ATLANTA — As work continues at a furious pace for the new Atlanta Braves Stadium in Cobb County, the political scene has taken a darker turn, as the commission chairman prepares for an ethics hearing and some who have opposed the stadium plan wonder if they've come under attack.
Channel 2's Ross Cavitt reported on Channel 2 Action News at 6 that a new mysterious open records requests targets opponents of the stadium and two county commissioners.
"Its odd, it hasn't happened in the past," Commissioner Bob Ott said.
Ott is one of those listed on the unusual open-records request, as well as Commission Lisa Cupid, the lone "no vote" on the Braves deal, activist Tom Cheek, who's filed an ethics complaint against the Commission chair for his actions on the deal; and Susan McCoy, a lawyer who filed an SEC complaint.
The request seeks any communication about the Braves deal between the parties. Susan McCoy already had an unusual encounter, she believes whoever torched her front yard and fence last month did so because of her opposition. Monday, Cavitt found an Arson Control reward poster still in her yard.
The document request came in from an investigative firm founded by ex-cop Scott Woodall.
Woodall, whose business had moved from Kennesaw, has not commented about why he filed the open-records request, if anyone had hired him, or what he plans to do with information and those questions have many concerned.
Ott believes the request might simply be sending a message to others thinking about speaking out.
"You know they reach out to their representative and want to have a conversation and when they reach out, someone wants to read their emails," he said.
But Ott says these controversies have nothing to do with the business deal with the Braves, a deal on a tight deadline - and Braves VP Mike Plant says it hasn't slowed them down.
"The opposition has a loud voice, and so you have to respect them. There's a process you go through for that and obviously you guys provide them with an opportunity for people to hear them, but obviously it's not affecting what we're doing. Obviously if you see what we're doing on site we're plowing through it every day,” Plant said.
Cavitt received new information Monday from Braves officials.
They said that initial work on the site to relocate large gas pipelines should be done in the next 10 days and crews will then start driving in huge pilings for the stadium in the next few weeks.
Braves officials say they hope to finalize their exit from Turner Field with city officials before the end of the year.