The Buie trial continues. More and more emerges, and the deeper question in my mind is simple: Incompetence or corruption…does it matter which it is?
Don’t get me wrong, if it’s corruption, it needs to be prosecuted just like Buie is being prosecuted right now. However, from the standpoint of the citizens of Albany and Dougherty County, we’re screwed either way unless some serious changes are made. These are the changes that no local lawmaker seems to want to actually make.
First, we need absolute transparency. Oh yes. No more “secret” business deals, no more checks with no invoices, no more contracting with girlfriends and spouses without questions being asked. Whether it’s incompentence as Johnnie Graham claims, or corruption as I’ve claimed, it needs to be stopped.
Second, there needs to be a serious understanding in Albany. We can’t spend like Atlanta or Macon or Columbus. We’re Albany. We’re one of the ten poorest communities in the nation according to Forbes, and when the City and County Commission spend money, it impacts every citizen in this town. Fiscal restraint isn’t just a mantra for a Libertarian like me, but a benefit to the people of this city and county.
Third, there needs to be a serious look at whether downtown is worth all this. I’m sorry, but no one has yet to sell me on the idea that downtown is essential for Albany’s survival. All that’s been presented is other communities that have a thriving downtown doing well. My question is then, is downtown the reason? Or is it a side effect?
The “leadership” in this town needs to step back and realize that they’ve got Buie’s taint all over them right now. Every one of them can be pointed at and said “they should have done something sooner”. Every one. Sure, at the height of the scandal, some seemed to be tripping over themselves to do something, but where was this righteous indignation earlier? Hell, that indignation may have saved us from all of this.
Incompetence or corruption? The result is pretty much the same. Now that Buie’s gone, we still have that same question though. Only now, we ask it about much of the rest of Albany and Dougherty County’s elected officials who allowed this to happen and continue to just act like we have no right to know what’s going on. It also applies to someone like City Manager Al Lott who tells subordinates to quit answering questions…excuse me, “interrogatories” as Lott has put it to his deputies.
Either incompetence or corruption, it’s got to end. Period.
Did anyone notice that Bob [Langstaff] called for an investigation going back to Albany Tomorrow, having waited until AFTER they shredded their records?
I note the record shredding was a very public event, having been reported here and elsewhere. Now that the records are safely shredded, it’s time to pander by calling for an investigation.
[Insult removed by Tom]
Note also, they’ve dropped the charge of lying on his employment application.
I expect the “powers that be” did not wish to disclose the circumstances of Buie’s non-background check or the DA’s office’s own failure to check Buie’s background when requested by Dept. of Corrections following Buie’s 2008 Dougherty County criminal case.
Yeah, that’s definitely a possibility…one of several, but definitely a valid possibility.
Buie wasn’t incompetent, but he wasn’t corrupt to the extent the DA is painting him.
Sure he made bad choices, most which wouldn’t even cost a person their job, yet Buie is taking the heat like he was Bernie Madoff.
$5000 is what they claim he stole or misappropriated. Yuo give me the last 90 days of city spending and a good auditor and I can find you 10 times that amount. Seriously people WAKE UP. To say Buie is the only city employee in this case to be guilty is to piss on my shoe and tell me it’s raining outside
I don’t think Buie was incompetent, but Al Lott, Phil Cannon, Jane Willson, etc., clearly were.
Satisfied by the Don Buie whitewash/smokescreen? I’m disgusted by the DA’s performance, but I’m sorry to say I’m not surprised.
They would have been far better off letting the feds handle it (precisely as was suggested here six months ago) or at least agreeing to the defense request for a different venue. I’ve heard both of these comments from at least a half dozen different people since the news of this disgusting surrender came out this evening.
I guess the DA’s office tried for a big PR “win” and it backfired badly. You would think a dozen or more years of Kenny-boy Hodges pulling the same stunts (remember the $2 mil spent on the Bill Scheer debacle?) would have taught them something, but…
Buie had the rap beat, but caved, why he caved is beyond me!The DA’s office was incompetent, just like the elected officials in the same county!
Tim asks why he caved in.
The truth is, Buie probably couldn’t afford a second trial, and since he will only be serving 6-9 months AT MOST (he got credit for time served), he’ll actually be out before a second trial probably would have begun. This gets him out of town and back to Baltimore or wherever much faster than a second trial.
The Herald had a cute line (no doubt unintentionally true) about Cohilas “frantically” filling out the plea paperwork, so I’m sure the Hodges acolytes over there really were frantic to keep a PR stunt-turned self-inflicted black-eye from becoming a self-inflicted PR decapitation.
Greg Edwards stumbled in front of the camera to try to justify the deal–after all, dishonest spin is what he learned from his predecessor and near-killer (remember their one-car collision with Hodges driving?) Ken Hodges. But Edwards isn’t as good a liar as Hodges so it didn’t come off as well. Any lucid adult watching his sad performance might ask why, if this is such a great deal, they didn’t offer it to begin with? Or for that matter, why did they try the case in Albany if they knew (and they did) they’d have jury problems?
The $5,000 (if it gets paid) will be spread over a 10 year probation. That won’t cover what Tim Washington got or Buie gave to Lajuana Woods (expect that repayment to be very rocky, and likely quietly forgotten), let alone the costs of this week-long trial.
Meanwhile voters have gotten to see examples of Ken Hodges’ candidates (Denise Marshall and Greg Edwards) at work. I’ve said it before: the people destroying Albany aren’t the Buies (they’re just stealing from the carcass), or the incompetents such as Phil Cannon who have wasted their own money in downtown’s rathole, rather, it’s the silver-spoon crowd such as Ken Hodges, Jane Willson, Bob Langstaff and Judy Bowles.
For those who want a laugh, I’m actually writing a “Don Buie Rap” which I’ll post here if Jeff and Tom don’t object.
I’m just glad I live in Lee County, where the Judges are a little more crooked. But at least the Sheriff is a good man!