A group of College Park residents want to remove a city councilwoman from office.
The political action committee United College Park is seeking to recall the election of Councilwoman Jamelle McKenzie, for numerous alleged actions that they say violate the oath of office.
On Monday, resident Mose James IV filed the application with the city clerk’s office for the recall of the Ward 1 councilwoman. United College Park is working to get 900 signatures within 30 days to recall McKenzie and prompt a special election to replace her.
McKenzie said that she has been aware, for months, of a plan to recall her election, adding that accusations against her are “false,” and “laughable.”
“As an elected official I’m built for it,” McKenzie said. “I can take criticism. I can understand if people do not agree with my decisions. However, I do take it seriously when people say that I have committed illegal acts that I have not done.”
Details on the recall application accuse the councilwoman of creating a toxic work environment at City Hall that has led to the resignation or firing of 17 employees and contractors.
The form states that McKenzie posted about the firing of an employee on social media before the person was notified of their termination.
The form also alleges that McKenzie has intimidated residents and “attempted to silence citizens that disagree with her.”
During a city council meeting on June 17, a resident accused McKenzie of intimidation and said the councilwoman phoned residents who were signed up to make public comment that night.
McKenzie issued a statement on the attempted recall, saying: “We recognize that this is all part of the process and part of living in a divided country where acts of policy disagreement are treated as actions by an enemy. We can’t control the agenda, thoughts or signatures of others. I have and will continue to do good work for the people of Ward 1 and all of College Park.”
Dom Kelly, chair of United College Park, said the recall application is part of an overall effort to replace McKenzie and councilmembers Joe Carn and Roderick Gay when they run for reelection next year.
“Many of the people in the city are unhappy with their leadership,” Kelly said, adding that it makes more sense to find strong candidates to run against Carn and Gay than to attempt a recall of their elections.
College Park residents, including Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, have filed at least 20 complaints about city council with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
McKenzie told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that people who do not want to see her serving on council have harassed and threatened her via phone calls, text messages and email.
“I have received numerous threats on my life. I have police protection outside my home,” McKenzie said.
College Park spokeswoman Kameron Preston said police monitor city officials’ homes and whereabouts as a standard practice and she is unaware of increased protection for McKenzie.
Preston said police are not performing a “formal police investigation into threats or harassment against the councilwoman.”
Resident Jake Rothschild, co-founder of the Facebook page, Speak Up College Park, Georgia, said he was contacted by a College Park police detective last month following a post that was critical of McKenzie and stated she should resign from office.
Rothschild said McKenzie was offended by two lines in the now-deleted post that he says referred to a recall of her election.
“You really should resign before you end up in a much worse place than you are in now,” the deleted post said. “The countdown has begun.”
“She used that as threatening and harassing,” Rothschild said. “I was stunned because we would never threaten her in any way, shape or form. It’s not my nature ... When I spoke to the detective, I let (the detective) know that there was no malice whatsoever.”
McKenzie said the recall effort is distracting, but she will continue to do her job as a member of city council.
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