Friday, August 24, 2001
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Friday, August 24, 2001 |
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Tape scandal rocks Senoia By JOHN
THOMPSON With less than three months to go before its municipal elections, the city of Senoia was rocked this week as one councilman called for another's resignation and audio tapes of phone calls circulated through town. Councilman Pam Youngblood asked Councilman Diann Cleveland to resign after the revelation that tapes containing conversations between Mayor Joan Trammell, Cleveland and Youngblood had been taped by Cleveland. "On Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2001, two audio cassette tapes were received in the mail. One of these tapes was given to Mayor Trammell along with the box in which it was mailed," Youngblood said. "The tapes contained numerous spliced phone conversations over a period of time between council member Cleveland and myself, council member Cleveland and the mayor and one three-way call between the mayor, Cleveland and myself." Youngblood said all the calls were placed prior to Sept. 23, 2000, and were recorded from Cleveland's phone without the other two's knowledge or consent. "They were private conversations with someone I trusted as a friend," she said. "I have since been told council member Cleveland was recording her incoming phone calls to get messages from her father's doctor regarding his medication. "Two of these calls were initiated by Cleveland to my home and one call was initiated to the mayor's home. This is easily determined by the fact the mayor and I said hello at the beginning of the conversation. These phone calls were not accidentally kept answering machine messages; they were calls that were deliberately recorded," she said. Youngblood said she did not know why Cleveland would do such a thing, but it needed to be handled. "I feel this matter is an embarrassment to the citizens of Senoia and needs to be handled quickly and appropriately," she said. Youngblood called for Cleveland to resign and not seek reelection in November. But Cleveland firmly stated that she had no intention of resigning and said she has done nothing illegal or unethical. Rather, she feels betrayed by people she felt were her friends. "'Et tu Brute.' I now know how Caesar felt," she said Wednesday. Cleveland said her attorney has assured her that no law was broken and she reiterated the fact that conversations were taped on her father's answering machine because she was taking care of him during an illness, and he would not remember the exact words of doctors' calls he would receive during the day. Coweta County District Attorney Pete Skandalakis said he was not familiar with details of the case, but said Georgia law allows phone conversations to be recorded, as long as one party gives consent to the taping. In this case, Cleveland would have given consent. Reportedly, the tapes contain conversations about former Councilman Ken Gordon, who was seeking election last fall. Cleveland also said she had no idea what is on the tapes, but said she has been overwhelmed by the support from the residents of Senoia. "I've had nothing but positive response from people who have told me to hang in there," said Cleveland. Cleveland plans to keep doing her job as a council member and will seek reelection this fall. No one in town has owned up to delivering the tapes to the mayor, and Cleveland said she is consulting with her lawyer to see if possible charges will be filed against the person who took the tapes from her father's home. Mayor Trammell did not return phone calls to comment about the situation.
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