In November 2016, a bright and promising young man was killed on Milton’s roads.  His name was Josh Chang and he was a senior at Yale university.  By all accounts, Josh was a young man who was going to accomplish great things in life.  On Friday, a jury found the City of Milton (93%) liable for Josh’s death because of an obstruction (a massive planter) that the City allowed in its Right of Way.  The City of Milton has been ordered to pay $30+ M to Josh’s family.  This tragic event represents a low point in Milton’s history and should serve as a wakeup call to citizens that all is not well in Milton’s city government.

I will not provide details of the accident or the trial in this post.  You can get the specifics from the following two stories from 11Alive and WSB:

11 Alive Story: Wrongful Death of Josh Chang

WSB: Huge Judgment Against City of Milton in Death of Josh Chang

Josh Chang’s death was tragic.  And unfortunately, Josh’s death was also avoidable.  Chalk it up to incompetence at Milton’s City Hall.  Since 2015, I have been sounding the alarm about serious problems in Milton’s city government.  I have exposed many instances of incompetence, corruption, and pettiness.  This includes the surreptitious redrawing of city council district lines; multiple counts of egregious council member misbehavior; backroom dealings; and favors for friends in zoning matters.  Instead of focusing on important issues, like public safety, Milton’s City Council is focused on minutiae, such as trifling HOA issues, granting favors to friends, and settling political scores.  In fact, City Council recently made it nearly impossible for HOAs to install speed detection signs in their communities.  This decision will surely make Milton’s roads more dangerous . . . worse, this decision was about settling political scores, not good policy.

Mr. Chang paid for Milton’s incompetence with his life.  However, Milton’s citizens will also pay a high price for the City’s incompetence.  The $30+M settlement means the average household in Milton will be on the hook for $2000 each.  The city’s annual budget is only around $38M.  The court’s judgment likely means the city will have to take on debt and taxes will substantially increase.  And the city’s liability insurance—a paltry $2M—will barely help in paying off this heavy liability.  And the judgment against the City begs the question of why the City did not negotiate a lower-cost settlement?

So what response should citizens expect from the City?  I believe the City will provide its typical head-in-the-sand reaction to any negative press:  silence and indifference.  Maybe, they will ramp up their steady stream of look-good/feel-good posts at Facebook.  Afterall, the judgement will be paid with other people’s money . . . your tax dollars.  Do you think anyone at the City will be held responsible?  Will anyone be fired?  Fat chance!  The City will stumble along in the usual fashion . . . fat, dumb, and happy.  Nothing new here folks, move along.   It is important to note that this accident occurred on the watches of current City Manager Krokoff and the city traffic engineer, who has since the accident been promoted to Director of Public Works.  I have long asserted that basic accountability is lacking at City Hall.  City employees who should be fired are rather rewarded with pay raises and promotions.

And of course, Milton’s City Council will do nothing.  Council has completely lost its way.  Over the past year, citizens have seen some of the worst misbehavior ever witnessed in Milton.  Indulged and often supported by fellow council members, Paul Moore and Rick Mohrig have recklessly run amuck in the Milton City government—behavior that has resulted in huge amounts of negative press and public criticism (e.g., from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation).  Paul Moore’s intrusion into petty HOA matters in his subdivision resulted in his conviction on three ethics charges.  Mr. Moore and Mr. Mohrig were also members of a partisan elections committee that met secretly at least half a dozen times (and maintained no records of those meetings).  Moore and Mohrig designed elections in which they will run in 2023 (should they decide to seek re-election), which strikes me as highly unethical.  Their election design raises serious questions about equal polling access for Milton’s District 3 voters.  And in the latest episode of questionable ethics, Mr. Moore is refusing to recuse himself from deliberations on zoning modifications being sought for the NW corner of Birmingham Crossroads, despite his deep involvement in 2018 in influencing the current configuration of the property in question.  The net effect of Mr. Moore and Mr. Mohrig’s actions have been to bring disgrace to the city; to undermine the trust and confidence of citizens; and to distract the City from important priorities.  And other fellow council members, particularly Andrea Verhoff and Jan Jacobus, have been willing accomplices.  Moore and Mohrig’s non-stop nonsense and intrusions divert attention and resources from important issues . . . well, like road safety.

And the issue of road safety (and the Crossroads fundamental look-and-feel) will figure prominently in tonight’s City Council’s meeting.  At that meeting, Council will take up the issue of 4 variances being requested by Curtis Mills, the owner of the NW corner of Birmingham Crossroads.  Previously, Mr. Mills had been granted 12 variances (none of which I believe met Milton’s strict standards for hardship and should have been denied).  And if Mr. Mills gets his way, the intensity of use of his property will be dramatically increased far beyond what I believe is supported by Milton’s zoning laws or is reasonable for the property.  (Interestingly, Mr. Mills and Council Member Paul Moore were members of the Birmingham-Hopewell Alliance that helped develop and negotiate the Crossroads overlay that Mr. Mills is now trying to circumvent.)  Traffic safety is a central issue . . . or should be.  The proposed variances mean many more cars will enter/leave the NW corner, just yards from a future roundabout that cars will enter/exit at much higher speeds (relative to the current 4-way stop).  Can city staff and council really be trusted to understand and objectively analyze the public safety (and other complex) issues involved in this zoning matter?  Will the City once again put public safety at risk and create future financial legal liabilities for its citizens?  Will council honor their oath to uphold local, state, and federal laws or will personal/political considerations drive their decisions?  (See above photo of vehicle that failed to navigate a roundabout in Milton.)

The City’s actions in the case of Josh Chang’s death are not isolated (as they will likely tell you).  In my next blog post, I will explain another situation at Birmingham Crossroads where the City ignored the state’s assertions that certain parking were not permitted, constituted a threat to public safety, and violated state law.  The City did nothing to my knowledge.  I have provided a preview of my next blog post at the Bits and Pieces page at the Milton Coalition Blog:  Milton Coalition Bits & Pieces

Nothing will bring back Josh Chang.  However, the city can honor his memory (and reduce future payouts due to negligence) by acknowledging issues of incompetence and corruption in Milton City Government and fixing them.  Citizens can honor Josh’s memory by demanding accountability that is sadly lacking within the Milton government.  This includes not re-electing wayward politicians such as Rick Mohrig and Paul Moore. Milton deserves better . . . much better.

Advocating For Public Safety and Clean & Competent Government,

Tim