EDITORIAL: Probe of Pendergrass needed
Where to begin. The allegations of corruption in Pendergrass are so deep, so wide and so serious that it boggles the mind to read them:
--Ticket-fixing.
--Police profiling.
--The intentional misuse of SPLOST funds.
--Abuse of credit cards for personal items by a city employee.
--The destruction of city documents to cover up a trail of unethical and possibly illegal actions by city officials.
This mess merits the quick involvement of District Attorney Brad Smith and a full-scale investigation by the GBI, POST, Georgia Department of Audits and other agencies charged with probing allegations of public corruption.
Pendergrass has long had the reputation of being a corrupt little town, a town that is run like a private kingdom. But until now, there was little solid evidence to prove it.
Now, there’s a mountain of evidence — tape recordings, copies of city documents, shredded documents and witnesses who have decided to come forward and tell what they know.
We have seen much of this evidence and it’s convincing. We have talked to the witnesses and they’re convincing.
The three whistleblowers in this matter attempted to do the right thing. They went to Pendergrass Mayor Monk Tolbert with this evidence hoping that he would take action against city administrator Rob Russell, who is at the center of many of the allegations.
Instead, Tolbert threw them under the bus. He fired two of them to cut off the flow of information from city hall to the outside world.
Even more damning, the day after both city clerks were fired, thousands of pages of city documents were shredded in what appears to have been an effort to destroy physical evidence of city wrong-doing.
Only a full-scale investigation can get to the heart of this matter and begin to uncover the truth about what has really been going on in Pendergrass. The town is an embarrassment to all of Jackson County; these latest allegations hang over all of us, not just those who live in the town.
DA Smith is the man whose shoulders this issues now rests. But it won’t be easy for him.
Scott Tolbert, Pendergrass’ city court judge and son of the mayor, was DA Smith’s largest campaign contributor in last year’s election. Tolbert’s law firm gave Smith $3,450 in campaign contributions during 2008. Now, Tolbert himself stands accused by the whistleblowers of having fixed tickets in the city.
So this is Smith’s first big test as our new DA — will he protect political supporters, or will he step up and do the right thing for the citizens of Jackson County?
If he can’t, or won’t do that, then the upcoming Jackson County Grand Jury should act on its own and launch an investigation into the Pendergrass mess.
--Police profiling.
--The intentional misuse of SPLOST funds.
--Abuse of credit cards for personal items by a city employee.
--The destruction of city documents to cover up a trail of unethical and possibly illegal actions by city officials.
This mess merits the quick involvement of District Attorney Brad Smith and a full-scale investigation by the GBI, POST, Georgia Department of Audits and other agencies charged with probing allegations of public corruption.
Pendergrass has long had the reputation of being a corrupt little town, a town that is run like a private kingdom. But until now, there was little solid evidence to prove it.
Now, there’s a mountain of evidence — tape recordings, copies of city documents, shredded documents and witnesses who have decided to come forward and tell what they know.
We have seen much of this evidence and it’s convincing. We have talked to the witnesses and they’re convincing.
The three whistleblowers in this matter attempted to do the right thing. They went to Pendergrass Mayor Monk Tolbert with this evidence hoping that he would take action against city administrator Rob Russell, who is at the center of many of the allegations.
Instead, Tolbert threw them under the bus. He fired two of them to cut off the flow of information from city hall to the outside world.
Even more damning, the day after both city clerks were fired, thousands of pages of city documents were shredded in what appears to have been an effort to destroy physical evidence of city wrong-doing.
Only a full-scale investigation can get to the heart of this matter and begin to uncover the truth about what has really been going on in Pendergrass. The town is an embarrassment to all of Jackson County; these latest allegations hang over all of us, not just those who live in the town.
DA Smith is the man whose shoulders this issues now rests. But it won’t be easy for him.
Scott Tolbert, Pendergrass’ city court judge and son of the mayor, was DA Smith’s largest campaign contributor in last year’s election. Tolbert’s law firm gave Smith $3,450 in campaign contributions during 2008. Now, Tolbert himself stands accused by the whistleblowers of having fixed tickets in the city.
So this is Smith’s first big test as our new DA — will he protect political supporters, or will he step up and do the right thing for the citizens of Jackson County?
If he can’t, or won’t do that, then the upcoming Jackson County Grand Jury should act on its own and launch an investigation into the Pendergrass mess.
Scott Tolbert probably thought since he was DA Smiths largest campaign contributor they were safe and the DA wouldn't do anything.
I have known the Tolberts for years and they have always thought they could do what they wanted when they wanted.
They don't want to touch any elected official even though they are corrupt to the core. The "justice" system is anything but. It's about who you are and how deep your pockets are.