And that was what mattered the most when Kamau was upbraided over city spending.Among the spending that is being questioned are flights the mayor took without any of the required approvals, according to WSB-TV. Bank records indicate the mayor and one employee went to Patis in May. He took another employee to Africa in October. The trips cost taxpayers about $8,000,
Kamau walked out when questions were raised, but not before playing the race card, according to WSB-TV.
“I am so distressed and disappointed that the blackest city in one of the blackest states in the United States of America heading into Black History Month, we are tearing each other down,” Kobi said.
Councilwoman Helen Willis, who like the mayor, is black, was not intimidated.“We’re not tearing you down; you took your black behind over to Africa for 20 days and didn’t tell anybody,” she responded.
Willis said she was tired of the mayor answering fiscal questions with lectures on racial solidarity.
“Mayor, I really was going to let this go, but I can’t continue to sit here and allow you to make it seem like we’re the villains, and you’re the victim,” Willis said, according to Fox News.
“Now those cameras are in the back of the room, not because of us. We would love to come to a meeting and just go through this agenda, have a professional meeting. And do the business of the people and go home. But it was you who wanted to go sit around and call us the ‘Blackest city’ and say we want to tear each other down,” she said.
She said the “blackest city” comment was “disrespectful,” adding “We keep telling him that.”
Resident Reshard Snellings said he attended the meeting to get some answers about spending on travel, food and other items that, all told, comes to about $26,000, according to WSB-TV.
“I wanted to find out if taxpayers paid for this trip,” he said, “We should not be asked to go without something so that our elected officials can travel all over the globe.
Willis later said that whatever the purpose of the trip to Africa might have been, it was not in line with the community’s priorities.
“We need more economic development here and we don’t need to go to Africa in order for the city to have a multi-business deal,” she said.
