Perdue’s business deals have raised some eyebrows

Whatever Gov. Sonny Perdue does after leaving office next month, it’s a good bet that it will be a success.

The man almost no one thought would be governor back in 2002 doesn’t fail much, and he doesn’t gather much moss.

Some people contend that he has prospered by using his substantial political influence to benefit his private businesses. They point to a retroactive tax break Perdue got several years ago through a bill passed by the Legislature. They wonder why Perdue turned down a chance to buy the Oaky Woods wildlife area in Houston County back in 2004, only to have the state agree to buy it this year at a higher price.

In the interim, area developers held the land, and the possibility of development increased the value of Perdue’s own property nearby.

Some of Perdue’s soon-to-be Houston County neighbors think the governor was too involved in plans to widen Ga. 96. The Houston County route was bent after Perdue made his thoughts known about the road. And last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, based on e-mails released through the Georgia Open Records Act, that the governor and his business associates met with officials of the Georgia Ports Authority in Savannah to discuss potential plans to ship grain to other countries.

Officials made sure to note in some of the e-mails that the companies involved the governor.

The newspaper also noted Perdue’s imprint on the ports authority: In his eight years as governor, he has appointed every member of the authority, including a cousin.

But Perdue shakes off the criticism, calling accusations that he’s enriched himself in office “a real stretch.” He said he’s been in the grain business since 1976, and while Perdue wouldn’t confirm any plans to ship to China and other countries, he did say “there is a big, growing, hungry world out there.”

If that is the governor’s plan, he will be able to send grain trucks down Ga. 96, a road he was closely involved in widening. They’ll unload at a port he has supported deepening, to open up greater lanes of commerce. If the grain is bound for China, it will reach a country Perdue visited three times as governor, twice in 2008 and once in 2010.

China is a major trade partner for Georgia, and Perdue opened a state economic development office there during his tenure. His trips there were among the 23 international journeys he took as governor, according to his office.

Other politicians and longtime observers said there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with anything the governor’s done.

“Nothing I would call dishonest,” said state Sen. George Hooks, D-Americus. “Sonny is a shrewd businessman.”

And while it’s unusual for a governor not to put his assets into a blind trust while he serves, plenty of former governors have gotten rich, political historian and University of Georgia professor Charles Bullock said. That includes, Bullock said, former Gov. Carl Sanders, “who headed one of the biggest firms in Atlanta instead of going back to Augusta,” and former Gov. Roy Barnes, who made millions as an attorney.

Kerwin Swint, a board member for the ethics watchdog group Common Cause Georgia, said the merger of Perdue’s public and private jobs “doesn’t look good to people.” But Swint also said he doesn’t think the governor has “broken any guidelines.”

“I certainly don’t think he’s been unethical,” Swint said. “He has been a little bit of a departure, though, (managing his businesses while in office), and as I understand it, those ventures have gone well.”

They seem to have. Perdue listed his net worth when he ran for re-election in 2006 at about $6 million. That was the last time state law required him to disclose it on campaign finance forms.

Perdue bristles at the suggestion he’s used his office to benefit his businesses. He noted that his father passed away while he was in office, and the settling of that estate upped his net worth. He said the managers he left in charge of day-to-day operations for his companies, Agrowstar LLC, Houston Fertilizer & Grain and Perdue Inc., have “done well without my assistance” these past eight years.

As for the governor’s future plans, he says he just plans on “going home.” He’ll continue to serve on a commission that’s expected to recommend an overhaul of the state’s tax structure next year when the Legislature convenes. He said he may keep Perdue PAC open, which would allow him to raise money for candidates he favors. But most of that PAC’s once-sizable coffers was used up during this year’s election cycle. The PAC reported having about $144,000 on hand at the end of October.

As a former governor and a major player in the Republican takeover of state government, Perdue will be a kingmaker of sorts for the GOP in Georgia.

He remains popular with voters and could be a candidate for the U.S. Senate in coming years. He’s also been rumored to be the next president of the University of Georgia when current President Michael Adams leaves. Perdue has said that would be “a cool job” but that he has no immediate plans for political life.

“I don’t know that I’ll feel an itch again,” the governor said. “I literally have no plans for future public service.”