An inquiry by the Georgia Attorney General’s office into a College Park city meeting has received a response after three weeks. The AG’s scrutiny came after events that potentially violated Georgia’s Open Meetings Act.
In a meeting on Aug. 9, the College Park City Council called a special meeting to censure the city’s mayor, Bianca Motley Broom.
People in attendance spoke out against the measure. The response from attendees led to College Park Interm City Manager Emmanuel Adediran removing the public from the meeting.
Following the removal, the meeting’s live stream was briefly cut. The meeting resumed without the public in attendance.
The Attorney General’s office initially gave the city’s attorney, Winston Denmark, until Aug. 27 to explain the actions taken in the meeting. However, Denmark’s response came on Sept. 4.
“…While the removal of citizens was unusual,” said Denmark in a five-page letter to the AG’s office, “It was a necessary measure to preserve good order and to ensure the safety of those assembled.”
Denmark further emphasized the behavior displayed by members of the public in the meeting.
“Without question, the Open Meetings Act does not give citizens the right to disrupt public meetings. It would be dangerous for the Attorney General (or the courts) to communicate to Georgia citizens that the Act sanctions lawless behavior,” Denmark wrote.
Denmark also addressed the livestream interruption, claiming there was still access to the meeting via YouTube.
“We now understand that there was an approximately ten-minute interruption in the live streaming. This interruption was not ordered by the city manager or city council. In fact, they were not aware that the live stream ever stopped,” Denmark wrote.
Following a 30-minute period, Denmark said the public was invited back into the meeting. He maintained that College Park did not violate the law during the Aug. 9 meeting.
“…Based on the totality of the circumstances on August 9th, it cannot be said that city officials acted improperly or in bad faith,” Denmark wrote.
The Attorney General’s office has yet to respond to WABE’s request for comment.
