MARSHALLVILLE, Ga. — Marshallville's mayor is in legal trouble after the city council took him to court again.
The council filed a motion in court to take Mayor Al Lane to a contempt hearing. They alleged he violated a March court order that limited his decision-making power as mayor and limited how much he could spend on city credit cards. Many of the new developments started with the city's budget committee.
"We started making cuts. And apparently, he didn't like the cuts that we made, so he never came back," said George Rumph, a former committee member.
Rumph was talking about his first meeting on the committee. At the time, the city was more than $100,000 over budget, according to a workshop report. The committee wanted to balance the budget with staffing cuts at city hall. The mayor wanted to make them at the police department.
"The police are going to have a big budget. The police and water are going to take up most of the money," Rumph said.
The mayor presented his own budget, and the council presented theirs with the committee's support. According to last week's court order, the city council approved their version, which included the city hall cuts.
Per the documents, Mayor Lane tried to block those layoffs. That's part of the reason council members took Lane back to court. Another reason: Council claimed Lane violated the previous order.
"It doesn't matter who gives the order. It doesn't matter what the law is. He's going to do what he wants to do," Rumph said.
Some council members claimed Lane didn't follow the order, which found he bought a nearly $125,000 backhoe for the city without the council's approval. Judge Jimmie Brown ruled Lane could not make decisions on his own for a year and limited Lane's credit card privileges.
So, when the council feared Lane tried to make unilateral actions and refused to stop spending with city credit cards, they took him back to court. In a Sept. 22 court hearing, Lane admitted to paying his $3,000 legal fees with a city credit card. That's double his emergency spending limit per the city charter. It baffled Rumph.
"I don't understand how you can get caught red-handed in court, taking $3,000 in city funds, using it to pay your attorney, and still be the mayor. I don't understand it," Rumph said.
Judge Brown ordered Mayor Lane spend last Saturday and Sunday in jail but later allowed him house arrest. Lane must also pay the city $3,000 by October 23.
We called city hall several times, asking for the mayor. Each time, we were told the mayor was not in. We also reached out to the mayor by email but have yet to hear back. In person at city hall Friday, the mayor refused to comment because he didn't like our previous coverage and felt it was unfair.