Dental Implants Near Stone Mountain, GA

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — On Monday, Stone Mountain city leaders voted to authorize an investigation into financial allegations involving the mayor.

Mayor Dr. Beverly Jones is accused of changing the city’s bank accounts without proper authorization.

Leaders not only discussed the possibility of an investigation into Jones: They also announced that they would be terminating the contract with the city’s current attorney, Jeff Strickland.

The council voted to appoint the city’s solicitor, Angela C. Couch, as the new city attorney.

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The meeting was filled with heated conversations and confusion as council members discussed concerns over the mayor’s authority regarding financial matters.

Councilmember Gil Freeman expressed his apprehension about voting on a consideration to draft a resolution outlining how elected officials should interact with banking institutions without proper authorization.

“For years and decades these rules were in place, and now there’s a problem because of the current mayor. That’s a problem to me,” said Freeman.

Monday’s meeting followed Mayor Dr. Beverly Jones‘ modification of the city’s Downtown Development Authority’s Truist bank account, making herself the sole authorized user and removing Councilmember Teresa Crow and Mayor Pro Tem Ryan Smith.

Jones repeatedly denied removing any names during the meeting, claiming she only acted in response to the bank’s warning about potential risk to the account.

“There was no intention to change an account. My intention was to make sure the city was covered,” explained Jones.

City Manager Shawntez Edmondson claimed that Jones presented a city resolution to remove the two council members. However, Smith confirmed that the council did not approve such a resolution, and it remains unclear who authored it.

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“This is a lesson learned, and I think we can all grow from this and learn from this, and that’s what we’re hoping,” said Edmonson.

Jones responded to the vote to authorize an independent investigation just moments later, telling Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter that she has nothing to hide.

“I’ve been nothing but straight-laced with the city,” Jones added.

Carl Wright, Chair of the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Stone Mountain, spoke out ahead of the meeting, sharing the following statement in part:

“We are lucky in that this fraud was discovered before DDA funds were stolen, as far as we know. However, let me and this Board be clear — this is not acceptable. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, three, what are we at — four times? Shame on me. This Board tonight authorized our attorney to independently investigate what happened here, who was involved, and how it occurred in order to hold the culpable parties accountable and to report the results of his investigation to this Board in a public community meeting. We have also instructed our attorney to set up a separate matter so that this Board can seek to recover the costs of the investigation from the appropriate parties responsible for this breach of public trust.”

A spokesperson for Truist Bank shared the following statement regarding the incident:

“We are actively working toward a resolution regarding the management of the city’s accounts with Truist.”

The council also voted to draft a resolution outlining how elected officials may communicate with banking institutions and under what circumstances authorization is required.

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — It was a bank alert that Stone Mountain city officials said notified them that Mayor Beverly Jones made modifications to the city’s Downtown Development Authority’s Truist bank account.

On Monday, the city council members will be voting to decide if it should hire a third party to investigate the mayor’s alleged actions.

Jones is facing allegations that she removed councilmember Teresa Crowe and Mayor Pro Tem Ryan Smith.

Council members told Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln that during a May board meeting, the city manager said in April, the mayor showed a Truist Bank employee a city resolution that removed everyone but herself as a signer for the account.

Smith confirmed with Lincoln that the council did not approve this resolution, and it’s unclear who wrote it.

During a May 6 meeting, council members voted to revoke her authority to make financial decisions and reinstated Smith and Crowe to the account.

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Smith said the city’s charter requires more than one person to be listed as a signatory and requires City checks to be signed by two people.

Supporters of Jones told Lincoln over the phone that this is the latest false allegation made against the mayor.

The mayor has not responded to Channel 2 Action News’ calls and emails.

The city manager said in a statement:

“The City of Stone Mountain is aware of concerns raised about signatory authority on specific financial accounts. I can confirm that City leadership is actively collaborating with legal counsel, the financial institution, and the appropriate oversight bodies to ensure that all financial protocols and governing resolutions are followed and enforced.

“While I am unable to comment on ongoing internal matters involving specific individuals, I can assure the public that maintaining financial integrity and institutional transparency is a top priority. Appropriate safeguards are being implemented to protect the City and the Downtown Development Authority funds, ensure compliance with the City Charter, and clarify any procedural ambiguities.

“If additional information becomes available or formal findings are issued, we will keep the public informed.”

Truist also sent Lincoln a statement, saying: “We are actively working toward a resolution of the management of the city’s accounts with Truist.”

The city has not said exactly how much money is in the development authority’s account.

However, the January budget report said the DDA has a budget of more than $200,000.

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The badly burned body of a young man was found Saturday in Georgia's Stone Mountain Park, authorities said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is helping local authorities investigate the discovery, spokesperson Nelly Miles said. Stone Mountain Department of Public Safety spokesperson John Bankhead said an autopsy by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office was scheduled for Monday.

