WSB's Veronica Waters reports first on the stand was former U. N. Ambassador Andrew Young, who testified about what life was like for him when he served as Atlanta's Mayor for two terms.

Campbell is facing a seven-count indictment accusing him of taking bribes in exchange for promising city contracts to vendors, and of taking thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions.

Young told the jury that when he was mayor, he traveled frequently and made $150,000 to $200,000 a year over his salary making speeches and writing articles. He said he did not believe making money by making speeches was a conflict of interest.

Young said he traveled frequently as Mayor of Atlanta.

"One year, the Constitution accused me of traveling 200 days in one year," he said. "The only way I could defend myself was to show I'd met with 152 businesses in the Mayor's office." He explained that a lot of his travel was in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and trying to attract new businesses to Atlanta.

He also told the jury that while he didn't like asking for campaign contributions, it was almost unavoidable not to ask those doing business with the city to donate to one's campaign. He called soliciting contributions "the nastiest thing about politics."

"I think you have to do it," he said. "It's very hard to separate politics and money."

Young said, however, he didn't like to be too close to the fundraising.

"I would never let anybody put any money in my hand," he said.

Last week, former Atlanta chief operating officer Joe Reid testified that he sometimes gave campaign contributions directly to Campbell so the Mayor would know how active he was raising money for the campaign.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mayor Campbell interfered in city contracting to steer business to his friends' firms. But Young said the work of one of those firms--that of Campbell friend Rickey Rowe--"raised no complaints," and, in fact, was key to decontaminating the site which now houses Atlantic Station. There were concerns that could not be done, Young said, because the land was the site of an old steel mill.

Young explained that it was hard not to have friends who were city contractors, contending that was not uncommon in major cities.

"It would be hard for someone Irish to get a contract without knowing the Kennedys," he said. "In Chicago, you almost have to be related to Mayor Daly. You have to have friends. In fact, when you become Mayor, everybody's your friend."

Young went on to say "real friends" wouldn't walk into the office to talk about business.

"They might use a visit to walk down the hall and see someone else, and use your name in a way that you don't know anything about," he testified, saying people often tried to use his name "to make it seem you're closer than you really are. That's the way people do you as Mayor," Young said.

"Is that part of politics?" asked defense attorney Billy Martin.

"That's life," Ambassador Young replied.

Young Says He Was 'Anxious To Testify'

On cross-examination, Young answered in the negative questions from Assistant U. S. Attorney Sally Yates: he had not directed anyone in the City to hire his friends' firms; "didn't think" he had taken speaking fees from city contractors; and never promised a contract in exchange for a campaign contribution. "You certainly didn't have city contractors send you on private planes for purely personal reasons like to a casino or to a fight?" Yates asked.

"No, I didn't, but not because I thought that it would've been wrong, especially to a fight," Young said, who had testified that he "always felt guilty" that he had always been invited to, yet had never seen, Evander Holyfield box out of town. Young says there was always a scheduling conflict.

The jury has seen a photo of Campbell and several friends alongside a private plane rented by a vendor as they prepared to attend a 1999 Holyfield fight in New York. Robert Crowder says his company paid $10,000 for the flight to "strengthen relationships" with the city of Atlanta. Crowder said he was told that the Mayor would accept his invitation only if Crowder understood he would "get no favorable treatment, to expect nothing in return."

Finally, Yates asked Young if he agreed that sometimes, a person could think they knew someone, yet find the person had "a hidden side." Young said that was a matter of interpretation. "I'm thinking about Herb McCall," Young said. McCall worked in Atlanta's administrative services office. Prosecutors say McCall helped steer city contracts to Campbell's friends' companies. "I think I know him pretty well. I heard he did time for perjury. But that doesn't mean I don't know Herb." Yates objected when Young continued, "The reason I was anxious to testify is because the way the RICO statues are used..."

Judge Richard Story told Yates to ask another question. She then talked about Young's nephew Michael Childs, asking him if he knew that the former strip club owner could've been involved in criminal conduct. Childs was convicted of arson for torching his competitors' businesses.

"I might've known," Young said. "I knew he was in a dirty business and I did everything I could to get him out of it. But he reminded me it was a legal business." Young said that Childs crossed the line when he attacked his rivals' businesses.

"You certainly didn't know he was an arsonist?" Yates asked. Young said no.

He also said he had no specific knowledge of the accusations in the indictment. He also said he had no personal knowledge that Campbell ever committed a crime.

Campbell Defense Taps Government's Witness List

The defense's third witness was a man who originally appeared on the prosecution's witness list last week, but was never called to the stand by the government. City contractor Sam Barber, the president of American Computer Technology, is one of the men prosecutors allege gave bribes to Mayor Campbell to help him land a Y2K contract.

Barber's testimony contradicted that of Dan DeBardelaben, who told the jury last week that Barber gave him three payments totaling $55,000 to pass to the Mayor. Barber says on two occasions in 1999, DeBardelaben specifically asked him for $25,000 and then $20,000, telling him he planned to give it to the Mayor.

"I told him he was owed money on the contract we were doing, and I'd give him the $25,000 and I didn't want to hear any more about it," Barber testified.

Barber says both times, DeBardelaben called him to say he had delivered the cash to Campbell on the golf course. Both times, he said, DeBardelaben named the dollar amount he wanted from Barber, which he said he gave him because of the money he was due for his computer consultant subcontracting by his company, Concept 2000.

The final time DeBardelaben asked him for money—a $10,000 payment—Barber said he refused, telling his colleague that his company had no more outstanding balance with him. DeBardelaben claimed that he had pulled the $10,000 from his own business account and been reimbursed for it by Barber.

Barber admitted that he had reimbursed five company employees for their donations of $2,000 each to the Campbell campaign, in an attempt to reach his fundraising goals as a member of the finance committee for Campbell's re-election. But he said Campbell never asked him to do so.

Tuesday, 28 February 2006