Greg Ellingson dismissed as chief on a 3-0 vote
Demorest’s new Police Chief Robin Krockum is settling into his new job. The former Habersham County Deputy assumed the post Tuesday after the Demorest City Council ousted Greg Ellingson. The council voted 3-0 not to reappoint Ellingson as police chief following a motion and second by council members Florence Wikle and Sean Moore, respectively. Newly re-elected councilman John Popham voted with them. Demorest Councilman Jerry Harkness abstained from voting. He says he did that because, “I didn’t feel I had enough information to vote.”
READ: Krockum Settles in as Demorest’s New Police Chief
Harkness’ decision to abstain did not sit well with Mayor Rick Austin. “It’s unfortunate Councilman Harkness decided to sit the vote out,” says Austin. “It was a difficult matter to be decided by the council and I have yet to understand why a council member would not vote on such an important matter when they have no known conflict that would preclude them from making a decision that they’ve been elected to make.”
Wikle says she made the motion to dismiss Ellingson as Chief of Police because she felt it was time for the City of Demorest to “move in a new direction.”
The motion and vote followed a more than hour long executive session during Tuesday night’s council meeting.
Ellingson has worked for the City of Demorest for 26 years. Although he’s no longer police chief, he’s still employed.
“After much discussion, the City Council felt that Greg Ellingson, as a long time employee, deserved to have a position yet to be determined in the city organization,” explains Austin. The mayor says there’s been some discussion about moving Ellingson to a supervisory role with the prison work detail from Lee Arrendale State Prison. Whatever position he’s moved into, Austin says it will be at a lower pay rate than what he received as police chief.
