NAACP and pastors call for Columbus Council to recall vote appointing John Anker
Columbus clergy and civil rights leaders condemned the quick appointment of John Anker to the Columbus Council and demanded a recall of the vote during a news conference Wednesday at the City Services Center..
The coalition, which includes representatives from the Columbus branch of the NAACP and the Columbus Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, argued that the move to appoint Anker was premeditated and part of a larger strategy to remove city manager Isaiah Hugley, who is Black, from his position.
In a split vote, the council appointed Anker the same day former Councilor Judy Thomas of citywide District 9 sent her resignation letter. During the public agenda portion of the council meeting, Anker and three other residents criticized Hugley’s job performance as city manager and called for the mayor to terminate him.
Columbus Courier Eco Latino publisher and former NAACP Columbus branch president Wane Hailes and the Rev. Johnny Flakes III of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church spoke in support of Hugley during the meeting’s public agenda.
Councilor Byron Hickey of District 1 motioned to appoint Anker to the seat, and Charmaine Crabb of District 5 seconded it. The council voted 6-3 to appoint Anker despite Mayor Skip Henderson’s cautioning that it was too early to make this decision.
Councilors Hickey, Crabb, Glenn Davis of District 2, Toyia Tucker of District 4, Joanne Cogle of District 7 and Walker Garrett of District 8 voted yes. Councilors Travis Chambers of citywide District 10, Bruce Huff of District 3 and Gary Allen of District 6 voted no.
The council’s action of appointing someone “from the audience” to fill Thomas’ seat without giving the community a chance to make recommendations was disrespectful, former District 7 Councilor Mimi Woodson said at the news conference before insisting the council recall the vote.
“Last night’s appointment can be reversed with only six votes,” Woodson said.
During the council meeting, Crabb asserted that Anker was an “obvious” choice for the seat because he had run two citywide races (mayor in 2022 and citywide District 10 seat in 2024). Anker had an opportunity to be a city council member in a runoff and lost to Travis Chambers, said Ed DuBose, national NAACP board member and the Georgia state administrator.
Councilors subverted the will of the voters with this action, he said.
“Those city council members who participated in this should answer to the people,” DuBose said.
Flakes explained the coalition’s problem isn’t specifically that Anker was appointed so much as the process it took to do it. If Anker had been offered as a candidate with an opportunity for others to be considered as well, Flakes said, then there wouldn’t be so much anger.
“As a matter of fact, the mayor said that,” Flakes said.
DuBose said councilors would answer at the ballot box. In fact, he urged Columbus voters to consider recalling the councilors who made this appointment so quickly.
The Rev. Marcus Gibson of the Greater Shady Grove Baptist Church alleged that this move was part of a larger plan to terminate Hugley as city manager. Hugley confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer last December that he plans to retire at the end of 2025.
“There are certain persons on this council who are not out for the benefit or the good of the whole community, but there are some who are in the pockets of others,” Gibson said.
This coalition warned councilors, especially those who want to remove the city manager, that they will be held accountable, he said.
Verbal attacks like those against Hugley have happened to Black people in leadership across the country, Flakes said.
“They’ve used the playbook that is always about trying to make them seem ineffective, incompetent and inefficient,” Flakes said.
This is a nationwide problem, he said, that has “trickled down” to Columbus.
Flakes was disappointed to see two Black councilors, Hickey and Tucker, vote to support this move, he said..
“They’re in-house Negroes,” Flakes said. “They carry the buckets of the water, and they have sold their souls.”
It was “hurtful” and “painful” that an African American made the motion, Flakes said, calling the verbal attacks on Hugley a “public lynching.”
The coalition will work on fighting back against “false narratives,” Flakes said. Leaders of the group urged people to stay active and attend the next council meeting March 25. They also promised there will be more organizing from them.
“We’re not outnumbered,” said Marquese Averett, managing director of organizing at the Partnership for Southern Equity. “We are simply out-organized.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 7:54 PM.
