Clayton commissioners say chair possibly violated code of conduct

It also says she has yelled at fellow commissioners during board meetings, shared information discussed during executive session with members of the public, and announced a policy relating to a housing task force and held a news conference about it this month without the policy being vetted or approved by the full board.

“This is about a board that is unable to carry out its duties and functions to the residents of Clayton County because there is a leader who is stonewalling the process,” Commission Vice Chair Alaina Reaves, who sponsored the resolution, said in an interview Wednesday.

Anderson-Henry called the resolution “disgusting” and a baseless “witch hunt.”

In an interview, Anderson-Henry said the resolution is a political attack that inaccurately portrays her as someone who won’t communicate with fellow commissioners. She added that Reaves is not responsive to her own constituents, some of whom have called Anderson-Henry’s office with their concerns.

“It’s their opinion,” Anderson-Henry said of the resolution. “You can have an opinion all day, but your work and what you’re doing in your district is what should matter. And what I’m doing for the people and putting Clayton County out there, that is what I’m supposed to do as the chair.

“And if they want to work with me to do that, I welcome them in. But they’ve got to talk to me.”

Reaves and commissioners Tashé Allen and DeMont Davis voted in favor of the resolution. Anderson-Henry and Gail Hambrick opposed it.

Hambrick said at Tuesday’s meeting it would have been more appropriate for commissioners to discuss the issues among themselves, drawing applause.

Part of the reason Reaves introduced the resolution, she said, is because she was blindsided by news releases on Sept. 23 announcing a partnership between the Board of Commissioners and the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to build a $19 million behavioral health crisis center in Clayton County.

“It is just a lack of regard to your fellow members of the board to make a public statement on behalf of the Board of Commissioners without even notifying the rest of the board,” Reaves said.

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Credit: Miguel Martinez

She added that the Atlanta Regional Commission recently named Clayton County the winner of an award for “visionary planning,” and that the only commissioner at the ceremony was Anderson-Henry.

The chair said each commissioner gets invited to awards events.

“And so, with the ARC awards event, I got the invite just like they did,” Anderson-Henry said. “And so if Commissioner Reaves would read her emails and start responding to the citizens like she’s supposed to, then she will know what is going on.”

Reaves said the only email she received about the ARC event was a news release from the county announcing it won the award.

Commissioner Allen, reached by phone Wednesday, said Anderson-Henry’s conduct is “unbecoming of a chairwoman of Clayton County. That is why the majority of the board voted in favor of putting her on notice of her Code of Conduct violation because it’s factual and it is true.”

Anderson-Henry said Allen is only upset because the chair has been holding Allen’s husband, Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen, accountable for his spending of taxpayer money.

Allen said Anderson-Henry is merely trying to deflect by bringing up the sheriff.

“This resolution has nothing to do with that,” Allen said. “It has nothing to do with the sheriff.”

Anderson-Henry vowed to continue to hold other officials accountable and stand up for the county’s residents, noting that about 72,000 of them receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

“I am here to work for the citizens and make a change,” she said.