Judge tosses Camilla City Council recall effort
Judge Wayne Ellerby: Petitioners lack evidence to recall council members
Gwyneth Thomas was pushing a petition drive to recall four members of the Camilla City Council, saying the body is “unresponsive” to the needs of the city’s residents. A judge on Tuesday tossed the drive. (Herald File Photo)
By Terry Lewis
CAMILLA — A group of Camilla citizens seeking a recall of four of six City Council members from office was dealt a setback Tuesday when Judge Wayne Ellerby tossed out the recall effort.
The targets of the recall were Lewis Campbell Jr., Vivian Smith, W.D. Palmer and Annie Doris Willingham. The recall group, headed by Gwyneth Thomas, contended the City Council is not meeting the needs of the city’s residents and alleged acts of malfeasance, violations of oath of office, misconduct and breaking the state’s Open Meetings Law.
“On the face to things, I don’t think the petitioners had sufficient grounds against any of the four and also did not have the required number of signatures on two of the petitions, so the judge tossed the whole thing out,” Camilla City Attorney Tommy Coleman said.
It was the second time the recall had been denied. In early February, the first group of petitions were rejected for being incomplete and missing a required deadline. The citizens regrouped and launched a second petition drive. The city’s Elections office accepted the documents and scheduled a hearing before Ellerby, a retired juvenile court judge from Lowndes County.
Attorney T. Gamble of Dawson represented all four council members.
“The judge rejected the petitions against Palmer and Campbell for lack of valid signatures,” Gamble said. “Then he said that the group had presented no evidence of violations of Open Meeting laws, and that is why he rejected all four petitions. Anybody can file a recall petition, but if you lack evidence of violations, you’re not going to get very far.
“I thought we were on pretty solid legal ground.”
Thomas did not return a call seeking comment.
The group has 30 days to appeal Ellerby’s decision to the State Court of Appeals.
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