Temporary Injunction Prevents Hawkins from Taking Office

Judge Ronald Thurman issued a temporary injunction Friday preventing Algood Council candidate Ruby Hawkins from being sworn into office.

A trial is set for Oct. 3 which could ultimately decide whether Hawkins or current councilman Justin Grant takes the final seat on the city council.

Grant’s Attorney Bill Cameron said he supports Judge Thurman’s decision.

“I think the judge was exactly right, a temporary injunction should’ve been issued, the deposition should’ve been taken, and that’s pretty much all he agreed on,”  Cameron said.

Grant said until a decision is made, he will not take payment from the city until he knows he will return to council.

“I talked to the city administrator and I am going to suspend my stipend I get until we can figure what needs to happen,” Grant said. “I heard someone say I’m just doing this for the money. I can assure everybody there’s not enough money in it to put up with the hassle of that.”

Grant said despite the process, he has no hard feelings toward Hawkins.

“I don’t have one bad thing to say about miss Hawkins,” Grant said. “She’s ran an incredible campaign, she’s always been really sweet to me, and it’s not my goal to make sure I’m the one in power at all. What I saw was an election done improperly and all I want is an election done correctly.”

Grant said seeing a proper election conducted is all that matters.

“I want an election done correctly, and today was one of the steps on the journey to figure out what we need to be doing in the future,” Grant said.

A deposition hearing is set for Wednesday, Sept. 5 to gather more information for the trial. The hearing was originally scheduled for Friday, but Cameron said new attorneys have entered the case and needed more time.

The temporary injunction will not effect the swearing-in of Mayor-Elect Lisa Chapman-Fowler.

Grant contested the results earlier this month after Hawkins was declared the winner by a single vote. Further review of the results by the Putnam County Election Commission revealed three voters should not have voted with an Algood ballot, while two others were given incorrect ballots.