Bowman city council resigns en masse

BOWMAN - After months of squabbling, the mayor and City Council members of this small northeast Georgia town resigned Tuesday and set a special election in July to choose a new government.<br> <br> ``Things cannot continue as it was going,&#39;&#39; mayor pro-tem Gwinette Bryant said of arguments about budgets, who should sign the checks, who should be the town&#39;s attorney.<br> <br> The spats including one that had Mayor James Scarboro and Councilman Dick Barber yelling in each other&#39;s face while each had one hand on the gavel have become so fierce at times that sheriff&#39;s deputies were needed for security.<br> <br> Some of the 1,000 residents of Bowman, about 12 miles northwest of Elberton in Elbert County, have been calling recently for Scarboro&#39;s resignation. On Monday, he agreed to resign as long as the five council members also stepped down.<br> <br> ``This is an opportunity for the city of Bowman to get involved in their city and elect people who will work to fix the problems,&#39;&#39; said Scarboro, whose wife, Barbara, was on the council.<br> <br> By Tuesday afternoon, all had turned in written resignations to Elbert County Probate Judge Susan Sexton.<br> <br> ``We&#39;ve been trying to get the mayor out of office, and he&#39;s fighting us, and if this is the way to do it, well,&#39;&#39; Barber told the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail.<br> <br> The special election will be held July 20 in conjunction with the state primaries.<br> <br> In the absence of elected officials, city clerk Gwen Eppinger will continue running the city government&#39;s day-to-day operations.<br> <br> One issue that split the council last year was the firing of former 20-year city clerk Betty Jo Maxwell, Scarboro&#39;s first cousin. Scarboro and Maxwell did not get along, and the mayor led the charge to terminate her employment.<br> <br> She sued the city and reached a settlement, but didn&#39;t return to work as clerk.<br> <br> Scarboro overwhelmingly defeated incumbent Mayor Gary Dudley in 2001, the same year the majority of the council, including his wife won election.<br> <br> Whoever is elected in July will finish out the current terms. The resigning council members could run for the empty seats themselves.