It’s rare to see an attorney with the county cross-examining a commissioner, but it happened Wednesday in Fulton County Superior Court.
Fulton’s District 6 Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman doesn’t want the county to fire two members of her staff, Rick Blalock and Robert H. Kelly, because they’re running campaigns to win seats on the county commission.
The men were told they’d have to quit their jobs to campaign after the Fulton County Commission passed a rule March 16 barring their employees from running for the office to “avoid the potential for unfair advantage, conflict of interest, impropriety, or appearance of the same.” The commission took that vote while Abdur-Rahman was out of town on county business.
The two men were scheduled to be fired Friday. But just minutes before, a judge ordered the county to place them on paid administrative leave until the matter is resolved.
After hearing arguments, presiding former Cobb County Senior Judge Adele P. Grubbs said she would issue a written ruling Thursday.
The county retained Tim Boughey, with the firm Jackson Lewis, who argued it’s human nature for colleagues to treat the two staffers running more favorably.
“If an injunction is issued, the public interest will be gutted all for the sake of two gentleman remaining employees of Fulton County,” he said.
David Betts, attorney for Blalock and Kelly, argued commissioners made the rule to stop the men from running against them.
“Maybe they can’t afford to run if they lose their jobs,” Betts said.
Blalock, who manages Abdur-Rahman’s communications part time at $51.36 per hour, is running for District 1 in northern Fulton. Kelly, who is Abdur-Rahman’s chief of staff at $133,750 per year, is running for southern Fulton’s District 5.
Credit: WSBTV Videos
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