Beach on Monday said his campaign had nothing to do with the robo call and labeled the calls as dirty politics as usual.
Brian Laurens, owner of Brikel Communications and Consulting, is accusing Beach of using his cell phone number to call voters.
Laurens said he discovered the alleged robo calls were made when he returned home from church on Sunday.
The Holly Springs resident said the calls began to pour in around 2 p.m. and went through 8 p.m. Sunday.
“The call said something about Chip Rogers being for the TSPLOST and voting for it and was portrayed as coming from a registered LLC, (the) Grassroots Conservatives of Cherokee County,” he said.
Laurens added that “deductive reasoning” led him to believe the calls were the work of Beach and his campaign.
He noted he believed he received well over 100 phone calls.
“I’m sorry this type of dirty politics and shenanigans have entered into the electoral process of Cherokee County,” he added.
Laurens has regularly done campaign consulting work for Rogers.
The senator in his June 30 campaign contribution disclosure report paid Brikel $450 in “design work.”
Along with Rogers, State Rep. Sean Jerguson (R-Holly Springs), State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) and her challenger Michael Caldwell and Cherokee County Tax Commissioner Sonya Little have all used Brikel Communications for campaign work.
Beach in denying the consultant’s accusations noted he was out campaigning door-to-door in Towne Lake on Sunday.
“I can assure you that no one with my campaign had any connection to these calls and I would be happy to provide bank statements to prove it,” he said in a prepared statement. “We have run a positive campaign with our limited financial resources to share our message of lower taxes, less government and local control, and that’s what we will continue to do.”
Beach went on to point out that his wife “does not own a robo call company,” so he and his campaign would have to pay for the calls.
Beach is referring to Beechwood Services, Inc., which is owned and operated by Amy Rogers, according to documents on file with the Secretary of State’s office.
Rogers in 2010 campaign disclosure reports listed using the company for “phone services.”
According to Georgia Secretary of State records, Mrs. Rogers is listed as the CEO and CFO of the company.
Campaign disclosures also show the company as being used for polling by other candidates.
Grassroots Conservatives founder Bill Dewrell said he’s offered a $2,500 reward for anyone who can produce information that would lead to the “prosecution” of the people who paid for the robo call.
Dewrell, who said he was “shocked” when he learned of the robo calls Sunday morning, added the grassroots organization has reached a respectable level in Cherokee County.
“I think someone chose to use our name to try to smear Senator Rogers,” he added. “We’ve seen it time and time again. It’s just dirty politics.”
Dewrell added the organization put out another robo call on Sunday to inform voters it had nothing to do with the original call.
Rogers is a big supporter of the Grassroots Conservatives of Cherokee County.
Campaign records show that in May 2011 Rogers gave the PAC $4,000, in July he made another $2,000 donation and in November of last year he gave $5,900 to the organization.
Rogers also denounced the calls, adding he believed “voters are tired of negative, and in this case patently false, attacks.”
“My positive message of true conservative government will remain constant and that is what we are committed to every day of this campaign,” he said.
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