A Small Town Georgia Mayor Fired The Entire Police Force After Officers Talked Shit About His Wife on Facebook
Georgia mayor fires the entire police force for making his wife upset. Cohutta Mayor Ron Shinnick fired all 10 employees of the Cohutta Police Department for making “inappropriate comments” that upset his wife, Pam. Pam was fired as the town clerk after creating a “hostile work environment,” but allegedly continued to work and have access to personal information. Officers shared their complaints on Facebook, which Ron claimed were “inappropriate” and upset Pam. After initially resolving the dispute with Police Chief Greg Fowler, Ron posted a sign on the department's door one week later that read, "The PD has been dissolved, and all personnel have been terminated." "This all comes to personal vendetta from the mayor and I wholeheartedly believe that," said Sgt. Jeremy May.
Mayor Ron Shinnick makes a great point. Much like the way struggling college football teams need a new coach, sometimes your town’s police force needs to go. All of them. Immediately. It was high time for a regime change in Cohutta. It was high time for a rebuild. It might be a rough couple years for crime in Cohutta, Georgia, but once the mayor gets his guys in, the police force is going to be stronger, faster, more racist than ever. Meanwhile, just keep your doors locked citizens. And drive as fast and as drunk as you please.
Does the mayor of Cohutta really have that type of power? I thought mayors of small towns like that were mostly… fake. I thought a small town mayor’s biggest responsibilities were delivering fruit baskets to new residents, and cutting a big ribbon with big scissors to announce the grand opening of the town’s first ever community garden.
I thought small town mayor was something you did in retirement as a late in life hobby. I know it’s not a full-time job. Cohutta, Georgia has a population of around 930 people. I’m surprised they have a police force at all.
Well as it turns out, Mayor Ron is NOT able to just eliminate the police force entirely. Obviously. The fact that the police force listened to him at all is a little bit embarrassing on their part. But lucky for them, just two days after Mayor Ron canned them all for talking shit about his wife, the town council passed an ordinance to reinstate the police department.
AP - A town council in a small north Georgia mountain community passed an ordinance Friday reinstating the community’s police department and restoring the jobs of the police officers two days after the mayor fired them all.
A standing room-only crowd of townspeople, news media and the police officers attended the special meeting of the Cohutta Town Council, council member and Vice Mayor Shane Kornberg told The Associated Press afterward.
The officers were reinstated immediately and will receive back pay, Kornberg said.
A sign posted earlier this week in the town of about 930 people announced that the police department had been dissolved “per Mayor Ron Shinnick.” It told people who need help to call a nonemergency county number.
What exactly was the police department’s beef with Mayor Ron’s wife? Well Mayor Ron’s wife had served as the town clerk. But she was recently fired (how bad do you have to be at clerking to get fired as the mayor’s wife?). And since she’s been fired, police officers in Cohutta allege she still has access to the town’s municipal systems and payroll information. Probably because her husband is still the god damn mayor.
Dexerto – According to WDEF, tensions had been building for weeks over concerns involving Pam Shinnick, the mayor’s wife and former town clerk. Officers reportedly alleged she still had access to municipal systems and payroll information after leaving the role.
On top of that, there’s a rumor going around that she’s been stealing funds.
Again, this is all alleged, but talk about some good ol’ fashioned small town drama. If this was a last ditch effort by Mayor Ron to save his wife before everything she’s done comes to light… well good effort, Ron. You’re a shoe in for husband of the year. But the mayor of Cohutta is not bigger than the first amendment. This is America, Ron. You can’t just fire all the cops.