Mayor deGolian Response to January Meeting Agenda Items Stricken

After the January 9, 2023 city council meeting where city councilman Matt Denard made a motion to strike fellow councilmen Cullars Sr. and Mahoney's items from the agenda with councilmen Anderson and Wagner voting in agreement and mayor Bill deGolian breaking a tie vote in favor of the motion, I asked each of the councilmen the reason the motion was made and why they voted in favor of it. To date, I have not received a response from councilmen Anderson, Denard or Wagner but on Monday February 13th I received the following from deGolian.

 The meeting started at 6:00 PM. We wanted a short meeting that evening so as not to interfere with the wishes of our constituents to watch the NCAA Football National Championship game which started at 7:30 PM that evening.

      In this regard, we followed the lead of the Georgia Legislature and Governor Kemp. The Legislature convened in regular session the morning of January 9 at the State Capitol, but shortly thereafter adjourned in order to watch the game. The University of Georgia Bulldogs were playing the TCU Horned Frogs in Los Angeles.  

     In fact, many of the legislators and the Governor flew to Los Angeles that afternoon in order to attend the game in person. 

     This was a big moment for our State and a good opportunity to show support for the Georgia Bulldogs. The items that were removed were not time sensitive. The only time sensitive matters for January were kept on the agenda: these were the appointments of the City Attorney and the Municipal Court Judge for 2023. 

     Most of the other items from the January agenda are on the February Council agenda this evening, which we look forward to discussing.

     I hope this addresses your concerns.  Thank you for your interest in the business of the City of Washington.

Bill deGolian

Mayor

Councilmen Cullars, Hill and Mahoney have said they were not aware nor were they involved in any discussion regarding cutting the meeting short to watch the football game. I have asked deGolian, Anderson, Denard and Wagner who "we" is referring to in deGolian's response as well as why they didn't schedule an emergency meeting prior to the council meeting to make a motion to change the date of the meeting with all councilmen being given the opportunity to weigh in and the citizens to not have their time wasted, attending the meeting thinking the items listed on the agenda would actually be discussed. I asked how they knew their constituents wanted them to cut the meeting short.  I also asked when it was decided they would cut the meeting short, as it seems disrespectful to the citizens time to put items on the agenda they knew would be stricken. I asked if they didn't think high February utility bills, as a result of the December freeze was "time sensitive" as it was listed on councilmen Mahoney's agenda items to discuss at the January meeting and was stricken. Many citizens have complained of extremely high utility bills, as much as twice or three times the normal amount as the result of the unusually cold weather and frozen and burst pipes. This was brought up at the February council meeting and a motion was made and passed to do away with the $55 late fee and the $150 utility reconnection fee. More details will be forthcoming in the summary of the February city council meeting.

I have not received any response from deGolian, Anderson, Denard or Wagner to these questions. The questions were sent to them on Monday February 13, 2023.

Washington citizen Angela Booker filed an ethics violation compliant against deGolian, Anderson, Denard and Wagner on January 9, 2023 for striking the items from the agenda without a reason given at the time of the meeting. The city municipal code states the mayor is not allowed to appoint the investigative committee when a complaint is filed, if he is the subject of a complaint or the one making the complaint. Ms. Booker has said she has not received a response to her complaint at this time and does not know if it is being investigated. Mayor deGolian did appoint members to investigate the ethics complaint filed by councilman Andy Anderson, within 5 days of the complaint being filed. It has been 8 days since Booker's complaint was received by city administrator Jerry deBin.

Reported by Michelle Chaffee