Demorest City Manager Kim Simonds still isn’t talking. The embattled city manager who set off a firestorm on April 16 when she fired the city’s highly regarded police chief and rehired the former chief who was let go following a money scandal, continues to ignore requests for interviews and information.
Simonds did email the police chief she fired a copy of his separation notice on Tuesday afternoon, five days after dismissing him.
Robin Krockum, who provided a copy of that notice to Now Habersham, says prior to his termination, he was not written-up once in his nearly four-and-a-half years on the job. Under his leadership, the Demorest Police Department was named the number one small police department in the state three years running. Still, according to the notice Simonds signed and sent on April 21, he was fired for “performance issues.”
At a time when city leaders and residents are looking for answers, the separation notice raises more questions.
“I have emailed her back for an explanation of the specific ‘performance issues’ that she listed as the reason for termination,” Krockum tells Now Habersham. As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not heard back from her.
Krockum says he will appeal.
Demorest money scandal
After firing Krockum for “performance issues” some say it’s ironic that Ellingson was rehired. He was the police chief during the time that more than $600,000 dollars went missing from city coffers.
At least one city employee told GBI investigators at the time that she saw Ellingson and other city employees, including then city manager Juanita Crumley, “borrow money from the cash drawer” but “never saw any of those people leave IOUs.”
It is not clear whether Ellingson ever paid back the money he allegedly borrowed.
The City of Demorest and GBI conducted investigations and a forensic audit. They determined the money was taken between 2009 and 2013 but no one was ever charged.
In 2016, Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Christian closed the investigation saying “When large sums of cash are kept, for long periods of time, in an unlocked, unsecured cabinet, with multiple people having access, it is near impossible to bring charges.”
The morning after Simonds reinstated him as police chief, Now Habersham asked Ellingson for a comment as he made his way out of City Hall toward the police station. He declined.
Austin attempted to call an emergency meeting on April 21 to discuss Ellingson’s hiring, but Councilmen Nathan Davis and John Hendrix both said they were unable to attend. They were the only two elected city officials who were aware of the police personnel changes when they happened. Davis even arranged Ellingson’s swearing-in.
Austin says the city is being “held hostage by the actions of a very few.” He has asked the State Attorney General and Gov. Brian Kemp to intervene. If they don’t, the stalemate likely will grow worse.
Councilman Moore is expected to resign in the next several months, leaving Austin, Davis, and Hendrix as the city’s only elected officials. The Demorest City Council has been down a member since March when Bruce Harkness resigned to run for county commission.
Austin has asked Gov. Kemp for authority to appoint at least one other council member until elections are held. The governor’s office so far has not responded to that request.
The Demorest City Council is expected to address the police personnel changes during their next regularly scheduled meeting. That meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28 at the Municipal Complex located at 125 Ivy Street in Demorest and will be teleconferenced to comply with social distancing guidelines.
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