A local watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and the County Commission, claiming they hindered her efforts to learn more about public funding of an economic development program.
Sabrina Smith of Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government said the chamber illegally rejected her request for records that would shed light on how it uses public money for the Partnership Gwinnett program. In the lawsuit, filed earlier this month, she claims the chamber is subject to the state open records laws because it receives more than a third of its funding from public sources.
Smith also said county commissioners have failed to adequately oversee the chamber’s use of public money.
“We never have asked for any private records,” Smith said Tuesday at a news conference in Lawrenceville. “We’re only interested in those documents that reflect how they spent taxpayers’ money.”
The news conference came the same day the commission renewed the county’s $500,000 annual pledge of support for Partnership Gwinnett. The new agreement calls for the chamber to establish a separate nonprofit organization by Jan. 1 to account for the public’s share of funding for the economic development program.
Commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash said the nonprofit organization will ensure transparency in how public money is spent.
“I agree there needed to be additional transparency,” she said.
Smith isn’t convinced the nonprofit will help. She said there’s no guarantee it will operate differently than the chamber, and even if it did it wouldn’t shed light on past public spending.
Chamber officials did not respond to requests for comment.
At issue is public funding for a renowned economic development program. Partnership Gwinnett recruits businesses to relocate or open new facilities in Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta. Among its successes: luring NCR’s headquarters from Ohio in 2009.
The program, run by the Chamber of Commerce, has a budget of about $1.8 million — much of it from government agencies. Gwinnett County contributes $500,000 annually. The county school district pays $150,000 for the salaries of two economic development strategists. Local cities and other public agencies also contribute.
Last summer Smith asked government agencies to suspend funding for the program until they can assure the public the money is well spent.
She claims the chamber used public money to support a transportation sales tax initiative voters rejected in July — a charge chamber officials have denied. And she claims the school district is violating state law by using tax dollars for economic development instead of educating students.
School officials say the money for economic development creates new businesses and jobs that expand the county property tax base and ultimately create more money for education.
After Smith expressed concerns, the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts last month concluded the school district may indeed be breaking the law. The state Department of Education has asked the Attorney General’s Office for an official ruling but has not received the results, DOE spokesman Matt Cardoza said.
Smith’s latest complaint, filed in Gwinnett County Superior Court, claims the chamber denied her numerous requests to produce records that would shed light on its use of public funds, in violation of state open records laws.
According to the complaint, the chamber says it is not subject to open records requirements because it does not receive more than a third of its funding from public money. After Smith sought records earlier this year, the chamber amended a tax return that indicated it did receive more than a third of its money from public sources, according to the complaint.
The complaint also contends the commissioners abdicated their fiduciary responsibility by failing to collect and review chamber financial records they’re entitled to under the chamber contract.
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