BLAKELY, GA. (WTVY) -The Blakely City Council has voted unanimously to rescind the declaration of a local emergency that put a citywide curfew in place, citing ongoing litigation as the reason for the reversal.

The council called an emergency meeting and voted to end the midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew. The city did not go into detail about the litigation, but voted to rescind the order after going into executive session.

The curfew was implemented in response to gun violence, including two incidents in July. No one was hurt in either incident. Plaintiff Neil Singleton filed an emergency restraining order in Early County Court after a run-in with police during curfew hours.

Mayor Travis Wimbush said the city has used similar measures before.

“In my viewpoint, it does. This is a similar curfew that was put in place by myself and some other members back in 2022. And of course, from the legal law enforcement perspective, we did see a decrease. Of course, we know a curfew is not a solution. However, with the staff shortages and everything else, it was an attempt and a way of evaluating and doing something at the time of what we were faced with,” Wimbush said.

Blakely resident Christian Reichard questioned whether the two incidents warranted the curfew.

“I understand that potentially certain situations require, you know, maybe more involved policing and different community measures. But I guess I was concerned — it seemed all abrupt and it seemed kind of just out of the blue and very extreme, in my opinion, for what was going on,” Reichard said.

Reichard said the curfew also affected local businesses and residents who had already paid for services, including access to a 24-hour gym that was required to shut down to comply with the ordinance.

Reichard said he supported the council’s decision to end the curfew, but raised concerns about what comes next.

“I think it was a great decision for them to rescind it. Although, being that there’s now active litigation, I wonder if that makes a stronger case, unfortunately, against the city, for deprivation of rights,” Reichard said.

Wimbush said addressing the city’s violence problem will take time.

“Now we have leadership within the police department, and we just ask the community to give us patience and work with the leadership that’s been selected with the vision and the mission statement that they have moving forward with the direction as far as violence. Work with us. This issue didn’t happen overnight, and we won’t get out of it overnight,” Wimbush said.

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