Facing ethics allegations raised by Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr., Ward 4 Commerce city councilman Bob Sosebee has resigned from office.
Sosebee, 61, held the Ward 4 seat on the council for all but two years since 1982.
Sosebee delivered a letter of resignation Monday morning following a Friday afternoon meeting at Community Bank and Trust during which Hardy confronted Sosebee with six pages worth of potential allegations. Others at the meeting, Community Bank and Trust president Elton Collins and Ward 3 councilman Mark Fitzpatrick, allegedly urged Sosebee to resign.
Hardy was prepared to convene an ethics tribunal to look into allegations that Sosebee used his connection with the city for personal benefit, that he interfered on behalf of business associates by bullying city staff and that he misused a city credit card.
Sosebee’s three-paragraph letter of resignation did not reference the allegations, citing “personal problems” caused by the economic downturn and the taking on of “an additional job” starting April 3.
The city’s ethics ordinance allows a citizen to file a formal complaint to start the process. Hardy had planned to do that at the March 9 meeting of the city council, but learned at the last minute that he had to have a written list of specific charges to proceed, so he took no action at that time.
With Sosebee’s resignation, Hardy will not proceed.
“I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do,” he said. “It’s over.”
Hardy declined to comment on the specifics of his allegations, and since they were never actually made, they are not a matter of public record, he said.
The mayor stressed that Sosebee committed no crimes against the city.
Details remain murky, but the primary allegations revolve around an alleged scheme in which Sosebee helped a local builder get checks from two banks for bogus development-related expenses.
Sosebee’s misfortune is not limited to the ethics issue. His Dogwood Trail residence is being foreclosed upon, according to a legal advertisement running in The Jackson Herald. Sosebee also owes two years worth of taxes on the property.
His resignation removes him as chairman of the IDA, a position he held since its inception as the IDA’s city council representative.
For the complete story, see the March 18 edition of The Commerce News.
from office and thats not enough for you. Why do you care
about the details. It don't matter He is no longer on the
city council. You just want something to talk about I don't know where you get "good old boys" from but it looks like we have
a honest mayor and council if we didn't do you think you would
have heard of this.
If you don't know about the good old boys of Commerce, then you have not lived here long enough.
Only if the City were a victim of a crime. According to the article, the City was not.
Send Mr. Elton Collins at Community Bank and Trust your request to know what crime(s) were committed against his bank. They had legal standing to prosecute, as they were the victim. He would have been out $9,000 had it not been for the City.
The Ethical Mayor responded appropriately and timely, but some people are never satisfied.
problem not a legal one. No laws were broken. Nothing more
can be done than what has been done.
Be glad you have a mayor who has the ***** to call it and
not just let it go as your good ole boy system would do.
make them free from illegal activity...if I steal from
my employer and get caught, do you think they will allow
me to resign and not be held accountable? I think not. But
let the Sosbee incident be a lesson to all...Your sin will
find you out!
Had he stolen from the City, of course it would have be subject to public disclosure. You have simply drawn a false conclusion.
card, unpaid taxes, utility bills and using his position
for personal gain would be theft from his employer
[City of Commerce]. I am sorry he is out of a job and home, and he
may have done some good things for the city but Nixon,
and Hitler were not all bad either...In the end everyone's
sin finds them out...He should be held accountable and
made to reimburse any dollar amount but with restitution
should come forgiveness. We are all human and none of us
are perfect...Who knows, any of us could be front page
news tommorow!
stepped down so lets don't bash him and forget that he has served
this city for a very long time and has done some great things
here.
The fine folks of Commerce don't have a clue what bad
politicians are.
1. Kept the millage rate below 2.0 mills.
2. Maintained lower utility rates than the City's competitors for most rate classes while transferring money to the general fund to keep taxes low.
3. Passed 20 balanced budgets in a row.
4. Hired qualified staff and got out of thier way.
5. And, as we've just seen, they have policed thier own.
6. Poised this city to grow smartly.
7. Assisted in the procurement of a world class industrial park at a nominal cost to each citizen.
8. Built utility systems that are excellent and staffed the departments with personnel that got your electricity back on when Jackson EMC let their customers wait 4-5 days.
Come out of your CAVE.
Second, the citizens of Commerce have been spoiled over the last twenty years. Does anyone remember 25 or 30 years ago? Remember when the City of Commerce was so broke that no bank would loan "her" any money? Remember when the City employees couldn't cash their paychecks for several days? Remember when the City of Commerce was laughed at all over northeast Georgia for being so broke? If you don't remember all that, you haven't lived here long enough to run your mouth.
What do I mean by "spoiled"? How long was your power out when the snow came March 1st? 4 hours MAX. Ask residents of Madison County who were out of power for 3 to 4 days! How long have you been without public water to your house? A FEW HOURS, maybe! How long does it take for help to arrive when you have an emergency?A FEW MINUTES at most! How low are your CITY taxes compared to other cities in Jackson County? THE LOWEST! How low are your utility rates compared to other areas? LOW!
To reply to "what great things have the City Council done in the last twenty years?" First, they hired Clarence Bryant. After that, they all worked together to provide a low cost and safe place for all of us to live. As far as I know, the City of Commerce has not operated in the "RED" since Mr. Bryant came on board. Obviously we have a Mayor who is both honest and ethical. (I have known him since I was five years old.) Otherwise he could have looked the other way. To my knowledge, the other councilmen share these traits. BTW< If you want to comment or change the way Commerce is managed, the City Council meets every second Monday of the month.
It is so easy to "cast stones" and "judge" others for their actions, especially when they are already down for whatever reason. Put yourself in their shoes for a while. See how it feels to face loosing your house, cars, and whatever else. One day people might be looking at you the same way. I certainly hope not, but bad things happen to good people. Look up LUKE 6:37. If you don't have a Bible, buy one or go to the Commerce Public Library and look it up.
something about if you are without sin, cast the first
stone look at yourself before you speak
my heart to feel sorry for the sosbees...after I spotted
Bob in the audience Monday night while watching Jerry
Springer...the episode was taped in Chicago while Bob was
on "city business"...I wish the City would pay for me to
take a trip, a nice motel, meals, drinks and Jerry...
Jerry...Jerry....Go Bob!
going I would want someone else to pay for it too.
1. Gave Commerce residents the lowest electric rates in the area in 1995
2. Gave Commerce residents the lowest electric rates in 1997.
3. Ditto 1998
4. Ditto 1999
5. Ditto 2000
6. Ditto 2001
7. Ditto 2002
Get the idea? Continue through 2008.
Now figure the same for residential natural gas rates.
Repeat for property tax rates.
I'd say that's a lot of great things.
the possibility of losing their home. However this is
not the issue. His other actions can not be justifified -
bullying city employees, personal use of "City" credit
card (why was this allowed to continue), unpaid taxes,
(didn't know we could do that)using his position for
personal gain. I do wish them well on resolving their foreclosuure.
NEXT????
who has had a stroke ? He is not gone. Who is the preacher
man ? and why do we need to get rid of ALL of them ?
and "Buzzy" if we ask the GBI to investigate this matter
to find out what law (if any) has been broken. What we
have read in the paper is only what they want you to know
and this cannot be all of the story.
Bob should be given immunity from prosecution so the rest
of the story can be told.
According to the mayor, the city was out no money. That does not amount to a crime, but it is unethical. In a sense, Sosebee was able to borrow money for a short time on the credit of the city - not something we want our officials to do.
The city got credit cards for all of its elected officials, but several of them either did not accept them or never used them. I'd wager that everyone will turn them in if they haven't already.