Troubled Lithonia is trying to get its financial house in order, but on Monday delayed two new policies designed to better track money spent and deposited.

The city council held off on measures setting rules for city bank deposits and on fuel purchases for city-owned vehicles as its regular meeting descended into familiar territory. A standing room only crowd witnessed the occasional shouting match, Mayor Joyce McKibben and council members interrupting each other and even a call for the mayor's resignation.

Mikki K. Harris/AJC/ (ENLARGE)

Pauline Frazier-Madete, general manager of the Fairfield Inn at Stonecrest Mall, attends the Lithonia City Council Meeting on Monday. Five people from the local hotels attended because their businesses are suffering.

Mikki K. Harris/AJC (ENLARGE)

From left, Councilmember Marcus Lloyd, Mayor Joyce McKibben and Councilmember Doreen Carter go through the action items on the agenda of the Lithonia City Council meeting Monday.

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"There is no political etiquette happening here," said Jewel Brewster, a Lithonia resident who was asked about her hometown during a recent work trip to New Jersey. She attended her first council meeting Monday night to register her disgust.

"This to me is like political daycare with no daycare provider," she told the council.

The new policies were designed to restore order to this small DeKalb County town roiled by a month-long power struggle between McKibben and the council. Both require more records to detail spending and income to assist a way to help with financial review.

Finances were a key concern to several local business representatives attending the meeting.

The conflict and confusion were hurting businesses like hers, said Dione Cammon, sales director at the Fairfield Inn at Stonecrest, just outside the city limits. When potential customers Google "Lithonia" they are greeted by the recent spate of bad news instead of local attractions or benefits, she said.

One of the city's main attractions has been the summer jazz concert series. Promoter Jason Lary said the program is on the brink of cancellation because of the controversy and also due to McKibben's unsuccessful lawsuit against him. McKibben had claimed that Lary threatened her harm over a dispute over the way she ran the city.

"The business community is here to say we want you to resign because you are bad for this community," Lary told McKibben during public comments. He later added that the festival's corporate sponsors will stay on if the mayor resigns.

The question of Mayor Joyce McKibben's scope of powers has been put before a county Superior Court Judge. No date has been set for that hearing.

Financial disorder dates back several years for the city of 2,300 in south DeKalb near the Mall at Stonecrest. County. Internal audits show that, as far back as 2004, the city had no internal controls on purchasing and no policies on how to handle its budget. In 2005, the city didn't even adopt a budget.