Company owned by ex-DOT commissioner, lawmaker-son files for bankruptcy

A real estate management firm owned by the former head of the state transportation department and his two sons – one a state lawmaker from Columbus — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing $1.7 million in debt.

Click here to read the April 30 application to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Middle District of Georgia.

The three members of the Dallas Chipley Group LLC are identified as Vance Smith Jr., a former state House member who served who resigned as state DOT commissioner in 2011; his son Vance Smith III; and his son John A. “Kip” Smith, who took his father’s place in the Legislature in 2009.

Efforts to reach Kip Smith and Vance Smith Jr. were unsuccessful on Monday.

The top creditor listed in the filing is Georgia Commerce Bank In Atlanta, which is owed more than $1.4 million. The company also owes $76,211 to the Muscogee County Tax Commission.

Kip Smith was unopposed in 2010, but has already picked up opposition for this year’s July 31 GOP primary. Columbus businessman John Pezold, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, announced his candidacy in January, shortly after Kip Smith was picked up for DUI – stopped after leaving a Sandy Springs bar.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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