A quorum of the Pendergrass City Council met in an unannounced meeting Tuesday night at the real estate office of Mayor Monk Tolbert in an illegal city council meeting.
The mayor and council members Judy Stowe and John Pethel were gathered at Tolbert’s business office around 5:30 p.m.
Working from a tip, Herald editor Mike Buffington went to the office around 6 p.m. and knocked on the door. Tolbert opened the door, but denied an illegal meeting was taking place.
“We’re interviewing for the police chief’s job,” he said.
But no notification of a city council meeting had been given as required by law, nor was the meeting at the normal location of city council meetings. According to Georgia law, Tuesday’s meeting was illegal.
When told by Buffington the meeting was illegal, Tolbert vehemently denied it.
At one point in the heated 10-minute conversation, Buffington asked Tolbert: “You think you can just keep on doing whatever you want to do, don’t you?”
Tolbert replied: “I’ll keep on doing whatever the hell I want to do!”
Meanwhile, the GBI has begun a limited investigation into allegations of wrong-doing in the Pendergrass city government.
But the investigation reportedly won’t be expansive in scope. District Attorney Brad Smith asked the GBI to only investigate the possible misuse of city funds, officials said.
“We have started the investigation,” said GBI official Jim Fullington. “I don’t have a timeline at this time.”
For the complete stories on the Pendergrass government controversy, see the Sept. 2 issue of The Jackson Herald.

Pendergrass Mayor Monk Tolbert
Our position over the last couple of weeks has been to wait and see what direction and scope any legal investigation might take. That only began to take shape this week. Rest assured we are not being selective in what we publish, only cautious since the status and scope of a criminal investigation has been fluid.
If some people kept up with everything they would realize that Mayor Tolbert's son - the Pendergrass City Judge - Scott Tolbert, and his law firm - were one of the biggest contributors to the DA when he was running for office. From reading what I have read so far - no much evidence in City Hall to show misuse of spending - but hopefully the GBI is smart enough to go straight to the banks and credit card companies to find out about the mis-use of city funds.
I think it is high time Pendergrass and the rest of the State knows exactly how their City is being run and who the people are that are really running it.
On August 20, 2009, Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Smith facilitated a meeting that was held at the District Attorney’s Office wherein representatives of former and current Pendergrass employees presented their allegations and any evidence of wrongdoing by the Pendergrass Police Department, Pendergrass City Government and the Municipal Court of Pendergrass to Special Agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. As a result of this meeting, it was determined that because the alleged misuse of Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue would not be a violation of Georgia law that is subject to criminal sanctions, it could not be investigated or prosecuted by the GBI or District Attorney’s Office. The legal remedy for any alleged misuse of SPLOST revenue would be a civil lawsuit, which the District Attorney’s Office would not have standing to execute.
Similarly, the allegations of “ticket fixing” in the Municipal Court of Pendergrass as alleged would not constitute a criminal violation of Georgia law. Because of this, the GBI declined to investigate the Municipal Court of Pendergrass. As a result of this decision, in a letter dated August 26, 2009, District Attorney Brad Smith asked the Administrative Office of the Courts of Georgia to conduct an audit/investigation into the procedures and actions of the Municipal Court of Pendergrass in order to restore public confidence in the Courts and to bring closure to this issue.
There were allegations presented at the August 20 meeting that if true may be a violation of Georgia law that is prosecutable criminally. The GBI has started an investigation into these matters. This investigation will be conducted under the standard policies and procedures of the GBI. It is unclear at this time how long this investigation will take. Due to legal and ethical requirements, the GBI and District Attorney’s Office cannot comment on an ongoing criminal investigation; however, the results of this investigation will be revealed at the appropriate legal and ethical time.
I hope this was helpful.
If the GBI can't do a full investigation then maybe they can find enough dirt in what they are allowed to investigate to bury the whole bunch of them if not as soon as the investigation was over I would investigate something else and so on until I got enough dirt on them or they got pissed and just quit. I would put so much pressure on him if he sneezed I would be close enough to hand him a tissue and say excuse you. No matter where he went I would have somebody there it would be like a stake out? But I would have different people do it so he couldn't file stalking charges.If him and his Lady wanted to go out for a romantic dinner someone would be there sitting close enough to see when he gives her a kiss on the cheek and they would write it down and keep notes.
Is it a illegal meeting for more than 1 city council member per room or per building (as you see it).Your a lawyer right??
You and your whistle blowers cry wolf every time the Tolberts have a bowel movement.
Well then at least someone will be able to warn us before the crap hits the fan, then won't they! You would rather we knew nothing of the corruption in our city and county governments, I suppose. Typical.
"A quorum makes a meeting. There was a quorum Tuesday night. It was an illegal meeting. Period. The rest of your crude comments are unworthy of a reply."
Exactly so. I guess James is of the same opinion as Mayor Tolbert, that its ok for him to "keep on doing whatever the hell I want to do!” regardless of the law.
You see, Mike, apparently the LAW only applies to SOME of us, it doesn't apply to Mayor Tolbert or to James. They are "special".
I feel sorry for Mike Buffington that he has the same last name as you at this point.
Your helping to prove the Tolberts are Innocent.
Keep up the Good Work!!!!!
