Lowry: Eldridge knew of participants

The clouds surrounding the non-quorum meeting involving Athens-Clarke County commissioners seem to be lifting somewhat and offering a little additional pespective on what transpired.

I spoke with Athens-Clarke County District One Commissioner Doug Lowry regarding the meeting, and he offered some additional details on how it was conceived.

Lowry said he was approached by Gerry Whitworth, a local real estate agent marketing the Athena Industrial Park, about the latter's desire to put together an informational presentation regarding marketing the site as an alternative to the Orkin Tract. Lowry agreed to assist Whitworth in doing so and, working with him, contacted various leaders in the community, including the commissioners.

A copy of an introductory email sent by Lowry to the commissioners outlined what would be on the docket for the meeting ...

Right now what I am organizing is a presentation about the new Bio-Science Park. This is a 384 acre site in the industrial park off Athens Industrial behind Noramco and Merial. There will be maps and pamphlets describing the area for us to see and take away.

I am planning for Flora Tydings and Margaret Dahl to help us get a picture of the education and training aspect of the site as well as how UGA will fit into the effort. Lynn Bryant and Jinx Patel will let us know how they see the future of their current work and why they are expanding their facility. Finally, Gerry Whitworth and his son Grant will fill us in on the property and some of the potential businesses they foresee locating there.

I believe Gerry and Grant will also have some news to share with us concerning possible financing for the park’s infrastructure.

All this will take place on Tuesday, June 30 at 6p-7:30p at the Chamber of Commerce.
I believe it will be an informative and thought-provoking 90 minutes that will be worth your time.

Lowry said he called Doc Eldridge, the president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, on June 11 to not only notify him of the meeting - including its participants and proposed presentation - but also to see if it was possible the chamber's headquarters could be used as its location ...

This was supposed to be an event that was designed to help the chamber. There are lots of things we can do to help them, and we should do them. This seemed like one of them.

Lowry's assertion is contrary to what Eldridge told the Athens Banner-Herald ...

Chamber President Doc Eldridge, a former commissioner and mayor, urged organizers to postpone the meeting because it violated the spirit of the law and schedule another publicized meeting when he found out Tuesday that the entire commission was invited.

According to Lowry, Eldridge never did that.

Lowry said Eldridge never expressed to him - or any other commissioner, at any time - a concern that the meeting could potentially be in violation of the state's Sunshine Law, nor did he ask any of the commissioners to postpone the meeting. Lowry said he spoke with Eldridge just prior to the meeting, and the latter made no mention of his concerns regarding public notification. In fact, he was introduced at the meeting and sat through the first 15 minutes of the presentation.

The first Lowry heard of Eldridge's concern was during the development of the story in the days following the meeting.

The only warning that Eldridge appears to have sent out, however, is an email that went out at 5 p.m. on June 30 - an hour and a half before it would convene - and was sent to only Whitworth (who, additionally, didn't check the message until four days later).

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have suggested it was Eldridge who tipped off the Athens Banner-Herald to the meeting, and Lowry noted that Eldridge sat next to the reporter during the meeting.

The second concern, it would seem, is that according to Lowry - as well as several participants of the Tuesday meeting who declined to comment on the record - Eldridge was fully aware of the invitation being extended to the entire commission.

Lowry said he has called Eldridge several times in the past week, but has not yet spoken to him.

Given the promising news that was actually the reason for the meeting being called in the first place, Lowry acknowledged that this flap might inflame tensions between the the commission and the chamber. He hoped, however, it wouldn't be a long-term concern ...

This has hurt our relationship, at least in the short-term. Maybe not so much with me, but I know that a lot of commissioners just don't have time for this. ...

There is no dispute among the commissioners, however, that this community needs a strong chamber of commerce, and we want to help make that a reality. But a relationship is a two-way street, and this is no different.