SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — Councilmembers in South Fulton voted Tuesday to override all five of the mayor's vetoes and restore almost $1 million in funding to the city's police department.
A big surprise for the night include those who didn't show up at the city council meeting. City of South Fulton Mayor Khalid Kamau couldn't be vocal about the overrides because he wasn't at the meeting. This comes after the embattled mayor's arrest earlier this month on burglary and trespassing charges.
The city council voted 6-1 to override all five of the mayor's vetoes on police funding and restore money to the department. Councilwoman Helen Z. Willis sponsored the first override to amend the city police policy on seizing property.
“Those items are necessary," Willis said. “We need to make sure, most importantly, that we're itemizing everything that's being confiscated and is being reported properly to the state of Georgia.”
Another override included shredding counterfeit items no longer needed from an old investigation.
“The counterfeit purses need to be destroyed, and we needed to move money from our confiscated funds in order to have a company destroy this property," City of South Fulton Major Gary Johnson said.
Council also voted to fund a mobile command unit and a robot.
“The fifth item is in regard to our SWAT team and them getting a robot. That’s necessary to go into places where there may be a barricaded subject," Johnson said.
“We want to make sure our police officers have the equipment necessary to make sure that they're doing everything to keep residents safe and also people who are violating crime safe... in a less lethal way," Willis said.
11Alive reached out to South Fulton's mayor several times about the council overriding his vetoes and why he wasn't at the meeting. So far, he hasn't answered those questions.