A hiker came across the body and reported it to authorities at about 8:18 a.m. Saturday, Bankhead said by phone. He described the location of the discovery as the side of the mountain opposite its walking trail, about 100 or more yards from a tower for its Summit Skyride, a Swiss cable car line to the top.

Bankhead said the location is not remote but is rarely hiked. "I hike here all the time and I didn't know that was there," he said.

The spokesperson told NBC affiliate WXIA of Atlanta: "It’s very odd, peculiar. No one that I’ve talked to that’s worked out here for years has seen anything like this at the park."

He said Saturday night that authorities have a prospective identity for the man but have not verified it. Personal belongings, including a vehicle parked in the area, led investigators to the possible name, he said.

Authorities told WXIA that the fire associated with the body was also a focus for DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department arson investigators.

The park includes attractions like a lakeside resort and is run by a state authority and an amusement park management contractor.

It has drawn demonstrations and split opinions over what the park describes as the "largest high relief sculpture in the world" — a depiction of Confederate figures Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The first part of the sculpture was completed in 1924 and the last in 1972.

The mountain is about 20 miles east of Atlanta.

Dennis Romero

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Stone Mountain Mayor Beverly Jones is facing new allegations about her handling of the city’s bank account after the city council voted on a resolution to remove her authority to make financial decisions for the city.

It started when the city manager got an alert from Truist Bank, the city’s bank, about a “potential problem.”

The accusations stem around Mayor Beverly Jones allegedly making herself the only name of the city’s bank account.

“I think they need to get to the bottom line as far as what’s actually going on,” said Cherrea Williams, who lived in Stone Mountain from 2005-2015.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, the city manager said Truist Bank emailed him there was a “potential problem” with the city’s account.

The city manager said the bank claimed Mayor Jones showed them a city resolution allowing her to be the only signer and removing two councilmembers from the account.

According to Atlanta News First’s partners at Decaturish, the council did not approve such a resolution and it is unclear who wrote it.

“Anything that happens at city hall is often disappointing and disturbing but is rarely surprising,” said Susan Leisure, owner of Aarf Pet Central.

Leisure has owned Aarf Pet Central in Stone Mountain for 15 years. She said the constant bickering within the council means some businesses are falling through the cracks.

“Because of all this chaos that’s happening, there is a real reluctance for business to grow and to thrive because we don’t always feel, or rarely feel, like we are getting a lot of support from city hall,” Leisure said.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the council voted 4-2 on a resolution that would strip Mayor Jones’ authority to make financial decisions for the city. Councilmembers Gill Freeman and Shawnette Bryant voted against the resolution.

Mayor Jones claimed the bank called her and not the other way around about removing former employees from the account. The mayor labeled the resolution a “witch hunt,” but did not clarify how the two councilmembers got removed from the account.

The mayor as the sole signer does not allow for bills and vendors to be paid. Two city personnel must sign all checks for the bank to honor payment.

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STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Robots powered by artificial intelligence work around the clock in the 2.5 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Stone Mountain.

Channel 2’s Jorge Estevez walked the floor with the facility’s senior operations manager, Steve Robinson.

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The roar of 20 miles of conveyor belts and robots powered by artificial intelligence fill the building.

“How do these things help the process and not replace the people?” Estevez asked Robinson.

“When we take our Amazon intelligence and combine that with the talents of our people, it frees our people up to do some higher-level activities,” Robinson replied.

He told Estevez an army of totes is key to the operation, because they take the variation out of the system.

He said everything the center moves must fit in a tote.

“This building would not sell items that are bigger than 18 inches, roughly 18 inches long,” he said.

The first stop for any item sold is the decant area where an employee sorts and places it in a tote. So once it’s in the yellow tote, it can now be transported through the rest of our standardized system,” Robinson said.

From there, the inventory heads to the stow area where it is scanned.

Once employees scan the items, the computer tells them which bin to put it in.

“Once she puts it in the pod, the system keeps track of where it was placed,” he explained.

Robots do the heavy lifting, carrying 300-pound shelving units to the next stop, the picking station where employees fill orders.

“Sure, you’re keeping people from doing repetitive work and all that, but it’s also keeping people from having that job, no?” Estevez asked.

“I’d rather give someone an opportunity to use a higher-level skill,” Robinson said.

The average salary is $19 an hour with increases every six months. Initial training takes two days, with continued education for various levels of work.

Employees are trained to do almost every job to prevent repetitive work.

After employees scan items, the computer prints a label and picks the right size box, they stuff it with packing paper and AI comes in again.

“It will even dispense just the right amount of tape for that size box,” Robinson said.

The final stop for items is the slam farm, which directs packages down the shoot to begin the journey to the customer’s door.

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