---
date: 2012-10-18
title: October 18, 2012 Minutes
source: 2012-10/2012-10-18_October 18, 2012_Minutes.pdf
pages: 1
---

October 18, 2012

SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MINUTES
CITY OF STOCKBRIDE
Thursday, October 18, 2012; 4:00PM

The Special Called Meeting of the City of Stockbridge City Council was held on October
18, 2012 at 4:00PM. Mayor Lee Stuart presided and the members present were Mark
Alarcon, Robin Buschman, Harold Cochran, Richard Steinberg and Alphonso Thomas.

Call to Order motion was made by Harold Cochran to convene; second was made by
Robin Buschman; passed 5-0.
Invocation-Mayor asked for a moment of silence.
Pledge of Allegiance
Adopt Agenda motion was made by Richard Steinberg; second was made by Harold
Cochran; passed 5-0.

For the Purpose of:

• Discussion of the application for the Islamic Society of South Atlanta to
operate a mosque at 4340 N. Henry Blvd., #180, Stockbridge, GA 30281
and the six-month renewal process; Mr. Abdul Rashid Khan stated that he
was here to discuss the six month renewal for the Islamic Society of South
Atlanta. He stated that when they previously were here, they did not know
about the process for the renewal but from now on they will keep up with
and apply for the six month renewal. Mr. Khan went on to explain some
history of ISSA to say that they have intended to move forward into a
permanent place and they had signs and banners to explain why they
were collecting the funds. They have collected about $43,000 so far.
They still need to collect more funds as some of these funds have been
used for their rent and utilities to stay in the current building. They like
Stockbridge and want to stay in Stockbridge. Mr. Khan explained that this
does not just help the Muslim Community but also the Stockbridge
Community because a lot of people moved here to be able to worship at
the mosque. Therefore, Mr. Khan is requesting the six month renewal to
be able to continue to keep the mosque open. They will continue to
collect funds and move forward with a permanent facility when they can.
Another member stated that they next two closest mosque buildings are in
downtown Atlanta and in Griffin which are both too far to go to worship.
Richard Steinberg wanted to thank Mr. Milliron for working with the
mosque. He also wanted to thank the members of the mosque in working
with the members of the City and he thanked everyone for coming to the
meeting at this hour to consider this permit since prayers are important to
this society and the prayers would start tomorrow. Mark Alarcon made a
motion to allow the mosque to continue to worship under the parameters
that have been set forth in this business license and with the paperwork
that was initiated; second was made by Harold Cochran; passed 5-0.

Mayor Stuart asked if we had a resolution that had to be drawn up for the
mosque and Mr. Milliron stated no, that we did not need a resolution as
this was a conditional use permit. Mr. Alarcon did state that he had asked
that the City to do a draft letter to communicate to the mosque and give
them the next two dates in the 2013 calendar that they need to come forth
just as a reminder. Mr. Milliron said that was noted and also he stated that
they were just handed a permit and on the permit it states that it is a six
month permit to operate effective October 18th as well.

• Consideration of appointment of City Clerk or contract extension of Interim
City Clerk; motion was made by Richard Steinberg to appoint Ms. Rhonda
Blackmon for a full time position as permanent City Clerk; second was
made by Harold Cochran; Mr. Thomas had some concerns that when they
met on yesterday, they had discussed what would be on the agenda for
today. He was asked for his opinion at the end of the discussion and he
was under the impression that this is the way we would go with this. The
organizational chart was the center of the discussion and the duties and
responsibilities and salary for the clerk. He was in agreement with the
extension and now it is something else. He has a problem with this
because at that time he stated that this Council needed to get together to
discuss the duties and responsibilities of this position and not to look at
Ms. Blackmon’s strong suits or her weak suits. He thinks the position
should be tailored to the position and not to the person. Again, he is in
favor of giving Ms. Blackmon an extension. He has nothing negative
towards Ms. Blackmon. He thinks she has done a tremendous job; she hit
the ground running and he thinks she has done a great job but he doesn’t
like the way this was handled without having a proper discussion on
responsibilities and things of that nature. He will just wait to reflect his
vote but he just wanted to state that and he doesn’t think we should rush
and we need to discuss the position, not Ms. Blackmon, but the position.
Mayor Stuart wanted to clarify that this is not an extension but to appoint
her as permanent. Mr. Thomas stated that his discussion with the Mayor
Pro Tem was about an extension. Mr. Alarcon stated that Mr. Thomas
was correct in that they did speak yesterday. Then he spoke to Mr.
Thomas today and the conversation was not just on one topic or one item.
Mr. Alarcon said that Mr. Thomas did show his strongest position in what
he had just explained. There is validity in what he said that we need to
make corrections and do paperwork and we discussed a lot of that. We
also discussed the option of bringing her on full time; we also talked about
different salaries; we also talked about how her compensation package
with insurance is affected; so just for the record, we talked about a solid
three different potential decisions. The only conversation was not just
about the temporary; passed 5-0.

Motion to Adjourn was made by Mark Alarcon; second was made by Robin Buschman,
passed 5-0.

Respectfully submitted by:

Rhonda A. Blackmon, City Clerk Lee Stuart, Mayor
