During last week’s agenda setting meeting, the Mayor and Commission of Athens-Clarke County sparred over procedural details when it came to discussion of a controversial redevelopment project.
Tensions mount
Last Tuesday’s meeting became tense when commissioners considered a proposal to redevelop the Historic Iron Triangle Plaza on the East side of Athens, which is owned by restaurateur Rashe Malcolm. Ms. Malcolm is also the leader of Farm to Neighborhood, a nutrition and educational nonprofit that is seeking a zoning change to be able to put a teaching garden on the Triangle Plaza. District 6 Commissioner Stephanie Johnson questioned why previous efforts to create a community garden on another one of Ms. Malcolm’s properties failed, which District 8 Commissioner Carol Myers later echoed.
Ms. Malcom says that the community garden, located behind the Iron Triangle Plaza, had been started by the property’s previous owner. While the garden is currently not being cultivated, UGA students like Nabiha Rahman, who is also Farm to Neighborhood’s marketing and programs coordinator, are in the process of replanting it. Rahman said they hope to harvest crops in the fall. Ms. Malcolm also said the new teaching garden she has proposed at the Iron Triangle is different from the community garden.
“It [the teaching garden] also adds beauty to the front of the building,” Ms. Malcolm says. “When kids come, they’re not coming to the back of the building, they’re coming to the front of the building. That teaching garden will offer some softness and welcoming experiences.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Johnson also questioned why Farm to Neighborhood said in its amendment request that it had distributed 5,000 pounds of food to low income residents in the past year.
“That’s a great thing,” Johnson said. “It does not tell the whole story. A lot of that came from the food bank, and so anyone can do that.”
Ms. Malcolm was defeated by Johnson in the District 6 Commission race in 2024.
Mayor Kelly Girtz interrupted Commissioner Johnson after she said that the nonprofit’s relationship with the project’s engineers may pose a conflict of interest. He said her concerns were not relevant to the task at hand and that it was time to move on, to which she objected.
“That’s disrespectful, Mayor,” Commissioner Johnson said.
“It is, it is,” other Commissioners could be heard agreeing with her.
When Mayor Girtz pressed forward, Johnson said she wanted to know why his office had signed a check to Farm to Neighborhood totaling over a thousand dollars the week prior. The mayor did not answer the question at the meeting.
Mayor addresses favoritism suspicions
Mayor Girtz addressed Commissioner Johnson’s implication that his office had shown favoritism to Farm to Neighborhood in a statement last Wednesday. Girtz said the check came from the Mayor’s Community Improvement Program Fund, which this year was allocated $20,000 in the county budget. The Fund gives grants to area nonprofits. Girtz said that the check in question was dedicated to a back-to-school event hosted by Farm to Neighborhood on August 2nd at the Iron Triangle.
A document obtained by WUGA through an open records request shows that Mayor Girtz approved an application submitted by Malcolm for a grant through the Mayor’s Community Improvement Program on July 16th. She had originally requested $2,500 for the back-to-school program but was given half that amount.
In addition, Mayor Girtz said his decision to cut off Commissioner Johnson’s inquiries about Ms. Malcolm’s proposed amendment was appropriate given rules surrounding zoning discussions.
“Particularly around a zoning item in Georgia, it’s important for all people who work in city and county government to know that the only items critical for discussion are the physical contours around development of the site,” he said.
While Athens-Clarke County zoning procedures dictate that amendments to planned developments must be submitted to the mayor and commission with certain documents like site studies, there appear to be no zoning procedures forbidding more general questions from being asked. The zoning procedures state that a representative of the proposed amendment can be present at the meeting to “answer any questions the mayor and commissioners may have.”
According to Jeff Montgomery, the director of the Athens-Clarke County Government Communications Department, Mayor Girtz “presides over meetings of the Commission and, according to the rules of the commission, can maintain order and suspend irrelevant debate and maintain decorum.”
Mayor Girtz added that last Tuesday night’s spat behind the rail does not hint at any dysfunction within the body.
“Every working body is going to have a lot of different perspectives,” he said. “We also have some folks who are relatively new to local government policy making and are still finding their way. So I hope people’s experience makes them stronger as policy makers.”
Commissioner Stephanie Johnson did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
