The Clayton County Commission on Tuesday pulled a proposal that could have promoted former Sheriff Victor Hill’s pick to replace him as one of the southside community’s top lawmen.
The county’s law department had planned to asked commissioners Tuesday to consider allowing the chief deputy of the sheriff’s office to step into the sheriff’s role until a scheduled March election to replace Hill. The controversial sheriff was convicted by a federal jury in October of violating the civil rights of six detainees in the Clayton County jail.
But the commissioners wanted no part of the plan after swift blowback from Clayton residents, who bombarded them with concerns about the proposal and another that would address commissioners living outside the districts they were elected to serve.
Commissioners complained they were caught off guard by the proposals and appeared perturbed that they were getting angry phone calls, emails and allegations of wrongdoing because of something the law department did.
“Who actually had this added to the agenda,” Commission Felicia Franklin asked county attorney Charles Reed. “Because if a board member puts anything on this agenda, there is a name to it.
“It just really took us by storm and blindsided us,” she said of the measures. “Unfortunately it’s something that definitely could have been avoided.”
Reed said that like other departments, the county’s law team can independently add agenda items. He did not say, however, who in the department specifically put the proposals on the agenda.
Complicating the discussion was a post over the weekend from Hill’s social media manager that Hill’s detractors connected to the proposal.
The photo featured Hill and Clayton Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Levon Allen playing a game of chess. Sitting below a photo of Marlon Brando from “The Godfather,” the caption reads: “Retired Sheriff Victor Hill and incoming Sheriff Levon Allen discuss strategy while sparring on the chess board.”
Allen is an ally of Hill’s and was promoted to chief deputy just hours after Hill was convicted.
Clayton resident Drew Andrews said while Hill has his supporters, it’s time for the county to move on from the former sheriff’s era of leadership.
“Clayton County needs a fresh start,” he said. “Let’s sever all connections to the sheriff and start over.”
Reed told the board that the law department’s proposal on allowing the deputy chief to take over as interim sheriff was an attempt to clarify succession in the sheriff’s office. The other action on commissioner residency was to align Clayton’s guidelines with those of the state on commissioner vacancies.
He agreed, however, that the language used may have been confusing. He said the state laws authorizes the chief deputy to assume the sheriff’s role until a special election, but that it might be better to have the Clayton legislative delegation work on this and clarify the process.
Commissioner Demont Davis said the discussion has been valuable, even if the county is not taking any action on the proposal.
“As we can see by the attendance, we have all gotten our share of calls on this,” he said.
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