Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Tennant: Missing meeting was only way to stand up for principles

Last Thursday [Nov. 20], Council Member Annie McMenamin and I hand-delivered a letter to city manager Bernie McMullen indicating that we would not be at that night’s council meeting, thereby preventing a quorum, in protest of what we believed was a predetermined vote to approve a budget and to make a taxpayer funded loan to the newly created Peachtree City Tourism Association. (It should be noted that Mrs. McMenamin and I told the city manager we were available to attend a special called meeting on Monday morning to handle other city business matters.)

What caused the problem? It always gets back to power and/or money. As to the money, the primary reason behind establishing the Tourism Association was to provide a legal and legitimate method to collect and distribute the coveted hotel-motel tax money. Unfortunately, it gets a little sticky with the “legal and legitimate” part.

The power move was for council to appoint themselves to the association’s board of directors. Read on.

At the previous council meeting, Mayor Steve Brown introduced the topic of the Tourism Association in the form of a motion to approve the association, and it quickly passed by Brown, Rapson, and Weed with virtually no discussion nor debate about the merits of the establishment of the association.

Mrs. McMenamin and I voted against it for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the make-up of the association’s board of directors, which just happen to have included council members Weed, Rapson, the city manager, the city finance director, and a council-appointed recreation commission member.

In short, the make-up of the board was fundamentally flawed from the outset because while it is supposed to answer to city council, it effectively answers to itself.

Second, I simply determined that I could not be a part of the establishment of a new authority, or in this case association, which has not been approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a legitimate 501(C)-6 tax exempt organization.

The evidence presented has convinced me the Tourism Association simply does not qualify as a 501(C)-6 tax-exempt organization under IRS rules and regulations. It would be foolish to attempt to set up and operate an organization on a tax-exempt status basis without having clear approval from the IRS that it qualifies. If it doesn’t, and we don’t think it will, there can be a whopping tax that would be levied on the association. And who do you think ultimately pays for that?

Third, three members of council (Brown, Rapson and Weed) were fully prepared to loan this new association $100,000 of your tax money to help get it started.

Interestingly, the very reason the Development Authority decided to turn the facilities back over to the city, in my opinion, was that their cash flow simply would not permit them to make payroll from mid-November until sometime in January, a common occurrence historically this time of year due to seasonal factors.

My guess is authority members were simply weary of trying to move forward, knowing getting a loan was not going to be authorized by those same three council members.

Yet had council been willing to give the Development Authority (which clearly has the legal authority to operate the tennis center and amphitheater) a loan for a couple of months, and allow for an orderly, legal and sensible transition, we would not be facing our current dilemma, which was created by rushing into something before a workable plan was in place.

I believe that Mayor Steve Brown and council members Rapson and Weed have attempted to proceed with the establishment and funding of the new Tourism Authority far too prematurely. It was set up much too quickly without proper IRS tax exempt status being established, and it was set up with two sympathetic council members on its board.

Inadequate planning, IRS questions, no checks and balances, and your tax dollars being offered to get it started. What a mess.

My choice was to either go to the council meeting and vote against the budget and loan, or to boycott the meeting, along with council member McMenamin, to preclude the approval of a multimillion dollar budget for what we believe would have been an organization that was fundamentally flawed in its structure. Showing up and casting a “No” vote would have done nothing more than to have given legitimacy to the budget and loan, because the agenda item itself was to “approve” the association’s budget.

The cart was put way before the horse, ladies and gentlemen. I had urged everyone to take our time and work out the details before a new authority or association would be established, or a new or better way was found to operate the tennis center and amphitheater. Instead, a rush to judgment occurred without the foresight and planning that I urged be implemented months ago prior to any action. It was a power grab gone awry.

This is not political blackmail, as Mr. Rapson claims. This is not being held hostage, as Mr. Brown claims. This is standing up for principle and not being willing to permit a process that is flawed, unethical, and lacks proper IRS designation. Not on my watch, in any case.

Trust me, there is going to be all kinds of spin put on this one. The truth is that it would have been a thousand times easier for me to simply have shown up, vote no, and move on. After all, I am a lame duck with only a few weeks left to serve out my four year term

But I still have a conscience.

Dan Tennant

PTC Councilman

DanTennant@aol.com