City Administrator Lawson retires, Brinson resigns at September City Council meeting

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Mayor comments on recent events, City employees receive hazardous pay

The regular meeting of the Mayor and Swainsboro City Council was held Tuesday, September 8, 2021 at 6 p.m. via Zoom. Members present were Julian Sconyers, Johnny Ray Stafford, John E. Parker, Bobbie Collins and Rita Faulkner. Mayor Charles Schwabe opened the meeting with prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor Schwabe presented Lynn Brinson with a plaque for her many years of service as the Swainsboro Downtown Director. He expressed his appreciation to her for a job well done. “Lynn has meant more to this city than anybody will ever know. She came in and took a program that was not a program and molded it very skillfully to exactly what we needed. She has filled in in so many spots and places we can’t list them all,” stated Mayor Schwabe. Gary Mason was present to represent Downtown Development as President. Brinson resigned to accept a position in the private sector

Administrator Al Lawson presented the following statement to the mayor and council: ‘To Honorable Charles Schwabe, Swainsboro City Council and the citizens of Swainsboro – They say all good things must come to an end. After 31 years in local government at the city of Swainsboro, it is that time for me. This is an official announcement of my retirement effective as of December 1, 2021. I want to thank everyone who I have served and worked with as the city Administrator for the past 21 ½ years. Swainsboro is a great community and a great place to live. I know it will continue to prosper and grow in the upcoming years.’

Next, Mayor Schwabe read Council protocol from the administrative section (Sec: 2-60) on speaking rules from the charter and ordinance book. “I’m reviewing these excerpts because I think it will do what we need to do. We need to be here doing the job the people expect of us and that we expect of us. I hope we can cross the bridges we’ve got to cross and make some progress for this city” stated Mayor Schwabe. The charter reads as follows:

The next order of business included the consideration of the minutes from the August 24 meeting. A motion was made to accept the minutes by Councilperson Sconyers and seconded my Councilperson Stafford. It was defeated 2-3 with Councilperson Parker, Faulkner and Collins against. Parker then made a motion to amend the agenda and seconded by Faulkner. The motion passed 3-2 with Sconyers and Stafford against.

Councilperson Parker requested a resolution be passed to change the charter to be amended for the number of members making up a quorum. Mayor Schwabe explained that he had received legal counsel from four attorneys and they all agreed that the quorum consists of the majority of all seats occupied or unoccupied of council and if a quorum is not present, business cannot take place. “If we have six seats available, the quorum remains four, regardless of those seats being occupied or not,” said Mayor Schwabe. Councilperson Parker informed the mayor and members present that three council members had received legal advice from City Attorney Sid Shepherd, along with another attorney stating that Council could move forward with presenting a resolution to our charter that says in the absence of one of our members, that five would be the quorum and three would be the majority of that. After a discussion, the mayor informed Council that, as mayor, he was left with the decision on which way to go. “Until we are given more information, as Mayor, I am going to go with the interpretation that the number of seats provided determines the quorum, said Mayor Schwabe. A representative with Mr. Shepherd’s firm was present on Zoom.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Schwabe asked about the 2022 budget. The issue of funds in the amount of $151,000 was once again discussed for police cars, and a computer for the mayor. A motion was made by Sconyers and seconded by Stafford to pass the 2022 budget as requested by Department Heads. The motion was defeated 2-3 with Parker, Faulkner and Collins against.

Councilperson Parker requested a vote again on hazard pay for all employees in the fire, police, administration and recreation departments. A motion was made by Parker and seconded by Collins to give the $2.00 per hour hazardous pay increase from August 2021 through December 2021. Collins seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

OLD BUSINESS:

No old business was discussed because Councilperson Stafford and Sconyers had left the meeting at this time. Mayor Schwabe informed Council the meeting had ended due to the lack of a quorum.

to cross and make some progress for this city” stated Mayor Schwabe. The charter reads as follows:

The next order of business included the consideration of the minutes from the August 24 meeting. A motion was made to accept the minutes by Councilperson Sconyers and seconded my Councilperson Stafford. It was defeated 2-3 with Councilperson Parker, Faulkner and Collins against. Parker then made a motion to amend the agenda and seconded by Faulkner. The motion passed 3-2 with Sconyers and Stafford against.

Councilperson Parker requested a resolution be passed to change the charter to be amended for the number of members making up a quorum. Mayor Schwabe explained that he had received legal counsel from four attorneys and they all agreed that the quorum consists of the majority of all seats occupied or unoccupied of council and if a quorum is not present, business cannot take place. “If we have six seats available, the quorum remains four, regardless of those seats being occupied or not,” said Mayor Schwabe. Councilperson Parker informed the mayor and members present that three council members had received legal advice from City Attorney Sid Shepherd, along with another attorney stating that Council could move forward with presenting a resolution to our charter that says in the absence of one of our members, that five would be the quorum and three would be the majority of that. After a discussion, the mayor informed Council that, as mayor, he was left with the decision on which way to go. “Until we are given more information, as Mayor, I am going to go with the interpretation that the number of seats provided determines the quorum, said Mayor Schwabe. A representative with Mr. Shepherd’s firm was present on Zoom.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Schwabe asked about the 2022 budget. The issue of funds in the amount of $151,000 was once again discussed for police cars, and a computer for the mayor. A motion was made by Sconyers and seconded by Stafford to pass the 2022 budget as requested by Department Heads. The motion was defeated 2-3 with Parker, Faulkner and Collins against.

Councilperson Parker requested a vote again on hazard pay for all employees in the fire, police, administration and recreation departments. A motion was made by Parker and seconded by Collins to give the $2.00 per hour hazardous pay increase from August 2021 through December 2021. Collins seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

OLD BUSINESS:

No old business was discussed because Councilperson Stafford and Sconyers had left the meeting at this time. Mayor Schwabe informed Council the meeting had ended due to the lack of a quorum.

MAYOR’S COMMENT

Reached for comment, Mayor Schwabe replied “I would first say that the Mayor and Council’s first obligation is to address the needs and expectations of the people who have put us here. The fact that there is an unfilled council seat at this time as well as an active election campaign going on certainly affects everything, but it does not change the fact that cooperation among all elected officials has to occur for the business of the city to take place. I have been very concerned with the lack of progress council has made in the past few weeks particularly as it affects the 2022 City budget. Some action has been taken on hazard pay for our city employees, but various other considerations involving Covid 19 and especially the increase from the Delta variant have not been acted on. The legal interpretation of “quorum” for council meetings has also been discussed and this is presently under review. Action on the American Rescue Act Plan has been stalled for some time and I would hope council can come together on some compromise and cooperate for the good of everyone in the City. After a recent meeting, I criticized the entire council and likened the unruly, undisciplined, disorganized behavior to a three-ring circus complete with monkeys. My mother would not have approved of that statement, but the idea that this comment was intended to express anything other than my serious disappointment in the conduct of this council is completely false. Nevertheless, in the hope that this body can move ahead, I gladly offer my apologies to all of the council members and anyone else affected. I feel that there are many other apologies that could be extended from others as well, but I will not further respond to this matter except to say that I sincerely hope that the future of our City is much more important to all of us than the petty, bickering, discord of politics that threatens the better instincts and brighter motives of all of us. We will be seeing some changes at City Hall as the Director of Downtown Development and the City Administrator have both announced career changes. We sincerely wish Lynn Brinson and Al Lawson the very best as they depart from long, dedicated, and much appreciated service to the City of Swainsboro.“