Republican lobbyist got more than $10K to aid Adams’ election, then a $500K city-administered loan
Before voting two weeks ago to rezone property for a Republican lobbyist who assisted with Albany Mayor Willie Adams’ 2004 political campaign, City Commissioner Bo Dorough wanted a clear mind.
So Mr. Dorough asked whether Atlanta’s Roderick Mullice, a principal in the group that would be a beneficiary of the rezoning, and which is receiving a $500,000 city-administered loan — was a paid consultant for Dr. Adams’ campaign?
No, Mr. Mullice and Dr. Adams specifically and emphatically replied.
“You should have asked me,” Dr. Adams chided, seizing a prime opportunity to humiliate Mr. Dorough, who says he may run for mayor this fall. “I had no paid political consultants.”
It happened in a public meeting, and Mr. Dorough looked doggone foolish to a roomful of observers.
But, as it turns out, Dr. Adams lied – again – and Mr. Dorough wasn’t so foolish, after all.
State campaign contribution disclosure reports show that Dr. Adams paid Mr. Mullice $10,499 for campaign consultation services from February 2004 through October 2004. Mr. Mullice also was paid with campaign contributions for work performed several months after Dr. Adams was elected.
Additionally, at least five others – including Atlanta consultants Art Cummings, C.T. Martin and Order Development LLC; Tallahassee consultant Sean Pittman; and Albany resident Benton Aladin – were paid for what Dr. Adams described in public disclosure reports as campaign consulting services. Mr. Cummings ultimately received Albany and Dougherty County taxpayers’ money for providing consulting services on consolidation; and Pittman’s client, Capital Principles, received hundreds of thousands of dollars for drafting a strategic plan that has largely been shelved by City Manager Alfred Lott.
Public records also show that the City of Albany also paid Mr. Mullis $800 for consulting services after Dr. Adams’ election.
Mr. Dorough knew that Mr. Mullice provided consulting services for Dr. Adams when he quizzed Mr. Mullice and Dr. Adams at the City Commission meeting in April. But Dr. Adams pulled a fast one on Mr. Dorough – and his colleagues and others who attended the City Commission meeting – by, well, not telling the truth.
With his answer, Dr. Adams suggested that Mr. Mullis’ burgeoning business relationship with city government is aboveboard – and certainly not worthy of Dr. Adams declaring a conflict of interest – because Mr. Mullice didn’t charge for his campaign work.
So why did Dr. Adams lie by saying that not only was Mr. Mullice not paid for campaign consulting services – no one got a dime to help Dr. Adams get elected? Perhaps because he and Mr. Lott have lied before about goings-on at city hall, and have gotten busted by journalists – but with no consequences, except bad PR. Indeed, there have been no complaints filed with the Albany Ethics Commission, and no censorship by the City Commission; so perhaps Dr. Adams figured, why not?
Not telling the truth has become status quo at among Albany city leadership. In Dr. Adams’ case, a recent example occurred when he said that public servant Jack Camp’s homicide inspired him to come up with the idea to ban repeat drug offenders from Albany. But public records show that Dr. Adams introduced the banishment idea to his colleagues as early as Jan. 16; nearly two months before Mr. Camp’s death on March 14.
Mr. Mullice, of Atlanta, is a principal in an East Oglethorpe Boulevard development that has secured a City-administered $500,000 federal loan. The single- and multi-family project, which will consume a portion of the fossil dunes, garnered the City Commission’s approval – including that of Mr. Dorough — through its rezoning and backing of a $500,000 federal loan — to allow single-family residences on a tract across from Albany Honda.
Commissioner Tommie Postell championed the project, successfully arguing that the development’s merits outweigh traffic safety concerns raised by City Commissioner Jon Howard. The City Commission approved the rezoning 6-0-1, with Commissioner Bob Langstaff abstaining from participating in the vote. Dr. Adams voted for it in spite of Mr. Mullice’s role with the project, and Mr. Dorough also approved it – apparently under the impression that Mr. Mullice’s role in Dr. Adam’s campaign was as a volunteer.
Indeed, Mr. Mullice, of Atlanta, was a central figure in Dr. Adams’ overwhelmingly successful campaign to unseat former Mayor Tommy Coleman. After the election, he worked from an office at the Albany-Dougherty Government Center, managing – as Mr. Mullice and Dr. Adams described it – Dr. Adams’ “transition” efforts. He also frequently served as Dr. Adams’ driver before Dr. Adams hired Albany police Capt. Ernest Williams to be his bodyguard and driver, and introduced Dr. Adams to associates of former National Basketball Association great Earvin “Magic” Johnson, whose development company revitalizes abandoned movie theatres. Dr. Adams asked Mr. Johnson’s associates to consider redeveloping the former Carmike theatres on Slappey and Oglethorpe boulevards, to no avail.
Associated with many enterprises from public affairs to construction, Mr. Mullice is a Republican political contributor with ties to some influential Atlanta politicians. He has recently contributed to the campaigns of Johnny Isakson, Saxby Chambliss, Jim Marshall, according to federal elections records.
Previously, Dr. Adams has introduced other north Georgia consultants – most notably Capital Principles and Resurgens Risk Management – to city administrative staff who ultimately hired them. Those consulting companies have collected more than $500,000 in city contracts without having to compete with others for the work. Dr. Adams supported the contracts and did not disclose his relationship with the firms.
Mr. Mullice is a partner and the registered agent with Liberty Partners Albany Land LLC, which registered with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office in June; and Geeche Land LLC, which registered as a corporation in July. A Roderick Mullice also is listed as the registered agent for Utility Measurement Co. LLC, which registered with the Secretary of State’s Office last November.
Mr. Mullice says Liberty Partners recently helped develop 30 acres in east Atlanta into a residential community, and says townhomes in the gated East Oglethorpe community will be priced from $115,000 to $140,000 and will be sold to the community’s low-income residents. Additional homes will be sold to first-time homebuyers for $160,000 to $190,000, Mr. Mullis said.
Mullice says he is joined in the venture by Davey Gibson, an Atlanta Development Authority member; and Nigel Pennycooke, a member of the Forest Park-Fort Gillem Local Redevelopment Authority.
