Parker Neely – Gateway Crossing Scores Big
On Tap for $255,000 Plus free Association Dues
Posted March 5, 2016 09:50 am
Parker Neely (file)
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Parker Neely – Centurion Partners – Gateway Crossing – GWC (all incarnations of a retail subdivision planned by Parker Neely) scored big on Thursday night, as the County 5 on a 4-1 vote agreed to give Parker Neely's I-75 – U.S. 90 shopping plaza, GWC, its last version, a $255,000 economic development incentive. The County 5 did not ask for a return of the previously paid trade association dues and a hotel room for Mr. Neely, nor is the incentive based in any measure on job creation or creating living wage jobs.
In the Beginning
The Parker Neely – Centurion Partners – Columbia County saga began in June of 2014. County Economic Development Chief, Glenn Hunter, was introduced to Parker Neely at Bob Evan's Restaurant in Lake City. Local real-estate broker, Janet Creel, made the introduction.
Mr. Hunter picked up the tab with a County credit card.
During that lunch, Mr. Hunter agreed to pay for Mr. Neely's trade association dues for the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centers) and put him up at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando for the ICSC convention. Cost to the taxpayers: $800 for ICSC dues; $310.70 for the Hyatt Regency.
The ICSC is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Among its 70,000 members in over 100 countries are shopping center owners, developers, investors, retailers, brokers, academics, and public officials. The County also paid for a membership for Mr. Hunter at $100.
Late in 2014, the then County Finance Director, Jared Blanton (Mr. Blanton has since moved on) picked up the charges during an audit and sought explanations.
Econ Dir Hunter and County Attorney Foreman Respond
In an undated memo, Mr. Hunter explained how he met Mr. Neely. "Mr. Neely introduced himself as a partner representing Centurion Partners, LLC, located in Concord, North Carolina..."
Mr. Hunter also explained that paying to join the ICSC and attending "the [upcoming] convention in Orlando would afford us a personal opportunity to enhance the relationships as we would begin working with his contacts."
Outside of his shopping plaza, there is no indication that Mr. Neely has brought anyone to Columbia County, besides himself.
County Attorney Joel Foreman Weighs In
On January 9, 2015, County Attorney Joel Foreman defended Mr. Hunter's actions.
Mr. Foreman wrote in a memo to Assistant County Manager Ben Scott: "Given that Mr. Neely was apparently a unique contact that Mr. Hunter cultivated in advance of ICSC, and given Mr. Neely's willingness to arrange introductions for Mr. Hunter at ICSC to potential industrial and retail clients for the County, Mr. Neely was a single-source supplier for the services Mr. Hunter procured from him... Furthermore, to the extent these expenditures were intended to help Mr. Hunter and his department's efforts 'to attract and retain business enterprises' to Columbia County, that expenditure of public funds was permissible under Fla. Stat. section 125.045."
In July 2013, Mr. Foreman, then the
Chamber of Commerce president, hawked the County hiring
the Alabama firm,
Retail Strategies
to take care of the County's retail needs. The cost to
the County's residents, $80,000.
See:
Columbia County 5 At It Again: Skimming $80,000 of
Cream Out of Taxpayer's Pockets
Retail Strategies attends ICSC regional and national conferences. They were Columbia County's consultant/representative in Orlando.
Finance Director Blanton Responded
On January 22, 2015, Finance Director Blanton emailed a response to his boss, Clerk of the Courts, P. De Witt Cason.
Mr. Blanton began, "We have a real problem here with Mr. Neely's documentation, in that it's apparently false. Per what Mr. Hunter stated in his letter [the undated memo], Mr. Neely...introduced himself as a partner representing Centurion Partners, LLC, located in Concord, North Carolina... He provided a copy of the website for that company as backup."
On January 13, 2012, Parker Neely registered with the state of Florida a limited liability partnership with the name, Centurion Equity Partners. The new firm had a Lake City address.
Mr. Blanton continued, "My staff called Centurion Partners, LLC, in North Carolina to speak with Mr. Neely. Instead, she was told by one of the other partners (John R. Shell) that Mr. Neely hasn't worked there in over three years? He has since founded an organization of similar name that is registered in Florida and located in Lake City... He is, per John Shell, no longer part of that organization... his position is misleading and false."
Mr. Blanton concluded, "This is primarily a private benefit to Mr. Neely, who in reality has an 'upstart' company here locally, not an established history."
"... My opinion is that Mr. Neely owes back to the County at least the cost of his [ICSC] membership."
Mr. Hunter told the Observer that Mr. Neely was never under contract with Columbia County.
The Clerk of the Courts Weighs In: Asks for the Money
On January 23, 2015, the man that signs the checks, P. DeWitt Cason, Clerk of the Courts weighed in. He wanted the money.
In a letter to County Attorney Joel Foreman and Assistant County Manager Ben Scott, Mr. Cason wrote:
"A review of the supporting documentation and explanation for the ICSC expense for Parker Neely provides no reasonable and necessary justification for the purchase of a professional organization membership for a non-employee. Any public benefit derived from Mr. Neely's membership would be incidental and secondary to the primary benefit he and his company derive. An incidental public benefit is not sufficient to achieve a public purpose (AGO98-44). Additionally, the supporting documentation provided is apparently false with regard to statements made about what company he is representing."
Mr. Cason concluded, "Mr. Neely owes the County back the cost of his membership in the ICSC."
Thursday, March 3, 2016
The Columbia County 5 from left to
right: Commissioners Ronald Williams;
Rusty DePratter; Bucky Nash; Everett Phillips; Scarlet
Frisina
Columbia County does not have a retail economic development incentive program.
Mr. Neely had already planned and financed his retail plaza. Lake City had approved the plans. Mr. Neely previously claimed he had already invested $6,000,000 and was going to build the project whether he received incentives or not.
After various incarnations, the County 5 during its Thursday meeting, voted to award Mr. Neely $255,000 in economic incentives for his retail shopping plaza.
The incentive is conditional, based on increases in the appraised value of the land and is not based on job creation or creating living wage jobs.
The reimbursement of Mr. Neely's stay at the Orlando Hyatt hotel room is still up in the air.
The County is still waiting for Mr. Neely to return the $800 for his International Council of Shopping Centers association dues.