In the most recent development of Cohutta, Georgia’s small town drama, three members of the Town Council have scheduled an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the removal of Mayor Ron Shinnick and the reinstatement of the Cohutta Police Department, according to a flyer posted to Cohutta City Hall.
Under the meeting announcement, the four-point agenda states that the council members will request the immediate resignation of the mayor, discuss using Georgia’s Public Officers Recall Act and potentially begin a third-party investigation into the Mayor’s Office, in addition to reinstating the Cohutta Police Department that the mayor dissolved on Wednesday morning.
None of the council members responded to a request for comment. It is uncertain which of the four council members called the emergency meeting for 5 p.m. Friday.
The Public Officers Recall Act states that a public official may be subject to a recall by voters if the official, while in office, has adversely affected the rights and interests of the public or the administration of their office
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On Wednesday, Shinnick met with former Police Chief Ryan Fowler to tell him that he would disband the Police Department and fire all employees, according to Fowler. A press release from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office said that the county would handle all law enforcement in Cohutta for the time being, with no change in response time.
When Fowler asked the mayor why he had made this decision, Shinnick cited a Facebook post about recent town events, Fowler said. The post has since been removed.
Two weeks ago, six now-former police officers signed an open letter against the mayor and his wife, Pam Shinnick, who worked as the town clerk before being fired by the Town Council in January for creating a hostile work environment. The letter, rescinded after mediation between the Mayor’s Office and the Police Department, called to attention Pam Shinnick’s reinstatement after she was fired. Town employees were paid nearly a week late after the town clerk was fired, and the mayor and the city attorney, Bryan Rayburn, said only Pam Shinnick knew how to do payroll.
(READ MORE: Nightclub in Dalton has alcohol license revoked for 60 months by City Council)
Payroll duties have since been outsourced to a third-party, Rayburn said at an April 30 press conference that celebrated collaboration between the Mayor’s Office and the Police Department. At the press conference, Rayburn said that Pam Shinnick had been relieved of her duties and her access to town computers had been revoked. Police officers said in their open letter they were concerned that she had access to sensitive documents despite being previously fired. Melissa Warner, the former assistant town clerk, would take over all other town clerk responsibilities.
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Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at iperez@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6710.