The Hoschton City Council met Monday night at the Historic Train Depot while the city remains under fire for controversial comments made by Mayor Theresa Kenerly and Councilman Jim Cleveland.
Kenerly allegedly pulled the application of Keith Henry, a finalist in a job opening for city administrator. Kenerly stated to another council member that the candidate was not a good fit “because he is black and the city isn’t ready for this.” Councilman Jim Cleveland defended the mayor, and now both officials are under a microscope with the public, many asking the two to resign from their positions.
“I would like to see some type of resolution,” Shantwon Astin, a community resident who attended the meeting said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean they will resign in a timely fashion, which I think they should, but there still needs to be some kind of action,” he said.
Dale Hall, the new city administrator, presented the meeting with an ordinance for a code of ethics. The ordinance is to amend the process for hearing complaints. Hall said there was a minor flaw in the original code, so they are making another option available in the case an ethics issue comes up between council members.
“This is a resolution to the ethics board,” Hall said. “This will give opportunities to appointed individuals to address any ethic concerns that come out.”
As the ethic board is written, if a council member has a complaint against another council member, then all the members have to vote and appoint a board, but if one has an issue with an ethics complaint, that exempts them from voting on another individual, Hall said.
The ordinance reads that a third party, or a hearing officer, will be appointed to hear any ethics complaint made toward a board member. The appointed hearing officer must be a city or county attorney not representing Jackson County or any adjacent county. The hearing officer will determine whether a complaint presents significant facts to warrant a hearing.