Does the DA and GBI need to go around and waste tax payers money investigating Disgruntled employee claims. In my book muder is worst than a fixed ticket. If you dont like Pendergrass than move, maybe even run for city Council or Mayor problem fixed. To all that hide here and post crap Let's see if you have the balls to put your name on the next election ballot. I guess no one has the balls to do THAT no it's to hard for you and the cry babies. No just stay here and post crap all day.
I wonder how Pendergrass fits in a progressive county like Jackson, a county that states on its website “We are open and accountable to those we serve.”
Do a search on Mike's posts they are all negitive.
Mike get some Prozac and cheer up your stressing out buddy.
You will never hear me say anything postive about my exwife.
Then again, Mr. Buffington does live in Jackson County and apparently everyone in Jackson county is corrupt.
And as far as a "real" story, did you not catch the Fox5 broadcast exposing all this? Fox News would never lie, would they?
and for 12 years I have read articles from Mike Buffington
slamming Pendergrass and the Tolberts. It long ago gotten
very OLD!!! Why don't you try to report on something
positive? All you keep doing is tearing down this county.
It's been Pendergrass then Hoschton now we are back on
Pendergrass. It must be nice to have the paper to spew
your own personal agenda. Maybe you will get your wish
some day and all the little towns will give up their
charters so Jackson County will only have three cities,
Braselton, Jefferson & Commerce.
Perhaps some people aren't really defending the sleazoids in Pendergrass so much as they are in denial, not wanting to feel the embarrassment of association. No need to feel embarrassed, though, because there are crooked politicians EVERYWHERE. It's just that those in Pendergrass have turned it into an art form.
Indeed, with those in Washington engaged in a full-court press to do everything possible to make "1984" a reality and trample all over what liberty we have left, I wish this country were full of Mike Buffington types who are willing to expose all those lying, self-serving politicians at every level. Perhaps if that were so, Americans would awake from their slumber and do some cleaning out at the voting booths next fall.
* "Crooked politician" - from the Department of Redundancy Department
You have fueled this fire.. let it go and let Pendergrass work out it's own issues.
Love the name of the street there. Glenn Abby.. to precious !
Jackson Herald editor Mike Buffington has done an absolutely commendable job of informing and updating the community of/with the initial concerns and ensuing events. And as we have seen, from most he has been praised, and unfortunately from a few he has been slurred.
We have every reason to believe that the wheels are turning, and that our district attorney and GBI will follow through in a legal and professional manner, for whatever the outcome.
In the meantime, we can be certain that Mr. Buffington will keep us properly informed of any new revelations. Now let us be patient and non-judgemental until we know the facts and final outcome.
Or, to express it even more simply, we are being told why and how the action is in progress, so let's cut out the childish crap, both accusations and denials, until we see what happens.
When you see where Hoschton is finacially and where Pendergrass is in unethical and corrupt politicians perhaps he could be more aggressive.
For those of you in Pendergrass take hope that your city will survive corruptness, Hoscton doesn't have a chance. Insolvency is Hoschton's most likely avenue.
"And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them"
"And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable"
"When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand"
"In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people"
"For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory"
"The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, THEY HIDE IT NOT. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves"
"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings"
"Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him"
"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths"
Amidst all the hard times, the drama, the scandals & the corruption this county has witnessed through the years, there remains one positive constant throughout all this negativity...That one positive constant is Mike Buffington & crew. Yes, it does certainly seem as if we have more than our fair share of the load of things I mentioned above, but look on the bright side....At least we have a fearless newspaper editor that we can all count on to expose it. By exposing wrong-doing, one is aiding in the process of justice & accountability; often times exposure is the first step of acquiring justice as well....How would we ever know of the secret things going on in the night if they were never exposed to us? We wouldn't. Are you aware that the majority of newspapers zip their lips and run, not walk, the other way if & when they happen to come across some sort of corruption in their community, especially if they think for even one moment that not doing so would cause them any grief, hard work, or "attacks" whatsoever(in other words, I'm describing a wimp here)?
Bottom line, Mike Buffington is messing up a lot of peoples playhouses, and they don't like it...Therefore, they go into attack mode & start their little deflection process against him. No biggie for Mike I'm sure....this often happens when playhouses start to crumble.
When one of theirs agents get's in trouble they move him to Atlanta or just fire him as to not bring any bad light to the agency but let a local cop get accused of anything and they are there with bells and whistles. There are many of GBI agents that could have been arrested but they move them or force them to resign . The Jackson Herald has been around a lot longer than any of these other fly by night papers who write only puff pieces about ice cream and flowers, I imagine the paper will be around a lot longer.
If it's someone in public office and they get mad and want to get rid of you they call the GBI and try to get your POST cert.pulled and something like that the GBI is here in a hurry they don't waste time like they usually do if you or I were to call them. It's harder for you to prove your innocent than it is for them to prove your guilty?
They say in America you are innocent until proven guilty but that's not really true you are guilty until proven innocent.
I want to pose a question to everyone reading this: Lets say you went to a new church and it was a pretty good service but the next week you saw that same preacher drinking alcohol and cussing and kissing on strange women would you have any faith in that preacher as being a man of God after that?
Hey Mabeline you going to bring Covergirl and Revlon with you? Maybe some Dutch boy paints or Sherman Williams?
Your a loser: I suppose you're kin to the mayor, seeings how you've brought yourself down to his level. Hence....YOU are rediculous.