More City Hall Corruption

Up to $40K of Public Money to be Used for Private Project

Albany city manager, city commissioner broker a deal to pay for constituent’s electrical work with taxpayer funds

“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.”– Charles Caleb Colton

Imagine building a new business from scratch, only to be required to have all of the electrical work replaced because it doesn’t meet code?

And imagine the cost of the blunder amounting to as much as $80,000.

What would you do?

Why, in Albany , you’d call your city commissioner, of course.

Ward 6 representative Tommie Postell has brokered a deal with City Manager Alfred Lott to have Albany taxpayers pay for half of the electrical work at the Davis Personal Care Home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive .

That’s right; unless taxpayers revolt and force the City Commission to force Mr. Lott to renege his promise to businessman Curtis Davis, as much as $40,000 of taxpayers’ money will be spent on a private project.

All Mr. Davis has to do is get two bids – no matter the amount – and the city will go in halvsies. If only the rest of us in the real estate business could only be fortunate.

Why, you ask, did this happen?

The answer varies depending on the player:

For Mr. Davis, the deal means saving as much as $40,000 that he otherwise would have to spend to bring the building up to code by using the correct wiring – and putting it in conduit. That amount happens to equal the city manager’s spending limit as established by city ordinance.
For Mr. Postell, a first-termer whose seat will be up for grabs in November, the deal gives him greater political clout – if nothing else.
For Mr. Lott, staying on Mr. Postell’s good side secures one of four votes to keep the job he miraculously received despite having no city manager’s experience and being the least qualified of the candidates.
For Mayor Willie Adams, letting such a deal happen is payback to Mr. Postell for being his henchman and pushing Dr. Adams’ shady real estate and insurance deals through the City Commission.

Ward 3 City Commissioner Morris Gurr, you came through for us recently after reading news reports of a police chief gone wild.

It’s time for you to be the taxpayers’ savior, once again.

Only this time, it’s the city manager and one of your colleagues who are going wild – at our expense.