Chickamauga Mayor Removed From Office

CHICKAMAUGA, (WDEF) – The Chickamauga City Council voted 4–1 Monday night to remove Mayor James “Trey” Deck III from office following a lengthy public meeting.

Four council members voted in favor of removal, while one voted against it.

Mayor Pro Tem Evitte Parrish closed the meeting after the vote.

“That being all the business before the council, the meeting is adjourned.”

With the vote finalized, the City of Chickamauga is now without a sitting mayor.

Councilman Matthew Nave, the lone vote against removal, said he was not convinced the evidence met the burden required.

“I don’t want to speculate why the people voted the way they voted. I’ll tell you why I voted the way I did. I voted the way I did because I was not convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was guilty.”

During the proceedings, council members presented recordings in which Mayor Deck is heard using a racial slur.

The mayor’s attorney argued those recordings were obtained illegally.

Mayor’s attorney Jeremy Penland said the recording violated Georgia law.

“They introduced evidence of a recording taken surreptitiously in the privacy of the mayor’s own home. Yes, which is a criminal act, by the way. That’s right. OCGA 16-11-62, subsection 6 will tell you that.”

Council members also presented testimony from witnesses alleging inappropriate conduct by the mayor.

One witness described repeated verbal comments.

“He came in and was like going to touch on my head or touch on my face and I was like, I kinda pulled away and said, don’t touch me, and he was like, I’m not touching you, but he was right up on my face, and I was like don’t touch me. >”

Penland argued the comments reflected a mutual dynamic rather than misconduct.

“That they would just… they just pick on each other. Have fun with one another.”

The mayor’s legal team also claimed the removal effort was politically motivated and tied to prior campaign disputes.

“To remove the mayor because the mayor says, ‘I’m gonna remove you, Michael Haney.’ We believe, and we’ve had evidence that was showed that that started in the summer of 2024.”

News 12 will continue to follow developments and provide updates on what comes next for Chickamauga city leadership.