A candidate for chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners has a lien against his house for nonpayment of a debt and was involved in two other financial transactions that left firms attempting to collect money from him.
Candidate Ron Johnson said the situations stem from disputes and that release of the information was an effort to hurt his campaign. Johnson is in a runoff next week with Hunter Bicknell for the chairman's seat.
"This appears to be an attempt to discredit me at any cost," Johnson said in response to questions about the debts.
FIRMS TRY TO COLLECT
Owners of two different waste disposal firms paint a different picture, saying Johnson failed to pay bills he owes them.
211 Waste Disposal of Winder placed a $600 lien against Johnson's West Jackson home in June 2007 for nonpayment of a load of mulch in January 2007, and a load of topsoil in April that year. Johnson's Jackson County home is under his wife's name, but the lien lists Ron Johnson as the person who placed the order for the materials.
The firm's owner, Tommy Ledbetter, said the company had made repeated efforts to collect the debt, but Johnson never paid.
Ledbetter also said the company has been embroiled in another debt dispute with Johnson over two damaged waste containers Johnson used in 2007 on a demolition job in Sugar Hill.
According to Ledbetter, Johnson had contracted with the owners of some commercial property to clean up condemned houses. The property owners paid for the rental of the disposal containers, but two were damaged in the cleanup. 211 Waste Disposal charged Johnson $1,200 for the damages since Johnson was in charge of the project.
Johnson subsequently withheld $1,200 from payment to the dozier operator at the site, the operator who allegedly caused the damage, but never turned the money over to 211 Waste Disposal.
Ledbetter said the company had tried repeatedly to collect the funds, but Johnson refused to pay. By law, Ledbetter said any lien placed from the dispute would have to go against the property owners of the cleanup site, not Johnson. He said he would likely pursue other legal proceedings against Johnson and not the property owners.
Owners of the Sugar Hill property confirmed Ledbetter's version of events and said their dealings with Johnson had left "a sour taste in our mouth." The owners said they had repeatedly tried to get in touch with Johnson to have him resolve the dispute so their property wouldn't get a lien, but that they never been able to contact him.
Johnson said he has contacted some state agencies about the dispute with 211 Waste Disposal and contends the liens are invalid.
"There were also some procedures that were not followed by 211 Waste Disposal that could nullify their entire claim, but I want to do what is right and settle this equably," he said.
Johnson said the money in dispute is in an escrow account pending resolution of the matter. He said he is "confident that these things will be resolved satisfactorily in the near future."
ANOTHER DISPUTE
Another waste disposal firm, Roadrunner Disposal of Atlanta, placed a $604 lien in January 2008 against a Johnson family member, but listed Ron Johnson as the "debtor."
A spokesperson for Roadrunner said the firm had delivered a waste disposal container to an Atlanta address as ordered by Johnson. The bill for the container was sent to Johnson at his Jackson County address. The spokesperson said repeated efforts were made to collect the debt, but Johnson hadn't returned phone calls.
The firm filed its lien against the family member's property since the container was delivered to the Atlanta address, but it listed Johnson as the debtor since he ordered the container.
Johnson said the lien "actually involved a family member and didn't have anything to do with me or any property owned by me."
Johnson also said liens don't carry much legal weight.
"As I'm sure you are aware, anyone can file a lien against another person's property simply by filling out a piece of paper, no proof is necessary," said Johnson. "Many property owners do not even know that a lien has been filed against them until they apply for credit or sell their property."
Johnson insists the effort is politically motivated.
"I would like to know who went to so much trouble to dig into my personal affairs and who would give you this partial information without telling you the whole story," he said. "This appears to be an attempt to discredit me at any cost."
"I don't think this has anything to do with my campaign, the issues or Jackson County and would really prefer to stay clear of personal innuendo and stick to the facts."
