Statesboro City Councilmember Paulette Chavers withdrew Jan. 28 vote on a city agreement with Agape Worship Center and Habitat for Humanity of Bulloch County the next day, Jan. 29, after a writer for an online media site pointed out that Chavers’ brother is Agape’s pastor and CEO.

When the council met again Tuesday, Feb. 4, City Attorney Cain Smith and Mayor Jonathan McCollar said an ethics committee was being appointed to investigate the matter and whether any further remedy is needed. This followed an emailed complaint Jan. 30 by Statesboro resident Jeffrey Marshall Webster.

Webster, who has served as an administrator of a “White Heritage” social media group and authored books with titles such as “What to Tell White Children,” then spoke during “public comments” time at the end of Tuesday’s meeting. This resulted in a heated, public exchange – not the first – between Webster and McCollar, who is Statesboro’s first Black mayor and now in his eighth year in office.

MOU among nonprofits

The vote in question on Jan. 28 was for a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, involving the city government and two Statesboro-based nonprofit corporations: Agape Worship Center and the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate.

Under the agreement, the city will apply through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a Community Home Investment Program grant, or CHIP grant, federal money administered through the state. The terms of the MOU state that everything else in the agreement depends on the grant actually being awarded.

In its “City Duties” paragraph, the MOU further states: “City shall provide this funding for construction of six homes by Habitat and three more to be contracted with other contractors. City shall also  receive all ultimate proceeds from the sale  of  the new homes and deposit such in a  revolving  fund for future affordable housing initiatives. City will waive any lien obligations for Agape on subject property.”

The city already operates an affordable housing initiative and has contracted with private builders for renovations and a home replacement. But this agreement involves Habitat, a charitable nonprofit, as builder for six of nine houses proposed to be built in the Johnson Street area. Agape Worship Center’s role is to provide land it owns as lots for all nine homes.

Homesite reimbursement

Section IV, “Agape Duties under this MOU” states: “Agape shall provide in-kind contribution to the project by donating the subject real property subject to the reimbursement provisions contained in Section V below.”

Section V, “Habitat Duties …” then states : “Habitat shall construct six of the nine contemplated homes to their building standards. Habitat shall further sell all nine properties in accordance with their eligibility requirements and screen all applicants to ensure compliance with said regulations.

“Habitat agrees to reimburse Agape $11,111.11 upon sale of each  of the nine contemplated homes.”

So under these terms, the Agape Worship Center would receive a penny less than $100,000 from Habitat for Humanity as reimbursement for the land if all nine homes are built and sold. The MOU does not call for any payment from the city to the church.

But a Jan. 14 cover memo attached to the agreement in the council packets stated that the city “has been advised that an MOU such as this will aid in the application process” for the grant.

The memo identified the project as occurring in District 2, Chavers’ District.

The original vote

During the 5:30 p.m. Jan. 28 meeting, District 5 Councilmember Shari Barr made a motion to approve the MOU, District 1 Councilmember Tangie Johnson seconded it, and the vote was 4-0. Chavers participated in the “yes” vote, and District 3 Councilmember John Riggs was absent.

Jessica Szilagyi, who writes for The Georgia Virtue website, posted on Facebook at 7:39 p.m. Jan. 28 that the city’s Code of Ethics “prohibits council members from voting on matters in which they have a ‘substantial interest.’” Szilagyi also noted that Chavers’ brother, Donald Chavers Jr., is pastor of the Agape Worship Center and that the Georgia Secretary of State’s website lists him as CEO of Agape Worship Center for All People Inc.

As she noted, the ethics code, which is included in the Statesboro Code of Ordinances as Article V, defines “immediate family” to mean the “spouse, mother, father, brother, sister, son, or daughter of any city official.” It defines “substantial interest … either directly or through a member of the immediate family” as, among other things, receiving $5,000 or more in salary and bonuses or other compensation from an organization with business before the city.

Ordinance Section 2-125, “Conflict of Interest” then states: “A city official may not participate in a vote or decision on a matter affecting a person, entity, or property in which the official has a substantial interest.”

