In this Corner...
Lithonia or Snellville? That is the question?
Last week Rick Badie of AJC.Com weighed in on who owns the title of...
“The most dysfunctional governing body in metro Atlanta.”
In contention are both Snellville and Lithonia.
In order to feel the pulse of Snellville, Mr. Badie found a local diner and started to chat with the customers. He found citizens like Theron Carmen who stated...
Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer and a five-member City Council can’t seem to do anything but fuss, belittle each other and call names. In Snellville, politics is personal. A bloodsport. Ugly and disgraceful, too.
It seems that the battle in Snellville is the classic "old guard vs. newcomers".
Then there is a dispute over a who authorized a $31,00 check is still a bone of contention. A defamation lawsuit between an "Old Guard Alderman" and his successor. But the biggie as of late is...
the vacant city manager’s position. Jim Brooks had been hired as interim city manager, but the mayor didn’t want to extend Brooks’ contract. Oberholtzer has been filling in, so to speak, but he says he doesn’t actually tell city workers what to do. Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld sought the opinion of state Attorney General Thurbert Baker. Baker ruled that the mayor cannot legally fill the vacant city manager’s spot. Big deal, Oberholtzer said in so many words.
The citizens of Snellville wish it would all go away. As Mr. Badie observed...
residents I talked to on and off the record hold hope that a change is going to come, that egos, pettiness and vindictiveness will subside.
Meanwhile, over in Lithonia according to WSB Radio...
The feud between Lithonia Mayor Joyce McKibben and the city council reared its head again at a Monday night meeting.
McKibben told a standing room only crowd at City Hall that she is being denied access to her office by the police department.
The interim city attorney, Debra Golymbieski, told the Mayor she would be allowed into her office once she signed a letter agreeing to protect city property and city documents.
Let's see...A Mayor illegally serving as the City Manager vs. a Mayor not allowed in her office by the City Attorney.
Most dysfunctional?
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Al Arnold
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