Public agencies sued for campaign donations

Common Cause Georgia filed a complaint with state officials Monday alleging public agencies broke state law by donating to a group campaigning in favor of a Nov. 4 ballot measure.

The complaint alleges contributions by six tax-supported agencies to a registered campaign group called Georgians for Community Redevelopment violated state law. The group wants voters to approve Constitutional Amendment 2, which would again let school tax revenues be used for redevelopment.

In most cases, state law bars governmental entities from giving cash to political causes or candidates.

Filed with the State Ethics Commission, the complaint raises questions about $125,000 in donations, saying “the majority of the campaign contributions received by GCR appear to be prohibited contributions, in violation of the Ethics in Government Act.”

A.J. Robinson, president of Georgians for Community Redevelopment, said he cannot comment on the complaint until the group receives formal notice and its attorneys have time to review it.

But, he wrote in an e-mail, “We obviously do not agree with accusations of this complaint.”

The complaint focuses on donations by the Atlanta Housing Authority and five special tax districts called community improvement districts. The districts tax commercial property to pay for upgrades such as sidewalks, parks or streetlights within their boundaries. State law refers to them in at least one place as “a governmental entity.”

“It’s very clear that agencies of that type are not allowed to make these donations,” said Bill Bozarth, executive director of Common Cause.

But Chuck Warbington, executive director of the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District, said his agency was careful to make sure its $25,000 donation would support only an education effort to explain the amendment — not to take a stand on it.

“It’s unfortunate that there’s going to be time wasted on it,” he said of the complaint. “We certainly understand the difference between advocacy and education.”

Yvonne Williams, president of the Perimeter Community Improvement District, said her district also made it clear the $25,000 it contributed could only be used for education. “There’s no way our money would have been used for a campaign process like that,” she said.

Georgians for Community Redevelopment said it had collected $195,000 in total donations on its latest campaign report filed last week.

The State Ethics Commission is reviewing the complaint to decide whether it meets procedural criteria to warrant an investigation, Executive Secretary Rick Thompson said.

Housing authority spokesman Rick White wrote in an e-mail that the authority would not comment because it had not reviewed the complaint.

Redevelopment supporters say the amendment’s passage — and the school tax subsidies it would bring — is critical to efforts such as Atlanta’s Beltline of parks and transit. But critics say it’s wrong to divert school dollars for development projects.

State Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) lambasted the housing authority for its $5,000 contribution to the campaign group — despite the authority’s contention that it used money from subcontracting work and not tax dollars.

“The housing authority should not be making political donations,” he said. “I just find it appalling.”