Three Hall County planning commissioners have filed an injunction against the county, seeking to stop removal proceedings against them that are planned to take place later this month.
The Hall County Board of Commissioners voted on Nov. 18 to appoint special counsel and draft written charges against Planning Commission Chairman Chris Braswell and planning commissioners Stan Hunt and Frank Sosebee. Those three were found in a third-party investigation by a Buford law firm to have committed multiple violations of the Georgia Open Meetings Act over the previous year.
Planning commissioners Andre Castleberry and Shannon Davidson were not found in that investigation to have committed violations. The entire planning commission, however, has been suspended since October amid the investigation.
Hall County Commission Chair David Gibbs previously told AccessWDUN that commissioners gave the accused planning commissioners a period of time to choose to resign before starting removal proceedings. The three did not elect to resign.
In the request for declaratory relief, filed in Hall County Superior Court on Friday, Dec. 5, attorneys for the three planning commissioners argued that the Hall County Board of Commissioners does not have the authority to hold what they called a “tribunal” regarding the charges, saying such a case would need to be heard in Superior Court.
“(Braswell, Hunt and Sosebee) are suffering from uncertainty and insecurity caused by Hall County through an ultra vires action of four members of its governing authority attempting to establish an unauthorized tribunal to try the Plaintiffs for alleged violations of the Georgia Open Meetings Act,” the petition said. “The Superior Court is being displaced by an unauthorized tribunal in violation of the State Constitution…where the commission is the complaining party and the judge.”
The planning commissioners are seeking injunctive relief from a Superior Court judge to stop the scheduled December 17 hearing by the Hall County Board of Commissioners that could result in a vote on their potential removal.
The petition also argued that Braswell, Hunt and Sosebee were never trained in Georgia Open Meetings Act requirements.
“None of the planning commissioners were made aware of the requirements of the Open Meetings Act that applied to the planning commission. The Planning Commission relied exclusively upon the paid Planning Department staff complying with all Open Meetings Act requirements and to advise them in advance of any deficiencies.”
The alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act, according to a leaked copy of the investigative report, occurred when the three planning commissioners in question would meet prior to scheduled public meetings of the planning commission and discuss items on the agenda. The Open Meetings Act states that a quorum of members of a governing body may not meet to discuss agenda items without public notice.
According to the investigative report, now-former Hall County Planning Director Beth Garmon said in one of the alleged meetings that she advised the three that they could not all be present and discuss county business. She said she was then “brushed off” by planning commissioners.
The petition filed Friday by the planning commissioners argued that those meetings were not violations.
“These rare events did not include any debate between the three members and were targeted at the language of the staff conditions in the district of the commissioner,” the petition says. “The conference room became the place where the Planning Commission informally gathered prior to their meetings. During these premeeting times, a quorum may have been present, but the subject of conversation was limited to matters outside of the business of the Planning Commission.”
The petition also argued that the investigation, which it says was specifically conducted by attorney Thomas Mitchell, was not conducted properly.
“In this informal investigation, no witnesses were interviewed under oath. Only informal statements were taken,” the petition says. “The Mitchell Report relies on a camera in the elevator with no sound to conclude three planning commissioners were present in a conference room that is not visible on that camera. Based on this flawed evidence, the Mitchell Report concludes that ‘illegal meetings’ occurred…Critically, the Mitchell Report fails to identify a single vote, conversation, deliberation or action in which a quorum of the Planning Commission is present and participating.”
Hall County has not submitted a formal response to the petition as of Tuesday morning, Dec. 9, and no court date has been set. Judge Lindsay H. Burton is currently listed on the Hall County Superior Court docket as the presiding judge in the case.
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