DEL.ICIO.USMayor walks out after Lithonia council votes to go on with meeting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/10/08
After meeting for several minutes in executive session Thursday night, members of the Lithonia City Council emerged and voted 3-2 to reject a council member's motion to defer all six items the agenda.
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| This poster, featuring Lithonia Mayor Joyce McKibben, is posted in the window of a coffee shop in the town's city square. | ||
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With that, Mayor Joyce McKibben got up and left.
After meeting a few more minutes and voting to obtain a fidelity bond for the city clerk, the council adjourned.
Councilman Marcus Lloyd had moved to postpone the night's agenda and was seconded by Doreen Carter. Councilwoman Tonya Peterson seemed to hesitate briefly before voting with the other two council members to reject the motion.
The moment the motion failed, McKibben picked up her things, left the dais and walked out of City Hall. The mayor joined a prayer circle led by Bishop Sherman Harper of the On Holy Grounds Church in Lithonia, who sought her out to bless her.
"The righteous shall prevail. Lord, this city needs your prayers," Harper said.
Afterward, McKibben told the crowd that she had talked to the local political delegation and that they had asked the council to hold off on the meeting until state legislators could meet with the city officials and hash out the dispute over the mayor's powers under the Lithonia city charter.
The council had agreed to that in the executive session, the mayor said, but then voted differently in public.
Lloyd and Councilwoman Kathleen deCocq, confirmed that legislators had been in touch with city officials wanting to discuss the charter. He said, though, that there had been no vote in executive session.
"We as a council really need to come together," Lloyd said, explaining why he wanted to postpone the meeting.
The special session Thursday night was the first council session since a meeting on Monday turned ugly after McKibben fired police Chief Willie Rosser, only to have the council reinstate Rosser and then change the locks on City Hall.
On Wednesday, Lithonia police arrested two of McKibben's aides when they refused to leave City Hall.
McKibben has pledged to seek outside review of the city's charter, to get final say on whether the mayor or the council has authority for hiring and firing.
The charter lists McKibben as part of the five-member City Council. The charter, adopted by the Georgia Legislature in 2006, gives the mayor power over the daily affairs but awards the council the authority to conduct investigations.
The only action the council took Thursday night was to get the city clerk bonded to sign city checks of $250,000 or more. After some discussion about the need to seek more space for city operations, the council adjourned and left — to the ire of assembled citizens.
"It just doesn't look right for you to jump up and walk out of here without someone saying something to the citizens," Lithonia resident Johnny Daugherty shouted to council members as they left.
"We're voters and taxpayers," said Daugherty, who added he has lived in the city for 71 years. "They're going to get voted out of here just like they tried to do to the mayor."
McKibben defended her decision to leave, saying trying to abide by the legislator's requests.
"They asked us to bring peace, and we agreed in executive session," McKibben said. "So as not to bring any further turmoil to the citizens of Lithonia, I dismissed myself."
The council met before a standing-room-only crowd. Police used hand-held metal detectors to check those arriving, and closed the doors from the outside when the maximum number of occupants permitted by local fire codes was reached.
Before the meeting began, a police officer announced that no disruptions would be tolerated, and anyone acting unruly would have to leave.
The council's next meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday.
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