Maybe the relatively newly incorporated city of South Fulton County, located just 20 miles east of Atlanta, is experiencing growing pains or maybe it is already joining the league of politically problematic municipal governments across the nation.
Either way Khalid Kamau, who became one of the city’s first city council members when it was incorporated in 2017, and was later elected mayor in 2021, had been temporarily removed from office and is facing charges of first-degree burglary and criminal trespass.
However, the controversial mayor was back on the job Tuesday, when he presided over a council work session and suggested, “we get the elephant out of the room,” to council members in attendance.
“I know that a lot has happened over the past few days and some of you are eager to talk about it,” Kamau began. “We will announce a time and place for those conversations to happen,” he added.
“We have never backed down from courageous conversations, but now is not the time for those discussions,” the mayor said. “We have city business to get to.”
Kamau was arrested on Saturday, July 8 and booked into the Fulton County jail that afternoon. He was later released that evening on an $11,000 bond, according to jail records.
But Kamau’s time in office has been marred with infighting and contentious relationships with the five of the seven other council members who filed a lawsuit for his removal from office for abuse of power and recording “confidential executive sessions of the City Council — against the expressed wishes of City Council members.”
Kamau allegedly broke into and entered a South Fulton County lake house which je says he believed was abandoned and was considering purchasing. When the rightful owner of the property showed up and ordered Kamau to “stay put” while he pointed a gun at him and called police authorities, Kamau allegedly retorted with, “Do you know who the f— I am? I’m the mayor, and I’ll wait for my police force to get here and see what happens then.”
The police report also states that the mayor apologized and thought the home was abandoned. He told cops the property was his “dream home” and he wanted to purchase the house.
Following his detention, City of South Fulton, District 5 Councilmember Corey A. Reeves had been named to serve as mayor pro tem, but we can’t tell who is the real mayor of South Fulton, although residents are petitioning for his removal from office.
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