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Bibb may try to collect Westside pledges Court ruling says they are enforceable, but boosters aren't identifying those who promised money By Randall Savage & and
Thomas W. Krause Financial pledges to Westside Boosters Inc. are legally enforceable under Georgia law, but the group says it will not try to collect from those who haven't honored their commitments. If the boosters won't, we will, said Bibb County officials, after The Telegraph told them about a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that applies to the case. "If they made a verbal commitment to pay something over a certain period of time - yes sir. I'd go after them in a minute if our attorneys say we can," said Bibb County Commission Chairman Larry Justice. "I'd love to pursue collections if we can get ahold of the list." The Boosters won't release a pledge list, saying they promised anonymity to those who committed money for construction of the former Westside Sports Complex. But the boosters' attorney said the group would release the names if sued and would not contest such a lawsuit. "We will comply with the law," said boosters attorney Ward Stone. "We will not go out of our way to pursue pledges. We will meet any legal requirement of disclosure. Other than that, we will respect the privacy of those who donated."
Commissioner Dennis Dorsey, chairman of the commission's Finance Committee, said legal action by the county is possible. "If it can be shown that somebody made a pledge, we should make every effort to collect it," he said Thursday. "We owe it to the taxpayers of Bibb County to try to collect any of the pledges." On Friday, Macon lawyer Kevin Brown, who along with Buck Melton represents the Development Authority of Bibb County, said the authority is investigating the possibility of collecting "any legally enforceable pledges that were made in anticipation of Westside Boosters' construction of the facility, if any such pledges exist." Stone and Telegraph attorney Walter Bush Jr. agreed that a 1913 ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court applies in the boosters situation. The court ruled that promises to a charitable organization in connection with a particular project - even if those promises are unwritten - are enforceable as a contract once the charity spends money based upon those promises. Last month, as a result of continuing financial problems, the boosters reneged on their agreement with the county to pay $351,257 annually over 20 years to cover a $3.65 million construction loan for the sports complex, which began with construction of a football stadium in 1998 and now includes soccer and baseball facilities. The loan was to be repaid from an estimated $395,000 in annual contributions pledged by companies and individuals. Boosters representatives maintain that those pledges were made but many were not fulfilled. Against the advice of the county finance director, the County Commission voted 3-2 in January 1999 to guarantee the loan. Commissioners Justice, Dorsey and Joe Allen favored backing the loan. Commissioner Sam Hart Sr., though initially favoring the boosters' project, voted against the loan guarantee. Commissioner Bert Bivins opposed the project from the outset. Two weeks before commissioners voted for the guarantee, boosters representatives met with Justice, Dorsey, county Finance Director Bill Vaughn, bank officials and development authority attorney Melton. The development authority ultimately secured the loan for the sports complex. According to county documents, Melton told the commissioners he had contacted three or four of the 17 potential contributors who were expected to account for the boosters' estimated $395,000 in annual donations. Melton said the donors told him they would continue their support of the project. Twice during that meeting, the documents say, Vaughn expressed grave reservations about the county underwriting a $3.65 million loan based on pledges. Vaughn noted if the pledges were not collected, county taxpayers would end up paying the debt. Vaughn turned to Colonial Bank Vice President Mark Stevens and asked if the bank would consider making the loan without the county's guarantee. Stevens said no. In retrospect, Justice says, Vaughn's point was valid. "Bill has always been real cautious," he said last week. "In this case, he was right on target. The board doesn't always agree with staff people. In this case, we were wrong."
