COUNCILMAN ARRESTED, RESIGNS

A special election will take place March 16 to fill the seat of
Spencer Seay, who resigned from his District 6 post Wednesday
following a drug-related arrest hours after only his second Council
meeting.

Seay, a 32-year-old Badcock Furniture employee, was charged with
possession of an ounce or less of marijuana after being arrested at
his Alcovy Street home at 11:28 p.m. Tuesday night.

"Please be advised that I do hereby resign the office of Council
member District 6, city of Monroe effective immediately," Seay wrote
in a letter addressed to Mayor Greg Thompson.

Seay could not be reached on his cell phone.

Seay defeated longtime councilman Wayne Adcock 87-80 in the November
election.

Ironically, Adcock has the chance to run for the seat he held for 16
years.

During a called meeting Thursday at City Hall, the Council unanimously
called for the special election to take place March 16.

Qualifying begins at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and runs until 4:30 p.m.
Thursday. Residents of the city's District 6 need to show proof of
residency and pay the $180 qualifying fee to appear on the March 16
ballot.

The March 16 date was the first available date to hold election under
Georgia law. The next possible date was July 20.

Councilwoman Lee Malcom raised the question of how much the election
will cost the city. It may cost the city as much as $10,000, city
officials said.

"We are deeply saddened by these events," said Mayor Greg Thompson.
"We at the city of Monroe will keep Spencer and his family in our prayers."

According to police reports, a Monroe police officer spotted Seay's
1986 Volvo as it was backing out of Cochran Wholesale on South Broad
Street at about 11 p.m. Seay backed his vehicle out of the parking
lot, across Highway 11 and into the Chevron Gas Station parking lot,
according to reports. Seay then drove north on Highway 11. The officer
ran the vehicle's tags and found it belonged to Seay. The officer
followed the councilman to his Alcovy Street home, turned around in
the American Legion Post 64 parking lot and returned to Cochran
Wholesale where he saw a male attempting to crawl through a fence at
nearby Gold-N-Pawn.

The officer told the man to stop but he ran away. A corporal arrived
on the scene and suggested the officer visit Seay to see if he saw the
man trying to break into the store. Upon arrival, the councilman was
sitting in his car in his driveway. The officer began talking to Seay
in his car and said he smelled the odor of burnt marijuana in the car.
Seay's "eyes were bloodshot and watery and his speech was slow and
slurred," according to police reports.

The officer asked Seay to go inside his home to get away from the cold
and again smelled marijuana. The officer asked Seay if he had
marijuana and Seay admitted it was in his car, according to police
reports.

Seay said, "I haven't done anything wrong, I was just minding my own
business in my own house," according to reports.

The officer explained to Seay he came to his house because the
councilman was in the area where a burglary was attempted. Seay said
he was there dropping off Girl Scout cookies and later said, "Just
take the weed ... I can't get into any trouble, man, just take it please."

The investigation revealed there was no connection between Seay and
the attempted robbery, police said.

Seay was later arrested and transported to Walton County Jail, then
released.