If you have been following the interviews concerning the Jekyll Island controversy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), you may be interested in this. (BTW: If you read the post in #3, it begins with a comment that the interview should piss you off. That reference was apparently confusing, particularly if you did not read the entire post. I was not referring to the person interviewed, Wade Shealy. Rather, I was referring to the subject of the interview, a corrupted bid selection process in which Shealy and his company did not appear to have been fairly treated.)
There was an article in the AJC last Friday about a lawsuit filed November 15th in Fulton Superior Court seeking judicial review of the process by which a politically connected developer, Linger Longer, was selected as the Revitalization Partner of the Jekyll Island Authority in the proposed development of 45 acres on Jekyll Island.
The Jekyll Island Revitalization Group (JIRG) and its related company, Jekyll Island Company are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. The defendants are:
JEKYLL ISLAND – STATE PARK AUTHORITY; BENJAMIN G. PORTER, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jekyll Island – State Park Authority; EDWARD E. BOSHEARS, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Jekyll Island – State Park Authority; HOMER DELOACH; MICHAEL D. HODGES; BECKY KELLEY; SYBIL D. LYNN; ROBERT W. KRUEGER; SAMUEL B. KELLETT; STEPHEN B. CROY, Members of the Board of Directors of the Jekyll Island – State Park Authority.
You can read a copy of the petition for judicial review, but these are the basic allegations:
COUNT I: THE PROPOSAL SELECTED BY JIA WAS NOT RESPONSIVE TO RFP 244, IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED BY JIA, AND IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SELECTED BY JIA.
COUNT II: JIA EXCEEDED ITS AUTHORITY IN CONSIDERING AND SELECTING THE LINGER LONGER COMMUNITIES PROPOSAL.
COUNT III: JIA VIOLATED ITS DUTIES AS A TRUSTEE.
COUNT IV: JIA VIOLATED THE OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT, AND JIA FAILED TO FAIRLY AND EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE ALLEGED CHANGES IN THE REQUIREMENTS OF RFP 244.
COUNT V: JIA VIOLATED JIRG’S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS.
COUNT VI: JIA VIOLATED JIRG’S RIGHT TO EQUAL PROTECTION.
COUNT VII: JIA’S ACTIONS CONSTITUTE A TAKING WITHOUT JUST COMPENSATION.
COUNT VIII: INJUNCTION AGAINST FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN DEFENDANTS AND LINGER LONGER COMMUNITIES.
In seeking an injunction, Count VIII alleges:
107. JIRG lacks an adequate remedy at law. Unless JIA and Linger Longer Communities are restrained and enjoined from conducting planning and contract negotiations concerning RFP 244, JIRG will suffer irreparable harm in it ability to not only seek and obtain effective judicial review of the Final Decisions, but also to obtain an effective and fair remedy if the Final Decision is reversed.
108. The public has a substantial interest in honest and fair bidding on public projects and decisions concerning requests for proposals. The public interest would likewise suffer immediate and irreparable injury should JIA and Linger Longer Communities not be enjoined from planning and contract negotiations.
And what does JIRG want the Superior Court to do?
WHEREFORE, the Plaintiffs pray:
(a) that this Court enjoin the following parties from taking any action in furtherance of negotiating a contract for RFP 244:
(i) Linger Longer Communities, including any person or entity that created or submitted any information on behalf of Linger Longer Communities in response to RFP 244, and the directors officers, members, employees, and agents of those entities; and;
(ii) Defendants, and the officers, employees, agents, and those acting in concert with the Jekyll Island – State Park Authority;
(b) that this Court order JIA to transmit the entire record in this matter before JIA to this Court;
(c) that this Court order, adjudge, declare and decree that the Final Decision is void and unenforceable in its entirety;
(i) that this Court order JIA to strike the proposal submitted by Linger Longer Communities and select the proposal submitted by JIRG;
(ii) in the alternative, that this Court order JIA to re-start the bidding process for RFP 244; and
(d) that this Court grant such other, further, plenary, and different relief as may be deemed just and proper.
Injunctions require hearings and I assume there will be a humdinger sometime in the near future. If a temporary injunction is granted, the development projected will be on hold indefinitely.Â
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