Jonesboro mayor explains why she decided not to resign
Jonesboro mayor explains retraction
Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor held a press conference on Friday morning to explain why she decided not to resign after announcing she was doing so on Thursday.
JONESBORO, Ga. - Just hours after Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor announced her resignation, she changed her mind and said she will not step down after all.
She said she was stepping down amid disputes with the city council but then reversed that decision hours later, but now some city council members want to make sure it sticks.
Mayor Sartor has been Jonesboro’s Mayor for the last two years.
What we know:
Mayor Sartor made the resignation announcement during a special called meeting on Thursday.
She made a tearful resignation announcement at that meeting, but hours later she said her April 19 resignation had been rescinded.
"I've changed my mind and will not offer a resignation as mayor," she said.
Mayor Sartor explained her change-of-heart decision during a news conference Friday morning, not at Jonesboro City Hall, but more than 20 miles north in Atlanta's Ansley Park neighborhood.
The city has been in the process of finding a firm to perform an audit on the city’s finances and the charge cards used by employees and elected officials.
Mayor Sartor said she planned to resign in mid-April to see the audit through and be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Sartor says she believes she has the right to rescind her resignation based on a 1960’s Georgia Attorney General opinion which indicates that public officials can withdraw a resignation before it’s accepted unless it was effective immediately.
It is no secret there’s issues between the mayor and city council.
The FOX 5 I-Team unpacked that tension following a contentious meeting last year.
Mayor Sartor says the abrupt resignation came under duress by several of her colleagues.
All of this comes amid a number of other resignations in the city.
The council plans to meet Monday to accept her resignation that the mayor says is no longer on the table.
ORIGINAL STORY: Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor retracts resignation hours later
Mayor denies wrongdoing
What they're saying:
"I cannot in my heart let down the citizens, the thousands of citizens who are dependent on me to fulfill and complete my office as Mayor of the City of Jonesboro," Sartor said.
Mayor Sartor's change of course has thrown the city into chaos as some city council members try to find some way to make her public resignation permanent.
"You've made your decision, stick with it and go," said Councilman Don Dixon. "If that wasn't what you were going to do, you shouldn't have said anything."
Councilman Dixon says they could take legal action.
"I think it may stand up in court, which it probably will end up there," he said.
Mayor Sartor says she plans to stay in office.
"I think the biggest mistake was the council not accepting that resignation yesterday and allowing time for me to hear from my citizens," she said.
"I just hope we get all of this worked out and get back to running the city," Dixon said.
RAW: Mayor Donya Sartor press conference
Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor holds press conference to talk about her announcement of her intention to resign and then her decision not to do so.
City consulting attorney
What's next:
Now, city officials are working to determine whether her resignation was legally binding. Council Member Dixon stated that the council and city attorney are reviewing whether Sartor’s resignation meets legal conditions, noting that it was made publicly, in writing, and without immediate objections.
For now, Sartor remains in office as discussions continue on the validity of her resignation.