Greg Dunn Asks Robert Horgan about Defined Benefits at Forum

Candidates were allowed to ask a question of any other candidate at the Metro Kiwanis Candidate Forum. I chose to ask Mr. Horgan a question regarding the new defined benefit retirmement plan the county intends to implement. Mr. Horgan has three yes votes in regards to moving from the county's current award-winning defined contribution plan to a defined benefit plan.

Robert Horgan & Greg Dunn on Defined Benefit Retirement

Ethics and Open Government

6/17/08 Whatever happened to ethical and open government in Fayette County? When running for office our elected officials always claim that is what they want, but what are we getting from our current County Commission?

By now many of you know that our Commissioners violated Georgia’s Open Meetings law and, when the violation became apparent, they covered it up by changing the county’s official records. Only Commissioner Pfeifer fought to get the records to reflect what really happened, but was ignored by the rest of our Commissioners. You can consult my website to see the video and refresh your memory. The video of the meetings leaves no doubt.

This newspaper recently published letters to the editor from Mr. James Wingo and Commissioner Pfeifer that take the County Commission to task for changing the county’s long standing policy of providing very detailed minutes of Commission meetings. You now know only what their votes were, but little more. The pros and cons of an issue, the citizen’s opinions and the Commissioner’s rationale for their vote are now not shared with the public.

Why? Do they believe the public doesn’t care or can’t comprehend what the Commissioners are doing? Do they believe the public “can’t handle the truth”? More likely it is the direct opposite. They fear the public would not tolerate much of what the board is doing if the information was readily available to them. The Commissioners are elected to represent the citizens, to inform them and work for them. They are not there to keep the public in the dark.

In last week’s Citizen, John Thompson’s article points out clearly that the policy was not changed by a public discussion and vote, but rather it was a “staff directive” recommended by the County Attorney. Since when are long-standing policies of such importance changed without the involvement of the Commissioners? I know that Commissioner Pfeifer was not consulted. I also know that the Interim County Administrator can only exercise the authority delegated to him by the County Commission. How did it really happen?

It should come as no surprise that our County Attorney, Scott Bennett, recommended such a change. He was the City Attorney who advised the City Council of McDonough that citizens had no right to film public meetings. It created such a citizen uproar that it ended up as the subject of a Fox News I-Team Investigation aired on Aug. 13, 2007 (Watch Fox 5 Video re: Citizen Muckraker and Scott Bennett). A check of my website will lead you to that video also. The video clearly indicates that Mr. Bennett either didn’t know the law or chose to ignore it.

The Commission created a committee to review and make recommendations as to the top candidates for the position of County Attorney. Mr. Bennett was among the top three recommended to the Board. How could the Board not know the problem and embarrassment Mr. Bennett caused the government and citizens of McDonough? Worse yet, did they know and not care?

When I heard Mr. Bennett was selected I immediately recognized the name. I had met him in Federal Court in Newnan. He was suing Fayette County to force us to allow his client to erect billboards in the county. The Federal Court upheld Fayette County. Mr. Bennett immediately went to Superior Court and sued us there. That case is still pending after numerous appeals. Don’t be surprised if a deal is struck and new billboards begin to appear in the county.

It seems just a bit ironic to me that Mr. Bennett fought so passionately in court for the “First Amendment rights” of his corporate client but he advises the governments of McDonough and Fayette County that our citizens do not have the right to know what their government is doing.
Have you heard or been able to read any detailed discussions about the $3 million dollar pay raises (not including their COLA) recently approved by the Board? Have you heard or been able to read the details of the proposed defined benefit retirement system the Board is preparing to approve for its almost 800 employees? It could potentially have the most significant impact on taxes in our history. Do you know why they would even consider it in these challenging economic times? Will you be informed of the unfunded liability many governments in our area are experiencing because of the prohibitive costs associated with defined benefit programs?

I ask again, what happened to ethical and open government in Fayette County? In my eight years on the Board we had it. Sometimes it makes Commissioners uncomfortable because our citizens ask tough questions and demand rational answers. I believe it is just part of the job. If you can’t explain to people what you are doing and why you are doing it you shouldn’t be in office.

I’m running again because I believe the vast majority of our citizens want to know what their commissioners are doing, whether they agree with them or not. Those of you who know me are well aware that I was always open and candid about what the Commission and / or I was doing and preparing to do, even if I knew you might not agree.

Many times honest input from the public altered the final outcome. It can’t happen when information is kept “under wraps”.

I ask for your vote on July 15th to bring back ethical and open government to our community.

Greg Dunn
Candidate for County Commission
Fayette County

Watch Fox 5 Video re: Citizen Muckraker and Scott Bennett

Letter to the Editor Regarding Article in Citizen Newspaper on May 14

This letter addresses a front page article in the May 14, 2008 issue of the Citizen newspaper.

