State senator given $10K for beams he got from state contractor for free
DANIELSVILLE, Ga. - Georgia state senator Frank Ginn said a metal recycling center recently paid him $10,000 for a collection of used steel beams that he earlier asked a state contractor to let him take from a construction site.
The FOX 5 I-Team first investigated the unusual donation in September 2022. At the time Ginn, R-Danielsville, was also the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
He said he asked ER Snell, the state contractor hired to demolish a bridge in Ginn’s district, if he could take a few dozen steel beams from the original bridge.
In this September 2022 interview, Senator Ginn said he wanted to keep the beams for personal use and help out a Christian camp with a bridge project.
Ginn told the FOX 5 I-Team he planned to use the steel to build a home workshop and help Camp Maranatha construct a small bridge on their property, a charitable project he said that still needs donations from the public to complete.
ER Snell wouldn’t comment about the transaction, but Ginn insisted he was doing the contractor a favor rather than the other way around.
"I asked them what they were going to do with the beams and they said we’ve got to get rid of them," Ginn said in 2022.
Madison County Commission Chairman Todd Higdon said Ginn's decision to sell the beams crossed ethical lines.
But others complained that Ginn’s position overseeing transportation projects created a disturbing look.
"For a person in that position, it does give the appearance of maybe something was not quite right," observed Todd Higdon, chairman of the Madison County Commission who has also butted heads with Ginn on other issues.
Were those beams valuable? Others in Madison County thought so. They contacted the sheriff and asked him to investigate. He called the GBI.
A GBI spokesperson said the GBI looked at the evidence and decided not to investigate further.
Some of the dozens of used steel beams given to Senator Frank Ginn by state contractor that he eventually sold to Toccoa scrapyard.
But the spokesperson admitted that was before hearing what else the FOX 5 I-Team uncovered.
In a divorce settlement filed in February, Ginn agreed to pay his ex-wife $10,400 "for the value of the steel beams," her share of the $20,000 estimate Robin Ginn submitted for the entire collection.
A few months later, the beams disappeared from Senator Ginn’s property.
Where did they wind up? At Carter’s Royal Dispos-all, a metal recycling center in Toccoa.
On his official Facebook Page Sen. Ginn posed with Toccoa metal recycler John Carter. This came a week after Ginn was paid $10,000 for the beams.
On his official Facebook page, Ginn posed with John Carter, the owner of that Toccoa scrapyard on the day in April a metal recycling bill was signed into law.
Ginn provided the FOX 5 I-Team with a check showing Carter paid him $10,000 for the beams. Carter confirmed that was the total amount.
Ginn said it cost him money to move those beams from the original job site to his house and then to Toccoa.
"They’ve been a real pain in the you-know-what," he complained.
The $10,000 payment was dated a week before the signing ceremony for the new law.
Despite that, Ginn said there was no connection between the recycling bill he supported and Carter’s agreement to buy the beams. The new legislation allows recycling centers to accept cash for certain metals and tightens restrictions on accepting used catalytic converters and other metals popular with thieves.
"We’ve been working on that bill for a couple of years now," he said. "Recycling is a great opportunity to help our state."
But critics like Chairman Higdon believe the cash payment crossed the line.
"When you’re in the elected spotlight, every action you make reflects back on you," said Higdon. "So you have to think long and hard before you do certain actions."
Ginn no longer chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, a move he believed is unrelated to this controversy.