By Associated Press - Thursday, February 11, 2021

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) - The NAACP and other community groups have filed an ethics complaint against a south Georgia mayor, claiming the mayor’s comments on his radio talk show are violating the city’s ethics ordinance.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson hosts a daily conservative political talk show on a local radio station. Local news outlets report those filing the complaint say Matheson is failing to give “the appearance of being independent, impartial, and responsible to the people,” as required by the ethics code, and is instead “partisan, biased, divisive, and not concerned about all constituents he is charged with serving.”

Matheson did not immediately respond to the complaint.

Those attacking Matheson count at least six violations of city ethics standards. They wrote that in recent weeks, Matheson has implied that Democratic canvassers in Georgia’s January U.S. Senate runoffs were being improperly paid, that COVID-19 spikes in Arizona and California were to blame on “letting in tens of thousands of unchecked migrants in from disease-ridden nations,” and that federal judges improperly ignored voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

“The members of our organizations and a growing number in the broader community have no confidence that Scott James Matheson is capable of, or interested in, serving everyone he was elected to serve,” wrote the signatories of the letter. “In fact, his public commentary and behavior painfully reveals what he really thinks and feels about many of his constituents. That is why we are again calling for his immediate removal from office.”

Besides the Lowndes County NAACP, signatories included members of the Concerned Clergies of Valdosta, the Valdosta/Lowndes Community Alliance and the Mary Turner Project.

Lowndes County NAACP President Darren Neal told WALB-TV he was a canvasser during the January elections and said he was “personally hurt” by Matheson’s comments about canvassers.

“We went to great efforts to make sure that every person had the opportunity to vote,” Neal said.

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