Columbus, Georgia

BUILDING CONTRACTORS EXAMINING BOARD



SPECIAL HEARING - 2:30 P. M. ? JULY 23, 2003





A Special Called Hearing of the Building Contractors' Examining Board

was held Wednesday, July 23, 2003, at 2:30 P. M., in the First Floor Conference

Room of the Government Center Annex. Board Members present were:



Mr. Johnny Cargill Mr. William L. Duck, Jr.

Mr. Tommy Hinton Mr. Allen Wright, Chairman

Also attending this meeting from the City were Jaimie B. DeLoach, Assistant

City Attorney, and Recording Secretary Anne Thomas. The purpose of this

hearing was to hear the complaints filed by Mr. Esau Hunter against John

Kittrell, d/b/a J. K. Builders & Associates.



Ms. Rosanne M. Grecu, a Court Reporter from the firm of Accredited

Court Reporters, was present in order to do a complete transcript of the

hearing. A copy of her report is on file in the office of Inspections & Code

Enforcement Division.



In addition to Mr. John Kittrell, the following witnesses were present:



Mr. Esau Hunter, 13 Patch Drive, Columbus, GA 31903

Ms. Maggie L. Nance, 358 Henson Avenue, Columbus, GA 31907

Rev. Jackie Evans, 3519 Dunhill Drive, Columbus, GA 31903



Ms. DeLoach swore in all of the potential witnesses. After swearing in the

witnesses, Ms. DeLoach presented several items of evidence, that were copies

retrieved from the Office of the Clerk of the Superior Court. These items of

evidence were entered into the record as Exhibits 1-6, and included

materialman?s lien, bad check charges, and judgments due to failure to pay for

contracted services, ranging from $482.00 to $21,000.00. These exhibits are

on file, along with the transcript, in the office of Inspections & Code

Enforcement Division.



Mr. Hunter asked if he could enter documents into evidence and was told that he

could do so during his time to speak. At that time the Chairman called Mr.

Hunter to present his evidence. Mr. Hunter stated that he had copies of

statements from his mortgage company for a total of $36,845.00, and copies of

two of the three checks that the mortgage company had mailed to him and to Mr.

Kittrell, which he presented as evidence, and which were entered as exhibits.

These exhibits are on file, along with the transcript, in the office of

Inspections & Code Enforcement Division.







MINUTES - SPECIAL HEARING

Building Contractors Examining Board

July 23, 2003

Page 2



Mr. Hunter stated that, after a fire in his home, he contracted with John

Kittrell to do the repairs because Mr. Kittrell ?presented himself as a pastor

and a good person,? and he thought he would do him a good job. Mr. Kittrell

first told him he would complete the work in three months; however, it was six

months before he was back in his house, and then the work that had been done

was substandard. Mr. Hunter cited such examples as Mr. Kittrell?s hiring

?Mexicans off the street.? Also, he said that one time when he checked on the

electrical subcontractor, they were hooking old wire to new wire. He told them

he had contracted for all new wiring. Mr. Kittrell finally O.K.?d the new wire

for the house.



Mr. Hunter showed photographs that were also entered into evidence as

exhibits. These pictures showed where the wallpaper was not complete; cabinet

doors were not installed; tiles were broken; and, the heater was set on a

wooden base.



Mr. Hunter also entered into evidence as an exhibit a letter from the Better

Business Bureau, indicating that Mr. Kittrell had been involved with several

court actions in Municipal and Superior Court and that he had filed for Chapter

7 of the Federal Bankruptcy Act.



After several more minutes of discussion and answering questions from the Board

Members, Mr. Hunter summarized his account by saying, ?This man is just like a

criminal. It?s just like the City is giving this man a gun to shoot somebody

with. He?s playing on old and disabled people and taking their money. Then he

liquidates his assets and puts it in his wife?s name. They can?t go back and

get nothing. But yet he walks around as a preacher.? With the help of the

Board Members, Mr. Hunter summarized his complaints as follows: he had paid

Mr. Kittrell in full; the quality of the work was sub-standard; and, Mr.

Kittrell did not come back to complete the work.



When Mr. Kittrell was given an opportunity to question Mr. Hunter, he stated

that he did not know about any of these things except that the wallpaper was

not complete. However, in talking, he later said that he had done some

caulking and had made a cabinet door but had not put it up. When Mr. Hunter

asked how long that had been, Mr. Kittrell replied that it had been about six

or seven months. Mr. Kittrell asked if he could ask Mr. Hunter questions at a

later time. He was advised that he should ask any questions directed to Mr.

Hunter at this time. Mr. Kittrell said that he had no other questions at this

time.





MINUTES - SPECIAL HEARING

Building Contractors Examining Board

July 23, 2003

Page 3





The Chairman then stated that they would call Ms. Nance. Mr. Kittrell

asked if he could ask a question. He stated that he came to the meeting

thinking Mr. Hunter would be the only one there; that it was not fair to him to

bring up all this stuff from the past; and, that he was not prepared to speak

to anyone except Mr. Hunter. He was told that this is an open meeting and that

Ms. Nance had the right to come and speak.



Ms. Nance stated that she hired Mr. Kittrell in 1997 to add a patio

deck and to renovate her den for the contract price of $12,000.00. At his

request she paid him $6,000.00 to begin with. The only thing he did was to

tear down an old patio deck. She saw him only twice after that. He would not

return her phone calls nor would he complete the work. Then she hired an

attorney who sent Mr. Kittrell a letter that they were going to file suit.

However, Mr. Kittrell filed bankruptcy. Ms. Nance stated that she had since

hired another contractor and paid him $10,000.00 to complete the work.



The Chairman asked Mr. Kittrell if he had any questions for Ms. Nance.

He said that he did not, that he was not prepared to ask her questions.



