Southern Heritage - a Foundation of American Liberty 

A combination of AJC and AP reporting, combined with Taylor ads, have done a fair job of getting this story in front of the public.

I was amused and disgusted by a TV news report on 13WMAZ (Macon) Oct. 30th as they reported Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor�s news conference where he accused Perdue of unethical behavior in the Oaky Woods land deal. Perdue was asked for a response on camera. The "deer in the headlights" look was apparent briefly, then Perdue went into rehearsed response mode. In essence, he said, "the people have rejected these false allegations" because of the lack of credibility of the accuser (Taylor). How lame. How typical of Perdue to lie and obfuscate the issue at hand.

Taylor is merely the amplifier. His television ad spots lay out Perdue�s deeds during prime time when even the most apathetic news-ignorant people are watching. But Taylor didn�t create the records of real estate sales, tax records, legislative action and other details. The AJC, with echoes from AP, has led the way to publish the story in print. Calling the AJC "Taylor's attack dog" is a pathetic smoke screen---a cowardly evasion. But no one in the media "created" the facts and public records; Perdue and his cronies must take responsibility for their own actions. More importantly, it's up to the voters to hold them accountable.

Perdue�s land scandals are not too difficult to follow with the events and facts laid out, but his prevaricating parrot posse is doing its best to confuse the issues with their denials, half-truths and falsehoods. Let�s review a time-line and then note connected events. A long list of links below will connect you with sources for these events.

The timeline above mixes the events relative to Perdue�s miraculous $100,000 tax break and his purchase of Houston County land that just happened to double in value when the State failed to buy the Oaky Woods tract. There are other subtle connections.

The 'New Regime' adopts a Business Climate for Developers

Soon to be better documented, it�s known in certain circles that Perdue, certain legislators, Zell Miller and others were flown to Florida to tour some new construction such as The Villages ( www.thevillages.com ) and introduced to Florida legislation that enables a variety of benefits (a "warmer business climate" shall we say) for developers.

A Christopher Quinn story in the Feb. 28, 2006 AJC discussed some of the details of SB414 and HB1323 which were proposed to mimic Florida legislation to create "development districts" and provide the �benefits� enumerated. The Oaky Woods development was specifically mentioned as a beneficiary of these rural development bills.

The regime change in 2005 (GOP takeover) was an expression of raw power. The Republicans were giddy and the power went to their heads. Their behavior made clear that Georgia needed a new State seal adorned with a new motto. The old State motto ("Wisdom, Justice, Moderation") was out of style. The new motto as implemented in their actions was "Deceit, Hubris, Domination." Perdue, of course, most represented Deceit. Domination exemplified House Speaker Glenn Richardson, so much so that we adopted "Under My Thumb" (Rolling Stones) as the official theme music for Richardson parodies. Lobbyists and favor seekers soon learned that "there was a new sheriff in town" and he demanded his due.

Honest Glenn defends House rules changes - X-Files
There's a New Sheriff In Town - X-Files

With the rules changes and "housekeeping" in order, the new regime set about implementing their agenda. Right off in 2005, the GOP majority commenced introducing all manner of bills to enable developers to cut through "red tape" such as citizen oversight, sunshine laws, individual property rights and eminent domain constraints. There were the infamous SB5, HB218, SB190, HB340, et al, which would allow local governments and quasi-governmental agencies (such as development boards) to work in secret without public access to hammer out deals and make public/private arrangements and to seize land for "economic development." These bills were dubbed "the land grab bills" and the "secrecy bills." One opinion writer suggested that "secrecy" was the dominant theme of the 2005 session.
Sonny's Non-sunny Secrecy Forecast - parody
We can trust Republicans on HB218...NOT! - parody
 

Recently, The Villages, ( thevillages.com), a retirement community in Florida, began running TV ads in central Georgia. Are they really trying to sell to this market? I think not. It seems too coincidental that developers want to put a similar development on the Oaky Woods land using the development bills mentioned above, SB414 and HB1323. The ads here are just PR to get the locals warm and fuzzy with the idea. The Florida development is for retirees from the northeast and California and other markets where they�re accustomed to paying $750,000 to a million and more for small condos.

My point in mentioning this above is that, although the Florida land, the $100K tax break and the Oaky Woods land deal scandals have just surfaced in the last few months, the ground work for these events started in 2003 and went into high gear in 2005 when the GOP assumed the majority in the Georgia House---when the environment and climate changed.

As the AJC and AP pointed out, when the Florida land deal story broke during the summer, Perdue�s first response was---you guess it----a bold faced lie. True to form. His response was that he purchased Florida land to avoid the appearance of conflict. That purchase was in December 2004. Then it soon came out that he had purchased the Oaky Woods land much earlier in July 2003.

The AJC wrote:

Perdue defended the Florida purchase, saying in August that he went out of state to avoid any charges of conflict of interest that could arise if he bought in the state he governs.

"If I bought land within 100 miles of a new road construction I'd be accused by the other side of influencing that," Perdue said last month. "So I chose to go out of state."

Perdue must have believed that the Houston County land purchase near Oaky Woods would not be discovered. Otherwise, why would he make the boneheaded remark (obviously false) above?

It appears at first glance that the creation of the Maryson, LLC was for the purpose of concealing Perdue�s interest in the property. Is it a coincidence that Maryson, LLC sold the land to Perdue in his own name just nine days after DNR chief Barrett declined to bid on Oaky Woods? As the AJC points out, Perdue did not properly disclose the ownership interest as required by Georgia law. As Steven Harrell points out, federal law prohibits state officials from benefiting financially from their decisions in official capacities.

