COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A College Park resident has collected enough money to provide $50 gift cards for more than a hundred city employees who have been left in the lurch without holiday bonuses due to paralysis within the City Council.
The council isn't been able to take legislative action without what's known as a quorum - three of the four elected councilmembers present. Two councilmembers, Roderick Gay and Joe Carn, didn't attend the meeting on Nov. 20, a specially called meeting on Nov. 27 or the most recent meeting on Dec. 4.
That has meant no city business gets done - including the approval of holiday bonuses.
So College Park resident Grace Lunsford started up a campaign to help lift the city workers' spirits - in all, raising more than $5,700. That will supply 107 public employees with $50 gift cards.
She said it wasn't much compared to the thousands the city was supposed to consider for the actual holiday bonuses, but she hopes it will show city staff that they're appreciated.
Carn and Gay have previously been at odds with other members of the council as well as Mayor Motley Broom. The councilmembers, who are Black, have accused Mayor Broom - College Park's first Black mayor and the first woman to be elected mayor, who was reelected in November - of treating them differently than the other two councilmembers, both white men.
Both those white councilmembers, Ambrose Clay and Ken Allen, are on their way out after Clay declined to run for reelection and Allen lost his reelection bid.
Both seats were won by Black women - Tracie Arnold, who defeated Allen, and Jamelle McKenzie, who won the race to replace Clay.
Carn and Gay have not issued public statements fully explaining their absence from recent council meetings, but Gay forwarded 11Alive a message from a supporter, Sarita Kelly, at the end of November that highlighted the lame-duck status of Clay and Allen.
"We, the people, stand behind Councilman Gay's position on this matter. We elected him, and we urge individuals to cease harassing both him and his black colleague," Kelley wrote. "It raises concerns when individuals like Councilman Allen, who have been voted out, continue to hold their seats and make decisions."
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia.