Looking for some extra money, Logsdon, McMullen go into renovation business together

Peachtree City’s mayor and city manager have gone into business together to remodel homes.

Mayor Harold Logsdon explained Tuesday morning that the two are in the process of renovating their first home, located at 109 Grenoble Road in Peachtree City, a short walk from the Glenloch Recreation Center.

Logsdon said they plan to proceed one house at a time.

Logsdon said the idea started with his wish to make some extra money. He asked City Manager Bernie McMullen to join him in the venture “because I knew Bernie was very handy.”

Logsdon said he asked City Attorney Ted Meeker if the venture with himself and McMullen would be a conflict of interest, and Meeker told him it wouldn’t be.

In a guest column on Page A4, former Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown questions the business arrangement, claiming that it could make it difficult for McMullen to “provide unbiased information” to city council members. Logsdon defeated the incumbent Brown in 2005 and Brown ran unsuccessfully last year for a seat in the Georgia legislature.

Logsdon said he and McMullen are doing almost all of the renovation work themselves, getting subcontractors just to handle the siding and landscaping work, Logsdon said. The bulk of the work so far has been replacing the damaged drywall, of which there was plenty, Logsdon said.

Logsdon said both he and McMullen invested the capital for the home purchase. The home was identified after they consulted with a local businessman in the remodeling business who tipped them off to a list of HUD (Housing and Urban Development) homes. That’s where they got their lead on the Grenoble home, Logsdon said.

The company’s name is M Squared, a reference to Logsdon and McMullen’s official city titles as “mayor and manager.”

Logsdon said in addition to the damaged drywall the previous residents also removed all the light fixtures. Part of the renovation has included removing heavy mildew from the trim, which was quite a chore, Logsdon explained.

Seeing the state of the home was an eye-opener, Logsdon said.

“I said, ‘I can’t believe this is in Peachtree City,’” the mayor said.

Logsdon, who retired from BellSouth in 2001, had his own financial planning practice that he had to give up when he took office in 2006.