The mystery list
A 1999 audit "reflected an unconditional promise to give amounting to $365,000. A report should be received regarding the status of these unpaid pledges," Vaughn wrote. When The Telegraph asked the boosters for a copy of the list of those who pledged donations, the boosters' attorney responded with a letter denying that any such list existed. "Westside Boosters, Inc. does not have, nor has it ever had, any business record which shows uncollected pledges or unfulfilled commitments, or any other written record, in any form, which will allow the identification of such persons or entities," Stone wrote. Five days later, Stone and booster representatives Phil Davis and Eddie Pruett met with Telegraph representatives. Stone was presented a copy of a list of pledges obtained from a document filed with the development authority. The list, coded with initials only, was titled "Yearly Donations for the Next Five Years." On the list were 17 potential contributors totaling annual donations of $395,000. The document said it included "most major donations but not all donations to occur over the next five years." Listed contributions ranged from $5,000 to $37,500. Upon seeing the list, Stone said he was embarrassed and that he had forgotten about that list. He said it was among many documents on the table during the loan closing. His office didn't prepare the list, Stone said, and he didn't know where it came from. "The letter (to The Telegraph) was a good-faith statement," Stone said. "We didn't intend to obscure the fact that the document existed. It was prepared at the time for the development authority for their use in verifying donations." Davis, the booster chairman, said he could recognize the contributors by their initials, but he said he had no written document translating the initials to names. He tapped himself on the head and said, "They're right here." Asked if Davis was the only one privy to the names behind the initials, Davis said each board member should be aware of the major contributors. But boosters President Pruett quickly said he had never seen that list and did not know any of the identities. Davis said the boosters kept records of who donated money once the money was paid, but never kept records of those who pledged. The list with initials, he said, was only a projection. Asked if it would have been more businesslike to write down the names of those who pledged, Davis refused to answer. "The contributions made and not made are private," he said. "That's all I'm going to say." But Davis added that he regularly called contributors after their initial donations. Some paid again. Others did not. "We called the people who demonstrated they would pay," he said. "The people who demonstrated they would not pay, we stopped calling. We didn't get any (promissory) notes, and that was a mistake. We didn't say we didn't make any mistakes in this venture." Asked how he could remember the contributors without a list, Davis said between himself and the other board members, they could recall who the major contributors were. The board consists of Davis, Pruett, Westside High School football coach Robert Davis, Mark Atkinson and Carolyn Jackson. Asked if any booster board members pledged money to the project, Davis refused to answer. But he did say that if any board member pledged, those pledges were honored.
In the boosters' application to the IRS for nonprofit status, filed in August 1999, six contributors are listed by name for a total of $905,233.
Bill Epps, the accountant who filled out the application, said the unusual grant included money that was to be paid over several years. But Mike Boggs, chief executive of Coliseum, said he only agreed to $150,000 worth of contributions - $37,500 per year over four years. He was puzzled by the $225,000 figure. "I have absolutely no idea what that is," he said. "That is a number and a concept that never entered our conversations." Davis admitted the number was an error. After some discussion, Epps and Davis determined that the $225,000 - six times the $37,500 gift - was an overstated figure caused by a miscommunication between the two. "We were not trying to mislead anybody," Davis said. "I think that's the only error - with Coliseum." Others on the list declined to comment for publication or could not be reached. Asked if the boosters will remain opposed to releasing the names of the contributors - even though the only verified contributor said his donation was erroneously reported - the boosters' attorney answered: "That's right." Commissioner Dorsey questioned the authenticity of any donor on any list that may be produced by the boosters. "I'm not sure they ever had all the people on the list," he said. "I know one for sure that was reported incorrectly." Dorsey said that at some point during the Westside saga, he read a newspaper report that quoted Davis saying the Coca-Cola Co. had promised more than $100,000 in contributions to the boosters. He later spoke with an official at the local Coca-Cola bottler, who told him Coca-Cola only contributes scoreboard signs to high-school football fields. The signs cost between $3,000 and $6,000, Dorsey said. On Friday, Davis recalled the news conference at which the announcement was made. But he said he didn't mean Coca-Cola pledged cash. "Coca-Cola promised a large rebate program that was based on sales and concessions," Davis said. "It would have been more than $100,000." Declining attendance and low concession sales, however, hindered the rebate program, which Davis said was based on soft-drink sales over a five-year period. Coca-Cola did contribute to the scoreboard and other stadium fixtures such as concessions equipment, he said.
'State of the art facility'
Although the boosters entered the venture with the intention of collecting donations and game revenues in the amounts necessary to run the facility, that proved impossible, Davis said. Cost overruns, low attendance and bad publicity contributed to minimal revenues from ticket sales and concessions and the withdrawal of several still-unnamed contributors. Articles that ran in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Telegraph questioned the management at Westside Boosters Inc. and listed potential problems with federal guidelines that mandate sports complexes must be used by boys teams and girls teams equally. Both sets of articles, Davis contends, were misleading. Likewise, Davis said, the boosters ran into a series of construction problems that caused unanticipated costs. For instance, the concessions section needed a special fire-proof roof that cost $100,000; the football stadium had to be relocated on the plot of land that had been graded due to an originally unknown problem with a creek; water and sewer lines had to be run over an unforeseen distance that required much infrastructure work and hook-up fees. Then, the year after construction, a lack of attendance at 1999 football games caused a shortfall in projected revenues. "We felt like we had a real good first year," Davis said. "The second year shocked us." Boosters President Pruett said all indications were the organization wouldn't have enough money to stay afloat through the 2000 football season. He said he was concerned that the group would not be able to pay even the light bill halfway through the season. That's when members threw up their hands and handed the responsibility to the county. "Despite all the other stuff," Pruett said, "it is a state-of-the-art facility." And Davis said the boosters are not finished helping. "We will do whatever we can to work with the county and the development authority and anybody we can to make this work in the future," he said.
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