College Park fired City Manager Lindell Miller near the end of Monday’s City Council meeting. Similar to her predecessor Emmanuel Adediran, who was also terminated without explanation last May, Miller gathered her belongings and left the chambers after the surprise vote.
Councilman Joe Carn, who called for the motion, voted in approval of the firing along with Councilwomen Jamelle McKenzie and Tracie Arnold. Councilman Roderick Gay voted in opposition.
Miller’s hiring had been questioned. Former employees, including Adediran, have told SaportaReport that when Miller was an unofficial vendor for the city, invoices were submitted on her behalf by Gay, without going through proper purchasing channels. Neither Adediran nor former purchasing administrator Veronica Brown would approve the invoices, which contributed to their firings, they said last spring.
Neither Gay nor Miller ever responded to SaportaReport inquiries about those allegations.
In recent months, questions continued to surface about Miller and Gay’s professional relationship. During Gay’s Ward 4 Citywide Festival in October, Miller stood on stage and urged the crowd to vote for him in the upcoming election.
College Park has cycled through a string of city managers in recent years. In 2024, Stanley Hawthorne was fired in error despite already planning to resign. The city later rescinded his termination and agreed to pay him nearly $140,000. Before Hawthorne, City Manager Darnetta Tyus was fired in 2022 after just four months on the job; she later sued the city, saying she was given no reason for her dismissal.
Monday night’s meeting, which lasted just over two hours, brought a cascade of controversies that have become increasingly common in College Park.
Gay delivered a heated rebuttal during his council comments, responding both to Miller’s firing and to scrutiny from the mayor and the public over the gift cards he required vendors to provide to participate in the October festival. Much of his commentary was difficult to follow and included accusations directed at Mayor Bianca Motley Broom, fellow council members, and former city manager Adediran. He warned that scrutiny directed at him could be costly.
“You need to understand, mayor, just like you want to debase my character, you need to understand that people are watching you as well,” Gay told Motley Broom.
During his comments, Gay also said that 80 percent of his ward voted for him. According to the Secretary of State website, 636 people voted in Ward 4 and Gay received 74 percent of those votes.
Early in the meeting, conflict arose when Motley Broom left the dais to speak from the public comment podium as a resident, which has become necessary due to a 2024 council ordinance limiting her ability to speak as mayor. During her comments, she criticized council’s interest in more than doubling their salaries — from $24,000 to $58,000 per year — and adding a $2,000 monthly housing allowance and a $750 vehicle stipend.
When Motley Broom attempted to return to her seat, Mayor Pro Tem Jamelle McKenzie, who had received the gavel as the mayor stepped away, refused to hand it back.
“The mayor has relinquished her gavel,” McKenzie said. “I’m now the chair of this meeting… When I decide to take a motion to return the chairmanship to the mayor, I will do so.”
McKenzie returned the gavel after the next resident finished their public comment.
Just another day at College Park Council!