SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
Security footage from inside the Spalding County Elections Office confirms that the allegation an illegal meeting involving three members of the Board of Elections and Election Supervisor Marcia Ridley are false.
The allegation was made during the Dec. 28 Board of Elections meeting as several members of the audience complained that public comment was not permitted.
An unidentified woman made the public accusation near the end of the meeting.
“Is that why three of y’all went into a closed-door meeting last Wednesday after the meeting adjourned – this week – adjourned here. Three of y’all went in with Marcia in a closed-door meeting in violation of the Sunshine Laws?” she asked.
Board member Vera McIntosh immediately denied the allegation.
“We were not in a meeting with Marcia,” she responded.
“Three of y’all did not go into Marcia’s office and close the door last Wednesday?” the accuser asked.
“No. At different times,” McIntosh said. “I went in and asked her for information about something that I needed. Actually, we’re not even supposed to talk to you, but anyway.”
“We have witnesses that saw you, so okay,” the accuser countered.
Immediately following adjournment of the meeting, BoE Chairman Margaret Bentley and BoE Secretary Glenda Henley spoke to The GRIP.
As did McIntosh, both Bentley and Henley adamantly denied a quorum of the Board of Elections met simultaneously with Ridley.
The GRIP subsequently reviewed nearly two hours of security camera footage filmed inside Ridley’s office Dec. 28.
Although the camera is not angled directly towards Ridley’s office door, its positioning does show who enters and exits her office.
The footage indicates two board members – McIntosh and Henley – entered the Elections Office at 10:20 a.m.
Prior to Bentley’s later arrival, Henley left the Elections Office.
Over the next hour and a half, the three Board of Elections members appear in the surveillance footage at various times, both entering and leaving the building and Ridley’s office.
However, the footage indicates there was not more than two Board members present in Ridley’s office at once.
The January regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Elections will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 11 at the Board of Elections Office located at 825 Memorial Drive.
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Publisher’s note: This article has been edited to correct the citation of the Nov. 28 Board of Education meeting. It was the Board of Elections.
