Brookhaven fires its PR director for racist remark

Woman accused of making racist remark to photographer and models.

A photographer hired by the city to photograph the Cherry Blossom Festival accused Communications Director Rosemary Taylor of making a racist remark about two female models, one of whom was black and the other Asian,

The communications director for the city of Brookhaven was fired this week after a photographer hired by the city accused the woman of making a racist remark.

Photographer Nelson Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the city of Brookhaven hired him to photograph the city’s Cherry Blossom Festival March 27 to 29. He took along two female models, one of whom was black and the other Asian.

Jones said that when Communications Director Rosemary Taylor saw him photographing the models, she told him to stop taking pictures and said, “This is not the image I want for the city of Brookhaven.”

Jones said he took the comment as a racist remark. The models, Dominique Jackson and Khamlee Vongvone, were shocked and offended, he said.

“We were all stunned,” he said. “It was definitely racial.”

He said another city employee then told him and the models to leave.

Contacted Wednesday by The AJC, Jackson told much the same story.

She said the communica- tions director approached Jones as he was photographing the women, asking what was he planning on doing with the pictures.

Indicating the models, she said, “This is not the image we want for the city of Brookhaven,” Jackson said.

Jackson, 18, said she was stunned. She said she looked at the other model, Vongvone, and whispered, “Did she really just say that?”

Brookhaven City Manager Marie Garrett issued a statement Tuesday saying that Tay- lor, who had only been on the job a few weeks, had been fired.

Garrett’s statement did not characterize Taylor’s actions except to say she had been terminated “after she exhibited conduct unbecoming of a city employee at the Brookhaven Cherry Blossom Festival last month.”

Garrett declined to comment further, saying the incident remains under investigation.

frugally while forging a future.

Fuqua’s lawyer told city officials that most of the residents have accepted a relocation package. He added that the developer’s team is working “to resolve minor matters” to get the rest of the residents on their way.

These, mind you, are people who purchased oblong metal boxes with meager savings to keep their possessions dry when it rains. There is nothing “minor” about getting run off from where one has lived for years, about moving such structures, about changing schools.

When I walked into the Kennesaw City Council meeting last week, Mayor Mark Mathews was addressing dozens of Castle Lake residents who showed up.

“My understanding is that anyone paying double rent is doing it by choice,” he said.

Strange. Many people choose to pay double rent — for lake homes, vacation cottages, even ski chalets. But I always assumed trailer residents preferred to be one-rent folks.

They are. It turns out several residents believed the trailer park sale was imminent, so they rushed to sign a contract to relocate to another mobile home park. The problem was that they still had not worked out a deal with Fuqua to move their trailers. Hence, double rent. Fuqua’s people told the mayor they’d work that out.

Often there’s a disconnect between sturdy-house people and those living in mobile homes. Mostly, those in Castle Lake want to avoid paying apartment rents, so they bought mobile homes to save money in hopes of some day getting a run of good luck.

A good proportion of residents are Hispanic. Many are confused or intimidated about the move. One such lady, who spoke to the City Council, walks to work and was the third owner on the trailer’s title. (They’re like car titles, not deeds for homes, and things can get real complicated real quick.)

The stories about the path to Castle Lake vary: There’s the mechanic who moved to Atlanta but couldn’t sell his Arizona home. A young Hispanic couple saving money for a real house. A retired woman. A divorced husband whose wife got the $400,000 home.

Cindy and Kevin Bickford owned a home and a roofing business. Then came the Great Recession, a foreclosure, a business dissolution, and here they are at Castle Lake with their two high school kids, one of whom is in ROTC.

“We bounced around and needed a cheaper way of living,” said Bickford.

So, last May they bought a comfortable double-wide that could pass for a regular home. They scraped together $7,000 for a down payment for the $15,000 structure but say they were never alerted by the trailer park managers that a sale of the park was in the offing. By then, the proposed Fuqua complex had been discussed for months. (A spokesman for the Canadian company that owns the park said newcomers are told there’s a possibility a sale might happen.)

I spoke with the owners of four trailers, each of whom had been offered $8,000 to walk away from the trailer. They have also been offered moving expenses.

But Bickford said that doesn’t work: “We have to move out, store our stuff and get a hotel, at our expense, and then turn in our receipts. If I had that kind of money, we wouldn’t be living here in the first place.

“We’re not here standing by the mailbox with our hands out waiting for welfare checks. We’re hard-working people.”

The mayor said the residents were caught “in limbo” between the Canadian owners and Fuqua, which hasn’t finalized the sale or its plans with the city. Kennesaw leaders last week approved the site plan,