Solicitor ready to sue county

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizenens.com

A dispute over $25 could send Coweta County into court with one of its employees.

County Administrator Theron Gay learned this week that the county’s solicitor, Robert Stokely, had filed a writ of mandamus to compel the Coweta County Commission to do its legal duty and honor Stokely’s request.

The dispute is over a pay increase for assistant county solicitor Seay VanPatten-Poulakos. In a letter to the commission, Stokely said he requested the assistant solicitor’s salary be increased. Stokely said he had the funds in his budget to cover the increase and notified Gay July 5 that he wanted the increase to start Aug. 1.

Stokely said he received a call Aug. 1 informing him that he needed to fill out a payroll change notice. Stokely was at a seminar and didn’t fill out the form until Aug. 4. He then found out the employee was paid at her old rate on her Aug. 1 check.
The solicitor has a problem with the way the situation was handled.

“Since these events, the commission has apparently decided to micro-manage this office. If it is not clear by now, let me make it clear: I am the only person authorized by law to run the solicitor’s office,” he wrote.

But Gay has a different take on the situation.

“The commissioners are not trying to micro-manage. We’re just trying to follow procedure. We’ve got a lot of employees to track and just can’t change payroll the day before,” he said.

Gay said he doesn’t understand why Stokely had to threaten to sue the county to resolve it.

“I’m kind of baffled by it. A phone call would have resolved this,” he said.

The administrator is hopeful the situation can be resolved before it heads to court.