ENIGMA, Ga. (WALB) - City of Enigma employees are expected to be paid today after the city reportedly reinstated bank accounts on Thursday, bringing the city back to normal.

The employees are also expected to resume work on Monday, Feb. 10 as a result of this.

This week, the city of Enigma hired a new city clerk after Charity Bentley, the former clerk, said she missed a phone call from Mayor Cecil Giddens, asking for her computer password.

“He said if you don’t call me back in 10 minutes, you’re fired,“ Bentley said. “We are scared to death of what are they going to destroy, what evidence are they going to destroy. And the appropriate people have not come to investigate it yet.”

WALB previously reported that employees in the city of Enigma have not been to work in over a week due to the city’s bank accounts being frozen.

The freeze was supposed to be resolved in a meeting last week, but that meeting ended with one of the city’s councilmen being arrested.

The mayor presented a resolution for accounts to be reinstated, but one councilman refused to sign, causing a commotion. The entire room responded in a uproar.

According to the city, the mayor was previously the only person on the bank accounts, but Councilman Donald Franklin said with the help of bank attorneys, three people will now be authorized to sign checks.

Franklin said in the meeting, “Now we have it where two can sign it or if one of them is out the other one can sign it.”

Councilman Ronald Harbin said, “I want it done the right way, and I want it done the legal way. And we don’t do any of that. We can’t get none of that done because one may conducts all the business we have no say so.”

In executive session Wednesday, the Mayor and council members say they agreed to work together but some feel that’s not enough.

“Somebody needs to look into this stuff… It’s not going to get resolved… We can start by trying to fix our beautiful little city," said a concerned citizen.

WALB will be following up with city employees to ensure that payments go out.

The city council and citizens are asking the governor to take a look at restoring order in the city of Enigma.

Previous coverage:

• Enigma ‘shutdown’ due to city bank accounts being frozen
• Enigma city councilman responds after heated exchange results in arrest
• ‘Why has it never been questioned?’: Boxes of uncashed checks found in Enigma City Hall
• Enigma City council meeting ends in argument between mayor and councilman

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