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City swears in new, returning councilmen; senior city leader calls for return to respect
Returning Mayor Willie Burns, along with Councilmen Nathaniel Cullars, Maceo Mahoney, Edward Pope Jr., and newly elected Councilman Ames M. Barnett, were each sworn in at the beginning of the meeting. In welcoming the new and returning councilmen, long-time Councilman Pamela Eaton spoke of changes she's seen in her 11 years on the council. "I'm really concerned about this council. What we have failed to realize is that we're the policymaking body for this community, and I feel like we've lost our focus," she said. "We've always had three members from District 1 and three from District 2 on this council," Eaton went on, "and we've always gotten along in the past. It's healthy for us to discuss, it's healthy to disagree, but it's healthier for us to come together for the betterment of this whole community. I'm afraid we're not quite doing that, because we have too many separate agendas going on at this table. "What we have to realize also is that we're all created equal at this table - there's not one of us who's better than the one beside them. We've just re-elected the mayor, we've got a city administrator who's totally focused on this community, we have a city attorney who knows his municipal law and is here to keep us straight, then there's us, the six of us, the policy-making body of this community. "We have to learn to trust each other, we have to learn to respect each other, we have to learn to come together for the betterment of the community. We're supposed to be a proactive, progressive, and positive-thinking body, and we're not. I hope we will learn to trust each other, and respect each other. Let's put politics aside and learn to become leaders." Eaton's comments were met with sustained applause from the audience. Illustrating the problem Eaton spoke of, Councilman Cullars again dredged up a personal issue he had months ago with a local businessman and tried to form a motion concerning it. "I make a motion we come up with a bylaw, or a code, to not deal with any racist businesses, that the city should not deal with any of that. I make that motion to come up with bylaws for that, so we'll have something in place when this come up." After a long embarrassed pause, City Attorney Barry Fleming translated Cullars' motion. "Mr. Mayor, the way I understand the motion is that the councilman is asking the city staff to do research and bring back to the council a determination." Fleming said that he would look at the many existing city, state, and federal anti-discrimination laws to see if any of those long-standing laws were applicable in Cullars' case. The council voted their unanimous approval. The council also voted to re-elect Fleming as City Attorney and Chip Hardin as City Judge. Cullars and Mahoney voted against both appointments. The council also voted on the designation of the Downtown Development Authority to administer and market the Georgia Department of Community Affairs revolving loan fund in accordance with state and federal regulations. In other action, the council approved a motion naming Mayor Burns and City Administrator Mike Eskew as signing officials on the MEAG Trust continuation. They also approved a request for a parade permit for Martin Luther King Day January 21. The council also approved a proclamation recognizing February 15 as "Ernie Harwell Day" in Washington in honor of the city native who will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame next month. The council also approved a cable franchise resolution and ordinance, and approved a request by Mayor Burns to recognize the efforts of elected officials who complete the 120-hour Georgia Municipal Association training. The council discussed the city's annual leave policy, and voted to change the number of years of service needed to gain more days of vacation. Council members also approved the issuing of an updated letter of support for the Alvin James Group's efforts to bring a hotel to The Pope Center property. Tony Henderson, whose Minority Development Corporation has been hired by the city, spoke to the meeting about efforts to empower local small businesses and others in the community. Mayor Burns announced appointments and reappointments to a variety of city boards. Marion Tutt was appointed to the Library Board, Michelle White, Ed Pope Jr., and Wayne Miller were appointed to the Parks and Recreation Board. Bob Haughey was reappointed to the Tree Board, Eddie Finnell was appointed and Bill Rousey was reappointed to the Resthaven Cemetery Inc. committee, and Robert Aiken was appointed to the Historic Preservation Committee. Tourism Director Ashley Barnett reported that the Classic South Equine Association would be holding an event May 17 to raise awareness of equine activities. She also reminded those present about upcoming events, including Martin Luther King Day events January 19-21, the Revolutionary Days Kettle Creek Battle celebration February 8-10, the Ernie Harwell event in February, and the February 23 Unity Group silent walk. Chamber of Commerce Director Donna Hardy told the council about the upcoming Work Ready assessment meetings on January 17 and January 22.
At the request of Councilman Mahoney, the council met in executive session for personnel. No action was taken in the session.
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