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Mayor and Commission Meetings Move Back to City Hall and Enhanced Security

Nicole Jordan

New security measures mean Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission will take place inside City Hall. Mayor Kelly Girtz addressed the need for the changes.

“As we can see, in our home here in City Hall in Athens or certainly as we’ve seen incidents like the Presidential candidate rally, in Pennsylvania, security measures are ever more important,” according to Girtz.

As part of those changes, all visitors will enter through a security screening checkpoint at the ADA-accessible ground level entrance. Police officers or private security will screen for weapons. Visitors leaving City Hall will have to exit through a screening area or ground floor exits.

“While the building remains open from 8 to 5 as it always has, there’s enhanced security positioning happening every day. That’s going to include more directed traffic flow and screening for weapons every day, most significantly when we’re having public meetings in here and have a lot of people gathered.”

The changes were implemented to meet the requirements of state law. Implemented to meet requirements set by the state of Georgia.

“Unfortunately, state law doesn’t give us the opportunity to screen for weapons just at meeting times,” according to Girtz. “It requires that any building where there’s going to be weapons screening, has to have screening the entire time that’s it’s open.”

The Mayor and Commission held most of their May and June meetings at the Clarke County School District’s Vernon Payne Auditorium. As of July 15, second floor doorways will only be used as emergency exits when not open as secondary security screening areas.

Alexia Ridley joined WUGA as Television and Radio News Anchor and Reporter in 2013. When WUGA TV concluded operations, she became the primary Reporter for WUGA Radio. Alexia came to Athens from Macon where she served as the News Director and show host for WGXA TV. She's a career journalist and Savannah native hailing from the University of Michigan. However, Alexia considers herself an honorary UGA DAWG!