MILTON, Ga. — In a split vote Nov. 6, the Milton City Council approved minutes from a Sept. 18 meeting in which the city manager met with councilmembers to discuss public relations surrounding city elections. The session, which qualifies as an open meeting under Georgia law, was held without notice to the public.
Councilmembers Paul Moore, Rick Mohrig and Jan Jacobus voted against approving the minutes, saying they were dissatisfied with the way the September meeting was portrayed.
They said the meeting was less of an “election update” and more an “admonishment” of Mohrig. According to their accounts, City Manager Steve Krokoff said the Department of Justice could get involved if Mohrig’s investigation into an alleged security breach continues.
After a city IT investigation concluded that Mohrig’s city email account had not been hacked, Mohrig filed a police report seeking a further look. The alleged breach concerns a calendar invitation sent from Mohrig’s city Outlook account that had been sent to all the council about a campaign strategy meeting.
“The intimidation factor was completely inappropriate,” Moore said. “I believe that was the primary purpose of the meeting.”
In a Nov. 7 email, Krokoff told Appen Media that he agreed with the minutes that had been approved and stands by his initial concern, that “multiple calls for investigations by councilmembers may undermine public confidence in Milton’s election effort.”
“My concerns about intervention by outside law enforcement agencies are simply a byproduct of my years of experience in law enforcement,” Krokoff wrote.
Krokoff is the former police chief for the Albany, N.Y. Police Department.
Controversy for consent
The minutes were originally on the council’s Nov. 6 consent agenda, a process that allows bulk approval of typically noncontroversial items…
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