CLARKSTON, Ga. — [Ed. note: At the following meeting of the City Council, on August 3, Hood apologized and said she had changed her mind; she was staying on the council. The City Attorney responded by saying that since the council had not yet accepted Hood's resignation, no further action was necessary.]
The City of Clarkston hosted a town hall for residents Thursday night that ended with a council member's resignation.
The meeting took place at the Clarkston Community Center from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. What was meant to be an opportunity for council members to respond to criticism following a work session earlier this week left the city in more disarray.
"I am resigning tonight effective immediately," Councilmember Susan Hood said.
A 20-year veteran in the local government space, Hood said she has never seen anything like what has transpired in Clarkston, a city that has been grappling with a dwindling police force. She commented on warped priorities and unfounded rumors.
"The only thing that should matter but nobody cares about is competence and accountability," she said. "I leave it to y'all, I have better things to do with my time."
During her resignation speech, constituents in the crowd praised her announcement and even ordered her to go.
An impassioned Hood answered the crowd of hecklers with final words and a "goodnight" before stalking away from the podium, picking up her items and walking through the aisle out of the community center. She walked out to trailing applause.
"Hopefully we bring her back," Clarkston Mayor Beverly Burks said after Hood's departure.
Burks continued the meeting by addressing the crowd's behavior.
"If you want us to work together we need you to work together too," she said. "If we allow confusion, insults and injury to plague what we have then that is what you will continue to see happen."
She called for the crowd to have mutual respect and then turned to the City Council and asked members to hold themselves accountable. Burks argued that the divisive nature of the city's leadership and the community will not lead to resolutions.
"The communication needs to be better," the mayor said. "We need to work together."
Wednesday's community meeting resembled the previous council meeting, in which residents expressed frustrations about the current state of the Clarkston Police Department. On Tuesday, some blamed a "dysfunctional government" for chasing away police officers and putting residents' lives at risk.
The Clarkston Police Department is expected to be down, soon, to nine officers, which is less than half of the 21 officers the department needs.
One of the residents, Andrew Stanley, bluntly told the council members to fix it.
"I don’t care how much money you pay me, I wouldn’t work for this city,” Stanley said as he raised his arm and pointed across the room at each of the councilmembers. “You guys are to blame, every single one of you. Clarkston is a dumpster fire. It’s your fault.”
Earlier this week, 11Alive spoke to Councilman Jamie Carroll about the issues with the police department. He is an advocate for increasing officer pay.
"It's a crisis," Carroll said. "It's a really serious situation for our city, for public safety."
For 11Alive's previous coverage on the issues with Clarkston and its police force, see below: