Gordon Mayor: “I’m Still Learning,” Some Residents Fed Up

GORDON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Gordon City Council’s meeting lasted for more than an hour and a half Monday, but only two things were approved: an appointment to Planning and Zoning and a city credit card.

A crowd of nearly 100 filled the Gordon City Annex for Monday’s meeting, most of which were clearly not in support of Mayor Mary Whipple-Lue, who just took office in January.

In that month, police chief Mike Hall says his job was threatened after a scheduling conflict.

The mayor began Monday’s meeting by saying no decisions have been made regarding personnel and that any decisions made in the future would be in the best interest of the city.

The meeting was delayed several times for city attorney Joseph Boone to explain simple Parliamentary Procedure–like how to make a motion, discuss and vote.  It was obvious the mayor and some of her council members are still in the process of learning (as pointed out on more than one occassion by the mayor) but some citizens say they’ve already had enough.

“If you’re going to run our city, you’ve got to have a little common sense,” Alisha Floyd says.

“She’s not asking for advice,” Mary McCawley says, minutes after she was forced to leave the meeting.  “She’s not asking for help from anybody. She’s wanting to do it her way or no way.”

During one of the prolonged discussions on how to run the meeting, the mayor could be heard saying, “This is childish.”  McCawley responded with, “You’re childish.”  That’s when the mayor had McCawley removed.

Not all Gordon residents are opposed to what the mayor’s doing.

“The people that knew the law and everything else, they should have been helping her to learn these things so that she can be a good mayor, a better mayor,” Lula Jacobs says.

Former Macon city councilman Henry Ficklin has been seen in and around Gordon in recent weeks.  He was also at Monday’s council meeting.  Councilman Terry Eady asked the mayor publicly why Ficklin had become so involved with the city.  Whipple-Lue responded by saying Ficklin is only there to help her with the transition and that he is not a city employee.

Executive Session Tabled

An executive session was listed on Monday’s agenda, but the only reason the mayor would give to go behind closed doors was that the session pertained to personnel.

She said she didn’t want to get any more specific or name any names, but council didn’t move forward with the idea. Eventually, the mayor motioned to table the executive session until she and the council can get on the same page.

According to Boone, four Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints have been filed against the City of Gordon in the last few days, but he wouldn’t tell us who filed them.

Tried Reaching Out

After Monday’s meeting, we approached the mayor and gave her multiple chances to answer questions about what’s been going on to try to get her side of the story, but she declined.

Stay with 41NBC and 41NBC.com for updates.