Jury splits difference in Goldstein v. Marietta, awarding $262k

Mar. 10—MARIETTA — Ten years and a five-day trial later, a Cobb County jury awarded former Marietta Councilman Philip Goldstein $262,474.13 on Friday for 11 parking spaces he lost to a city condemnation.

The verdict lands, roughly speaking, right in the middle of what the city and Goldstein each valued the property at when it was taken in 2013 for construction of the Mountain-to-River Trail.

The property in question is a paid parking lot near the intersection of Waverly Way and South Marietta Parkway. The city, in construction of the trail, seized a slice of Goldstein's land abutting the railroad tracks through downtown.

Goldstein, represented by former Gov. Roy Barnes, sued the city after rejecting its initial appraisal of around $106,000. The city's latest estimate for the property was $96,000, and an appraiser hired by Goldstein and Barnes set the value at about $393,000.

The value given by the jury places the value per parking space of the lot at just shy of $24,000 each. Though Goldstein testified the spaces were worth up to $40,000 a pop, Barnes said he was satisfied.

"I'm pleased with the verdict," Barnes told the MDJ. "I would have taken that a long time ago ... I don't understand. They never would negotiate, never would say anything — this is it, you either take it or leave it. So I'm very satisfied."

Barnes added that he expects the city to owe another $100,000 or so in interest on the payment.

Daniel White and Doug Haynie, representing the city, said it's not uncommon for juries to split the difference in condemnation disputes.

"That's really what happens most of the time is a jury ends up in the middle. We still stand by the city's number that our appraiser put up of $96,000. But the jury gets to make their decision, and that's part of the system and we knew that going in," White said.

The dollar amount will be final unless the City Council elects to appeal the decision, White added.

Mayor Steve "Thunder" Tumlin echoed the sentiment that he wasn't shocked the jury had "split the baby," and didn't see a need for an appeal.

"It's not the first rodeo where we've been in court with Mr. Goldstein. We've been involved in a couple other condemnation cases, and it's hard to strike a deal," Tumlin told the MDJ. "I'm sure our tax appraiser will like that valuation," he joked. "When I ride by there tonight, I'm going to grin a little. I'm glad it's over."

At least one council member, however, didn't share in that relief. Councilman Johnny Walker called the affair a "shameful" waste of taxpayer dollars.

"Philip knows how it works. He condemned property. We condemn property all the time, and give people what's fair for their property after we have it appraised. ... He served on the council long enough. I'm tired of it, taking advantage of the city for a long time," Walker said.

'Crooks and oligarchs'

As each side entered closing arguments Friday, city attorneys argued Goldstein was inflating the value of the property by relying on the scarce availability of property downtown — a scarcity, they added, created by Goldstein's dominance of the real estate market around Marietta Square.

Haynie presented a graphic showing the interconnected web of downtown interests including Barnes, Goldstein, the Downtown Marietta Development Authority, and Goldstein's appraiser, Hank Manning, whose family also owns property downtown.

"All of this comes together in this case for Mr. Goldstein," Haynie said. "They used to say the good old boy system is gone. I'm afraid it's alive in this courtroom this week. There's just too many things that connect."

Barnes would counter that both he and Goldstein were having their character impugned as "crooks" and "oligarchs." Philip Goldstein's father Herbert Goldstein, Barnes argued, was an hard-working entrepreneur who'd taken a chance on investing in the Square when it was a collection of boarded-up storefronts.

"Of course, they're going to say, 'Oh, it's such a bad thing that they prospered here. It's just terrible that they worked for 100 years to have this property,'" Barnes said. "...We're a bunch of crooks. We are, if you listen to them. My dog will bite me tonight if she heard it. It's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard.

"And let me tell you something — it's what wrong with the country. It's what's wrong with the country," he added.

Rebutting Barnes, White took aim at the "oligarch" issue, which he first raised Thursday when he characterized the property owners around the Square as an "oligopoly."

"To me, that looks like a Monopoly board," White said, gesturing at a map of the properties owned by the Goldstein family in downtown Marietta.

(White would later brandish a copy of the board game — Monopoly, Cheaters Edition).

"I don't have a problem with Philip liking owning property on the Square. Not a problem. That's the American Dream. Great. That doesn't mean that he can make a problem in this market and ask you to overpay him for his property," White said.

He added that while "Mr. Goldstein is not an oligarch," the oligopoly argument still stood. And he contended that Manning, Goldstein's appraiser, "got caught cheating" in his valuation of the property. After calling up a clip from "Seinfeld," White alleged Manning had "double dipped" on the appraisal, "and you should be outraged."