Council Investigates Mayor's Wreck

The Douglasville City Council voted, during Monday night's meeting, to unanimously investigate an accident Mayor Harvey Persons had with his city-owned vehicle on Valentine's Day.

Persons was driving his 2013 Chevy Tahoe when he struck a light pole in a parking lot at about 4 p.m., causing $10,132.66 worth of damage, according to the accident report, the Douglas County Sentinel said. The vehicle's front quarter panel and left tire were damaged. The accident happened near on Fairburn Rd.

"I want to make a motion to start an investigation into the accident that involved the car; how it was reported; if any laws were broken or regulations of the City, let it fall where it may," Council Member Carl Pope said. "If rules were broken, it should be reported to the District Attorney. If it was an ethics violation, let it go to the ethics board. And if there was nothing wrong, it will be forever put to rest that nothing was done wrong."

resident Gary Warner questioned the need for the Mayor to have a new car at a City Council meeting in January. He said, in part, "I disagree with what was stated in the committee that you needed a new automobile and the reasons behind it.

"To have a four-year-old vehicle with only 48,000 miles on it, in my opinion, is not a good enough reason to spend $15,000 and the trade-in value of the current vehicle, to get a new car for you to use."

Persons said he did not want to comment on the matter because there is now an on-going investigation.