A small-town mayor cost his constituents $200,000 in a matter of seconds, along with associated costs for various fines and attorney fees related to state open meetings violations.
Nydia Tisdale is doing what more people — ordinary people — should be doing, at least most of the time. She’s best known for getting arrested for filming a public political event on private property, but she’s also showing up at council meetings and exercising her rights as a citizen. And in her sleepy corner of Georgia, people who are paid to be public servants seem to be living well on the public nickel, and don’t like the presence of a video camera.
It would seem to be a red flag for small-time corruption. Of course, small-time is big-time in a small town or county, because money that should be used for public benefit goes to miscreants. And they're not shy about using public resources to defend themselves.
It also paints a picture of the mindset that allows Kochs and all their ilk to make money talk louder than citizen free speech all across the country.
Will voters dump this bunch next time aaround? We'll see how well the ballot box works.
Posted March 19 at http://www.itakelibertywithmycoffee.com/...
Case: Tisdale v Gravitt Et Al Civil Action NO. 2:12-CV-00145-RWS U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
On April 17, 2012 ... Tisdale attempted to video record the Cumming City Council meeting where discussion of an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Forsyth County and the City of Cumming for raw and finished water was taking place. The city holds the permit to withdraw water from Lake Lanier and the county purchases water from the city. The 30-year contract was about to expire.
To say the mayor’s an idiot is being kind to the man. The guy has been in office since 1970.
19.
70.
I’m baffled why the chief of police, who was involved, didn’t tell the mayor at the time that his order was illegal. Then again, why expect a chief of police to know state law? Then again, maybe the chief of police doesn’t really care about the law. It wouldn't be the first time we've seen this.
Naturally — because groupthink is behavior seen time and time again with bodies of elected officials — none of the other town council members apparently spoke up at the time. We’ll be charitable and say that they are stupid. The alternative, that they knew the Georgia law on public meetings and simply ignored it, would make them complicit in the mayor’s illegal act.
Meanwhile, the city’s attorney didn’t say anything, either. In the circumstances, that would warrant a complaint to the Georgia Bar Counsel, I’d think. He deliberately allowed the mayor to violate state law and Tisdale’s constitutional rights.
You may choose your description each actor in this clown show:
Nonfeasance - the failure to act where action is required - willfully or in neglect.
Misfeasance - the willful inappropriate action or intentional incorrect action or advice.
Malfeasance - the willful and intentional action that injures a party.
In a victory that should be celebrated by journalists and activists alike, Citizen Journalist Nydia Tisdale announced a settlement with the Mayor and the Chief of Police in Cumming, GA from her Federal lawsuit that was getting ready to go to trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Tisdale had filed a complaint after she was was banned from filming Cumming City Council meeting on April 17, 2012.
Tisdale had previously filmed Mayor H. Ford Gravitt and the Cumming City Council across the street at the Forsyth County Administration Building at open-and-public meetings. But, the very first time she set foot inside Cumming City Hall, she was tossed out for carrying her camera into council chambers.
The mayor told the chief and a police officer to throw her out.
Mayor Gravitt told Tisdale, “It’s not for discussion,” and again ordered Police Chief Casey Tatum to remove the camera.
Nydia then decided to make the authorities answer for their actions by filing a Title 42 U.S.C. 1983 Complaint asserting that the defendants violated her Constitutional Protections under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. On September 30, 2014. in a 41-page decision Judge Story denied Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in part and allowed the case to move forward to the trial calendar.
Mediation failed ... As a result, she was awarded the $200,000.00 settlement.
More detail is on Tisdale’s blog at
http://www.aboutforsyth.net/.... Though the blog is sort of telegraphic and it can be hard to follow the multiple tales there’s clearly much, much more to turn up about a fast (well, maybe sluglike-slimy)-and-loose small-town government run by the usual characters slurping from the public trough, and it’s far from over.
Now the FBI is involved. Guess what? More money streaming from the pockets of the public.
In 2013, during depositions of the Mayor and his long-term traveling friend Angela Mullinax, both admitted that Mullinax - who is not a city employee - receives city health insurance.
In 2014, Councilman Rupert Sexton discovered, unbeknownst to the council, that Angie Mullinax and Dana Miles were on the city health plan. The Mayor threatened to impeach Councilman Sexton for allegedly divulging city employees‘ health insurance information. The city sought guidance from the AG, but he declined given the investigation of possible public corruption.
In Jan. 2015, the Federal Bureau of Investigation subpoenaed health insurance and employment records for Mullinax and Miles. The FBI has also requested records regarding official travel expenses and the Carolyn Gravitt Memorial Scholarship Fund created to honor the Mayor‘s late wife.
She's posted videos on YouTube - search on Nydia Tisdale - I'm not going to try to embed them. I'm simply not that patient. This links to one of her earlier videos, from 2011:
https://www.youtube.com/....