STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Stone Mountain Mayor Beverly Jones is asking a superior court judge to grant an injunction that would prevent the city council from removing her from office over allegations she took control of the city’s bank accounts without telling anyone.
Her lawsuit against the city council, filed on Sept. 22, raises new questions about the allegations against her.
Jones’ lawsuit does not deny that she took over the city’s and the Downtown Development Authority’s accounts on April 2. She said not having another city official with her when she did this was a “minor deficiency” and that she was acting in good faith to protect the city.
Why did the Stone Mountain City Council vote to remove Mayor Beverly Jones from office?
An independent investigator hired by the council concluded Jones violated her oath by taking control of city bank accounts, but she didn’t misuse city funds.
The investigator’s findings were enough for the council to initiate the process for her removal on Aug. 19 in a 4-2 vote. The city’s charter outlines the process for removing officers, which includes a hearing before an “impartial panel.” Any removal can be appealed to the DeKalb County Superior Court.
In the lawsuit against the council, Jones insists she consulted the previous city attorney, Jeff Strickland, before heading to Truist Bank. However, Strickland told the independent investigator that the conversation never took place.
Jones’ attorney, Mark Scott, said he planned a press conference for Friday, Sept. 26, to address questions about the allegations against his client. When asked about the conversation that Jones said took place with Strickland, Scott said Jones will be able to provide evidence that it happened.
“I believe we do, and I’m going to try to produce that for you,” Scott said. “I’ve got to do a record search. I got involved in this late last week, and we had a long conversation about it last night.”
Another part of the lawsuit contradicts previous statements Jones has made about her actions. At a press conference on June 3, she said she was trying “to protect the city” when she visited Truist Bank.
“I want to say that on the 28th of March of this year, I was asked to come to Truist Bank because they found a situation that needed my attention,” Jones said during the June 3 press conference. “That situation was there were four employees who no longer work for the city of Stone Mountain that were still on the City of Stone Mountain’s bank cards.”
Later in that same press conference, she said her actions were requested by a “vice president of Truist Bank, a client service relationship manager and a gentleman who was in cyber security, as he explained, for three states: Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.”
Decaturish requested call records from Jones’ city-issued phone. She did not make or receive any calls on March 2 or March 28.
Scott said he believes Jones was referring to an email she received on March 2.
“I got a copy of a document this morning where the bank sent an email,” Scott said. He said he would provide a copy of that document at Friday’s press conference.
It’s unclear why Jones waited a month before visiting the bank to address the alleged cybersecurity risk.
Decaturish asked Scott whether the person who sent the email represented themselves as a vice president of Truist who worked in cybersecurity. He said the email didn’t come from the local bank branch, but he needed to study it further.
“I have to look at that email,” Scott said. “I just got that this morning, and I was a little surprised that they were not local. I was under the impression that it was the local branch in Stone Mountain, someone from there. So I want to take a closer look at that email.”
Jones has not responded to questions from the media regarding the allegations and was unavailable for comment for this story. She is running for reelection this year and will be on the ballot Nov. 4.
Her opponent is Jelani Linder.
Jones did not attend a virtual forum hosted by Decaturish on Sept. 23.
This story was provided by WABE media partner Decaturish.
