by Dale Russell
Aired Feb. 6, 2018
CARROLLTON, Ga. - A FOX 5 I-Team investigation has found the Mayor of Carrollton is often doing business with the city he runs, either as a contractor or subcontractor.
Mayor Walt Hollingsworth says it is just a continuation of a decades-old family concrete business.
But complaints to the local district attorney has sparked a GBI investigation and caught the eye of the I-Team.
Mayor Walt Hollingsworth's family has been in concrete business since the 1950's.
“I don't know what to say,” Hollingsworth told us, “I'm not saying we've done anything wrong.”
Our investigation found the Mayor's family business, Hollingsworth Concrete has done thousands of dollars’ worth of work directly with the city he runs; he has done even more work as a subcontractor on big projects Mayor Hollingsworth voted on. Enough work, that someone complained to the then District Attorney Pete Skandalakis.
“I had received information over a period of time, and I thought it was important as a matter of public interest to look into this,” Skandalakis told me.
Skandalakis has since left office and gone to work with the state Prosecuting Attorneys' Council. He told me after getting tips about the newly elected Mayor Hollingsworth doing business with the city he asked the GBI to investigate.
Hollingsworth is the CEO of a family owned concrete company that he says has been doing business in Carrollton since 1959.
His company Facebook page endorsed Hollingsworth when he ran for Mayor back in 2015 saying: "Are you ready for leadership that serves the community and not for the personal profit for the people in charge?"
After getting complaints, Skandalakis sent a letter to the GBI asking them to investigate whether the Mayor violated his oath of office by "selling more than $800 worth of concrete per quarter" or "voting on contracts in which he knew Hollingsworth Concrete was a sub-contractor."
“We were looking at the type of business that was being solicited, how that was going about, we wanted all that looked at,” Skandalakis said.
While the GBI was investigating, we began to examine city records on our own through an Open Records request.
City purchase orders showed Carrollton paid Hollingsworth Concrete directly for 9 projects during his first two years in office Total cost payments from the city to the Mayor’s company was $4296.85
“Never thought we really did anything wrong,” said Hollingsworth.
We asked government watchdog, William Perry, what he thought about the work.
“It gives the appearance to the public that the Mayor is doing business and making money from the city, the citizens. that's not right,” said Perry.
But, there is more. City records show Hollingsworth was a subcontractor on bigger projects, like work around this Spillway, and this paving project on Maple Street.
On three projects we examined, city council minutes show Hollingsworth voted for the winning bidder, who ultimately hired him to work on the job.
“That's not ok, said William Perry. “If someone took a vote on a contract, even if it is after the fact, they should not do business with that company.”
He was even the subcontractor on this Maple Street realignment, even though he voted against the project. I asked Mayor Hollingsworth if he should have recused himself and he said that was a good question and he’s asked the city attorney for an opinion.
Sources close to the investigation tell me the GBI concluded its preliminary investigation. The recommendation: no criminal charges. But, according to a source familiar with the case, the Coweta County District Attorney is reviewing the findings.
And Walt Hollingsworth says no problem, as he hopes to keep paving unless someone tells him otherwise.
