Kerfluffle in Camilla: Contempt hearing scheduled for City Council members removed from office in July

CAMILLA — When a Superior Court judge removed two Camilla City Council members from office and vacated their seats in July, the issue seemed to have been settled after a lengthy legal case wound its way through the court system.

However, that ruling has been ignored, as council members Ventarra Pollard and Corey B. Morgan have continued to attend and vote at meetings. And the latter qualified to run for another four-term during the qualifying period this week.

The issue could be settled on Friday, when the parties are scheduled to return to court for a contempt hearing in front of the senior judge from another circuit who heard the case. That hearing has been set for 1 p.m. at the Mitchell County Courthouse.

The judge ruled in July that the evidence showed that Pollard “is domiciled and resides in Albany” and that Morgan actually lives in Pelham.

The two have attended meetings as usual since that time, and in the first meeting after they were removed from office on July 20, voted in opposition to an agenda item dealing with their status on the council.

On Friday, Mitchell County Elections Supervisor Laura Cox said that she was notified by the city that Morgan had qualified for the fall election.

Messages left at Camilla City Hall on Friday were not returned. Pollard and Morgan have maintained that they are lifelong residents of the city.

“It’s ridiculous,” Albany attorney Chris Cohilas, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case against the council members, said on Friday. “It’s ridiculous they get to make decisions on spending millions of dollars when they are not even subject to their own decisions.

“We’re just looking forward to going to court on Friday and making sure the citizens’ ordinances are respected and followed.”

Georgia law allows a resident who lives in a district to challenge a candidate’s qualification to run for office in that district, and such a challenge is an almost certainty in this situation. A group of residents has organized to push for Pollard’s and Morgan’s removal.

For Morgan, who was elected in 2019, this is not the first time his residency has been challenged. In 2017 he was disqualified from running for a council seat after a challenge from a former city clerk.

That case also went to Mitchell County Superior Court, where a judge ruled that Morgan did not qualify to run for office. In that instance, he reportedly had voted in a presidential election in LaGrange within a year of the qualifying period.

Camilla’s ordinances require that a candidate must live in the city and in the district, for at least one year prior to running for office.

Pollard and Morgan represented themselves in the court case that concluded in July, despite being advised by the judge on several occasions that it would be in their interests to obtain legal counsel from an attorney.

In the court file, the judge noted that the two failed to attend initial depositions with the plaintiffs’ attorney and intentionally spoliated evidence in the case, including photographs of the bedrooms in the Camilla residence in which they claim to reside.

“The court finds that the respondents (Pollard and Morgan engaged in) a course of action designed to refuse to provide discovery and/or meaningful discovery testimony, and further that the respondents knowingly spoliated evidence contrary to the instructed litigation,” the judge wrote in his finding. “The court finds the respondents’ refusal to attend originally scheduled depositions was both knowing and intentional” and in violation of Georgia law.”

Because of those actions a hearing, during which Cohilas was to present evidence, was not necessary.

If the hearing had been held, he said, he was prepared to present the landlords for Pollard and Morgan to testify that they lived in Albany and Pelham, respectively, along with other evidence.

As far as the court is concerned, Cohilas said, the issue of Pollard and Morgan’s residency is settled.

During the investigation, a private investigator performed 75 days of video surveillance of the 70 Dogwood St. residence in Camilla where Pollard has claimed to reside and the 74 Sunset Circle residence where Morgan has claimed he lives, Cohilas said. During that time neither council member spent a night in Camilla.

According to court documents, Pollard was served with the lawsuit at that Albany residence and threw the paperwork on the ground. Morgan was not served at the Camilla address but picked up his copy of the lawsuit at City Hall in Camilla.

Both also have been surveilled driving to and from Camilla for council meetings, in Pollard’s case to and from Westover Place apartments in Albany, and for Morgan a Pelham residence, according to court filings. Neither has a lease for a Camila residence or pays property tax on residential property in the city.

The two have not commented publicly other than to issue a statement that they are lifelong residents of the city. Each presented to the court a driver’s license and W-2 form giving addresses in Camilla.

When the contempt hearing adjourns on Friday, the stakes will not merely be the two council seats.

“The case is over,” Cohilas said. “We won. Corey Morgan has been removed from office. Ventarra Pollard has been removed from office. We are going to be seeking tens of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees and sanctions. It grows every day. Every day they violate the order, the dollar amount goes up. We’re going to be seeking a tremendous amount of relief because they violated the court’s order.

“They’ve continued to go to meetings and vote on things that were not published to the public in advance. They’ve conducted countless votes, some of which are to their personal benefit, after being removed from office.”

In one instance, Cohilas said, the council, with their votes, approved a measure to have the Atlanta law firm that represents the city provide a defense for Pollard and Morgan for the contempt hearing. The city seems to have backed off from that position, which could have exposed individuals who supported illegally spending city money for personal use by council members to legal action.

Asked whether there could be potential for action by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office or criminal ramifications, Cohilas said he could not comment at this time.

“Be assured we are going to make sure the appropriate officials are informed … and (they) are looking into this with a full body of evidence,” he said.

Pollard and Morgan filed an appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court, but did not file a request for a stay to have the Superior Court judge’s order put on hold while that appeal is heard.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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