July 16, 2017

For Monday night, City Council has added the following item to their Work Session agenda:  “Council Discussion Regarding Possible Response to Redistricting News
Story.”

(City Council Meeting:  July 17, 2017 at 6 pm at the new City Hall)

This agenda item is an attempt to whitewash the Redistricting Scandal and exonerate Ms. Thurman.  It is reminiscent of the show trials that were perfected in the Soviet Era and are today a ubiquitous feature of totalitarian regimes around the world.  Citizens, consider the notion of Council passing judgment on its own actions and then issuing a propagandist “official” response from the City of Milton.

Citizens, please heed our call to attend Monday night’s City Council meeting to ensure Council does not support this transparent attempt to dismiss the Redistricting Scandal.  We believe a majority of Council are probably not inclined to support Kunz and Thurman, so we need citizens to show up and support these Council Members.

Citizens, what we need from you are questions that you would like Council to answer about this Scandal.  We will collate those questions and submit them to the Council.  We will check off how many of these questions get asked and answered and provide a scorecard at this blog.

Please submit your questions by sending them to miltoncoalition@outlook.com (or use the contact form at the blog).

At Monday’s meeting, the City Attorney will play a prominent role.  However, keep a few things in mind as you listen to him.  First, the City Attorney will never (publicly) make a statement that will put the City in legal jeopardy or otherwise cast the city in a bad light.  His job is to protect the City.  Second, the City Attorney is really Council’s attorney.  He advises them and for certain matters, they have attorney-client privilege with him.  Third, the City Attorney’s contract with the City relies on his keeping in the good graces of a majority of Council.  So he is in a very difficult position.  Please understand his comments in the context of the above discussion.

If City Council and Ms. Thurman truly want the truth to be uncovered, then two actions need to occur:

• The City should hire an independent third party to investigate the district change.  This needs to be someone that citizens will agree is truly objective.
• Ms. Thurman should conduct a video-taped town hall meeting.  If she truly believes that she did nothing wrong and wants to be honest about this matter, she should have no problem facing citizens and answering their questions.  Town hall meetings were recently very effective in explaining the Fulton County tax fiasco and addressing citizen concerns.

Rather than labeling citizens concerned about this district change as negative, hostile, and divisive bullies, whose hearts are filled with hate, Ms. Thurman needs to engage citizens in a direct and honest dialogue.  Ms. Thurman’s actions to date, including her speech last week, remind us of the following truism:

(Note:  We will continue to publish evidence of the Redistricting Scandal, once we are past the City Council meeting tomorrow night.)