Comments on: Buie Under Investigation

By: SWGA Politics » Blog Archive » Public Evidence Against Buie Mounts

SWGA Politics » Blog Archive » Public Evidence Against Buie Mounts — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:06:11 +0000

[...] a soap opera, more is revealed in the saga of Don Buie and the GBI investigation. WALB reported yesterday evening that the investigation was sparked by [...]

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:01:14 +0000

Cartman: No argument there. While downtown does look a lot better than it used to, there’s still very little reason to actually go down there for most Albanians. Harvest Moon was one of the few. Now, it’s just events at the Civic Center (which is mostly Wildcat’s games) or events at the State Theater that will bring them down there, and then only for a brief time.

Don’t sweat the “rant”. Frankly, I’m in agreement with you.

Jack: I’ll see what I can dig up.

By: Jack Smith

Jack Smith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:49:55 +0000

I agree completely, Cartman. What is the hold that people like Don Buie and Judy Bowles have over their un-elected, taxpayer-funded kingdoms? These people are as dangerous to the local economy and local taxpayer as termites are to a building. We have to say NO before more damage is done.

Tom, please check with Magistrate Court on the third floor. I am very interested to know if you can confirm what I was told about the dispossessory warrant(s).

By: Cartman

Cartman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:09:33 +0000

Private investors are indeed preferable to governmental ones.

Judging by the “new” sizeable construction over the past two decades, our downtown growth appears to be taxpayer funded: City-County Government Bldg; DoCo School Board Admin Bldg; APD Bldg; RiverQuarium; Ga Dept of Labor Bldg; Ray Charles statute; turtle park playground; a very expensive public restroom; Bridge House renovation; skateboard park; and the Federal Courthouse.

The only sizeable commercial bldg has been the downtown Hilton. But that involved (continues to involve?) taxpayer money as well.

All for very little return. It appears to me to already be a failed experiment.

Why not give Buie a reasonable severance; disband ADICA; and quit funding these unnecessary failures.

Sorry for the hijack and a little rant crept in there as well.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:42:24 +0000

Well, we’ve covered that with Commissioner Langstaff previously, so it’s not really appropriate to rehash all that in regards to the Commissioner. However, I agree that it’s never to late to stop, because I seriously doubt we’ll ever get a return on that “investment”.

Of course, I personally prefer that ADICA does “lose out” to the competition from other investors. Private investors are always preferable to governmental ones.

By: Jack Smith

Jack Smith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:34:22 +0000

Tom, your last post is spot on. One-hundred percent accurate.

But try communicating it to someone like Bob Langstaff. After he finishes telling you that he had absolutely nothing to do with the Arch, the Riverquarium, the sign ordinance, etc., etc., he will then tell you that we’ve already spent so much that we can’t now turn back….and by the way, he can’t tell you what ADICA is planning because of all the “competition” from other investors to get in on their projects. Right.

If it wasn’t our city, it would be funny….

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:01:38 +0000

Yeah, I don’t think the investigation will get dropped, at least not for a while. If so, then I think the City still needs to take some kind of action to minimize the authority of Buie so that there is no way anything could even look improper. They can’t fire him without cause, and an investigation isn’t sufficient cause.

Or, they could do the truly right thing and just quit all the downtown nonsense and use our tax dollars for more important things like arresting gangbangers and burglars, rapists and armed robbers. You know, the little things.

By: Cartman

Cartman — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:35:47 +0000

Sounds like everyone is essentially on the same page. The proper course of action is both simple and clear. Let the investigation continue.

The only improper thing to do at this stage is to drop the investigation.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:12:54 +0000

I wouldn’t think it would be that hard to track down. The presence of a $2000 check, plus a $400 or less deposit around the same time in Ms Brown’s account, plus a transfer of some type of $1600 (or even a deposit of a similar amount in the wife’s account) all would seem to point towards the original stories accuracy. While you or I may not be able to track this information down ourselves, I would think that the GBI would have the resources easily enough.

By: Jack Smith

Jack Smith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:08:23 +0000

Tom: whether or not a $2000 check exists is an easy matter to uncover. Whether it was tendered for cash is also objectively provable through bank records.

Whether Buie got a kickback or not may be a question for a court, but assuming the existence of the check, one has to ask how and by whom it was approved.

If Don Buie alone has the authority to write checks like this to a present-former-future girlfriend, then we have some serious issues here which need to be dealt with whether or not criminal issues exist.