COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — The City of College Park is at the center of an ethics complaint. The document filed by Councilmember Joe Carn alleges disparaging treatment between white and Black council members.
“We talk about two different sets of rules based on which set of council members you happen to be,” Carn said during the commission meeting on June 5.
He called out what he said is disparaging treatment among the board.
The complaint, which was amended Monday, accuses Mayor Bianca Motley Broom -- a Black woman -- of treating Black councilmembers differently than white councilmembers.
“It’s going to make it kind of tricky for one set of councilmembers to get their points across where there’s a second set of councilmembers that have no problem doing it,” Carn said. “'How can you expect to have a fair and equitable meeting or a fair meeting of any kind if you’re going by double standards and two sets of rules?' And the only difference that I can see with these four men up here – is that two of us are men of color."
The comments came after Motley Broom called for a vote and Commissioner Roderick Gay asked for permission to comment but was denied that opportunity.
The exchange is one of several examples being highlighted in the ethics complaint.
“About 20 minutes ago, there was a vote there was a motion made and a second. Councilmember Clay said he had comments after there was a motion and a second made he was allowed to speak on his comments. We talk about two different sets of rules based on which set of council members you happen to be,” Carn said.
11Alive reached out to the mayor’s office for comment and received the following statement, which reads in part: "The personal vile attacks by some of my colleagues are insulting and absolutely baseless and wrong."
The meeting on June 5 ended with Black councilmembers walking out. As a result, the council was unable to make quorum– causing it not to be able to finish the business of the day, including passing the city’s budget