QUITMAN, Ga. (WALB) - After years without an audit, months of questions about the city’s charter. Quitman city leaders have a plan they believe will get the city back on track.

That plan starts with the letter Mayor Zinda McDaniel sent to State Representative John LaHood following January’s called meeting — asking the state for guidance on the city’s governance and charter compliance.

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We asked the mayor where that process stands now.

“As far as we know, everything is going well. We are in contact with GMA,” McDaniel said. “We’ve been sending updates to our local representatives to let them know what we are working on and how we are working to try to get the city back in order.”

The mayor says the city has also been in contact with the State Department of Audits, and that Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) liaison Emily Davenport has been actively working with city leadership in Atlanta.

City Manager, James Lawrence said, “Being open and transparent is something that I really want it to be. Not transparency from a weaponization standpoint because that could be done too. But just making sure that, you know, the mayor is informed and the commissioners understand what’s going on, what they need to vote on, how much money we need to spend on certain things.”

Lawrence was appointed without an interview in January and has faced scrutiny from residents questioning his qualifications.

“So, when we get into qualifications, this is a different time for the city of Quitman. We’re in a different situation than maybe other cities. And you can make the argument, if I was applying to be the city manager of a city that was completely done on its audits and had a different trajectory, I may not even be eligible for that position. This is a different set of circumstances,” he said. “So, in addition to learning about the audits, I’ve, you know, signed up for other organizations to learn more, because once we get past the audits the city is going to need more from me.”

But Mayor McDaniel says Lawrence’s work has spoken for itself.

“I did have questions too, when he was appointed as our City Manager, because not knowing him, but I can say for James, he has come in, he has jumped in, and he’s trying his best to figure all this out. He’s pushed forward quite a bit of stuff that has not happened in the last, I don’t know, several months, well, prior to him coming in. He’s found information, he’s reached out to people, I mean, he’s really done a good job of trying to get it organized, and to get the City as a whole organized.”

Residents and business owners have also raised concerns from high utility bills to questions about the city’s direction. Lawrence says restoring trust starts with making sure people see the value of what they’re paying for.

“And so our is to shift the conversation from the price of utilities to the quality you receive from our utilities department and that’s making sure we are audit compliant so that we can offset the cost of our government with grants and funding. So that the people can really see the city flourish, and then when they pay the utility bill they can see where it’s going. Because right now they can’t see where it’s going because systems aren’t moving the way they should, but once they get in line the utility bills should reflect what they see outside," Lawrence said.

On the business side, he says the city has updated its website to spotlight local businesses — and a monthly merchants group is meeting to address community concerns.

But perhaps the biggest outstanding issue — the one that has shadowed Quitman for years — is the audit. The city has not completed one since 2017 or 2018.

Lawrence says that is now his top priority.

“Many of the accounts that they were not able to have access to during their engagement as a subcontractor, they have now. And they’re over halfway completed with that process,” he said. “Our goal is to be able to submit that documentation to an audit firm by April the 1st, with the goal for that audit for the first year, which would be 2020, to be completed and sent to the state by June 1st .”

The city says once the city clears the audit backlog, a process that could take 18 to 24 months grant applications are already prepared and engineering firms are standing by to address growing concerns across the city.

WALB confirmed that on March 16, House Bill 1567 was filed, which would dissolve the city of Quitman charter has of July 1, 2026. The community is urged to contact Representative John LaHood with any concerns.

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