Commissioner Robert Horgan suggests that I may have an “ethical issue” with a campaign contribution I received in 2006. He is referring to a $2,000 contribution from attorney Tommy Craig who was instrumental in securing the Federal and State permits for Lake Horton and Lake McIntosh. Mr. Craig is an outstanding attorney who specializes in the complicated and extraordinarily cumbersome processes involved in Federal and State requirements for securing permits to construct reservoirs.

Mr. Craig was hired by the Board of Commissioners in the late 1980s when George Patton was Chairman of the Board. I was still serving in the U.S. Army. The Board made a wise decision. Over the years Mr. Craig has been called when necessary to overcome the intricate maze of federal and state requirements.

When I received the unsolicited contribution, Lake Horton had already been completed years before and the permitting process for Lake McIntosh was in its final stages. Fayette County can not build any more reservoirs thus there was no anticipation that Mr. Craig’s services would be needed in the future.

More to the point, when I received the contribution, I called and discussed with Mr. Craig that according to the County Ethics Ordinance, which I wrote and followed precisely every day I was in office, I would never be able to discuss or vote on any business he might have or desire to have with the county in the future. He told me he understood all that, he complimented me on my open and honest leadership of the board and said he simply wanted to see people like me remain in office.

When I accepted his contribution he understood completely that it precluded me from involving myself in any way should he ever attempt to do further business with Fayette County.

I have made an issue of Mr. Horgan’s role in the current Board’s violation of Georgia’s Open Meetings Law and the Board’s subsequent “cover up” of that violation. It is unfortunate that rather than addressing the public on that serious issue, he merely attempts to side-step it with a baseless personal attack which could harm not only my reputation, but Mr. Craig’s as well.

Ironically, Mr. Horgan and the current Board have recently hired Mr. Craig to do some of the routine post-permitting legal work to complete the construction of Lake McIntosh, work typically handled by our previous attorney, Bill McNally. This is evidently necessary only because the Board fired Bill McNally and hired an in-house attorney who apparently does not have the expertise to perform the legal work Mr. McNally did during the construction of Lakes Kedron and Horton. But that’s a different issue for a different time.

Greg Dunn
Candidate for County Commission
Post 1

What type leader do we want on our Board of Commissioners?

Shortly after I was elected to the Fayette County Board of Commissioners we went into Executive Session to discuss a personnel item. Personnel, real estate acquisition and certain legal items are the only things elected Boards can discuss in other than public meetings. No problem! After discussion of the evaluation and pay status of one individual we slipped into a discussion about county pay policies in general.

The following morning a couple of us felt we had inadvertently violated the Georgia Open Meetings law. We had released all staff, including our County attorney to discuss the individual in question. Our problem would never have occurred if our County attorney had been present. We never made that mistake again!

Only the five of us knew we had erred. There were no witnesses. Nevertheless, we reported our oversight to the media and county solicitor – we turned ourselves in! The press was quite surprised by our admission; they rightfully reported it and we received some deserved criticism from the public.

Even though we made no votes, no decisions or agreements to take any action, we did it and “took our lumps”. Over time scores of people complimented us for our integrity.

By comparison lets explore a somewhat similar transgression committed by our current commissioners. Shortly after they fired our long-serving county attorney and prior to hiring his replacement they announced they were going into Executive Session (a private meeting) to discuss a legal issue. Commissioner Pfeifer cautioned the Board that he believed they could not discuss a legal issue in Executive Session without the County Attorney present (the purpose for such a discussion is to get legal advice from your attorney). The other commissioners dismissed Pfeifer’s concerns in a less than courteous manner and proceeded to discuss the issue “behind closed doors”.

The Georgia Attorney General’s office, in response to an inquiry from Commissioner Pfeifer, affirmed that he was right and they had indeed violated the law.

How did my opponent Mr. Horgan and the other commissioners react to their transgression? They simply changed the facts. Once commissioner claimed he had stated it was really a personnel issue as they were proceeding to Executive Session. They voted to change the official County records, which to this day indicate they did nothing wrong. The “cover up” was complete.

The problem they now have is that both meetings were filmed and their attempt to change the truth is known to both them and untold hundreds of others who have seen the truth on YouTube, Google video, Yahoo video and other similar sites.

The obvious question is what type leaders do we want on our Board of Commissioners? We will never get perfect people. However, some elected officials will admit to and learn from a mistake. Others choose to ignore the law and, when caught, immediately attempt a “cover up”. Unfortunately Mr. Horgan and the majority of our current Commissioners, as demonstrated by their actions, are in the latter category.

Short video at the Fayette County GOP First Saturday Breakfast

From the Fayette Front Page YouTube site:

Why I am running for County Commission... again

After having proudly served 8 years on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, the last six as Chairman, and being out of elected politics for the last 1 ½ years, many of my friends have asked me why I would do it again. Why not just enjoy life with my fantastic wife, spend more time with my wonderful kids and grandchildren?

It’s somewhat difficult to perfectly put feelings into words, but I’ll try.

