MACON, Ga. — Macon Water Authority board members held off on a decision Thursday to ask Gov. Brian Kemp to remove Desmond Brown from office.
The board is investigating Brown for possible ethics violations during his time in office. They hired former DA David Cooke to investigate concerns that Brown possibly tried to use his position for personal gain. There are accusations that Brown tried to get the Authority to pay for work his company did for a client. That's against state ethics laws.
Thursday, Cooke told the board he had more people to talk to who came forward with even more concerns. Members decided to keep a motion to ask the governor to remove Brown 'tabled,' meaning they'll save it for a later meeting while Cooke digs further.
"We want him to continue. Apparently, he still has other folks to talk to, until we come together again," said board member Dwight Jones.
Another reason they decided to pause on the decision was Brown's contempt case from last week. February 21, Bibb County Judge Connie Williford sent Brown to jail for contempt after he failed to provide post-judgment documents related to a 2019 lawsuit from a former business partner.
Friday, Williford let him out, and set a new court date for him to check in: March 24. While this case is different from the board's investigation, members decided they wanted to wait and see how it plays out.
"It would be appropriate to see what the next 30 days reveals," Cooke said to the board.
Cooke told the board that while the court case doesn't directly affect the board's investigation, it could back up their findings.
"I think it would be beneficial to hear the results of the contempt case just because it may be relevant to ours," Cooke said.
Brown has until March 18 to get documents related to the contempt case to Samuel Alderman, the attorney representing his former business partner, Courtney Baldwin. Then, his report-back hearing happens March 24.
Meanwhile, the board's next meeting is April 7. The motion to table will expire at that meeting, meaning they'll either need to vote 'yes' or 'no,' or vote to table again.