Richard Hyatt: Civic Center probe in DA’s hands

That slow train carrying the investigation of ticket taking at the Columbus Civic Center has barely left the station. After nearly six months, the inquiry has finally made it as far as the prosecutor’s office.

Muscogee County District Attorney Julia Slater confirms that she has received investigative files from the Columbus Police Department and says her office will be looking into the matter. Slater says she has not yet assigned the case to one of her assistants.

We’re talking about a story that first made headlines in June when Internal Auditor John Redmond reported missing tickets at the Civic Center. That same month, local concert promoter Mike Black-well said the city owed him $26,000 as payment for complimentary tickets taken from the Civic Center box office without permission by former director Dale Hester.

Hester, who had managed the public facility for seven years, hastily retired last January, citing assorted conflicts with city officials.

In recent months, the city offered Blackwell $18,000 to settle his claim. He accepted the money and Columbus Hospice — which uncovered missing comps from their annual fundraiser — was given a break on rent from upcoming concerts.

Mayor Teresa Tomlinson got Police Chief Ricky Boren involved in August when she asked the department to investigate the matter, just as it had investigated a previous scandal involving the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department.

“Our investigation is complete,” Boren now says. He said his officers recently turned over a summary of their findings to Slater. Unless the district attorney finds criminal wrongdoing, Boren’s work is done.

Criminal charges did emerge from the parks and rec debacle, but it isn’t clear whether that will be the case at the Civic Center. It has never been spelled out which city policies or regulations Hester might have violated by taking the tickets.

Another difference is that Tony Adams and Herman Porter — the targets of the other probe — were on the city payroll when the investigation began. Hester vacated his position months before this inquiry began.

Further clouding the Hester case is the city’s decision to settle with Blackwell and officials from Columbus Hospice while investigators were looking into the matter. Rest assured, the police department was not part of the decisions to pay either of them.

What route Slater’s office will take no one can say. Is criminal action warranted, or is this a civil matter? Maybe we’ll get answers in the coming year. Then again, maybe we won’t.

Right now, the most interesting part of this whole case is in limbo. The police department’s extensive investigative file is sealed until the district attorney proceeds. In that file are lists of public officials who received complimentary tickets. The files may also tell us who approved these free tickets.

For those important facts, we’ll have to wait — which we’ve been doing long enough.

This story was originally published December 23, 2011 at 9:03 AM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Civic Center probe in DA’s hands."