Hearing set to air allegations East Point mayor lied on qualifying form

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By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

East Point’s city clerk, who also oversees elections there, will hear arguments Friday that the mayor violated the oath he took when qualifying to run for re-election.

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Joe Macon

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City clerk Brenda James, the hearing officer for this case, is expected to decide by the end of the day Friday if Mayor Joe Macon’s name will remain on the Nov. 3 municipal election ballot along with names of three hoping to unseat him – City Council member Earnestine Pittman, Threet Brown and Delana Morrissette.

East Point resident Isabel Jeffares wrote in her complaint that Macon “knowingly filed a false statement in the notice of candidacy” when he swore he was “not a defaulter for any federal, state, county, municipal or school system taxes.”

Jeffares, in her letter to James, wrote that Fulton County court records indicate the state had placed a lien against Macon's property on April 16 for taxes due for the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 tax years.

Macon has admitted he owes for “underpayment of state taxes. I’m in a repayment plan with the [Georgia] Department of Revenue.”

Records show Macon underpaid his state taxes a total of $2,300 over four years; the largest amount for a single year was $1,257 owed for 2005.

He said the two women, once his supporters, are working against him now because they are upset about the changes he has made and the limits he has put on their access to city government.

The complaint Jeffares filed last week is the latest effort by her and another woman – both Macon supporters in 2005 – to point out that the mayor who ran as a reformer may not be true to his word.

They say Macon has used his city-issued credit card too freely and they are questioning private contributions and expenditures for the “mayor’s book club,” which encourages fifth- and sixth-grade boys to read for pleasure.