COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom believes her own city council is violating state law and local ordinances.
She has filed multiple complaints regarding the Open Meetings Act with the state attorney general's office, according to documents obtained by 11Alive.
"The power of zoning is granted to municipalities from the State of Georgia and there are strict guidelines that have to be followed for a rezoning, including having a public hearing and posting notice of that hearing," she wrote in a blog post on her website. "I do not believe the process on (March 18, 2024) complied with either state law or our own ordinances."
On March 18, Dr. Emmanuel Adediran, the interim city manager for College Park, said he had three agenda items to add.
One of them would rezone the property at 0 Welcome All Road to allow for a controversial battery storage facility. Another would accept a $1.6 million "economic grant" from NextEra Energy Solutions, the company hoping to make Southwest Atlanta Energy Storage a reality.
"Specifically, what is it?" Mayor Broom asked Dr. Adediran. "What's the address?"
Roughly an hour later, the council voted 3-1 to rezone the property from Business Park (BP) to Light Industrial (M1) with no discussion. They voted unanimously to accept the grant without any supporting documentation.
"It was all done with the air of secrecy. The way it happened is not transparent," said James Walker, a concerned citizen in College Park. "(They're) supposed to give the public the opportunity to come and know what's being added so we can speak and address our concerns to the council. How it was done was all wrong."
Walker and his neighbors worry about how this will reflect on College Park.
"This community had done a great job fighting this fight for over three years now, and for them to come in and make it where they don't even take any input from the community, that's just not the way that I believe a government should be run," said Mose James IV. "We want to be a part of this process. We want this to be a real democracy where everybody's voice can be heard."
Video from the October 18, 2021, and August 7, 2023, council meetings show the rezoning vote had failed at least twice before the March 2024 meeting.
James didn't like the message that was sent to other people hoping to do business in College Park, so he started making video summaries to educate his fellow constituents.
"Now you've put a price tag on what property costs in our city. This is a beautiful city full of beautiful people that I know are worth more than $1.6 million," he told 11Alive. "I'm happy that the community is engaged. I hope that the council understands that we plan to hold them accountable."
11Alive News reached out to Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor Pro-Tem Roderick Gay, councilwoman Tracie Arnold, councilman Joe Carn, councilwoman Jamelle McKenzie and interim city manager Dr. Emmanuel Adediran about those concerns.
Only Gay responded, letting us know that he cannot comment per the city attorney. However, he defended his vote during the April council meeting.
"I, too, voted against NextEra twice over two years, but I did not vote (that way) because of the facts; I voted against them because of ignorance," he said. "This battery storage is no more than just a big convenient way to continue to spew your hate, your ideology, your ignorance."
He said the millions of dollars from this project will prevent them from paying a millage rate and that the economic grant wasn't meant to persuade the council, despite concerns from the mayor.
"I am deeply uncomfortable with the optics of this decision. The argument could be made that in exchange for a rezoning approval, the city will receive $1.6 million," Broom wrote on her blog. "This is not a good look, especially considering neither of these items was on the posted agenda. They were instead added at the start of the meeting, basically giving the public no notice. Transparency is one of our core values, and I do not believe we operated with transparency in this instance."
She posted an agreement that appears to give College Park $200,000 upon rezoning, $600,000 upon a commercial contract award, and $800,000 prior to obtaining project building permits for a total of $1.6 million.
Councilwoman Jamelle McKenzie said that the document is inaccurate and not what they voted on.
"We did not vote on the terms. We will work back and forth on the terms, so the terms that you all saw on the internet — those were totally rejected by this governing body," McKenzie said during a public forum. "I do agree that the way that that document that was posted without the permission of this governing body did make it look like this was some type of when we do one thing, we get another thing, and that is not how we're operating in College Park."
She said NextEra approached the governing body wanting to give back to the community and that none of them asked for anything.
"This is something that they were already doing, and they were continuing to do," she said. "Why did we agree to receive it? Because we need all the help that we can get if we're putting our residents first."
That isn't enough to satisfy Councilwoman Tracie Arnold. She told her fellow council members she wanted to rescind her vote in favor of rezoning.
"Since March 18, I have become aware of facts that cause me great concern. In fact, the actual circumstances surrounding the rezoning are not what I understood them to be when I voted,
she said. "I cannot, in good conscious, allow my vote to stand. In truth, I oppose this action."
The Georgia Attorney General's Office said it received complaints from Mayor Motley Broom and two citizens regarding the grant and rezoning of Welcome All Road.
It reviewed the complaints and sent a “mediation letter” to the City Attorney. It will review the city’s response once it’s been received and provide it to the complainants. Its next steps are then determined by what is contained in the response.
NextEra Energy Resources said it develops projects nationwide and is committed to positively impacting the communities it is investing in.
"As part of this commitment, we work closely with local officials and community members to understand their needs such as job creation, economic growth and tax revenue, as well as to understand local programs and initiatives we can support," said Sara Cassidy, a spokesperson for NextEra Energy Resources. "Project development, such as the Southwest Atlanta Energy Storage project, is a multi-year process in which we take meaningful action to engage with community members and decision-makers. It is our goal to build a project we can all be proud of. We’re excited to see College Park and South Metro Atlanta recognize the value of this project. Together, we are striving to create a more sustainable future for Georgia."