Acrimony at a closed meeting of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners last week spilled out onto the highways and byways of the local political scene.
One commissioner, smarting from a rumor that has gone viral, called the Barrow Journal Tuesday to ask for help in quashing the notion that he “lost it” with Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood and cursed him.
“My brother was over at a restaurant and somebody told him he’d heard I’d lost it and called him stuff,” said Commissioner Billy Parks, one of the more equanimous members of the board. “ My brother said, ‘That don’t sound like Billy'."
“When my brother told me, I said, ‘No, I didn’t do that'.”
Other people also have come to him with similar accounts, but Parks said he did not yell at or curse at Yearwood.
“I don’t want the public to think I lost control, but I did share my opinion with him,” Parks said. “It did get pretty hot.”
He said the atmosphere heated up when the chairman began blaming the county’s legal problems on the commissioners who voted to launch the recent investigation of the discrimination allegations. The strongest finding from the investigation was that Yearwood has a temper problem.
The investigator recommended he take anger management classes, but the chairman has refused to get help for a problem he denies he has.
Parks on Tuesday described Yearwood’s demeanor during the closed session March 9 as “very angry” but said he did not think the chairman “lost it” either.
“He was not throwing things or jumping up and down. But he was very angry. He was leaning over the table, pointing his finger,” Parks said.
Asked if anyone tried to stop the chairman, Parks said, “Nobody but me.”
He said he told Yearwood that it was “his conduct that caused the (county’s legal) problem; it wasn’t us.”
Parks said he couldn’t just sit there and let the chairman talk.
“I wish it would have been out front (in public),” Parks said. “He refuses to go to anger management, but his conduct is what got us this far."
“He disagrees, obviously. He thinks we are just wasting time and money.”
Parks isn’t the only commissioner who confronted Yearwood in the meeting, but he was the only board member who would go on the record in interviews.
Two days after the meeting, Commissioner Larry Joe Wilburn sent to the board an e-mail that was provided anonymously this week to the
Barrow Journal.
Entitled “For What it’s Worth,” the message states: “The Actions I saw in Executive Session on Tuesday disturb me. We pray to God to help us make decisions for the good of the county and guide us through the meeting. The actions I saw Tuesday night were not very Christian Like. We have the right to disagree on matters but we need to separate our personal feeling out of the preceding (sic). I know frustration with what we are dealing with causes a lot of this.”
Wilburn went on to say he felt his integrity had been questioned “for the second time” in that meeting and that in the future he would not allow anyone to question it again.
“Question my sanity but do not question my integrity,” he wrote.
In an apparent overture to commissioners who expressed differences with the chairman during the meeting, Wilburn said he agrees with Parks that “we spend too much time in Executive Session on subjects we should not,” and with Berry that “this bickering needs to stop.”
Wilburn also suggested that instead of meeting in executive sessions, the board handle litigation, property and personnel matters “by E-mail and phone calls and our opinions giving (sic) on these matters.”
Asked Tuesday if she agreed that e-mail and phone communications could replace executive sessions , county attorney Angie Davis said in an e-mail to the newspaper, “No, I do not agree.”
Asked if the commissioners were discussing in executive sessions subjects that do not qualify for closed-door discussion under Georgia law, Davis said she thought the meaning of Wilburn’s statement might have been unclear.
“I believe that Commissioner Wilburn refers to us spending too much time discussing executive session matters,” Davis said. “I can assure you that the topics are limited to permissible subjects and if ever a stray comment enters that is inappropriate subject matter, I immediately advise and re-direct. I am sure that Commissioner Wilburn was not suggesting that he or others committed a criminal misdemeanor and you will find that everyone executed the affidavit to my knowledge swearing to the same.”
A copy of the March 9 affidavit affirming the purpose of the closed meeting was obtained Tuesday by the newspaper. It states the session was held to discuss personnel and litigation and was signed by the entire board.
In response to a request that he clarify the meaning of his statement about executive sessions, Wilburn wrote in an e-mail Tuesday afternoon: “I did not mean subjects we should not be discussing. I may have presented this wrong. I mean we are spending too much time on minor matters and not enough time on the serious ones. A boss of mine one time advised me we were stomping out ants and we had elephants running around. Sorry if I was not clear on this…”
As for his statement about making decisions by phone and email, instead of meeting in executive sessions, he wrote: “We would not spend as much time on the matter. I am not a fan of executive sessions, as you know. All we need to know is the facts, then we should be able to make a decision.”
Parks, Hendrix and Worley said in interviews Tuesday that they also do not think the board has been breaking the law with topics covered in closed session.
But they said they disagree with Wilburn’s suggestion that the meetings be replaced by phone and e-mail communications.
And Worley defended both Parks’ demeanor during last week’s meeting and his decision this week to address the rumor mill.
“I don’t blame Billy for defending himself,” Worley said.
“I was surprised by Billy. He made comments and said some things, but the man never got mad, he never got red. He said some strong stuff, but it wasn’t cuss words. He kept his cool and said some things.”
Parks said he was upset by Wilburn’s statement to the board – particularly about the un-Christian like behavior.
“I don’t know what he is talking about,” Parks said.
“I thought it was done very professionally. I didn’t use any dirty words. I just told (Yearwood) what I thought. Of course, that was all my opinion, and I guess it offended Larry Joe. We just didn’t let (Yearwood) intimidate us.”
Yearwood did not respond to an interview request.
Aren't you tired of having these types of feelings and misgivings about your ability voiced in a public forum yet?
I mean seriously, you have been a failure at everything that you have ever put your hands to, and now, everyone in this county and most folks in this part of the state know about it. You are even having editorials written about your shenanigans and have become the poster child for bad management, and destructive behavior.
You should take a long hard look at whether all of this is REALLY worth it, but we all know that won't happen. You will continue down your self rightous, and indignant path until the citizens of this county have the opportunity to send you back to fail elsewhere, outside of government. Hopefully, you won't bankrupt us in the process.
P.S. Danny, you must have really been out of line to force Commissioner Parks to line you out. Mr. Parks is a very calm and considerate gentleman, and you could learn a lot if you conducted yourself as he does. Food for thought, Chairman.
Angie to self -- well that little ego stroking just added another couple thousand to my coffers. What an easy sap!
He abstained from voting on almost every vote until nicknamed "I abstain" Wilburn; He sat out the closed door meetings in what I can only assume was protest. Oh what, who knows.
It is nice to see him actually voting on issues but one has to wonder if he's voting just to be voting or if he really knows or cares about the issue.
And now he has decided that executive session items should be handled by email or phone!
Yea that will work out - do you know how easy it would be to BCC (blind carbon copy) someone, record phone calls or have on speaker with others listening in?
They should be limited by there is a reason for them to be behind closed doors.