One month after taking the oath of office, Estelle Herndon suggested that Gerhardt be named office manager over the current chief appraiser, Calvin Hicks.  After being informed that this could not be done legally under state law, Herndon suggested that Gerhardt be named chief appraiser a month later.  Gerhardt had to be certified at Level 4 to qualify for the chief appraiser position.  He was not.  Gerhardt immediately began taking classes without the knowledge of the full board. Only board members Gerhardt and Chairman Alex Habersham knew of Gerhardt’s sudden interest in certification. These classes were not required for the Assessor position. The rest of the board found out quite by accident when the Department of Revenue who sponsored the classes telephoned for payment.  A secretary had enrolled Gerhardt in classes without the chief appraiser or full board’s knowledge and without payment.  
  
When Bobby’s classes were complete, Calvin Hicks was fired shortly afterward for insubordination.  The board of assessors considered Hicks insubordinate after he questioned the board on the performance review the board wanted to give an employee.    After making these observations known during a brief executive session, Estelle Herndon motioned for his termination, seconded by Leigh Ann Junod.   Robert Gerhardt was the deciding vote.  Hicks was dismissed immediately. 

Despite board comments to the contrary, this is the exact turn of events.  I seemed to be the only board member taken completely by surprise.  This occurred after the board had received at least four opinions from the County Attorney and one from the Attorney General’s office informing the board that they were not to hire, fire, discipline or manage the staff.  
  
Next, Pat Fallin was named interim chief and I pledged my support.  However, when it became apparent that we were falling behind, I asked her some specific digest tracking questions during board meetings.  Her answers were vague and evasive. I knew then that we were in trouble.
  

After Bobby Gerhardt was hired, he in turn delegated virtually all responsibilities to his Deputy Chief who had been the interim chief appraiser.  Bobby then spent most of his time working on mortgage fraud according to Dr. Robert Cummings.  The board told Cummings that mortgage fraud was not a tax assessor but the District Attorney’s responsibility and that Bobby should be focusing on the digest.  Before this direction from the board, Cummings had been thoroughly convinced that mortgage fraud was an integral part of chief appraiser work.  Three critical months later, Gerhardt finally began work on the digest.  
  
I asked for a ratio study, the measuring stick for assessment administration.  Neither Bobby Gerhardt, nor his deputy would provide it to me.  I emailed Gerhardt and copied the board.

He still would not provide it.  I made a motion for it during a board meeting and could not get a second.  It was frustrating.
  
Overburdened appraisers were attempting to review 50 parcels a day and it was glaringly apparent we were getting farther and farther behind.  I asked that we implement quality control such as was implemented when we last had a reval. In 2001, former board member Ray Jackson asked that it be implemented and it was a success.  I requested the same for this reval but the request was rejected The risk of faulty inaccurate information was at an all time high.  I asked several appraisers what was going wrong and they told me that reviewing 50 parcels a day was almost a physical impossibility.  I never directed any staff member to do anything and none can come forward and truthfully state that I did.  Asking questions is how most intelligent people gather information.  

When notices were finally mailed, they were mailed in spite of my unanswered questions. My property value escalated from $99,000 to $148,000.  I looked at comparable homes in my neighborhood and found a bigger home with brick construction that sold for $126,000.  This information helped me make the decision to vote against sending out notices.  I stated several times that there were problems with the 2006 revaluation and in many instances we were playing “Let’s make a Deal” with taxpayers instead of making valid appraisals.  

Commissioner Joe Allen asked me to be a guest on a local TV show and I stated basically the same thing.  I stated many times that we should consider pulling the plug on the reval. Now, a tax assessor’s office that used to be first in the state of Georgia is now the worst in the state.  Calvin Hicks set the standard with the first tax assessor website in the State of Georgia and with 4 digests submitted timely and accurately. My motivation and dedication has been to the taxpaying community.  Olmstead, Bishop and Richardson put the wheels in motion when they added two members to the board with a different agenda in mind.