Move is afoot to terminate Camilla Housing Authority Director Joe Thomas

CAMILLA — Barely into his second year as mayor of Camilla, Rufus Davis’ short tenure has been marked with conflict, controversy and turmoil.

Davis, who said he was elected to “bring change to Camilla,” tangled from the start with former city manager Bennett Adams; has boycotted City Council meetings over his claims of discriminatory practices by the city; attempted to oust three City Council members, and has long argued about not having the keys to City Hall.

Now it appears that Camilla Housing Authority Board Chairman Joe Thomas is in his cross-hairs.

“I am flabbergasted. I am shocked. It totally blindsided me because my (HUD) scores are good,” Thomas said Thursday. “We finished an audit in October; there were no findings.

“The agency is in good standing. I have no idea where this came from.”

The latest controversy began when Camilla police Lt. James Evarts responded to a Wednesday morning call to the CHA office in reference to paperwork.

According to an incident report released by the Camilla Police Department, Evarts wrote, “On arrival I made contact with (former authority member) Derrick Keaton and another male subject who advised me that they were there to fire Joe Thomas and wanted the police there in case Joe Thomas got violent.

“Myself and Ptl. (Amneh) Laursen followed Mr. Keaton and the second male into the housing authority office.”

The report further states that Keaton and the unidentified second man met with Thomas in the CHA lobby, where the second man told Thomas they were there to conduct an investigation. The man told Thomas to get his belongings and leave his office because he was terminated, the report says.

“Mr. Thomas advised that he had heard nothing of this from the Board of Commissioners, and he advised Mr. Keaton that he (Keaton) was no longer on the Board of Commissioners and refused to leave.” the report said.

“At that time I asked Mr. Keaton and the male subject with him if they had any paperwork pertaining to the termination of Mr. Thomas. Both subjects did not answer my question,” Evarts wrote. “At that time, I advised Mr. Thomas if there was no paperwork he did not have to leave his office.”

Keaton and the man then left the building, where Evarts again asked about paperwork.

“They advised that Mr. Thomas would be fired by 3:30 p.m. … and they would be back at that time,” Evarts wrote.

After the two men left the CHA, Camilla Assistant Police Chief Robert Casterline got involved in the dispute.

“Around 5:30 or so, Derrick Keaton showed up at the police department and again said he had paperwork to terminate Mr. Thomas,” Casterline said said Thursday. “I told him, you already lied to us one time and we’re not getting involved in this. I told him to go down there and do what you want to do. I also told him I don’t think you have the authority to do it anyway. If you need law enforcement, call 911.”

It didn’t take long before Casterline heard a call on the radio for officers to go to the authority office building for the purpose of serving some type of paperwork.

“So, I went down there to make sure the officers had some guidance. I actually got there first,” Casterline said. “When I went in, there was a group of individuals there, and the mayor was one of them. There was a gentleman there who said he was an attorney representing the board. They had no paperwork. Basically, you’ve got one side saying one thing and the other side saying another.

“The board chairperson told us there has been no called meeting or regular meeting in regard to Thomas’ job status. The mayor and a guy named Jack Tilson, the one who claimed he was the attorney, said they had had a meeting and agreed to termination papers. I told (Tilson) if you have a piece of paper, give it to (Thomas), but I’m not making him leave because I know he has authority over this building. He’s already told y’all to leave and you are going to have to leave this building. And they all left.”

Thomas said the visits from Keaton and the mayor and the attempted ouster Wednesday all came as a shock to him.

The Housing Authority’s next board meeting is 9 a.m. Tuesday.