Resident Tossed Out Of Douglas County Town Hall Meeting: WATCH

UPDATE:

2 Douglas Legislators Address 'Bus System' Concerns: WATCH

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A Douglas County resident was escorted out of a “Walking the Talk” town hall meeting Monday night when Douglas County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Ramona Jackson Jones told deputies to remove her after a heated exchange. Approximately 200 to 250 people were in attendance.

Activist Julie Camp told Patch she was unhappy with the format of the meeting, knowing that most of the people in the room were there to discuss the Douglas County bus proposal, which, she said, was the original reason for the meeting.

Camp said a member of the group Citizens Against Public Transit in Douglas County reached out to the Board of Commissioners and Jackson Jones about a meeting between the county and the group regarding the county's bus system proposal. Jones responded and agreed to meet with the group on the date the group specified.

According to the County's website, Douglas County plans to implement fixed route bus service at a time still to be determined. Routes are still under development but will likely serve the Highway 5, Highway 92, Hospital Drive, Chapel Hill Road, Douglas Boulevard and Stewart Parkway corridors of Douglasville and the Thornton Road south of I-20 and Riverside Drive corridors in Lithia Springs.

"So the meeting was supposed to be about the buses and when we got there Dr. Jones had an agenda about a mile long and the buses were at the end," Camp said.

Patch has reached out to Rick Martin, director of Communications and Community Relations for Douglas County, for comment but has not heard back yet.

Camp said she waited for about 40 minutes and began to ask bus questions.

"I'm afraid we're going to run out of time for the main part of what we're here for — the buses," Camp said as she addressed the county's transportation director, Miguel Valentin. "So I'm going to ask you, have you all done any studies to show how 32 bus stops are going to impact the traffic in downtown Douglasville? I can't see any way that would help traffic. And I would also like to know, who's going to pay for this once the CMAQ [The Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System grant] runs out? They only pay 80 percent for three years. Who is going to pay for it? Now this is an entitlement program you all are pushing on us and, you know, we need some answers tonight. And this is why we're here. And this is why we're having the meeting and you all are dragging your feet."

After a round of applause from those in attendance, Jackson Jones addressed Camp, "Excuse me, ma’am. This is Dr. Ramona Jackson Jones and this is my meeting."

At that point, Jackson Jones asked deputies to remove Camp.

"We're about to get to the buses but this meeting was not designed around buses," stated Jackson Jones after Camp's removal. "This is my Walking the Talk session and I've been nice enough to do this. If you be patient and allow us to finish the Walking the Talk session, I will greatly appreciate it. Now if you all don't ask so many questions, we can go onto the next...the buses..."

Deputies briefly spoke to Camp outside the meeting before allowing Camp to return to the meeting.

Video and photo courtesy YouTube