I-Team: DOT Planning Director Linked to Lobbyist

Описание: by Dale Russell
Aired Sept. 27, 2016

ATLANTA - One man is the Georgia Department of Transportation’s top road planning director. The other man was hired by Henry County Commissioners to convince the DOT to build roads in Henry County.

But, a FOX 5 I-Team investigation found the two men, Jay Roberts and William Woodall, are not only longtime friends - but also business partners.

Henry county commission Chairman, Tommy Smith, says it is a clear conflict of interest.

“To me you'd be lobbying government, and you'd have an inside person,” Smith says, “don't look good, no sir.”

In 2015, Governor Deal hand-picked former state legislator Jay Roberts to be his top planning director at the DOT, making critical decisions about what roads get improved or built in Georgia.

On August 2nd, Henry County commissioners voted to pay lobbyist William Woodall's company, On-Point Strategies, $2000 a month to help get DOT projects funded in Henry County

Commissioner Blake Prince said, “We're hiring a lobbyist to go to capital and fight for Henry County.”

It looks like Mr. Woodall went right to work. Eight days after the vote to hire him, Mr. Woodall met with Jay Roberts, State Senator Rick Jeffares, and other Henry county officials to discuss road projects.

Jay Roberts announced that day; the DOT would spend $72 million to widen Georgia Highway 155. This decision, which Roberts told us he made by himself, moved Henry County's project ahead of hundreds of other potential road projects throughout the state.

Commissioner, Gary Barham, gave Roberts and Woodall credit: “We got a…project added to the state list last week, with Jay Roberts and William Woodall.”

Barham added that Woodall was critical to the decision. “He got Jay Roberts down here in a weeks’ time,” the commissioner said, “and he's the man. Jay Roberts is the man.”

But, the FOX 5 I-Team has learned William Woodall and Jay Roberts are more than friends. They're actually business partners in hunting and fishing show you can find online, called dirtroadtv.

We asked Mr. Roberts if this was a conflict of interest. “Some people may see it that way,” he said. “I don't.”

But Henry County commission chairman Tommy Smith sees it differently: “If it takes on even the appearance of impropriety, it’s wrong.”

Our investigation also found Mr. Woodall’s lobbying company Henry county Commissioners hired, On Point Strategies, has ties to Jay Roberts.

The FOX 5 I-Team examined company records on file with the state for On-Point Strategies. The original organizer and registered agent for the company is not William Woodall, but Jay Robert's wife. And the contact email listed is Jay Roberts's personal email.

Roberts insists it is all a mistake: “My wife was on there originally as it was set up,” says Roberts, “if she’s still on there, I actually need to pull her off.”

Roberts says originally On-Point Strategies was formed to do that hunting and fishing show, but he and his wife are now out of the company. It belongs to Mr. Woodall.

But the original company records indicate On Point Strategies was formed for: Management, Sales, Consulting. Not one word about hunting or fishing.

“I guess we have not modified it to that point,” says Roberts, “I can assure you, I've never received anything nor has my wife received anything from that.”

Henry County Commission chairman Tommy Smith says, “This right here tarnishes the whole credibility of Mr. Roberts, whether it legal or not, it's a conflict of interest.”

After talking with Jay Roberts in the morning, within one hour we got messages from the Governor's Staff and the DOT saying William Woodall never signed the Henry county lobbying contract given to him on August 2nd. The DOT and the Governor contend since Mr. Woodall hadn’t signed the contract, he wasn’t the Henry County lobbyist.

Since our interview with Jay Roberts, Mr. Woodall has now told Henry County officials he wants to help them get road projects, but he doesn’t want to get paid.

Chairman Smith finds it all confusing, “If he's telling people he's not a lobbyist, then there must be something more to it. The public thinks he's our lobbyist.”

William Woodall would not return our phone calls. The Secretary of State's web site shows On-Point Strategies was set to be dissolved the same day we first talked to Jay Roberts