A group of recently fired College Park employees are questioning not only the circumstances of their dismissals but also the city’s handling of vendor contracts and internal staffing decisions leading up to the terminations.
Last Friday, SaportaReport met with five former city employees. Dr. Emmanuel Adediran, former city manager; Rose Stewart, former director of human resources and risk management; Jerry Silver, a former code enforcement supervisor; Veronica Brown, former purchasing administrator; and Shawn Hightower, a former code enforcement officer shared their accounts.
Among the concerns raised was the previous role of newly appointed City Manager Lyndell Miller and the timing of her hiring. According to the group — who refer to themselves as “The College Park 5” — Miller previously served the city as a purchasing contractor. It’s the same role that Veronica Brown later held. The former staffers said that Miller resigned from that position without having fulfilled key responsibilities, including processing vendor payments properly.
The city of College Park declined to comment on this story.
The former employees allege that after Miller left her role as a city contractor, Councilman Roderick Gay advocated for her return to the city as a vendor.
Adediran said that a week before he was fired as city manager, Gay submitted invoices for Miller’s vendor services at Camp Truitt, totaling $5,000. The forms lacked documentation, did not go through the proper purchasing channels, and provided no explanation of the vendor services that Miller was providing, he added.
Adediran said he did not pay the invoices due to the irregularities.
“I refused to pay. I said, ‘She is not a registered vendor’ and she had not been vetted,” the former city manager said.
Adediran also stated that on several occasions, Gay submitted invoices directly to him on behalf of other vendors as well.
The councilman did not return an email or text regarding this story.
Last March, Brown stepped into the contracting role formerly held by Miller in the purchasing department and was hired full-time in early May after receiving positive performance reviews, she said. Brown was terminated just two weeks later, with no stated cause, she said, adding that her supervisor was not notified of the decision.
Adding to the former employees’ concerns is the timing of Miller’s formal appointment as city manager. Although council approved her as the new city manager during the May 19 meeting, the group asserts that their firings by Miller on the next day (May 20) were not valid.
A copy of Miller’s contract shows that it was signed by Mayor Bianca Motley Broom and the city clerk on May 22 and by Miller on May 21.
The former employees believe their terminations were not based on job performance but were instead retaliatory — motivated by internal politics, personal dislike, or their unwillingness to carry out questionable directives.
In a previous interview, Silver described what he called an unusual working environment at city hall. He said he was repeatedly ordered by Councilman Gay to issue citations or board up properties that had no current code violations. Silver said he refused to carry out those directives.
The group says their accounts raise unresolved questions about the firings, hiring practices, and oversight of vendor payments — matters they argue merit public transparency and scrutiny.
This story is a developing story. Continued coverage is forthcoming.
Great compilation of the facts. Thank you!
Follow the money …from H.J. Russell to Dr. Emmanuel Adedrian Jamaica retirement plan now to the City of Stockbridge together. Do your investigation on this.