The state Department of Transportation was “in flagrant violation of the law” when it helped a Panhandle billboard company bilk the state out an estimated $4 million, a scathing grand jury report concludes.
The report, made public Tuesday, urges the department to recoup the money that Bill Salter Advertising should have paid for cutting more than 2,000 state-owned trees to make room for billboards. The company was helped by state Sen. Greg Evers and then-Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Kopelousos, who is now Clay County’s manager.
No one was charged because the state couldn’t determine who ordered the law-breaking, a state attorney said Tuesday.
The grand jury was convened after the Times-Union published a series of stories reporting many of the grand jury’s findings.
Read the grand jury's findings (opens on scribd.com)
Evers was “actively advocating on behalf or Salter Advertising,” the report says. The Crestview Republican said he was just trying to help a constituent.
“I feel vindicated by the grand jury report,” Evers said through a spokeswoman.
Evers is a high school classmate of the company’s general manager.
The company also consulted with Evers’ wife, an attorney, about representing them during the “general timeframe of this permitting issue,” the report says.
Evers’ lobbying led to the state approving 110 permits for Salter, which was “in flagrant violation of the law,” the report concludes. In addition, the state did not require the company to take down 56 older — or nonconforming — signs.
“They did not follow the law,” State Attorney Willie Meggs said.
Meggs said no charges were filed because the state could not determine who pushed department staff to illegally green-light the Salter permits.
The order to approve came after conversations between FDOT district managers James Rodgers and Kevin Thibault, who Kopelousos put in charge of the project.
The first batch of 44 permits was approved on Jan. 29, 2009, a week after Kopelousos emailed Evers advising “Kevin [Thibault] has his district team alerted to get their assistance,” according to an emails reviewed by the Times-Union.
The grand jury concluded that Rodgers directed district staff to sign off on the permits. He told investigators he does not remember who directed him to make that call.
“Whether Rodgers was told to do this by Thi-
bault or someone else is not clear,” reads the report. “Rodgers has suffered a lapse of memory on this point.”
Meggs said Rodgers’ forgetfulness was one of the biggest reasons no one was charged.
“You can’t indict an entire state agency,” the state attorney said.
The grand jury was clear that the law was “circumvented,” and that no one was punished.
“What was abundantly clear is that neither Rodgers nor any other employee at FDOT was sanctioned in any way once this wrongdoing came to light,” the report reads. Rodgers stayed on for an additional 18 months before retiring with full benefits.
An FDOT spokesman had no comment.
“This is quite a black eye for them,” Meggs said. “I hope they will take a look at how they can go get that money.”
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