‘Character assassination.’ Black community leaders condemn treatment of Columbus officials

Local Black community leaders have spoken out in support of Columbus Consolidated Government officials, arguing the Black women faced “character assassination” and “baseless accusations” after a letter from the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney implied they were under possible criminal investigation.

Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly wrote a letter dated July 18 asking to be recused from an investigation involving “possible criminal acts” because the individuals in question made decisions about employment and budget issues for his office.

While Kelly did not list the names of the CCG employees or describe the crimes, he did identify the employees by job title: the finance director, the human resources director and a deputy city manager.

By including the job titles, Finance Director Angelica Alexander and Human Resources Director Reather Hollowell were implicated as being under investigation. Pam Hodge and Lisa Goodwin are the two deputy city managers.

The Ledger-Enquirer couldn’t confirm any of the four were involved in the investigation.

Hodge told the Ledger-Enquirer that, to her knowledge, she isn’t under criminal investigation and nobody has informed her otherwise.

Last week, Hollowell’s attorney, Chuck Boring, released a statement refuting the accusations and stating that her name would be cleared .

Alexander and Goodwin haven’t replied to the Ledger-Enquirer’s messages.

Melvin Tanner, president of the Columbus Branch of the NAACP, Rev. Dr. J.H. Flakes, representing the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and Jerome Williams, from A Call To Action, signed a letter to Mayor Skip Henderson and the city council expressing concerns about Kelly’s letter being made public and the effect it had on Alexander and Hollowell.

“These esteemed professionals, well-known for their dedication to and service, are facing serious character assassination through baseless accusations that lack clarity and justification,” the letter reads.

The women were unfairly portrayed as criminals after Kelly’s recusal was reported on by local media, according to the letter.

“We want to make sure that everything is factual,” Tanner told the Ledger-Enquirer. “Whether things are true or not — just by someone saying it can actually damage someone’s career or their livelihood.”

This incident was an example of systemic challenges African Americans face in professional settings, Tanner, Flakes and Williams argued in their letter.

“Often, we are held to unfair double standards and subjected to scrutiny that our counterparts may never experience,” the letter reads. “Such occurrences highlight the necessity for a fair and transparent process in handling allegations, one that respects the rights and dignity of all individuals involved.”

The letter implores local media to prioritize fairness and accuracy by emphasizing the “lack of concrete evidence” as it does possible wrongdoing.

Tanner has not had a chance to speak with officials involved, he said, but others in the coalition have had conversations with them. It’s already too late to stop the damage done to Alexander and Hollowell, Tanner said, but he hopes to avoid incidents like this in the future.

“This is not anything based off of race,” he said. “This is just right and wrong, regardless of individual ethnicity or even their agenda. We’ll make sure everyone’s treated fairly.”

The Ledger-Enquirer didn’t reach Mayor Skip Henderson for comment before publication.