City manager’s attorney wants Columbus councilor to resign over ‘racist’ remarks
Columbus Councilor Charmaine Crabb is facing backlash after comments she made to investigators about Black city officials, which were revealed last week as the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office disclosed an Administrative Report from their city Finance Department investigation.
Crabb’s comments to a Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office investigator left City Manager Isaiah Hugley’s attorney characterizing the comments as “racist,” and calling for her resignation.
Details of Crabb’s March 2024 interview with an investigator were transcribed and included in a 118-page Administrative Report by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, which was provided to the Ledger-Enquirer through the open records law, and was later shared by the sheriff’s office on social media.
In her remarks to an investigator, Crabb expressed her frustration with Hugley’s actions, questioned the city’s hiring practices and spoke of her desire to see him removed from his role. Crabb also told the investigators she believes there is “skin color”-based discrimination in the city, and said she believes Black people who are members of Historically Black sororities and fraternities, or the Divine 9, benefit from it.
She also questioned the qualifications of some Black city employees. Crabb said she didn’t “have an issue” with Donna Newman, director of engineering, according to the investigative report. But she questioned the qualifications of Reather Hollowell, the human resources director, and Angelica Alexander, the finance director who is facing criminal charges stemming from this investigation.
“But what qualifications does Reather Hollowell have?” Crabb asked investigators.
Investigators confirmed that Hollowell has a Masters of Science in Human Resource Management, a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and an Associate of Science in Accounting along with other training and certifications. Alexander obtained a Bachelor of Finance, but the investigators could not find a Certified Public Accountant license.
Also in her comments, Crabb said she hoped to gain enough support to “rid the Columbus Consolidated Government of its current city manager Isaiah Hugley,” the report said.
“Crabb stated that her scheme is not motivated by personal reasons, but rather because ‘…he’s doing a lousy job,’” the investigative report says.
Crabb apologized over the remarks in an interview with local TV station WRBL, but she declined to comment for this story.
Accusations of ‘mafia type behavior’
In the interview, Crabb accused Hugley and “his allies” of dabbling in organized crime and engaging in “mafia type behavior,” according to the investigative report.
“He gets his little mafiosos to come and talk on public agenda and try to intimidate council into voting the way he would want us to vote.”
Crabb used the Feb. 27, 2024, council meeting as an example, during which members of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance spoke in favor of renovating Golden Park, now Synovus Park.
“I mean it,” Crabb told the investigator. “Just watch the last council meeting on the public agenda when he brings all of his little preachers in. It’s like, since when are preachers so involved in baseball?”
‘Unfounded and racist’
Scott Grubman, the lawyer who represents Hugley, told the Ledger-Enquirer Thursday that he wants Crabb to resign over this issue.
“I have reviewed the report of Councilwoman Crabb’s interview as well as her subsequent retraction and so-called ‘apology,’” Grubman said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer. “Councilwoman Crabb’s comments regarding Mr. Hugley were unfounded and racist. It shocks me that a Councilwoman for such a diverse city would refer to a prominent Black leader and Black pastors as ‘mafiosos.’
“Councilwoman Crabb should be ashamed of herself and, if she really wanted what was best for the people of Columbus, she would resign immediately.”
The Rev. Ralph Huling of St. James Missionary Baptist Church and the Rev. Johnny Flakes III of Fourth Street Missionary Baptist Church were mentioned in the report as pastors who spoke at the council meeting. They both expressed frustration about Crabb’s comments.
Citizens should ask themselves whether Crabb’s mindset was shared by other members of the council, Flakes told the Ledger-Enquirer, and if councilors were willing to do anything about her comments.
“How will they make it known publicly that what was said was not only out of order, not only does it demonstrate unethical integrity, but it really would call for her resignation,” Flakes said. “This does not represent the kind of councilpersons that we really do need in the 21st Century that will carry this kind of perception about others.”
Crabb is one of six Columbus councilors to receive a cease-and-desist letter from Hugley’s attorney, Grubman, in an effort to stop what Grubman calls a “sustained and continuing campaign” against Hugley.
As a Columbus native, Huling cares about what is happening in the community, he told the Ledger-Enquirer, and his comments made in the council are made out of a genuine concern about the direction of the city.
“This is a city that we pray for,” Huling said. “And we will continue to be involved no matter who is the mayor or city manager.”
Flakes, also a Columbus native, echoed Huling’s sentiments pointing out the historical precedence of Black pastors being involved in the community. Flakes pointed to figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who were both pastors and shared concerns with issues like economic development.
“We, as African American pastors, don’t just see ourselves as just preachers of the pulpit on Sunday mornings,” Flakes said. “Our role expands to the community.”
Their appearance at the council meeting wasn’t just about baseball, he said, but economic development for the larger community in South Columbus. The perception that their appearance wasn’t out of a genuine belief in the project was hurtful, Flakes said.
“Our church is just a stone’s throw away from Synovus Park,” he said. “So, for us not to have an interest, a genuine interest, in how this would be impacting our community shows a narrow perspective in terms of citizens here in Columbus, Georgia who take an interest in their community.”
Huling did see Crabb’s statement apologizing for these comments, he said, and he would welcome a conversation with the city councilor. Flakes said he heard about the apology, he said, but declined to comment on it because he had not seen it for himself. However, he said he had read the report, and he felt the phrasing from Crabb was troubling.
“When you have someone saying that there is skin color discrimination in city government, I don’t know how else you can take that, you know,” Flakes said.
The investigation into the finance department, which is still ongoing, according to Sheriff Greg Countryman, resulted in the arrests of former finance department manager Yvonne Ivey and current finance director Angelica Alexander.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 4:28 PM.
