The Athens-Clarke County government has moved Tuesday night’s voting meeting from City Hall to the Clarke County School District’s headquarters because the school board meeting room offers better security.
The change is only temporary, until ACC officials are able to put additional security measures in place at City Hall after a series of confrontations and disruptions at public meetings dating back to the late last year. Most recently, last month a man was electroshocked and charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer when he ripping another attendee’s sign and refused to yield the podium after his speaking time was up, then resisted an officer’s attempt to remove him.
Mayor Kelly Girtz said the change of venue was not due to any new threat, but rather that the “sad national vitriol” over issues like Palestine and immigration has now reached the local level.
“I would observe, it has been a growing unpleasantness, and what nobody wants is unpleasantness to turn into danger,” he said.
The commission will meet at 595 Prince Ave. through mid-June, when Girtz expects the commission to take a month-long break. When meetings resume in mid-July, he said new security measures should be installed at City Hall. The ACC Police Department is currently conducting an assessment of the 100-year-old building.
Under Georgia’s 2014 “guns everywhere” law, guns are allowed in government buildings that do not have metal detectors or security checkpoints. One of the exceptions is schools, so weapons are currently prohibited on CCSD grounds.
In addition to security features, the CCSD central office provides other advantages, such as a large parking lot and more seating for attendees, according to a news release from the ACC government. The school board chamber is equipped with livestreaming equipment, so commission meetings will continue to be aired online and on Charter cable channel 180.
In addition, the local government is making changes to the public input process. Speakers will now be limited to two minutes each, rather than three, for old and new business items. Those who wish to speak at first-Tuesday voting meetings about issues not listed on the agenda must sign up in person between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. the day of the meeting. The mayor or other presiding officer will call them to the podium by name. Procedures for planning and zoning items remain unchanged for now.
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