For as long as I can remember I have felt responsible to do whatever I can to make my country and community better. After 29 ½ years of serving my country on active duty military service, I retired in our marvelous community. I could have moved anywhere in the U.S., but chose to remain in Fayette County. Our quality of life far exceeds most communities in our country. I had no idea I would ever enter into elective politics.

As I observed the activities of the Board of Commissioners way back in the 90’s I witnessed special interest influences on some Commissioners and Commissioners doing favors for their business partners without disclosing their relationships. I could not sit idly by without at least trying to fix what I perceived as inappropriate actions that could hurt our community, thus I chose to run for office.

I am proud to say that I authored a tough Ethics Ordinance immediately, and within 28 days of being sworn in it was passed. I’m even prouder to say that in my eight years on the board I never witnessed any pandering to special interests or violations of ethical conduct from any of our commissioners.

Unfortunately during the last 1-½ years there are numerous examples of special interest voting creeping back into County government.

Additionally, I am concerned that the county is preparing to give millions of dollars in pay raises to county employees (above and beyond their cost of living allowance and merit increases) and to replace our current defined contribution retirement system with a defined benefit system which will be an enormous long term burden on every taxpayer. This is especially ill advised at a time when many of the citizens who have to pay these bills are losing their jobs, having their benefits reduced, watching their home values decline, and in some cases losing their homes.

Again I feel that if good people do nothing our community could slip into mediocrity or worse within a short time.

I have been deeply saddened when many people in different parts of the county have said to me that we are already going downhill and as soon as their kids graduate from school they intend to leave the county. Janet and I love this community and intend to spend the rest of our lives here. We simply do not believe our county can’t avoid what some people believe is inevitable.

There is always the best, the worst and the mediocre in all aspects of life. I am determined for us to remain the best. Our quality of life, our public safety our courts and our school systems are the envy of most Georgians who know what we have here. The only reason we might fail is if our great citizens let it happen.

Our community is not simply a suburb of Atlanta – we are a distinct community of diverse people who share aspirations for a great life for our children, grandchildren and ourselves.

Ironically, on occasion I have been accused of being too aggressive, too tough, and too impatient when things need to be done. While I don’t think those descriptors paint the full picture of who I am, I plead guilty to all those when I’m fighting for our taxpayers, when I’m fighting in Atlanta for our community and when the safety of our citizens is in jeopardy.

I believe it takes strong leaders during tough times. I have spent my entire adult life in service of my country and community and I again see the need to fight to preserve our way of life.

I guess these feelings explain better than my words why I would willingly once again enter the increasingly nasty world of politics in America. Incidentally, our politics don’t need to be ugly either!

I hope you will join me in the fight for our community’s future.

Greg Dunn to Run for County Commission, Post 1

5-2-08 (Fayette County) Greg Dunn announced today that he will be a candidate for election to Post 1, Fayette County Board of Commissioners.

He stated, “After considerable observation and analysis of the Board's actions over the last 1 ½ years, and listening to growing concerns of citizens throughout the county, I feel strongly that some Commissioners, including Post 1 incumbent Robert Horgan, are not serving the best interest of our citizens.”

He outlined a few specific concerns saying, “Among other things, Mr. Horgan has:

· participated in the violation of the Georgia Open Meetings Law and the subsequent “cover up” by altering official county records. Untold numbers have seen the visual proof of this deception on YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google and other similar services”
· raised County property taxes in 2008 and is planning to increase taxes again in 2009”
· supported more than $3 million in pay raises, above and beyond their COLA, for county employees”
· supported a defined benefit retirement plan for county employees which will be a huge long-term tax burden on our citizens. County employees currently have an award-winning defined contribution plan”
· praised and voiced support for the County Attorney and County Administrator and then voted to fire them without any explanation”
· lowered the standards in the County Ordinance governing building inspections in response to complaints from some developers”

Greg believes, “Mr. Horgan has shown he is not concerned with the financial plight of many of our citizens caused by the increasing failures of the U.S. economy. At this critical time he, along with others on the Commission, continues to add to our taxpayers' financial burdens rather than the Board curtailing their appetite for spending.“

Dunn said, “The substantial increases in the pay and benefits of county employees come at a time when many of the citizens who have to pay the bill are losing their jobs, their benefits and in some cases, even their homes.”

Greg Dunn has served eight years as a County Commissioner, six as Chairman. He is a proven fiscal conservative who lowered taxes even in economic good times. His budget experience and refusal to be intimidated by special interests are needed now more than ever. Public safety, ethics and quality of life have always been, and will continue to be, his highest priorities.
Greg believes “tough times require tough leaders who place the welfare of their citizens above everything else.”

He concluded, “It's time our elected officials get back to working for our citizens rather than the other way around.”

To find out more about Dunn's priorities and background, visit www.GregMDunn.org, call him at 770-631-9630 or email greg@gregmdunn.org.