DEL.ICIO.USVoters will get a chance to fire Lithonia mayor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, September 28, 2008
From nearly the first moment she banged the gavel as mayor of Lithonia, Joyce McKibben has been the center of controversy in the small south DeKalb County city.
She butted heads with various members of the city council and fired the police chief, only to see the council reinstate him hours later. She sued the city, claiming executive power, and lost.
On Tuesday, the focus will again be on McKibben as voters go to the polls to decide whether to oust her from the office she has held less than a year.
But in Lithonia — where business has been at a near standstill for months and a recent history that includes teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and a recall effort against the previous mayor — will anything really change if McKibben is no longer mayor?
Depends on whom you ask.
“NO! Write that, capital N, capital O,” said Charlotte Sledge, a Lithonia native who owns the Tru-Faith Hair Salon on Main Street. “It’s always been the same.
Everybody makes the same promises to fix up this town, and then nothing ever changes.”
Next door, Co’Quesie “Cookie” Gilbert is just as emphatic.
“The whole economy is a mess, and the problem is just compounded by her,” said Gilbert, who owns the Bourbon Street on the Main party center. “She has failed to help business and people.”
McKibben pledged to tackle the beleaguered city’s woes after she won office last November, in a four-way race, with 76 votes.
She set about trying to catch up the city on its audits — lags that have the city out of compliance with the state and unqualified for state grant money.
McKibben has refused to comment on the recall effort, except to say that her opponents target her because she has uncovered longstanding financial irregularities. An outside audit, released in March, revealed abuse of city credit cards and lack of financial controls dating back to 2005.
“Miss Joyce is trying to get things together, but the council is against her, and it’s personal,” said Aisha Browning, a 19-year-old cosmetology student. “They are working against her, no matter what she does. So, she can’t get anything done.”
Critics claim those audits were under way when McKibben took office. They say her authoritarian style — such as firing the police chief in April without notifying the council — set the stage for the drama that has unfolded since last spring.
One specific complaint has been McKibben’s refusal to sign city business licenses. Concert promoter Jason Lary, who lives outside the city, said the city lost $30,000 from parking and other fees when he had to cancel his summer jazz series because of the lack of a license.
Lawrence Ivery, a currency investor who lives in the city, said the recent turmoil has hurt business.
“We need to create the opportunity for revenue for the city, not chase it away,” he said.
Still, many residents have shrugged off the power struggle.
“I think I will vote, but I’m just not sure,” said Geneva Morton, an 82-year-old resident who has lived her whole life in Lithonia. “I don’t think it will make a difference.”
Whether Morton and those like her show up will likely sway the election. The tiny city, just 1 square mile, has 1,046 registered voters, according to the county elections office.
A majority of those voters must cast their ballots Tuesday, and a majority of them must agree to oust McKibben for the recall to be successful.
Simply put, that means 263 voters must vote McKibben out of office.
If the recall effort is successful, qualifying begins immediately for those who want to run for mayor. A special election would be held Nov. 18.
Nothing in state law, however, prevents McKibben from qualifying and again running for office.
