Demorest Residents Want Answers
PHOTO: A crowd gathered Tuesday night at Demorest City Hall, but did not get satisfaction from the city council. Credit: Matthew Osborne
This story was originally published in the May 1, 2020 edition of The Northeast Georgian.
BY ERIC PEREIRA
Demorest officials came to a stalemate in their first attempt at a public meeting in the COVID-19 era, but they will try a second time Tuesday, May 5, to clear the air with residents on several issues.
More than 50 people were outside the Demorest municipal courtroom last Tuesday, as many were there to show support with signs for former Demorest Police Chief Robin Krockum, but they were also looking for answers.
“I’m just here to support Robin Krockum and I’m here to get answers like everyone else,” said Krockum’s daughter, Saylor. “And I think that the people of Demorest deserve to know what’s going on and I think that’s why most of us came here tonight.”
Krockum’s wife Meadow was also in the crowd. “We’d like to thank everybody for their overwhelming support,” she said. “It’s just been amazing to see the community all come out to support Krockum. Thank you.”
Four Georgia State Patrol officers were called in by the city to be present at the meeting as a large crowd was expected and they were asked to ensure social distancing was being followed according to Sgt. Chad Johnson. Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell also was present.
The city planned to only have 10 people inside the municipal building to observe social distancing in Gov. Brian Kemp’s Executive Order. Other municipality meetings attended by The Northeast Georgian have conducted business with more than 10 individuals inside while observing social distancing.
QUESTIONS LINGER
Questions began to arise after the firing of Demorest Police Chief Robin Krockum April 16.
After six days of wondering, Krockum received his separation notice April 22 regarding his unexpected termination. The document provided by Krockum states the reason for separation was regarding performance issues.
The Northeast Georgian has previously reported that Krockum himself did not have any disciplinary issues during his tenure and he has also lead his department to win multiple awards. “I do want to clear up one misconception: Chief Krockum was not terminated for refusing to discipline an officer. I won’t speak further than that about a personnel/HR issue,” said City Manager Kim Simonds.
The termination occurred the day after Krockum explained to Simonds that he would not discipline his officer for making a Facebook post while off duty about city trashcans.
Simonds has the authority to fire any department head. However, the Demorest City Charter says the appointment of a department head requires a nomination by the manager and a confirmation of appointment by the council. Greg Ellingson was named the interim police chief , but he was not approved in a public meeting.
NO QUORUM, NO MEETING
The work session and special called meeting itself was cancelled by Simonds due to lack of quorum, however it appears that there was a divide in how it should have been run for the public. Concerns from city officials stemmed from a legal ad that ran in the April 22 edition of The Northeast Georgian which was written by Simonds.
“Although the ad we ran previously was legally approved by GMA (Georgia Municipal Association),” Simonds said, “Attorney Homans has crafted a new one and is submitting it today for publication in Friday’s paper (May 1).”
Homans cited the Open Meetings Act in his explanation for not participating indoors Tuesday as details for how to access the live streamed meeting were not provided in the notice. The agenda with the public comment notice did run, but it was not with 24 hours notice.
“I think [Homans] was quite right about the inadequate notice of the meeting,” said David Hudson, general counsel for the Georgia Press Association. “There was nothing in the notice that gave details of how a citizen could access via Facebook or Zoom.”
Mayor Rick Austin and Councilman Sean Moore were also uncomfortable attending the meeting because of Homans’ opinion. Three council members or two council members and the mayor constitute a quorum according to the city charter.
COMPLICATIONS
Simonds had said the internet cutting out caused difficulties with setting up the meeting as well. Councilman John Hendrix was going to teleconference in.
“The internet did actually go down for about two minutes,” she said. “It caused us to lose the teleconferencing connection we had with Councilman Hendrix. I’m not sure if it had to do with so many people accessing the Wi-Fi at one time or not, but I was in the process of re-establishing the connection with him when the meeting was cancelled.”
Simonds said the meeting was “ready to go” when Austin decided it should be changed to an outdoor meeting.
“We can socially distance, we can meet the letter of the law and we can have that meeting and get it done. We’ve evidently got members who refuse to step out and have that meeting in the light of day in front of the public that we represent,” Austin said previously in The Northeast Georgian.
The Northeast Georgian learned that Austin had a stage erected at the parking lot of the municipal building Monday night, but it was taken down shortly after. While not stating the price of the stage he and his wife personally paid for, Austin said it was “our gift for open government.”
“The Governor’s Executive Order prohibits indoor or outdoor meetings of any kind that have more than 10 participants, but the Mayor and the City Attorney chose to ignore that order,” Simonds said. “Upon hearing that the City Attorney would not be attending the meeting, Councilman Moore said that he did not feel comfortable holding the meeting without the City Attorney (legal counsel) and left the building. At that point, the meeting could not be held for lack of a quorum and it was cancelled.”
Councilman Nathan Davis pulled his car up to the front door of municipal courtroom and did not address the crowd. When he left the cancelled meeting, he again did not make any statements to the crowd in front of him and drove off to boos from some of them. Simonds eventually left the building as well but reportedly did not provide a statement to the crowd.
Hendrix did not specifically address the matter in an email opportunity for comment.
Davis, who has not commented publicly since Krockum was fired, said Thursday he was preparing a statement, but did he not provide it by The Northeast Georgian’s press deadline.
“There really are no ‘rules’ that actually fit the unexpected circumstances of this pandemic,” Hudson said in regard to public meetings. “We are reading between the lines of the Open Meetings Act to try and determine what is permissible or not.
“Doing so, there would be nothing to prevent city council from giving notice and meeting outside in a parking lot or at a ball field where there are stands for the citizens to sit. However it is accomplished, social distancing should be enforced if the Governor’s executive order requiring it remains in force. A meeting outside would require some sort of public address system so that each speaker can be heard,” Hudson said.
MAY 5 MEETING
The city of Demorest will hold its meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 5. The public will have teleconference access to the meeting via the City of Demorest Facebook page.
Questions and comments may be emailed to office@cityofdemorest.org; and questions and comments may be submitted by calling 706-839-6116. The phone number will not be active until 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting.
The teleconference meeting shall originate from the Municipal Building located at 125 Ivy Street, Demorest.