The Value of Perdue's Land

The AJC also reported that Perdue reported the Florida land at a value of $185,700 because that�s the amount it is appraised at by Osceola County, Fla. But Perdue paid $2 million for it. Clearly, purchase price is a better indicator of market value than an old appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes.

If Perdue had reported the property at its sale price, his net worth would have nearly doubled, from $4.48 million to $8 million, during his first three years in office. Seems that Mark Taylor�s point may have merit. Either Perdue is using his office to make himself rich, or he�s just been extremely lucky in the last three years. Yeah. Right. [ Ethics Complaint filed against Perdue ]

Mark Taylor�s political ads value the Florida property at $40 million. Perdue�s smarmy rebuttal ads say, in an effort to discredit Taylor, that Taylor�s ads are "$38 million off." In his ad, Perdue offers to sell the land to Taylor for $20 million "or even ten million." That constitutes a legal offer and Taylor should have jumped at it for $10 million. Instead, at the debate in Perry October 13th, he offered to buy it for $5 million if Perdue would donate the profits to a special needs charity. Come on, Mark! You could have bought it for $10 million, sold it for more and donated the profits yourself to charity.

Who�s right on the value? Well� lots of a half-acre or less at the nearby Reunion Resort & Club are selling for $350,000 to $650,000. Much of Perdue's land (19.51 acres) may not be developable because it is on wetlands. But if only half of it were sold for residential lots at current prices, it would be worth several times its purchase price. Even if Perdue only develops 9 acres and splits them into half-acre lots, he'll make in between $4.26 million and $9.66 million of pure profit. And those are conservative numbers. 3500 square foot lots (a half acre is 21,780 feet) are selling at the nearby Reunion Resort for a smashing $450,000.

The Miraculous $100,000 Tax Break

The timeline on Perdue�s miraculous tax break begins in June 2004 but really gets rolling when O�Neal enters the picture in 2005, moving up from Perdue�s (minority) floor leader in the House to Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee. The legislation that passed the House on the second to last night of the 2005 session retroactively exempted from state taxation capital gains on the deal Perdue had just made in late 2004. Perdue signs the unusual retroactive tax cut into law April 12, 2005 just three days before his 2004 tax return was due.

Miraculously, Perdue�s tax preparer just happened to read that legislation and discover the $100,000 in tax savings Perdue realized from the tax law just signed. Perdue says he knew nothing about the legislation until he signed his tax return. Yeah. Right. Some tax services summarize legislative changes for tax preparers, but I doubt there are any that efficient...unless... the tax preparer was also the governor�s attorney and Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Conveniently enough, Larry O�Neal rose to Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that writes tax law (approves tax law written by the Department of Revenue at their behest) when the Republicans took a majority of the House in 2005. As they say, timing is everything.

Then O�Neal wrote in the retroactive change unbeknownst to the Department of Revenue. Then he worked those changes through the House and the Senate committees. O'Neal says he never had any conversation with Perdue about the special retroactive tax break. He says the special retroactive provision was not written for any particular person. Yeah. Right. Maybe an alien took over O'Neal's body and made these changes, then erased his memory.
Gon' Need Taxbreaks, Friend - parody

Selling Out Oaky Woods

Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had leased and managed the Oaky Woods tract (owned by Weyerhauser) for almost 40 years. Their records indicate that DNR viewed the acquisition (purchase) for permanent conservation of that property as a top priority. DNR Commission Lonice Barrett described Oaky Woods as a "legacy tract," meaning that it has a high value as a natural resource and wildlife habitat.

As the AJC reported (10/28/06), The Nature Conservancy offered to bid $26 million for the property if the State would agree in writing to buy the property from the Conservancy at some future but unspecified date. It seems that such a loose arrangement allowed time to arrange for conservation groups to raise funds, to seek federal grants, to enact special hunting fees and taxes to produce revenues to pay any debt the State incurred to purchase such a unique and irreplaceable natural treasure.

Perdue said that he was disappointed that the State couldn�t buy the Oaky Woods tract. Oh really? Why was no effort made to secure funding? A simple commitment (back in May 2004) to buy the land years in the future was all that was required. Heck, just one year of Perdue�s tax surplus (that he brags about in his ads) would pay for the land.

The reason given for failing to buy the land was a "tight budget." The AJC reports (11-01-06) that that same year "the state directed $44 million available to DNR to other projects." That same year, Gov. Perdue proposed borrowing $1 billion for "other priorities."

It�s just a coincidence that Perdue�s undisclosed land doubled in value since the State failed to purchase Oaky Woods. It�s just another coincidence that DNR chief Lonice Barrett left the DNR to fill a "key position on the governor�s executive staff." Are there any other convenient coincidences we should know about?

I suppose acquiring and preserving that land was not really a "high priority"...at least not to the Governor. Maybe he had a higher priority (wink, wink). It appears to me that the people of Georgia (and future generations) have been sold out and betrayed. Again. Here's another shameful event we won't be able to explain to our grandchildren. What happened to the black bears, grandpa? ....Well, sweetie, we let our governor wipe them out to build some condos.

According to the Robbins & Free real estate website, the Oaky Woods land remains for sale. Obviously, they will want at least the $32.1 million they paid for it in September 2004--most likely more. Take that surplus and buy it, Governor Perdue, if you�re really disappointed. Or is it that the developers (and perhaps you? -- another undisclosed financial interest?) want a lot more from this development?

Oh well. Looks like Perdue�s slogan "moving Georgia forward" really means "paving Georgia�s irreplaceable pristine wildlife habitat." More importantly, it means "moving Sonny�s portfolio and net worth forward." If the voters of Georgia re-elect this obvious crook, this insulting liar, that will be a sad, sad statement....and we'll be sure to get much more of the same shaft from Perdue.