Demorest council erupts over police turmoil

DEMOREST, Ga. — A Demorest City Council meeting erupted Tuesday night over the city’s increasingly contentious police department situation, with residents criticizing City Manager Mark Musselwhite, Councilman Jimmy Davis publicly accusing Musselwhite of contributing to the department’s turmoil and Davis ultimately calling for Musselwhite’s removal and the reinstatement of former Police Chief Casey Chastain.

Davis made a motion to remove Musselwhite from office and reinstate Chastain as police chief, but no council member seconded the motion. As a result, the motion died without a vote.

The confrontation came during public comment as several residents spoke in support of Chastain and raised allegations about Musselwhite’s management of the city. Musselwhite acknowledged the seriousness of the accusations but declined to address them in detail, saying Chastain has hired an attorney and that discussing the matter could expose the city to potential litigation.

Musselwhite and the remaining council members declined to comment substantively on the allegations. No lawsuit has been filed in connection with the dispute at this time.

The meeting comes after months of turnover within the Demorest Police Department. The department has lost numerous officers and civilian employees, culminating in Chastain’s resignation after 12 years with the city.

Chastain is scheduled to leave the department Oct. 7. Veteran law enforcement officer Brad Rounds became the city’s interim police chief Sept. 30 and has been working with Chastain during the transition.

Davis challenges Musselwhite

Davis left the council dais during public comment and addressed the meeting from the public microphone, where he sharply criticized Musselwhite’s handling of the police department. Davis said Musselwhite’s stated goals of bringing “accountability, professionalism, pride, and integrity” to the department were misplaced because, in Davis’ view, those qualities already existed under Chastain.

Davis praised Chastain’s leadership and said the former chief had spent years developing the department and its officers. He questioned why so many employees had left and said Musselwhite had not adequately addressed the reasons behind the departures.

“I believe it’s you, sir,” Davis told Musselwhite while discussing the department’s turnover.
Davis also accused Musselwhite of treating employees, citizens and business owners improperly. He alleged that Musselwhite had cursed at him during a private conversation and told him, “If you want me to do something, go get your three votes. Then I’ll do it. I will not do anything you ask me to do.”

Davis characterized Musselwhite as a bully and said he had heard similar complaints from citizens, business owners and city employees. He also referenced a 2009 arrest involving Musselwhite in Rabun County, an incident previously reported by Now Georgia, and described what he said was his own review of the report and photograph from that incident.

Davis also raised allegations involving former Demorest Police Chief Kevin Gattis and other former employees. He said Gattis had described concerns about Musselwhite’s interactions with police personnel and claimed Musselwhite had interfered with police department operations. Davis also alleged that Musselwhite had micromanaged the department and contributed to employees leaving.

Those allegations were made by Davis during the public meeting and were not independently established Tuesday night.

City attorney warns Davis

The discussion became increasingly heated as Davis continued speaking about personnel matters and conversations involving city officials.

Mayor Jerry Harkness warned Davis that some of the information he was discussing involved executive-session matters. City Attorney Thomas Mitchell also intervened after Davis began discussing what Mitchell characterized as attorney-client privileged information.

“Mr. Davis, you’re talking about attorney-client privileged information, which is inappropriate in your position,” Mitchell said. “Disclosing privileged information is a violation of your oath.”

Davis continued questioning Mitchell about employee personnel files and whether council members could access information involving city employees. Mitchell declined to provide legal advice during the public meeting.

“I’m not going to give you legal advice when you’re standing at that podium in public meeting,” Mitchell said.

At one point, Councilman Donnie Bennett moved to end the meeting, saying the discussion had gone off the rails. The motion received no second, and Davis continued speaking.

Davis eventually made his motion to remove Musselwhite as city manager and reinstate Chastain as police chief. The motion received no second and therefore died without council action.

Residents raise concerns

Davis was not the only person to criticize Musselwhite during the meeting.

Sherri McCullough questioned the city’s ethics policies and asked who serves on Demorest’s Board of Ethics. She also raised concerns about complaints involving city employees and questioned who is responsible for legal expenses associated with city matters.

When McCullough asked about legal costs, Davis responded, “You do. The taxpayer does.”

McCullough also referenced a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 30 involving a former city employee. That lawsuit is separate from the police department dispute and should not be presented as litigation against Musselwhite or the city over Chastain’s departure.

Patty Davis, Jimmy Davis’ wife, also addressed the council. She identified herself as a chaplain with the Habersham County Detention Center and said she had heard complaints about Musselwhite’s treatment of police officers, citizens and business owners.

Patty Davis alleged that Musselwhite had made derogatory comments about her husband and others and described what she characterized as a pattern of aggressive management. She also said she had received complaints from businesses and citizens after becoming involved with the city’s Downtown Development Authority.

She further alleged that a former city department head had complained about Musselwhite’s management style and said the former official had a recording of a conversation involving Musselwhite. Those allegations were not independently established during the meeting.

Musselwhite says there are ‘two sides’

Musselwhite eventually responded to the criticism but said he could not provide the public with his full account of what occurred within the police department.

He said he was prepared to explain the circumstances “from start to finish,” but that Chastain has retained an attorney and the city must avoid exposing itself to additional litigation.

“I am prepared to tell the facts, and from start to finish,” Musselwhite said. “But it’s got to be under the issue where I am not subject[ing] the city at risk of potential more litigation.”

Musselwhite said Chastain is a good person and a good police officer and emphasized that his dispute with the former chief was not personal. He said the public had heard one side of the story and that there was additional information that he could not discuss at Tuesday’s meeting.

“There’s two sides to every story,” Musselwhite said.

Musselwhite did provide some details about his concerns with the department. He said the city had experienced what he described as mismanagement and morale problems and that employees had brought him notebooks containing numerous written complaints.

He said some of those complaints involved civilian employees and were not limited to certified police officers.

Musselwhite said he repeatedly told Chastain to address problems within the department.

“I asked Casey several times, ‘Casey, get your house in order. There’s an issue,’” Musselwhite said.

He said two employees came to him in late January with concerns while Chastain was on vacation. Musselwhite said he attempted to address the concerns without unnecessarily involving additional city employees.

Mitchell eventually stopped Musselwhite from going further into the matter.

Musselwhite said he would be able to provide more information once the city is able to release the underlying records through the open-records process and legal concerns no longer prevent him from discussing the matter.

Police department remains in transition

The confrontation comes as Demorest continues to rebuild a police department that has lost a substantial number of employees over the past several months.

The city previously authorized an outside investigation into personnel complaints and working conditions within the department. That investigation found what the report described as a “clearly toxic atmosphere” within the department’s civilian office and recommended management address working relationships. Subsequent resignations and complaints have continued to fuel questions about morale and management within the department.

Chastain resigned in September after 12 years with Demorest. In his resignation letters, he accused Musselwhite of contributing to the turmoil and alleged that he had been instructed to violate citizens’ constitutional rights and his oath of office. The letters did not provide details supporting that allegation, and it has not been independently established.

Rounds took over as interim chief Sept. 30. The city previously said he would begin with a roster of three patrol officers — one school resource officer and two part-time officers — while working to recruit additional personnel. The city also reported receiving 22 applications for police positions following the latest round of departures.

The council took no action Tuesday night on Davis’ attempt to remove Musselwhite and reinstate Chastain. Instead, the meeting ended with the underlying dispute unresolved and city officials declining to discuss many of the allegations because of the possibility of future litigation.