Baldwin police chief, councilman resign

Matt Nall is back in as Baldwin’s acting police chief and there’s an empty seat on the city council following two resignations Monday night.

During the regular monthly meeting on September 14, the Baldwin City Council unanimously accepted the resignation of recently hired police chief William Anastasio who turned in his resignation letter earlier in the day.

The council did not discuss what was contained in the letter, but Mayor Joe Elam told Now Habersham after the meeting that Anastasio’s resignation was “not expected.” Elam says the council “has not had time to consider our options. I’m sure we will be discussing those options in the near future.”

Anastasio was hired to succeed Charlie Webb who resigned as Baldwin police chief in April for family reasons. Previously, Anastasio worked with the Roswell Police Department and was an instructor at the Georgia Public Safety Training Academy.

Officer Nall served as acting chief after Webb left. He resumes that role after having been appointed again by the city council.

Also during the meeting, senior councilman Jeff Parrish abruptly resigned. Parrish, who first took office in January 2010, said he was “reluctantly” stepping down at the end of the meeting following a series of disagreements with the mayor and fellow council members.

Parrish read aloud the following statement:

“I’d like to thank the people of Baldwin for allowing me to serve them for more than ten-and-a-half years as a city councilman. The position has had its ups and downs but it has always been fulfilling to work for the citizens. I tried to do my best. My guiding principle has always been to try to do what was right to work hard to make Baldwin a better place to live.

There have been some accomplishments and some failures but it’s always been rewarding to serve Baldwin and get to know so many in the community. One of my failures is not finishing my term of office, but unfortunately, my ability to help guide the city in what is the right thing to do has been compromised by my insistence that we follow our own rules ordinances, policies, and resolutions. Doing what is right should not be hard, but the reality is everyone does not have the desire to do what is right.

Over the past few months as the senior council member, I have taken the role of pointing out, advising, cautioning, and even chastising the mayor and council when they’ve stepped out of bounds in their actions. Too frequently, that has not changed their direction. Typically my measure to prevent, correct, or avoid violations of our ordinances, resolutions, and policies by the mayor or council have been ignored or flat out rejected by those members of the governing authority. I’ve tried notifying them of the infractions in executive sessions, by phone, or by email so as not to embarrass individual members publicly but that may have been a mistake on my part since it usually resulted in no change in the offending action. Also, the council has refused to hold any council member or mayor accountable for offending and sometimes illegal deeds.

In one recent discussion, the mayor told me I needed to compromise. I sent him back this quote: ‘When you have to start compromising yourself or your morals for the people around you it’s probably time to change the people around you.’

I’ve done all I can to steer Baldwin in the right direction. Recently it’s become clear that some have no intention of adapting their behavior to do what is right, so, I’m left with taking the action of controlling the only person I can, myself. I’m taking that advice that it’s time to change the people around me.”

Following Parrish’s comments, Mayor Elam said, “I hate to see you leave.” He thanked Parrish for his ten-and-a-half-years of service to the City of Baldwin.

Parrish’s resignation leaves the city’s Post 4 seat wide open. His term does not expire until December 31, 2021.

Elam tells Now Habersham that “neither resignation was asked for” and the council is now trying to regroup. “Council has not had time to consider [a] special election yet,” he says. “I’m sure we will be discussing those options in the near future.”

Below is video of the first half of the Baldwin City Council meeting on September 14, 2020

This article has been updated with comments from Baldwin Mayor Joe Elam