The City of Winder approved a temporary vote of no-confidence in Mayor Jimmy Terrell 4-1 at a Nov. 25 meeting.
At that meeting, councilors were considering temporary administrative measures relating to actions of a public officer.
Mayor Terrell was given the opportunity to provide comments before the vote but instead moved for the question to be called.
The vote is an expression indicating “concern over the Mayor’s recent actions, conduct, or decision-making,” according to the city.
“While the action itself does not remove the Mayor from office or limit the legal authority of the office, it serves as a public statement that, at this time, a majority of the Council lacks confidence in the Mayor’s leadership,” a statement from the City of Winder said.
Winder Human Resources (HR) Director Dr. Niki Graham spoke to councilors at the meeting regarding the issue.
“At the request of council, I was asked to prepare the provided documents that you have in front of you of recent incidents and claims submitted to the human resources department,” Graham said before fielding questions from councilors.
Graham revealed she investigated an employee to employee dispute submitted on Nov. 25.
“So you believe that people are fearful for their job, that they may lose their job by speaking out?” Ward 4 Councilor Travis Singley asked.
“Yes sir,” Graham responded.
Ward 1 Councilor Sonny Morris said that it is their job as elected officials to find solutions to the matter.
“I think all the people that made complaints are looking to us to come up with a solution to this,” Morris said.
Singley, who was acting as Mayor Pro Tem, said they need to follow procedures.
“We need to follow the charter … if one elected official steps out of line and doesn’t follow those procedures, then it is our job to bring it to their attention,” Singley said. “Tonight’s the night to bring it to their attention.”
Ward 2 Councilor Kobi Kilgore insinuated that the issue at hand is harassment.
“I think it’s very disheartening to know that our employees feel fearful of their jobs, fearful of retaliation, fearful of what’s next if they speak up and that’s sad,” Kilgore said. “For them to come everyday in fear because somebody is bullying them … we as a council, we as a city should not stand for that.”
Morris, Kilgore, Singley, and At-Large Councilor Stephanie Britt voted for the motion of no-confidence.
At-large councilor Taffy McCormick was the lone vote against the measure.
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