The narrative put forth in the article titled “Forward Focus: Mayor Anthony S. Ford on the Future of Stockbridge and the $32 Million Question” attempts to paint a portrait of steady governance and immediate financial remediation. Yet, an examination of public records, independent audits, and statements to council from staff reveals that the message of transparency disseminated by the Mayor is contradicted by systemic financial dysfunction, repeated administrative failures, and troubling entanglements between the administration and its chosen media partners.
The Source of the Spin: A Network of Convenience
The source of the Mayor’s defense, Game Changers Media Network, operates less as an independent news outlet and more as a public relations conduit. Further investigation into the network reveals potential conflicts of interest reaching directly into City Hall.
According to Georgia Real Estate Commission and Appraisers Board records dated October 20, 2025, Tabitha Jamison Mallard, the proprietor’s wife of Game Changers Media Network (License #377757), maintains an Active Status Salesperson license at METRO BROKERS INC. Crucially, this is the very same realty firm where Councilperson Elton Alexander holds his own Active Status Salesperson license (License #373521). This connection places the Mayor’s chief media ally in shared professional orbit with a sitting council member.
Game Changers Media Network previously benefited from access related to the controversial VyStar Amphitheater. This is the same facility whose manager, Harold Young, was subsequently terminated amid the financial maelstrom. Public allegations and Finance Director Frank Milazi’s last appearance before council assert that no competitive sealed bid process was conducted for vendors or naming rights for the Amphitheater from 2021 through 2024, despite city requirements for procurements over $50,000 to be bid on, and despite Georgia State procurement law stating any public works project over $100,000 must be bid in the Georgia Procurement Registry.
Click here for: The Unaudited Financial Report of the Fiscal Year Ending August 31, 2025 as presented by Mr. Milazi
Click here for: PDF transcript of Mr. Milazi’s September 30 Stockbridge City Council Budget Update & forthcoming amendment presentation
The Reckoning: Audit Findings vs. PR Claims
Mayor Ford contends that the $32 million issue was merely a “failure of process” that they “fixed,” assuring citizens that transfers between accounts “won’t happen again” and that “the books are corrected”. However, the detailed audit findings released publicly demonstrate that these “failures of process” were pervasive and persistent:
The city’s independent audits for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 have revealed persistent systemic financial weaknesses, with recurring fundamental failures identified repeatedly as “unresolved” from previous years (2011-2023). These serious deficiencies include repeated failure to properly capitalize millions in city assets, such as over $1.5 million in Amphitheater construction costs in 2022 alone, persistent mismanagement of receivable and revenue accounts, and chronic failures related to interfund activity.
Game Changer’s Media Networks story, published on September 30th, precedes the fac.gov 2024 Annual Financial Comprehensive Report published on October 7th. Here are my notes on the 2024 Financial Statement Findings and Questioned Costs.
- 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.
- Overall Cause: The root cause of nearly all findings is identified as Management Oversight.
The alleged accounting errors appear to have been instrumental in masking the Amphitheater’s staggering overruns, with practices identified specifically for concealing expenses by improperly shifting costs to unrelated funds, such as the “citywide projects” fund. Despite the Mayor’s assertion that the Amphitheater construction cost was “paid off” in August. As recently as the financial update at the Sep. 30 city council meeting, in the documents & video of Mr. Milazi above, the finance department acknowledged an upcoming budget amendment to cover a $1.6 million amphitheater shortfall for 2025, with only $1 million collected against its budgeted revenue of $2.6 million for the year. As previously discussed on this site there’s a plan to build the missing $390,000 sound booth. If you owe for $390,000 in construction on an unfinished project then the amphitheater, by no measure of logic, is payed off.
The scale of misinformation provided to elected officials prior to these 2022-2024 corrections was confirmed by the City’s current finance director. In a public statement on September 30, 2025, Mr. Milazi stated plainly that the council was relying on flawed data: “There were two sets of reports that were being made, and the reports that were being given to you to make wise decisions were not. So we misled you.”
Amphitheater as the economic driver of downtown
As Game Changer’s says “amphitheaters rarely mint profits, but they do fuel downtown restaurants, hotels, and small businesses.” And where they quote Mayor Ford as saying “Break-even is a win when you count the spillover.” The coming budget amendment for the amphitheater & the sound booth will be ~$2,000,000. You’ll have to judge for yourself whether 2 restaurants constitutes a “Break-even” cost.
The city’s own advisory firm, KBA wrote on page 46 in the Economic Development 2024 Update, “While partially due to the disconnect between the amphitheater and downtown retail, the absence of sustaining day-time and night-time users leaves a critical gap in revitalization efforts. Investment in Downtown Stockbridge should become more focused on activation and engagement with a renewed focus on “live-work” aspects. The city has made a promising step forward by incorporating municipal office space along Main Street. While the office market continues to evolve following the 2020 pandemic, attracting co-working or providing incubator spaces downtown can increase foot traffic and interest. Given the changing landscape of office users, increasing residential is a critical goal to realizing vibrancy in the heart of Stockbridge.”
The Price of Accountability: Departures in the Executive Office
The current administrative turmoil follows directly from the financial recklessness of previous management, a period characterized by reckless spending and a palpable fear of legal repercussions among staff. It was during a period of unbudgeted spending and improper fiscal activity that then-City Manager Frederick Gardiner warned the council about the severe consequences of their actions, cautioning against activity that could lead to legal action against him personally: “um as I mentioned to you guys at the last city council meeting Frederick don’t look good in jumpsuit I ain’t 6’5 350 LBS to fight so I ain’t going to jail.”
The city manager who publicly stated he wasn’t willing to risk incarceration for the city’s financial decisions, Frederick Gardiner, submitted the proposed FY 2025 budget memorandum dated November 4, 2024, but later departed the city’s employ. His departure occurred amidst a period of immense scrutiny, following his time in a management role that was seemingly caught between council demands and legal compliance.
The evidence suggests that the narrative of simple “process failure” is a gross understatement aimed at shielding the administration from accountability. The audit findings reveal ongoing operational neglect, and the public statements made by former and current staff highlight the severe consequences of operating outside legal and fiscal guardrails, consequences that ultimately drove leadership changes at the highest levels of the city. The facts, laid bare in the official record, stand in sharp contradiction to the public relations spin provided by the Mayor’s favored media outlet.
