Are our elected officials any different?

Ben Nelms's picture

In a little over seven years of reporting the news, I have regularly covered hundreds of public meetings. Very rarely have I seen occasions where elected representatives of the people openly violated Georgia law, whether in letter or spirit.

I stood in the dark foyer of Union City Hall the night of Feb. 21, waiting for the council to wrap up the Executive Session that had been called to address a personnel issue and one involving land acquisition. The foyer area where the public waits (unless they choose to wait outdoors) is often dark, lights out, before and during meetings and during the occasions when an Executive Session has been called. That night was no exception. I’ve been within earshot on several occasions in the last 14 months when residents have asked why the lights in the entrance area of city hall are turned out during City Council meetings. Some have said it’s hard to see in the area while others have asked if it is the city’s intention to give the impression that there is no meeting occurring by keeping the entrance to city hall dark. For me, it is the only governmental body I have ever covered that turns out the lights in the only area accessible to the public.

Back to the Feb. 21 meeting. After 30-45 minutes in Executive Session, I could hear Mayor Ralph Moore calling for a vote. Glancing through the windows in the council chamber doors I could see elected officials began to leave their seats. About half a minute later the door was opened, as prescribed by Georgia law, to let the public back in. Georgia Open Meetings Law requires that, once an Executive Session ends, the public re-enters the chambers to be informed as to whether an action had been taken. At that point, a motion is to be made in public to adjourn the meeting and a vote taken do to so. That is the law. But that is not what happened Feb. 21. As I entered the council chambers, I noticed that two council members had already left the table while another councilwoman and the mayor were standing. I decided to ask City Attorney Dennis Davenport, still seated at the table conversing with the City Administrator, when the meeting was going to be adjourned. Dennis responded, “The meeting was adjourned as the door was opening.” His response was patently incorrect.

I’m not sure what to make of this. (I saw this happen on another occasion in Union City and chalked it up to a mistake.) Perhaps the laws of physics were suspended in Union City on Feb. 21, allowing council members to be in two places at the same time. Perhaps Dennis did not notice that the vote to adjourn was taken prior to the public re-entering the council chambers. Or perhaps it was something else. The reality is that a vote was taken to adjourn the public meeting prior to the public being allowed to re-enter the room and hear the outcome of the Executive Session. A quick check with the Georgia Attorney General’s office verified that the way the meeting was adjourned was a technical violation of state law.

This apparently illegal action by the Union City Council may seem small to many citizens. But it also speaks to a larger issue, one that affects all citizens. The City Attorney is an intelligent man. The Union City Council is largely composed of individuals with many years in elected office. These people should know better. Yet their actions Feb. 21, while perhaps minor on the scale of things, nonetheless calls into question either their knowledge of the letter of the law or their willingness to comply with it. And the letter of the law notwithstanding, their action also calls into question the spirit of the law. The Georgia Open Meetings Law was enacted to protect the public, to forestall secrecy by elected officials, to hold your elected representatives to the standard of accountability and transparency that citizens deserve. The spirit of the law was violated Feb. 21. Whether out of arrogance or ignorance or innocence I cannot objectively say.

And maybe it doesn’t matter. After all, I was the only one that remained after the meeting. But it does matter because the failure of your elected representatives to comply with the letter and the spirit of the law is tantamount to their disregard for it. As residents of any city or county, you are required to comply with local laws (ordinances). Your failure to do so results in some type of penalty. Are our elected officials any different?

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Submitted by MoeBo101 on Fri, 03/17/2006 - 12:35pm.

Foyer Lights: why should they be turned on? With citizens traveling up and down Union Street and stopping for business at the Post Office, the sight of lights inside City Hall might generate interest and/or curiosity that something might be going on in there. As far as the adjournment of Feb. 21 Executive Session: First ask the question, who in the audience (if they is any audience)is going to challenge any of those elected officials and/or appointed individuals participating in the meeting? Lets start at the beginning. First you have a drunk acting as a mayor and an attorney who twist, bends, or breaks any law that he can. As for the councilmembers, they are all ignorant to the law. God help them--They look to Dennis for guidance and his word is Gospel. After all, he's doing whatever because he is a contributor to Ralph's pockets. Bottom line--God help the citizens of Union City. But then again, they are the individuals that cast votes to put these people in office.

Submitted by did not know on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 10:45pm.

I'm glad you did this story cause if a reg citizen wrote in and told that, I doubt most would beleve it. Tyrone Mayor and city manager where chomping at the bits to hire the Mayor of Union City todo part time work for Tyrone, AN DID! Now we know why...'birds of a feather...flock together'....I guess Aunt Bea and Barney wanted pointers from Otis as to how to really keep the taxpayers...'in the dark'!!!!

Submitted by robert m on Mon, 03/06/2006 - 10:14pm.

Ben, my experience from going to city council and county commission meetings over the last 15 years leads me to answer the question "Are our elected officials any different" with a resounding NO!

Frequently these elected officials just don't want to deal with the public input, so they hide the agenda under "personal matter" or some other heading to carry on that business in executive session.

And Ben, now that you know the attorney advising the Union City council and mayor, you should not be surprised. That attorney is
going to be a big part of the downfall of the Dunn/Wells/Pfeifer regime.

How, you ask? By leading and misleading these elected officials to suit their whims and the county attorney's fee agenda. Don't forget, over $500,000 in one year on law suits, many of which there was no chance of winning and this attorney knew that from the beginning.

It's got to end, Ben, and you can help make that happen.

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