For the second consecutive week, College Park City Council failed to have a quorum to hold a regular meeting and there might not be one before the end of the year.
Councilmen Joe Carn and Roderick Gay were absent from the City Council meeting that was scheduled for last Monday. The two also missed the meeting that was to be held a week earlier.
In place of a City Council meeting this week, Mayor Bianca Motley Broom held a “community meeting” allowing residents to voice concerns on how animosity between officials is getting in the way of city business.
The commenters placed blame on Carn and Gay, saying College Park’s reputation as a reliable place for business and development is in jeopardy.
“Frustration” with the councilmen, “embarrassment” for the city, “anarchy” and “a sad state of affairs,” were the sentiments voiced by residents.
As a result of Carn and Gay’s absences, council has been unable to approve budget amendments and holiday bonuses for the city’s 400 staff members, Broom said.
The final City Council meeting of the year is scheduled to take place Dec. 4.
According to Gay, the holiday bonuses can be decided by the city manager phoning each council member for their approval of the pay out.
“All of this is being sensationalized,” Gay said. “There is no pressing business.”
Carn told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that he does not plan to attend a City Council meeting until 2024 when two new council members take office. Approving new business measures now would encumber the newly seated officials who might want to do things differently, he said.
Jamelle McKenzie will take office for the Ward 1 seat currently held by Councilman Ambrose Clay, who did not run for reelection. Tracie Arnold will be seated in the Ward 3 seat after winning the Nov. 7 election over incumbent Ken Allen.
“I think it’s unfair to force onto these new council members contracts and policies that they would be burdened with from the old council,” Carn said.
Carn declined to say what city projects or issues he is concerned about and added that he and Gay did not conspire to be absent from council meetings.
College Park is planning a $1.5 billion public/private project, Six West, near the airport, which Councilman Ambrose Clay has tied into Carn and Gay’s absences.
Monday he pointed out the city’s turnaround from “empty storefronts and crime.”
“College Park has incredible potential and it’s ironic ... that just when we are at the pinnacle of the leaping off point for real advances in this city that we are potentially hitting our low point,” Clay said.
Motley Broom added that staff is beginning to wonder if they will indeed receive a holiday bonus.
“The human impact of what is happening right now is just unconscionable,” Motley Broom said. “I’m just sorry because our 400-plus employees don’t deserve it.”
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