A government watchdog organization
in Georgia has published a newsletter highlighting the leadership success of
the former president of Georgia Perimeter College, Dr. Anthony Tricoli.
After doing a stellar job as
president, and winning both state and national awards for his numerous
accomplishments, it is alleged in a well-documented lawsuit that the University
System of Georgia resorted to fraud to destroy the career and reputation of Dr.
Tricoli.
The Attorney General of Georgia and
the trial court have taken extraordinary measures to protect the state
officials who retaliated against Dr. Tricoli for cutting pet projects out of
the budget and exposing waste and misappropriation of state funds. Georgia Watchdog wrote
a detailed article in their newsletter about how sovereign immunity laws in
Georgia have been used as a defense by the State of Georgia in many other
lawsuits to allow public officials accused of criminal acts to be shielded
from accountability. It substantiates why the Center
for Public Integrity ranked Georgia dead last in ethics and transparency out of
all 50 states.
I encourage you to open this
attachment and read about the accomplishments that were gained during the six
year tenure of Dr. Tricoli, then ask yourself……When will we finally stand
together and stop the unethical and corrupt actions of the USG Chancellor and
the Board of Regents so this does not happen to other leaders who are not part
of Georgia’s good ‘ol boy system.
Below is a letter from the state
director of Georgia Watchdogs addressing this issue.
Good Afternoon:
You might wonder why a government
watchdog organization is publishing a newletter about the former president of
Georgia Perimeter College, Dr. Anthony Tricoli.
After doing a stellar job as
president, and winning both state and national awards for his numerous
accomplishments, it is alleged in a well-documented lawsuit that the University
System of Georgia resorted to fraud to destroy the career and reputation of Dr.
Tricoli.
The Attorney General of Georgia and
the trial court have taken extraordinary measures to protect the state
officials who retaliated against Dr. Tricoli for cutting pet projects out of
the budget and exposing waste and misappropriation of state funds. (Go to www.GeorgiaWatchdogs.com and enter “sovereign immunity” in the search box to
view a previous newsletter about how sovereign immunity laws in Georgia have
been used as a defense by the State of Georgia in many other lawsuits to allow
public officials accused of criminal acts to be shielded from accountability.
It substantiates why the Center for Public Integrity ranked Georgia dead last
in ethics and transparency out of all 50 states.)
The supporting documentation for
this lawsuit should sound alarm bells for every taxpayer in Georgia. The
lawsuit alleges that 300 jobs were lost, almost 10,000 fewer students per
semester are gaining access to higher education, and somewhere between $9.5
million and $18.5 million remains missing and unaccounted for to this day,
according to Georgia Perimeter College’s own self-audit.
The long-term overall negative
economic impact is far worse than that.
The Attorney General is alleged to
be perversely distorting the law to protect the wrongdoers who destroyed Dr.
Tricoli’s career and put an end to his positive reforms at Georgia Perimeter
College.
After the Attorney General was
sanctioned by the judge in the Ethics Commission whistleblower lawsuit for
withholding evidence, the
taxpayers were forced to pay the fine for his violation of the law.
When the Ethics Commission lawsuits were settled, it cost taxpayers
over $3 million.
Now, once again, taxpayers are being
forced to face the probability of paying millions of dollars as a result of the
alleged wrongdoing of state officials who retaliated against Dr. Tricoli.
Taxpayers are also suffering from the negative impact that all of this has had
on a once vibrant and successful public educational institution, Georgia
Perimeter College.
Although he promised to investigate
the $9.5 million to $18.5 million that remains unaccounted for at GPC,
Georgia’s Attorney General Sam Olens has instead focused his efforts on defending
those who now claim sovereign immunity for their efforts to destroy Dr.
Tricoli’s career. This is EXACTLY the
same tactic that Attorney General Olens used in the open records lawsuit I
filed to enforce Georgia’s Open Records Act. (Go towww.GeorgiaWatchdogs.com and enter “Sam Olens” in the search box to view a
previous newsletter and link to an embarrassing videotape of Georgia’s Attorney
General lying about his actions in that case.)
Georgia taxpayers deserve better
than this. Not only are our open records laws and sovereign immunity laws being
perverted, but innocent people are being destroyed and taxpayers are being
forced to pay for it.
Georgia’s Attorney General owes
taxpayers an explanation for his actions.
As always, I welcome your comments.
Best Regards,
Sabrina Smith
Statewide Chairman
Georgia Watchdogs
Email: Sabrina@GeorgiaWatchdogs.com
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