On Jan. 29 at 6:39 p.m., Councilmember Chavers sent an email to City Attorney Cain Smith and City Clerk Leah Harden, which was then placed after the minutes of the Jan. 28 meeting, as those minutes were included in the agenda packet for Feb. 4 meeting.

Chavers withdraws vote

“After consultation with the City Attorney I wish to withdraw my “yes” vote on agenda item #15 on the January 28, 2025 agenda due to ethical concerns under City ordinance 2-125,” Chavers stated in the email.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, Webster sent an email addressed to McCollar and copied to Barr, who is mayor pro tem, with the subject line “Code of Ethics Complaint against Councilwoman Paulette Chavers.” Webster wrote that he was enjoining the mayor to “appoint an investigating committee forthwith,” and that if McCollar did not do so “in a timely manner” his next request would be to Barr for an ethics complaint investigation against McCollar.

The investigation process, requiring a notice from the mayor or mayor pro tem to the official who is the subject of the complaint and a response from that official within three days, is spelled out in the ordinance. It calls for the appointment of an investigating committee made up of three City Council members, to be assisted by the city attorney.

McCollar replied, also Jan. 30, thanking Webster for his email and stating: “We caught this error after the meeting and since then have taken corrective action. Councilwoman Chavers withdrew her vote by email, and the record will reflect this at the next council meeting along with an acknowledgement form.”

Barr also responded that day, stating that her understanding was that Chavers’ vote had been withdrawn “and no further action is needed.”

Public exchange

Webster was then the only citizen to sign up to speak during the public comments time Tuesday, Feb. 4.

“At the City Council meeting last week, Councilwoman Paulette Chavers knowingly, willfully and illegally voted to award a city contract to a firm of which her brother Donald Chavers is CEO,” Webster began. “This was not only a breach of city law, it was a gross ethical violation.”

He went on to say that two days later he had filed an ethics complaint, and read aloud the mayor’s Jan. 30 email reply.

“First of all, mayor, you didn’t catch anything, Jessica Szilagyi did. You and Ms. Chavers just got caught, period,” Webster continued. “Councilwoman Chavers, Mr. Mayor, as any rookie policeman or first-year law student can tell you, you don’t get do-overs when you break the law.”

Webster accused McCollar of “refusal to launch the ethics investigation” and of trying “to cover up the crime.”

“I’m in contact with law enforcement and attorneys to figure out what the good people of Statesboro need to do next,” Webster said. He called both Chavers and McCollar “unfit for office.”

McCollar asked City Attorney Smith what advice he had. Smith noted that the complaint had been forwarded to Chavers, who responded, and that he was in discussion with council members about forming the committee.

“Mr. Marshall, you’ve had your time, and so let us be clear, when we caught the error, we immediately addressed it, and so just like everything that we’ve been doing for the past seven years of being transparent, even when we’re right or wrong, that’s what we continue to do now,” McCollar said. “So  we will go ahead  and appoint the committee.”

Nowhere in his response, he noted, had he said he was dismissing the complaint. The mayor said that Marshall’s saying so was an assumption and “a lie.”

“Mr. Marshall, I understand that you’ve got an issue with Black people,” McCollar said. “We can go  to your page and see how disparaging you are towards Black  people.”

“Well, what has that go to do with this?” Marshall said.

“What that’s got to do with this is, you want to criminalize everything. This thing did not become corrupt until Black people got up here,” McCollar said, asserting that this was Marshall’s attitude.

“Now you want to cry ‘racism’ because you  don’t like what I have to say,” said Marshall.

Anyone who wants to hear the whole exchange can look for the archived Feb. 4, City Council meeting file on the “City of Statesboro Government” page of Facebook. This starts about an hour and 15 minutes in.

Council committee

After the meeting, Smith said the investigating committee will consist of councilmembers Johnson, Riggs and Barr.

“They’ll investigate whether it’s founded, whether a violation occurred and what to do about it,” Smith said.

After Chavers withdrew her vote, the motion to approve the MOU had still passed, but 3-0 instead of 4-0, the city attorney said.