Athens-Clarke County Internal Auditor Stephanie Maddox held a press conference earlier this week.
Maddox alleges she has faced harassment from county leaders including Mayor Kelly Girtz and Manager Blaine Williams. “So there have been retaliation, age discrimination, racial discrimination, hostility, verbal assault, isolation, lack of, lack of support, lack of staffing…,” according to Maddox.
Williams did issue a statement regarding the matter: “The Mayor and Commission are and have been conducting an investigation regarding these allegations. I choose to defer any comment until the investigation is complete and the results are released.”
Commissioners are expected to decide the fate of charter officers for the county this coming Tuesday.
Maddox’s position is among those which must be decided by the end of the month, but she says that timing has nothing to do with her presser. “I want to make it crystal clear, I got over that back in February, back in January, when I realized the issue is bigger than me. I’m not concerned about keeping my job, I don’t want anyone to write or report or notate or comment or post, that this is an effort by me to save my job.”
There is a tentatively scheduled special called session of the Mayor and Commission scheduled for Tuesday, June 15th at 5:30 in addition to a commission work session.
