Citizens for Ethics in Gov't LLC v. The Atlanta Dev. Auth.

Citizens for Ethics in Government, LLC “CEG” and John F. Woodham “Woodham” collectively referred to herein as “Intervenors”1 filed these appeals in connection with two bond validation proceedings filed under the Revenue Bond Law, OCGA § 36-82-60 et seq., involving the Atlanta Development Authority the “Authority”, 13th Street Holdings, LLC “13th Street” and Mezzo Development, LLC “Mezzo” 13th Street and Mezzo collectively referred to herein as the “Developers”. On October 29, 2008, the district attorney, on behalf of the State of Georgia, filed a Petition and Complaint for Bond Validation pursuant to OCGA § 36-82-75 in each of the two proceedings. The first petition sought to confirm and validate the issuance of taxable lease-purchase bonds by the Authority in an amount of up to $70 million for a project developed by 13th Street, and the second petition sought the same for bonds in an amount up to $60 million for a project developed by Mezzo. Each of these projects involved multi-family apartment developments. The Intervenors sought to intervene in each of these proceedings under OCGA § 36-82-77 a by appearing at the bond validation hearings on November 17, 2008, and filing complaints in open court. The trial court continued the validation hearings to allow for discovery and to allow the Authority and the Developers to respond to the Intervenors’ complaints.

The December 15 Hearing