicing frustration ranging from MARTA cards to million dollar projects.
Commenter Mike Corbin wrote, “Spending hand over fist! Why have our city’s cries for some state intervention been totally ignored,” he asked, referring to dozens of complaints that have been filed with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
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