Last week the Atlanta Journal Constitution exposed a shady land deal involving Georgia Governor "Sonny" Perdue. The scandal involves Florida land purchased in 2004 by Governor Perdue from major land developer Stanley Thomas, coincidently whom Perdue personally selected to be on the powerful Board of Economic Development. Coincidence? I think not. The real estate that Perdue purchased from Thomas, which he paid $2 million for, is actually worth a lot more.
AJC:
Lots of a half-acre or less at the nearby Reunion Resort & Club are selling for $350,000 to $ 650,000. Much of Perdue's land may not be developable because it is on wetlands. But if only half of it were sold for residential lots at current prices, it would be worth several times its purchase price.
More beneath the jump...
Which means that Perdue can make a major profit from anywhere from $4 million to $10 million just by selling the property he bought in Florida, which is right off a newly constructed toll road on the way to Walt Disney World. Perdue is abusing his status and power as Governor of Georgia in order to make himself richer. So what will happen to Georgia citizens and taxpayers while Perdue is off buying and selling land in Florida to apparently only increase his wallet size?
If that weren't bad enough, both the AJC and the AP also reported that Perdue signed a sweetheart tax bill in '05 that was back-dated just long enough to save himself over $100,000 on that very land deal. That provision was secretly sneaked in by Senate Republicans at the last minute.
This real estate scandal goes directly to the credibility of Sonny Perdue....and opens an enormous hole for challenger GA Lt. Governor Sonny Perdue He simply cannot be trusted to do what is right. And with this deal, he joins the ranks of Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, and Duke Cunningham as part of the Republican Culture of Corruption.
Lt. Governor Mark Taylor is running against Perdue in November and has a history of winning elections in Georgia. He sponsored the law that created Georgia's HOPE scholarship and has fought for stronger public schools in the state. We can't let Sonny Perdue continue to make choices that blatantly disregard the welfare of Georgians when there is a clear and better choice.
I try not to ask people to recommend my diaries, but this one is important. People need to know how vulnerable Perdue is!