Phil Cannon has been a local attorney, a downtown driving force, a member of the ADICA board, and now he’s been given a new title by a large number of folks in the city. Hero. All because of him exposing the allegations against Don Buie and launching a GBI investigation of the downtown manager.
However, the story has all the intrigue of an Ian Flemming novel with a healthy dose of principle thrown in, something rarely seen in local government around these parts.
The story starts with a phone call from the mother of Nicole Brown, just a worried mother hoping to get some legal advice from a noted local attorney. It seems that her daughter had been having a “romantic” relationship with Buie and discovered Buie with another woman, apparently the relative of a downtown merchant. Apparently, during the conversation, Brown revealed that Buie had given her a check for $2,000 but Buie wanted $1,600 back. Brown’s mother told Brown that it was wrong, and then decided to seek legal advice.
Cannon asked the mother if she realized that he was on the ADICA board, to which she replied that she didn’t. Cannon claims that he told her, “this is serious.” With all that was mentioned, Cannon knew he needed to speak to Brown in person. “I said, ‘I need to hear this from the horse’s mouth.’”
On June 24, at 3:25 PM, Cannon receives a message from Nicole Brown, the call still in his iPhone, and discussed the situation. Brown allegedly gave Cannon the same story he had heard from her mother previously. Cannon felt this was a serious matter, and sought out advice.
After talking with Wes Smith, Cannon then sought out ADICA attorney Jay Reynolds but was unable to get hold of him. The next day, he had several conversations by phone with Brown, but unfortunately still no word from Reynolds.
Cannon, while talking with Brown, outlined the possible scenarios during the investigation. One was that the GBI would drag her out of work to talk to her, or she could sign an affidavit. Browns response according to Cannon? “I like that last on.”
An appointment was made and an affidavit was filled out. Brown came to Cannon’s office late, but did arrive. After reading over the affidavit, Brown made some corrections, the new version now including a trip with Buie to Wal-Mart to send the $1,600 to his estranged wife. She read over the new version to verify and signed it.
Cannon mentions a series of questions that are asked when someone is signing an affidavit. The most important one is “is anyone coercing you to do this?” Now, however, Brown is claiming that she was, in fact, coerced to sign the affidavit.
Cannon, however, questions how he possibly could have. “I have never laid eyes on Nicole Brown.”
Cannon handed affidavit to Wes Smith. Smith had spoken to several people and advised Cannon to take to Jay Reynold’s office. Reynolds later calls back and says that had faxed it to the GBI. The rest, as they say, is history.
When asked about the allegations against him that he coerced Brown’s testimony and is trying to frame Buie, he says not only is it impossible that he coerced her since he wasn’t there,but also that Nicole’s mother had confirmed it was the same story. In addition, he flatly denies disliking Buie, but for a while he had been receiving information that people were passing cash to Don at First Friday. This led to Cannon asking for more information regarding ADICA business such as what checks were for and other kinds of oversight. “I had been doing my job by being more diligent.”
Then how does someone who’s just being diligent in their oversight responsibilities get this kind of information? “This just happened to fall in my lap.”
Cannon makes it clear that he doesn’t believe Brown did anything knowingly illegal or immoral in regards to the money. In his understanding, Brown initially thought the $2,000 check was a bonus and was thanking Buie when he told her that only $400 was hers, the rest came back to him. He also believes that Brown believed the $1,600 was on the up and up as well.
Here’s the thing though. ADICA never authorized Buie to “hire” Brown for any reason. This, if accurate, would raise a few new questions as to why Brown was contracted and by what authority. Unfortunately, ADICA hasn’t been able to answer those questions just yet.
It seems that Buie canceled the last ADICA meeting without telling Cannon. He was at the location, but sitting there alone until Buie’s assistant came by to put up a sign stating that the meeting had been canceled. Buie had apparently emailed all the ADICA board. Well, everyone but ADICA Secretary Phil Cannon that is.
When asked about the reasons given for Buie not being suspended, Cannon tells a slightly different story from City Manager Al Lott that seems more in keeping with Commission Bob Langstaff’s version of things.
Cannon’s understanding is that Buie is not suspended is because the allegations are based on Brown signing an affidavit on one day and then turning around and issuing a statement a few days later claiming that affidavit was inaccurate. Therefore, they have conflicting statements so they err on the side of caution.
Cannon confesses that he doesn’t know if Brown told the truth or not, only what she told him which can be confirmed by what she told her Mom as well. He’s only doing what he believes is right.
We should also recognize Nicole’s mother as a hero. Without her, this would have never come to light.
[...] own mother, and that Cannon told her a criminal investigation was underway. Based on Cannon’s comments to SWGAPolitics.com, that may have been a misunderstanding. However, she flat out calls her mother [...]