When the Columbus Redevelopment Authority received approval in the spring for $3 million from the state legislature for water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, things appeared to be looking up for the eight-plus year effort to redevelop Burns Bottom near downtown.
Then things started going less well.
In July, founding board member Robert Rhett abruptly resigned from the city council-appointed CRA board. A few weeks later, a developer reportedly under contract to build a $30 million residential and commercial project in the entire five-block area east of Roger Short Soccer Complex backed out — citing higher than expected construction costs.
Meanwhile, what some CRA board members see as interference from Mayor Keith Gaskin has stymied the authority’s ability to lobby for up to $2.5 million more in federal money to help with public infrastructure.
“The CRA is becoming too much of a political football,” CRA board member Chris Chain told The Dispatch on Thursday. “We’re supposed to be independent, but we are a function of the mayor’s office and the city council. But it’s kind of hard when people start micromanaging people like this. … We are in it to make our city better and do some things that will help and spur on development. That’s what our mission is, but it’s not to get political.”
Establishment of CRA
The city council created the CRA in 2014 to lead redevelopment efforts in the city’s Urban Renewal District, which includes Burns Bottom.
In addition to the state money approved this year, the CRA used $3.2 million in ad valorem tax-supported bonds to purchase and clear more than 70 lots in Burns Bottom, in some cases relocating residents. It also receives an annual general fund appropriation from the city. At first, it was $50,000, but it was cut to $25,000 last year.
Competing lobbying efforts
Gaskin believes there are plenty of reasons to be concerned, maybe even upset, about how well the city and CRA are coordinating, particularly with lobbying efforts.
After Gaskin said the city established securing funds for the amphitheater on The Island as its “top legislative priority,” the legislature funded Burns Bottom instead. The city and CRA had separate lobbyists working on the state level, and Gaskin believes what should have been cooperation became competition — which the CRA won.
“At the last minute, ours died (in the Senate) and they got the money,” Gaskin said. “Did I get angry at the end? … Yeah.”
When he learned CRA wanted to hire Cornerstone Government Affairs for federal lobbying — at a tune of $120,000 per year, in addition to the $36,000 per year it already pays Beth Clay for state lobbying — Gaskin said he asked the board to hold off until it consulted with him and the city council. The CRA didn’t, voting twice to hire the firm.
That didn’t sit well with Gaskin, who called into question the need to spend that much money on redundant, if not competing, lobbying services. He admitted to The Dispatch he “had words” with board president Marthalie Porter, Board Attorney Jeff Turnage and Rhett.
“Was my pushback probably really harsh? Yes,” he said. “That may have been the maddest I’ve ever been about anything, and as the mayor you shouldn’t let that happen … but it was on behalf of the citizens.”
That “pushback,” Gaskin also admitted, included sending a middle finger emoji in a text to Rhett, though the mayor said he was “joking” when he did it.
“I said, ‘That’s sending me a F*** You,’” Gaskin added. “… I didn’t send it to him saying, ‘F*** You.’ I said, ‘Y’all are sending me (one).’ And I said, ‘You’d never have done this to (former mayor) Robert (Smith).’ I also said something to the effect of, ‘You think he’s mean? Keep doing this and see how mean I can be.’”
Rhett served on the five-member board from Day 1, and this summer — with his term set to expire in September — he faced the choice of whether to reapply. Instead, he left without even serving the last six weeks of his final term.
While Rhett would not give specifics, he did confirm Thursday to The Dispatch that communications he received from Gaskin played a role in his resignation.
Waiting on the AG
Gaskin is questioning the CRA’s authority to hire its own lobbyists, which has led the CRA to seek an attorney general’s opinion on the matter before it executes its contract with Cornerstone. Gaskin, and other city officials, are pushing to consolidate all the city’s and CRA’s lobbying efforts under a single firm, delaying renewing a contract with its state and federal level lobbyist, Worth Thomas Consulting, until city officials can meet again with the CRA board, Gaskin said.
Even so, Gaskin said Worth Thomas is continuing federal lobbying efforts for the city’s chief federal priorities — blight elimination and watershed improvement — on a continuing basis of the old contract terms ($5,000 per month, which comes to $60,000 per year).
The CRA, though, while waiting on the AG opinion, has no lobbyist for Burns Bottom.
“(Gaskin) thinks that we’re competing with him, but we’re not,” Chain said.
Gaskin said he is a staunch supporter of CRA and the Burns Bottom redevelopment. He has sent correspondence to Washington, D.C., supporting the Burns Bottom project among other city priorities, he said. He’s not aware, though, of the Worth Thomas lobbyist doing likewise.
“I don’t think he has made any particular calls on that, but he could,” Gaskin said.
Burns Bottom vs. the amphitheater
Since 2015, the legislature has allocated $4.1 million to the amphitheater, which built a stage, some concrete work for the seating area and the existing fencing.
Gaskin and other city leaders hoped to get money this year for restrooms, more fencing, a concession stand, seating and other features that could make it ready to recruit entertainment acts.
The amphitheater funding passed the House but stalled in the Senate. District 15 Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Lowndes County, said quality housing in Columbus, especially with Aluminum Dynamics poised to create 1,000 jobs in the region in 2025, seemed much more valuable. He said he told Gaskin he would get funding for the amphitheater, too, if he could.
As for the sway of any lobbyist?
“Not one damn bit,” Younger said.
Chain recommended Gaskin embrace more diverse funding opportunities for the amphitheater.
“The mayor should applaud (the Burns Bottom project), and he’s not,” Chain said. “First of all, the amphitheater that he’s waging this all on has been sitting there since 2015. You think he couldn’t sell enough sponsorships or whatever out there from the city of Columbus to make that thing happen? I mean, I’ll buy one. I’ll buy $1,000 sponsorship for the amphitheater. Nobody’s even tried to raise any money or make it happen.”
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones said, while he champions consolidating the city’s lobbying efforts, he sees the Burns Bottom funding as a “win for the city.” Funding for those projects was up to the legislature, he said, and it could have just as easily chosen to fund neither.
“I know one thing: Houses and taxes are guaranteed, but people aren’t guaranteed to come out (to the amphitheater),” he said.
Autonomy versus single vision
Jones also believes all city officials, including the mayor and council, should let the CRA do its job without interference.
“You can’t punish them for doing what you appointed them to do,” Jones said. “We need to communicate better, and we need not be forceful in our conversations with people. (We need) to work with people, and not demand things, and compromise. That’s what good leadership takes.”
CRA board member Jason Spears echoed that sentiment.
“(We need City Hall) to believe the right people are on the board to make this project come to completion,” he said.
Gaskin sees the issue differently. The CRA is autonomous, sure, but it doesn’t “set the legislative priorities for the city.” It also isn’t above his scrutiny when he thinks it is wasting money.
“I am the elected official of this city,” he said. “I am the only elected official elected by the entire community. I will stick my nose in where I think I need to if it concerns taxpayers’ dollars. … My goal is not to be in conflict with the redevelopment board or our state legislators. I am trying to have everyone work off the same page, and I’m finding that very difficult.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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