30 | November 14, 2013 | Johns Creek Herald | northfulton.com
ANALYSIS »
OPINION
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Bodker weathers council’s storm Election becomes referendum on ‘investigation’
HATCHER HURD
Executive Editor hatcher@northfulton.com
By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – The Johns Creek City Council attempted a palace coup, but the citizens of Johns Creek were not having any part of it. Two of the coup leaders went down in crushing defeat and a third must find a way to rally in a runoff. Mayor Mike Bodker spent four months defending himself from what his supporters maintained was a purely political investigation of past mistakes. When the polls closed, the results showed clearly the city was behind the only mayor it has ever known. The “unknown” candidates Lenny Zaprowski, Cori Davenport and Nancy Reinecke stood political wisdom on its head by knocking off one incumbent, Randall Johnson, and sending the other, Karen Richardson, into a runoff. The campaign really began last June when the City Council minus Councilwoman Kelly Stewart dropped the bombshell that the five members were launching an investigation into allegations of misfeasance and malfeasance by the mayor. Bodker, who until this election had never had an opponent, seemed a shoo-in for a third term. Although bad misdeeds while serving in office were hinted at, the council was not forthcoming with any specific allegations at the time. Many residents reacted with shock, but the members of the City Council said the investigation was the only way to curb Bodker’s alleged excesses. Supporters of the mayor im-
mediately began to lobby at the bi-weekly council meetings for some details about these allegations – mostly to ask just what the allegations were. When Councilwoman Bev Miller resigned a few weeks later to run against Bodker, his supporters alleged this was just another part of a concerted effort to defeat the mayor at the polls. Bodker had predicted when the investigation began that one of the council would do just that. He further stated that the investigation would issue its report just before the election. With Miller off the council, Johnson took on the role of council’s point man in the investigation. Council sessions became more noted for the testy public comment sessions in which the council members faced increasingly barbed comments. This spilled over into the now infamous altercation with City Manager John Kachmar
where he became verbally abusive with two citizens – one a woman – after a council meeting. Stewart and Bodker called for Kachmar’s resignation in what they called unprofessional and unacceptable behavior. Kachmar chose to defend himself by saying Bodker and Stewart were attacking him because he was a “whistleblower” in the investigation. He seemed to dismiss the altercation as “politically motivated” by two “Bodker supporters.” The four remaining councilmembers released a joint press release of their own defending Kachmar’s right to due process as a city employee and slamming Bodker for using it to “deflect” attention from the investigation against himself. Then, as the mayor’s supporters predicted, an “interim report” on the mayor’s conduct was released Oct. 21 at a City Council meeting. This was quickly disseminated by city staff and posted online. Step by step, the election issues telescoped into just three that overshadowed all three city races. The overarching issue was the investigation itself. Would the voters see it as a justifiable action reluctantly taken by a concerned City Council? Or would it be seen as something less than justifiable and more along the lines of a political
The overarching issue was the investigation itself. Would the voters see it as a justifiable action reluctantly taken by a concerned City Council? Or would it be seen as something less than justifiable and more along the lines of a political tool to unseat a mayor who was too much of a maverick?
BODKER
ZAPROWSKI
tool to unseat a mayor who was too much of a maverick? That tied in closely as with the cost of the investigation. It had been controversial from the start to hire an independent investigator at $185 an hour in what would be an open-ended investigation. The final cost, estimated at $100,000 or more, still has not been released by the city. The final issue that attached to all candidates was that of the city manager. The major facts of the issue do not seem to be in dispute. Kachmar accosted a woman who had spoken during public comment at an Oct.7 council meeting. He then got into a heated argument with her neighbor that witnesses said was profane and almost came to blows. While most residents expressed shock that the ranking city employee would lose his temper in such dramatic and confrontational fashion, the City Council did nothing. After four days, Stewart held her own press conference to call for Kachmar’s resignation, and Bodker seconded her in his own press release the following Tuesday. Councilmembers Johnson, Richardson, Brad Raffensperger (who also was a witness) and Ivan Figueroa and former councilmember and candidate Bev Miller refused to comment on Kachmar’s actions saying it was a personnel matter that would be taken up after the police investigation (still ongoing evidently) was completed. Instead, they accused Bodker of using the incident to take attention away from the interim report.
DAVENPORT
RICHARDSON
Judging by the voting in the election, those councilmembers badly miscalculated on all three counts. The consensus of the voters was the “investigation” was anything but the smoking gun council had promised. Instead, it was a mishmash of some of Bodker’s early mistakes as a new mayor and allegations of “talking out of school” to other elected officials. Despite assertions the report would be sent to law enforcement for action, the assessment of local attorneys and politicians outside the city is there was nothing actionable in it. The cost of the investigation grated on taxpayers. They never received adequate explanations why other less costly alternatives were not used: either through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation or the state Ethics Commission. Finally, voters could not fathom the reluctance of the City Council to take the city manager to task over what most residents said was unacceptable behavior on his part. Instead, the council appears to have the patience of Job for a police investigation of a minor assault charge to wrap up. In the end, the council minus Stewart demanded a showdown against Bodker, and all of them ran against Bodker. Johnson and Miller are gone, and Richardson finds herself trailing badly going into a runoff with challenger Cori Davenport. Usually, when there is discord on a city council, the voters have a way of sorting things out. Johns Creek voters have done their sorting.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR »
Supporting local schools important Having been a parent in the Fulton County School System, as well as an active volunteer for the past 12 years, I fully appreciate everything that the schools do for our children and staff. All schools, not just in our district but in the state, receive the same funding from county and state tax dollars. Many of you know that cuts have been made for many years and potentially will be cut even more in the future. Many parents and residents ask, “Why do I need to support the school with their fundraisers and events that they put on, or donate my time getting involved and volunteering for an event or committee?” One of the main reasons is because without that support, the school will not be a premiere school and
families will not want to move into our area. Parental involvement and financial support of the PTAs, foundations and associations related to the school is highly encouraged. For many years, people have been drawn to our area because of the schools. The schools are the way they are because of the support they get from the parents and neighbors that live nearby. If that support diminishes, so will the desire to live in this area, inadvertently affecting our home values and ability to sell your home if needed. PTAs, foundations and associations help fund many of the great things within our schools. Some of the schools in the same district lack additional financial and parental support so those schools do not
benefit from some of the things that our schools get. Please consider getting involved and showing ways to support your schools even if you do not have students enrolled. There are many ways to support the local schools. Please be sure to check out your local schools’ PTA, foundation and athletic association websites. They show many of the ways to get involved through clipping box tops, saving Coke Reward points, supporting your neighbors’ children when they have fundraisers, participating in silent auctions or spirit nights or by simply attending a sporting event and buying dinner at the concessions stand. It is very important to do what you can, big or small. Every bit helps in a huge way. Cindy Hajduk, Johns Creek