Change of venue for Athens-Clarke Commission fails to stop public confrontation

The Athens-Clarke County Commission’s move to a new meeting site at Clarke County School District headquarters, prompted by security concerns following an incident at the April 2 meeting at City Hall, did not eliminate problems with public comment at the commission’s Tuesday meeting, the first one held at the new venue.

The school district headquarters was chosen as a temporary meeting site for the commission because the presence of weapons can be more tightly controlled, and ingress and egress are more easily monitored, Mayor Kelly Girtz explained in a Monday interview. Commissioners could be back in City Hall by mid-July, he said, as security improvements, including installation of scanners and a police presence whenever City Hall is open, are put in place.

During one public comment period Tuesday, James DePaola -- the Winterville man spearheading a recall effort against Girtz and other local officials -- was ordered out of the board room at Clarke County School District headquarters by Mayor Pro-tem Ovita Thornton, presiding in Girtz’s absence. Two of the four police officers at the meeting led him away and allowed him to leave school district property with no further consequence.

More: Venue for Athens commission meetings temporarily moving to more secure school district HQ

The order was issued after DePaola used commission consideration of an effort to control invasive plant species with a suggestion that they “replace it with an ordinance related to invasive human species.”

In the wake of the Feb. 22 death of 22-year-old Athens nursing student Laken Riley, in which undocumented 26-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Jose Ibarra has been charged with murder and other offenses, DePaola has become a strident opponent of what he and others see, without basis, as Athens-Clarke County functioning as a “sanctuary city.”

DePaola used his middle name, Lee, as his last name when introducing himself Tuesday. It’s a ruse he uses frequently to disassociate himself from a 2016 arrest on charges of obstruction of a 911 call and criminal trespass. The charges were filed after DePaola screamed at his wife and ripped a telephone out of the wall after getting angry when she put three slices of cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich instead of the two slices he requested.

While it’s not clear if it was his intent, by speaking during the commission’s consideration of its consent agenda, DePaola was able to sidestep a new requirement that people wishing to speak during the public comment period at the end of the meeting, when they can address any subject of their choosing, sign up to do so in the hour before the meeting is gaveled to order.

About a minute into DePaola’s allotted two minutes for comment, after it was clear that his comment had nothing to do with invasive plant species, Thornton began pounding her gavel and repeatedly saying “Sir!,” to try to get him to stop. Thirty seconds later, she ordered officers, “Walk him out. Walk him out.”

“I just can’t believe we’re walking people out again,” Thornton said during the incident.

Her reference was to the April 2 meeting at City Hall, when 55-year-old self-proclaimed messianic Jew “rabbi” Richard Camden Pace had to be physically restrained and tased by a police officer.

The action came as Pace -- complaining that police had done nothing when he was assaulted while evangelizing in downtown Athens -- refused to relinquish the microphone during public comment and ripped a sign held by a pro-Palestinian protestor attending the meeting.

Charged with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and disorderly conduct, Pace was released under a $3,510 bond as his case moves through the local court system. According to a document from the county’s magistrate court, Pace has been barred from 301 College Ave., the address of City Hall.

At Tuesday’s commission meeting, public comment beyond DePaola passed largely without incident. The one exception was a woman who contended that many people in the county feel as if they are not represented in their local government. One reason, she contended, is that “Mayor Girtz has an ear for activists.”

“Keep in mind that many taxpayers are not progressives,” she continued, adding that “since 2019, it certainly feels like an agenda has been pushed on the people of Athens. This is the opposite of what is supposed to happen with government by the people and for the people.”

The woman went on to contend that people “with opposing viewpoints to the mayor” don’t get appointed to the various boards and authorities that address issues from zoning to the airport, and “whose job it is to provide input to the mayor and commission.”

She was also critical of the “last-minute” change of venue for Tuesday’s meeting, which was announced on Monday, in time to comply with the 24-hour notice required by state law.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Athens commissioners still faced confrontation despite change of venue