The former general manager for Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport testified in a federal trial Monday that former Mayor Bill Campbell barred her from bidding out an airport advertising contract because he didn't want his politically connected friend to lose it.
Angela Gittens, airport general manager from 1993 to 1998, said Campbell rebuffed her attempts to solicit bids for the lucrative indoor billboard contract and the two got into a "heated" argument over the issue, she said in a videotaped deposition.
The mayor's friend, Barbara Fouch, is a minority partner with Clear Channel, which still controls indoor billboard advertising at Hartsfield-Jackson.
"At some point, the mayor told me not to bid it out, not to tender it," Gittens testified, recounting a 1996 conversation with Campbell. "She was a friend of his and he did not want her hurt."
Fouch, Clear Channel, the city and the airport are defendants in the federal lawsuit filed by Corey Airport Services in 2004. Gittens was the plaintiff's final witness.
Owner Billy Corey charged that Fouch's cozy relationship with Atlanta City Hall led to the woman securing the contract when it was rebid in 2002.
Campbell, who went to federal prison for two years before his 2008 release, could not be reached for comment.
Fouch's billboard advertising interests at the airport go back to 1981. She partnered with a firm that eventually was acquired by Clear Channel.
Before the trial started last week, city attorneys sought to prevent jurors' access to the deposition but the judge denied that request.
Gittens' testimony is a key part of Corey's legal team attack: that Fouch's close ties Atlanta City Hall gave her an unfair advantage, to the detriment of taxpayers.
Corey, who lost out to Fouch and Clear Channel in 2002, also said the partnership should have been disqualified under city rules because it owed the airport back rent. Corey seeks between $9 million and $14 million in damages.
Last week, Fouch testified that she was friends with Campbell's predecessor, the late Maynard Jackson, but wasn't friends with Campbell. Corey's attorneys highlighted the Fouch-Jackson relationship to bolster their contention that interference from City Hall steered the contract toward her and Clear Channel.
To underscore that point to the jury, Corey's lawyers noted when the contract expired in 1992 it was renewed for a two-year period ending in 1995.
Gittens testified when she wanted to rebid the contract in 1996, Campbell not only blocked her, he prevented her from removing some billboards that needed to come down immediately for ongoing terminal remodeling, costing the city an additional $8,000 to $14,000 in construction costs.
The Atlanta City Council extended the Fouch-Clear Channel contract for another two-year period in 1995. Gittens said she was told it was because of advertising revenue lost during the construction project at the airport.
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