BEN BAKER: State AG serves as a bad example

Nothing is ever useless. It can always serve as a bad example.

This week’s bad example is Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and his office.

In last week’s Albany Herald, you read about myself and the Wiregrass Farmer newspaper filing suit against the city of Ashburn over alleged Sunshine Law violations. In short, we are accusing the City Council of illegally closing part of a meeting to the public.

What I did not mention in that article was repeated attempts over 30 years or so to get the AG to investigate Sunshine Law complaints about various boards in Turner County. Carlton Fletcher at the AH can share similar tales, as can every newspaper editor across Georgia.

So, yes. I called and emailed the AG about the problems with the meeting. I expected nothing but — surprise, surprise! — got a reply.

I put together another email, including the additional information requested. And, I waited.

A rock sitting in the middle of a windless desert makes more noise than the AG’s office after that. To say nothing else happened is not exactly correct either. Being completely ignored, dismissed and rejected are actions. This is the what I expected in the first place.

Want another bad AG example? OK.

Dougherty County recently got a mildly worded letter from the AG’s office threatening to slap the County Commission’s collective wrist if they did anything naughty in the future. Woo. Little Ashburn does not even merit the courtesy of a reply saying “You have no case and we are not doing anything.”

If the same thing happened in Atlanta, Columbus or Savannah or maybe even Macon, the AG would send a fleet of investigators, call in the GBI and would demand answers while threatening everything just short of capital punishment.

In case you are wondering, I contacted the Georgia Press Association. They were some help and sent along some good advice and some suggestions. I called the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism. They were less help than the AG’s office (not surprised either).

I started calling attorneys, starting locally at first. Some had bona fide reasons for saying they could not help. Conflicts of interest with current clients and not being familiar with that body of law are two legit reasons for not pitching in. I respect that.

Other attorneys … excuses are easy to come by. All their excuses boil down to one thing: politics. Each one was afraid to get involved because of possible repercussions. So much for the pursuit of truth and doing their best to represent their clients.

I found an attorney in Macon willing to take on the case. We negotiated a price, which is very important. Newspapers these days are cash-strapped. However, some things are too important to let pass. I will be paying part of the attorney fees from my own wallet if necessary.

In the meantime, if Mr. Carr would like to respond, I certainly will show him more respect than he showed me. I will publish his letter to the editor in The Wiregrass Farmer. I expect Carlton Fletcher will also offer space in the AH for Mr. Carr to reply. You see, Carlton is an editor and reporter with integrity not found in so many lawyers and elected officials.

Since the story came out, people have said how much they appreciate what I and the newspaper are doing. Thank you for your support. Holding elected officials accountable is a primary job for newspapers.

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