Stop trying to clown the southside.
As news cameras focus on Councilman Elton Alexander’s attempts at municipal cleanup, citizens and independent watchdogs must look past the superficial photo opportunity and toward the financial chasm consuming Stockbridge, Georgia. A performance of civic duty, such as picking up trash, will not conceal the widespread financial malfeasance, systemic ethical failures, and documented pattern of retaliation that has cost taxpayers millions and led to calls for a racketeering investigation.
The city’s financial wreckage far from being a simple administrative “failure of process” is a compounding crisis stemming from pervasive Management Oversight.
The public relations narrative of a city getting its house in order sharply contradicts the cold reality of official financial audits and public records:
Massive Budget Shortfalls: The City Council had to amend its budget by $32.9 million to account for documented “mismanagement” of funds. The city’s finance director confirmed the severity of the crisis, publicly stating that the council was relying on flawed data: “We misled you.”
Amphitheater as the Epicenter: The Stockbridge Amphitheater, designed to be self-sufficient, has consistently operated at a loss. Its expenses reportedly soared from 2 million to 8.1 million. Audit findings repeatedly flagged significant adjustments needed to the General and Amphitheater Funds due to improper expenditure recording and a lack of missing supporting documentation and approvals. The following notes from the 2024 audit that was released in October, aren’t part of this year’s previous $32,900,000 budget amendment of 2022-2023 shortfalls into the 2024 budget. We’ll have to amend the 2025 budget to address this year’s $2,000,000 amphitheater shortfall. We haven’t built the soundbooth yet, in four years time. The booth will be another $400K.
- Revenue & Receivables Management (Finding 2024-001): Significant adjustments were required across multiple funds (General, ARPA, Grants, SPLOST V, Solid Waste, Conference Center, Hotel/Motel Tax) to correctly state revenue, receivables, unearned revenue and allowances for doubtful accounts. The total impact was substantial.
- Interfund Activity (Finding 2024-002): Interfund receivables, payables, and transfers were improperly stated requiring adjustments across many funds including General, ARPA, Grants, City-wide Capital Projects, Downtown Development, City-wide Development, Public Facilities Authority, Stormwater, Conference Center, Cemetery, SPLOST IV, and Urban Redevelopment.
- Prepaid Assets & Expenses (Finding 2024-003): Adjustments were needed in General, ARPA, City-wide Development, Water/Sewer, Stormwater, Solid Waste, Conference Center, Amphitheater, and Hotel/Motel Tax funds to properly record prepaid assets and expenses.
- Inventory (Finding 2024-004): The Water & Sewer Fund required an adjustment due to a lack of reconciliation between the general ledger and physical inventory counts.
- Amphitheater Expenditures (Finding 2024-006): Significant adjustments were needed to the General and Amphitheater Funds due to improper expenditure recording, lack of approvals, and missing supporting documentation. This was a major finding with large dollar amounts.
- Accrued Liabilities (Finding 2024-007): Adjustments were required in the SPLOST IV fund for improperly stated accrued liabilities.
- Depreciation (Finding 2024-008): Depreciation was incorrectly recorded in the General Fund, which is not appropriate under modified accrual accounting.
- Capitalization of Assets (Finding 2024-009): Capital items were excluded from capital asset details in both governmental and business-type activities.
- CSLFRF Reporting (Finding 2024-010): Multiple quarterly financial reports for the COVID-19 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Grants were submitted late.
- COPS Grant Reporting (Finding 2024-011): Multiple quarterly and semiannual reports for Public Safety Partnerships and Community Policing Grants were submitted late, improperly supported, or contained incorrect expenditure reporting.
- Prior Year Findings: Most of the findings from the 2023 audit (001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 006) remain Unresolved or Partially Resolved as of December 31, 2024.
Despite all this, the city decided to spend tax money on hundreds of comped tickets to an amphitheater show. It was a $180,000 loss scheduled purposefully to coincide with the early voting stage of the election.
Concealment of Funds: Records suggest a pattern of deliberate concealment of amphitheater expenses, with costs shifted to unrelated funds “without the City Council’s knowledge or approval.” as the city has put it. This idea fails under scrutiny when you realize a councilperson, Barber has been asking for the Mauldin & Jenkins financial report for years. I know fac.gov audits are supposed to be filed yearly. And yet they weren’t, a fact noticed by hundreds of Stockbridge citizens. Finally, I find it hard to believe these people didn’t know huge catered parties they attended for four years cost tens of millions of dollars. Nor does Fox5’s Kaitlyn Pratt’s producer’s boss, evidently.
Any attempt to recast Councilman Alexander as a responsible public servant must confront his history of alleged misconduct and the resulting burden placed on Stockbridge taxpayers.
In 2021, the city’s insurer paid a massive 1.7 million settlement to Arick Whitson, owner of Georgie Championship Barbecue Co. The settlement resolved a federal lawsuit alleging deprivation of constitutional rights and retaliation. The dispute began in May2016 after Alexander allegedly visited the restaurant, ordered 60 worth of food, and then refused to pay. When asked for payment, Alexander allegedly told Whitson, “I thought you wanted to do business with the city?” before leaving without paying.
Whitson claimed that after this interaction, Alexander initiated a year-long vendetta. This harassment campaign included code enforcement officials frequently visiting the restaurant, and Whitson facing difficulties obtaining a liquor license or sign permit. Furthermore, Alexander was accused of escalating the harassment by filing false complaints and making false claims that Whitson was on the National Sex Offender Registry. Alexander even admitted in a 2019 deposition that he had used fake names online to criticize his opponents.
This scandal was so damaging that Mayor Anthony Ford and council members LaKeisha Gantt and John Blount publicly called for Alexander’s resignation, stating that the $1.725 million settlement had “brought shame to the city of Stockbridge”. Alexander, who does not support the settlement, has been subject to a “continuous pattern of disciplinary actions,” including being censured twice and facing six different ethics investigations since January 2016. More recently, he was reported to be “posted up at Merle Manders polling place bothering the mayor elect.”
The Failure of the Fourth Estate: Atlanta’s PR Machine
The focus by outlets like Fox 5 on a non-story like trash pickup, while ignoring the verifiable trail of financial devastation and alleged corruption, is a symptom of a larger regional crisis in accountability journalism.
This trend is epitomized by media that operate as little more than public relations conduits. For example, Game Changers Media Network, which promoted the Mayor’s narrative of steady governance, has demonstrable links to city officials: the proprietor’s wife holds a real estate license at METRO BROKERS INC, the same realty firm where Councilperson Elton Alexander holds his license.
This dynamic ensures that instead of conducting essential, in-depth investigations into the blatant concealment of public funds, the systematic evasion of procurement law, and the pattern of alleged extortion and retaliation that demands a racketeering inquiry, too much of the Atlanta-area media is focused on crafting PR to rehabilitate unlikable candidates with bad records. The financial facts and the systemic ethical rot in Stockbridge are the real story, not a manufactured photo opportunity meant to scrub the reputation of an official accused of long-term misconduct.
