The ACC Commission approved a $7,500 settlement with Charles Hardy, former director of the First Step homeless encampment, to reimburse him for some personal items he claims to have left behind at the camp when he was removed as director in 2023.
The settlement also releases the claim the local government filed against Hardy for mismanagement of First Step funds, which was for significantly more money.
Hardy submitted a hand-written note as his only documentation for the items he says he left behind, which included a pool table ($4,908), stove ($799), refrigerator ($680) and two wifi routers ($900) among others. Hardy did not provide receipts. The total value Hardy gave for the list of items is slightly different in his legal claim, a discrepancy which is left unexplained.
Hardy was removed as director of First Step in May of 2023 after being convicted of misdemeanor battery against a former camp resident, a confrontation that happened on camp grounds. Despite the danger some believed he posed to residents, he refused to step down from his position. He continued to work on camp grounds, ignoring instructions from the ACC government and from his own organization’s board of directors.
After the Athens-Clarke County Police were notified, Hardy was forced to step down. At that point, he says he was not allowed to return to the camp to collect the items he says he purchased with his own money. Presumably, these items would have still been in use by camp residents at the time.
After First Step closed in December of 2023, Hardy says he was informed that some of his property was stolen or destroyed and could not be returned to him, which is when he filed the lawsuit.
“A slap in the face”
Most commissioners didn’t express any opinions about this small lawsuit and seemed to want to resolve the matter quickly so they could move on to other things. But Commissioner Patrick Davenport expressed a strong dissenting opinion and motioned to deny the settlement.
“There are a lot of issues with this settlement,” Davenport said, “There was no investigation. There was no discovery. There was no bank statement provided…This settlement alone is a slap in the face to our constituents who pay hard earned money through their property taxes, for a claim that was basically written on a piece of paper.”
Newly sworn-in Commissioner Stephanie Johnson disagreed, arguing that the fact the settlement made it to an agenda meant there must be some merit to it.
“The county attorney was sufficiently satisfied with what the individual [Hardy] presented for this case for it to be on the agenda tonight,” Johnson said. “I don’t see why there is concern if the county attorney’s office felt that it was sufficient to move forward.”
ACC Assistant Attorney Sherrie Hines spoke up to make sure commissioners knew that her office was merely providing options and was not necessarily endorsing the settlement.
“The status of any item on an agenda has no reflection on the attorney’s office,” Hines said. “It’s not the attorney’s office’s responsibility to approve items to be on the agenda.”
Mayor Kelly Girtz then chimed in, admitting that while it may not be “a great settlement or a preferred phenomenon” that some commissioners “may wish to move on to other items and close the book.”
“I want to close the book,” Commissioner Ovita Thornton interjected.
Thornton motioned to accept the settlement. First, a vote was held on Davenport’s motion to deny, which failed 3-5, with Davenport and Commissioners Melissa Link and Carol Myers as the only ones voting in favor. Johnson abstained and Commissioner Mike Hamby was absent.
Then Thornton’s motion to accept the $7,500 settlement with Charles Hardy passed 5-3 along the same lines.
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