Georgia’s youngest mayor was ousted over ‘unfounded innuendos’ as lawyer warns of ‘dangerous precedent’
Georgia’s youngest mayor was dramatically removed from office over “unfounded” innuendos, his lawyer claimed — and he has warned that the drastic move risks setting a “dangerous” precedent.
Stockbridge Mayor Jayden Williams, 23, was impeached on a three-to-one vote following a 10-hour hearing Saturday after he was accused of racking up $4,000 worth of personal expenses on a city credit card, and sexting an 18-year-old male high school student, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Williams’ lawyer, Robert Kenner, claimed prosecutors tried to “defame” the elected official, just 10 months into his term as Stockbridge mayor, and warned of the repercussions of removing him from office.
“You will be setting a dangerous precedent by removing an elected official that the citizens of this city have duly elected by allowing people to come up with all kinds of accusations, innuendos that are unfounded,” Kenner said.
“Just because you may not like how he moves, you may not like the way he speaks, you may not like the way he speaks, you may not like his lifestyle, but is that enough to take a draconian action to remove the city mayor?”
Robbie Ashe, one of the city’s prosecutors, had argued that the allegations that had been leveled against the mayor constituted a betrayal of public trust. But Williams has not been slapped with criminal charges.
Warnings about the consequences for democracy were also echoed during the hearing.
“The city council has been very biased towards him,” Stockbridge resident Kristina Warren told Atlanta News First.
“I just think that he deserves a more fair chance at being mayor. He’s a very young individual, people are taking advantage of that. They’ve not tried to see his potential and what he has to offer.”
Another resident said he doesn’t believe all the allegations leveled against Williams were true.
Other residents are also lamenting the politician’s removal from office.
Brandon Walker told WSB he believed the mayor needed a “mentor” because of his relative inexperience, while Vickie Anderson, who voted for Williams, described the saga as a “nightmare” and a “mess.”
“I just really feel sad for the city,” she told the outlet. “I don’t know where we’re going to go from here.”
Williams was stripped of his duties and privileges in late July amid the probe into his spending.
During the investigation, it emerged that Williams spent $322 using his city P-card at the upscale restaurant, Pandora on the Square, on Father’s Day.
Initially, he claimed he spent the money on gift cards for his staffers and stated this on a lost-receipt form – before changing his story when asked to name the individuals.
Williams said his initial claim was a “typo” before claiming he bought gift cards for members of another company.
Investigators then uncovered he used the card to splash out on sodas and brunches.
Williams wasn’t just accused of improper spending. Investigators found he allegedly sexted a student – who was considered an adult under Georgia law because of his age.
The student got to know Williams through his personal mentoring program, according to a police report seen by the Journal-Constitution.
Williams consistently claimed that the program was not linked to the city in any way.
But the student claimed he and the mayor exchanged explicit snaps.
Williams refused to admit to sending any nude snaps while being quizzed by city prosecutors, but said he received an explicit picture from the student.
Williams strongly denied any suggestion that he had sex with people on his mentoring program.
Williams’ lawyer has vowed to fight the removal from office. It’s unclear if a lawsuit will be filed.
The politician has 30 days to appeal.