A special Town Council meeting in Cohutta, a mountain community in north Georgia of about 930 people, led to a rapid reversal of a decision that had eliminated the town’s entire police department. On Friday, the council passed an ordinance to reinstate the officers whose jobs had been terminated just two days earlier, restoring the police department’s operations for the town.
The officers were reinstated immediately, and Vice Mayor Shane Kornberg said they would receive back pay. A standing-room-only crowd of townspeople, news media, and the officers attended the special meeting, according to Kornberg, who ran the meeting after the mayor did not return once the council went into an executive session.
The sudden firings had begun with a public notice posted earlier that week stating the police department had been dissolved “per Mayor Ron Shinnick.” The notice directed residents who need help to call a nonemergency county number, and it coincided with the termination of the jobs of the police chief and about 10 officers effective Wednesday morning.
Shinnick said the firings were prompted by comments officers posted on social media. He also said he was not sure what would happen next after his decision, and phone calls and emails left for him were not immediately returned Friday.
Sgt. Jeremy May, one of the now-former officers, told WRCB-TV he believed the situation “comes to personal vendetta from the mayor” and said he believed the firings were connected to a complaint officers raised about Pam Shinnick, who had served as the town clerk. May said the officers “took a stand for transparency,” adding that “in result, every one of them has lost their jobs,” according to WRCB-TV.
Cohutta Police Chief Greg Fowler told WRCB-TV he could not comment in detail as the officers were clearing out the department and removing equipment from the building earlier that week. Fowler’s comments came after the mayor’s decision ended police staffing in town, leaving residents dependent on other law enforcement support.
When no Cohutta officers were working, the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office said deputies would assist the townspeople if needed, according to the report. Cohutta sits just south of the Tennessee line, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta.
Kornberg said the council went into executive session to discuss matters of litigation. When they emerged, Kornberg said Shinnick voluntarily did not return to the meeting, and Kornberg—serving as vice mayor—took over. Kornberg said the town’s attorney, Bryan Rayburn, told the council that the firings did not follow the town charter, which requires 30 days’ notice before employees can be suspended or removed.
After Kornberg took over, the council passed the ordinance reinstating the officers and also approved another measure that would prevent Shinnick from firing the officers for the next 30 days. The council then voted to table “for the foreseeable future” the rest of the meeting’s agenda, which involved removing Shinnick.
In the evening, multiple residents said they were trying to livestream the meeting on social media, but weak cell service in the area prevented them from doing so.