Wednesday, September 20, 2023–6:25 p.m.
-John Druckenmiller, Rome News-Tribune-
This story is possible because of a news-sharing agreement with the Rome News-Tribune. More information can be found at northwestgeorgianews.com.
Rome City Commissioners met behind closed doors with their newly hired legal team and a mediator for 2.5 hours Wednesday to discuss the next steps in the ethics complaints against Commissioner Mark Cochran.
Mayor Sundai Stevenson convened the specially called meeting just after 1 p.m. with five other commissioners present: Elaina Beeman, Jim Bojo, Bill Collins, Craig McDaniel, and Randy Quick. Stevenson immediately asked for a vote to go into a closed meeting, which was approved unanimously. Missing were Commissioners Bonny Askew, Jamie Doss, and Cochran.
City Manager Sammy Rich and City Clerk Joe Smith joined the commissioners in the Sam King Room as did Rome’s recently hired case “prosecutor,” Avery Jackson of the Carrollton firm Tisinger Vance. Jackson was joined by fellow attorney David Mecklin as well as mediator Carlos Gonzalez of Atlanta, who has Rome ties and serves on Berry College’s Board of Visitors.
No action was taken during the session, Smith said. The attorneys and Gonzalez also met privately with Rich following the closed meeting; they left City Hall shortly after 4 p.m.
The session did not include attorney Jeremy Berry, who is representing Cochran. Berry is not scheduled to attend the second commission meeting set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday, also in the Sam King Room.
State law allows, but doesn’t require, governments to meet outside the public eye to discuss pending litigation, real estate or personnel issues.
The mediation comes at a critical time in the city’s stalled “investigation,” as the original attorney as well as three appointed area mayors charged with reviewing Rome’s case have all resigned. Jackson replaced Chris Balch as the lead attorney at a rate of $350 an hour.
Berry has filed for a review in Floyd County Superior Court, citing what the Cochran team describes as the troubled proceedings of the ethics case so far. Several court dates had been set but were delayed for various reasons, including illness.
The ethics complaint was filed by Rome Human Resources Director Kristy Shepard and centers around the treatment of city employees, which Shepard described as uncalled for and unprofessional. A Jan. 23 City Commission meeting where Cochran asked detailed questions about delayed project reviews of construction plans was the catalyst for the complaints.
Through May, the ongoing ethics investigation had cost the city close to $50,000 — and that was before Balch’s final invoice for work in June and early July as well as whatever fees Jackson has incurred.
Cochran is paying for his own representation; earlier negotiations put his legal costs at $50,000.
