TISDALE v. GRAVITT — Deposition of City of Cumming, Georgia, Mayor H. Ford Gravitt 08/01/13
Deposition of #CummingGa Mayor H.
Ford Gravitt in the case of TISDALE v.
City of CUMMING, GRAVITT, TATUM and COOK over
Open Meetings Act (
OMA) violations by banning Nydia
Tisdale's camera
00:00 Introductions
01:08 p06:20 Gravitt sworn-in
01:49 p09:11
James Otwell, Jr. owner Andean Motor Co.
03:35 p11:04
Ford's Body &
Auto Service
04:52 p12:02 Served on city council 2 terms
05:18 p12:10 Ran for Mayor
06:27 p13:08
Opponent Lawrence Gordon,
1970
07:11 p13:22 Opponent
Bill Daniel,
2006
07:48 p14:04 Terms varied
08:30 p14:17
Married once, no illegitimate children
08:44 p14:23
Angela (
Angie) Mullinax is traveling friend
13:34 p19:11 " not an employee of city, does legwork for mayor
14:01 p19:20 " gets city health insurance
14:45 p20:11 "
Cumming Development Authority
15:59 p21:07 "
Forsyth County Development Authority, Clerk
16:16 p21:11 Cumming
Planning Board member
Brent Otwell
18:00 p22:11
Corporate entities
20:08 p23:19 Mayor's salary $1,
000 per month + benefits
20:40 p24:07 304
East Maple,
LLC
21:49 p25:02
Canton Highway, LLC
22:42 p25:19 Ford's
Place, LLC
23:52 p26:17
Primary sources of income
24:09 p26:22
Homer and
Lily, LLC
25:19 p27:12
Highway 19, LLC
26:24 p28:13
Kelly Mill Phillips, LLC
27:00 p29:01 Maple
Street Intersection, LLC
27:43 p29:13 Otwell
Manor, LLC
28:19 p30:01 Gravitt Investments,
LLLP (?)
28:57 p30:13 Three-way Leasing, LLC (?)
29:34 p31:02 Cumming
Collision Center,
Inc. (?)
31:05 p31:18 Gravitt Properties, LLC (?)
32:19 p32:13 Gravitt Produce, LLC (?)
32:35 p32:16 Ford's
BBQ Restaurant, LLC
33:25 p33:04
Ridge Associates, Inc.
33:49 p33:09 Cumming
Group Associates, Inc.
35:07 p34:01 Concerned Taxpayers of Cumming - Forsyth County, Inc.
35:50 p34:13 Gravitt
Everett Davis Georgia FOP Lodge 56, Inc. (?)
36:03 p34:17
Carolyn Gravitt
Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc.
37:50 p35:25
Property holdings ~ 10 acres
38:08 p36:10
Recuse from voting
39:34 p37:05
William Emory Lipscomb,
III
http://AboutForsyth.net/files/
United.
States.of.America_v._William.Emory.Lipscomb.III
.pdf
40:27 p37:18 City Mgr.
Gerald Blackburn
40:32 p37:22
Phoenix Land & Investments, Inc.
41:22 p38:09 Cumming Sawnee, Inc.
42:01 p39:06 Emory Lipscomb
43:28 p40:06 Forsyth County Tax
Commissioner
44:26 p40:21 Lipscomb co-owned properties
45:58 p41:22 Lipscomb arrested for bank fraud
46:59 p42:20 Lipscomb did work for Gravitt
48:49 p43:19
PO Box
49:23 p44:09
Civil Rights March on
January 24,
1987
54:08 p47:19
Dana Miles &
Katie Dod object
57:07 p51:05
Mason
57:13 p51:08
Church
58:08 p51:23 Socialize
59:19 p52:17 Councilman
John D. Pugh
1:00:15 p53:04 Dissenting votes
1:01:04 p53:15 Forsyth County Commissioners
1:02:00 p54:10 Commissioner
Brian Tam
1:02:24 p54:15 Cumming
School House - Tam's
Backstage Restaurant
1:05:34 p56:22
Agenda
1:07:01 p57:21
Executive Session
1:08:51 p59:05
Council vs. Counsel
1:10:51 p62:03 Cumming films meetings
1:12:49 p63:04
City Clerk Jeff Honea
1:14:05 p64:08
Did you know Tisdale prior to April 17,
2012?
1:14:51 p64:21
Focus on
Forsyth
1:15:05 p65:01 AboutForsyth
1:15:47 p65:17
Police Chief & Asst. Police Chief hired
January 2012
1:17:07 p66:17
Officers attend meetings
1:17:54 p67:05
Responsibility as Mayor during meeting
1:20:48 p69:16
Others tried to video record prior to
April 2012
1:22:27 p71:01
Review OMA prior to April 17, 2012?
1:22:43 p71:08
The Red Book http://law.ga.gov/sites/law.ga.gov/files/related_files/site_page/GeorgiasSunshineLaws2014WebEdition.pdf
1:23:25 p71:22 Trainings
1:24:42 p72:21 Reviewed OMA since April 17, 2012?
1:25:27 p73:09
Break
1:25:46 p73:18
State of the
Community Address with
Pete Amos &
Darla Light
1:27:08 p74:22 Forsyth
Herald dated April 24,
2013 with Gravitt
1:34:40 p81:17
Interview with
Justin Gray,
Fox 5 http://youtu.be/3EPmGpkGgUE
1:36:10 p82:15 I thought it was the right thing to do.
1:36:55 p83:11
Today, I don't think I did the right thing.
1:37:23 p84:03 Had you reviewed the OMA at that time?
1:39:03 p84:20 Why was it the right thing to do?
1:40:52 p85:18
Type of camera
1:45:07 p89:01 A little gray area
1:46:36 p89:15 Mayor reviewed OMA after the April 17, 2012 meeting.
1:47:21 p89:24
Gray: The camera should be allowed, according to
Georgia law.
1:47:28 p89:25 Well, we can interpret it different.
1:48:30 p90:18 Alleged call
from AG Sam Olens at May 22, 2012 meeting http://youtu.be/U0YQ_E8xtTw
1:50:55 p92:15 Discussions with Miles about OMA
1:59:42 p94:08 Before vs. After April 17, 2012
2:01:48 p102:
25 April 17, 2012 meeting http://youtu.be/vaulDwK6ou0
2:02:43 p103:09 Mayor's policy banning video camera
2:05:58 p105:05 Police Chief
Casey Tatum removes camera
2:09:14 p108:04 Dana Miles sat silent
2:11:52 p110:09 Tisdale removed
2:13:35 p111:13
Sketch
2:15:00 p112:17 Unfortunate situation
2:15:27 p112:23 Forsyth County meetings
2:15:53 p113:12 Disruptions
2:18:13 p115:11
Tripod
2:18:59 p116:04
Side aisle G1
2:28:50 p124:14
Officer Daniel Hester
2:29:39 p125:08
Video policy
2:33:18 p128:08 Qualifying fee
2:33:53 p129:11
Campaign disclosure
2:37:12 p131:04 Break