Mr. Evans was called. He explained that he also works as a deputy

sheriff in Muscogee County. He stated that he hired Mr. Kittrell for the price

of $18,000.00 to add 480 square feet to his home. He stated that most of the

work went fairly well but that Mr. Kittrell was not able to complete all of the

work because of his lack of skills in certain areas. He received a judgment of

$5,000.00 against Mr. Kittrell. Mr. Kittrell filed bankruptcy, and Mr. Evans

never received any of the $5,000.00. Also, he said that Columbus Rental filed

a lien in the amount of $3,000.00 against his property for rental of a backhoe

that Mr. Kittrell had used on his job.



Mr. Kittrell was then given a chance to respond to Mr. Hunter. He stated that

the contract price was $36,845.00 and that he had been paid that full amount.

He stated that most of the work was completed except that there was not enough

wallpaper to complete the job. He had measured and figured the amount of

wallpaper. After being questioned by Mr. Hinton about his responsibility to

complete the wallpaper job correctly, Mr. Kittrell stated that he had enough

wallpaper to do what was originally agreed upon, but that Mr. Hunter had

decided to wallpaper more than was originally agreed. There was more

discussion about why he did not complete certain parts of the job and why he

received all of the money prior to completing the work.









MINUTES - SPECIAL HEARING

Building Contractors Examining Board

July 23, 2003

Page 4





The Board Members questioned Mr. Kittrell about the lien concerning the

backhoe. He stated that that was cleared up when he filed bankruptcy. They

asked why he took Ms. Nance?s money and did not complete the job. He stated

that Ms. Nance said she did not want him back on the job. He added that there

seemed to be a couple of people who would go around to the jobs he was doing.

After they talked with the owners, the owners would tell him they did not want

him back on their jobs. Also, if the owner took over the work, Mr. Kittrell

would void the permit in his name. The Board Members questioned him about the

fact that this happened quite frequently; that in the past four years, seven of

his twenty permits were voided, or over 30% of his work.



Mr. Cargill stated that the Board has a great deal of information about the

history of Mr. Kittrell?s work and that the Board has the authority to revoke

or suspend his license, which would terminate his livelihood. He asked Mr.

Kittrell to tell the Board why he should be allowed to continue working with

his record. Mr. Kittrell replied that after his experiences before 1999, he

was trying to write his contracts more clearly to spell out exactly what was

expected from each party. He added that he thought Mr. Hunter should have

called and asked him to come back and finish the wallpaper. Mr. Hinton asked

Mr. Kittrell why he did not call Mr. Hunter and offer to complete the wallpaper

job. He stated that he still had not been able to get the wallpaper after

seven or eight months of trying, that the wallpaper had been discontinued. He

admitted that he had not offered to substitute another pattern of wallpaper.



Mr. Cargill stated that rather than staying hung up on the wall paper issue, he

would like to ask Mr. Kittrell about the projects for which he has outstanding

permits at this time. Mr. Cargill stated that the owner of the job on Barkley

Way said that the work was only 50% complete. This is a $12,000.00 job that

has been going on since February. Mr. Kittrell answered that he was just about

through with that job, but then backed up and said they had just received the

framing inspection, for which there had been violations when the inspector

first checked it. To the Board Members questions, Mr. Kittrell answered that

he was about 45-50% finished on Graydon Court, about 60% complete on Sherwood

Avenue, and only about 10% complete on Eighth Street. When asked by the Board

Members, Mr. Kittrell stated that he could probably complete all of these 5 or

6 jobs within 45 days.



Mr. Wright explained that the reason the Board Members were asking all of these

questions was that this is the first case he has known of in the 5-6 years he

has been on the Board









MINUTES - SPECIAL HEARING

Building Contractors Examining Board

July 23, 2003

Page 5





when a contractor has been brought before the Board with these types of

complaints. He added that the Board now has to decide what will be for the

best interest of the community, that there are a lot of concerns, and that this

is not just a one-time thing. Mr. Wright then asked the Board Members if there

were other questions they would like to ask Mr. Kittrell.



To questions from Mr. Cargill and Mr. Hinton, Mr. Kittrell responded that his

business is incorporated; that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law are officers

in the business; that each of them draws a salary at times; that his

son-in-law lives in Statesboro and works there. Mr. Hinton stated that there

seemed to be a pattern that Mr. Kittrell would take the money for a job, that

he would not complete the job, and then he would feel the only way out was

to file bankruptcy and start the process over again. Mr. Kittrell answered

that he did not bankrupt because of these jobs but because of the contract with

the City for the demolition of the Archery Hosiery Mill on Talbotton Road;

that there was asbestos in the mill which he did not count on, which drove up

the price of the demolition.



Mr. Cargill stated that there was a pattern of people losing money or not

getting services for their money; that the Board will have to decide what to do

about this; and the Board will be discussing openly their options as to what

they can do. At this time the Board Members discussed the reasons given in the

Code of Ordinances for revoking a contractor?s Certificate of Qualification.

Mr. Kittrell injected that he did not complete the contracts because the owners

asked that he not come back on to their properties. Then he requested that the

permits be voided.



After more lengthy discussions, Mr. Duck made a motion, which was seconded by

Mr. Hinton, to immediately suspend the issuance of any permits to Mr. Kittrell

and J. K. Builders; to give Mr. Kittrell until October 1, 2003, to complete the

projects he currently has started; to revoke his license on October 1, for a

one year period; and after the one year period, to allow him to resubmit his

application to the Board to go through the process to obtain another license.

The motion carried unanimously by the four Board Members.



There being no further business to come before the Board,

the meeting adjourned at 5:15 P.M.









WILLIAM L. DUCK, JR., SECRETARY

C:\MyFiles\BCEB.Minutes.2003.July.Kittrell.Hearing.doc