The Cleveland City Council's March 2 vote adjusting the city's 2026 millage rate was not, as reported by Bavarian Brainrot and as recorded in the original certified minutes, a 6-1 vote.

It was a 6-0 vote, because the seventh member of the council sitting at the dais at the time of the vote — Commissioner Gerald Haverford, Ward 4 — was asleep.

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom has reviewed the city clerk's recount memorandum, transmitted to council members by email at 8:14 a.m. Friday. The memorandum, signed by City Clerk Betsy Calloway and running to two pages, makes the following material findings:

First, Commissioner Haverford was, per the contemporaneous audio recording of the March 2 meeting and per the written observations of two council staff members, asleep in his chair at the dais from approximately 8:41 p.m. — six minutes before item 9(d), the millage adjustment, was called — through at least 9:03 p.m., when the meeting moved to item 11(a).

Second, Commissioner Haverford did not cast a vote on item 9(d). He did not vote in favor. He did not vote against. He did not abstain.

Third, the original certified minutes recorded the vote as 6-1 in error. The "1" dissenting vote, recorded in the minutes as belonging to Mayor Pro Tem Davidson, was accurate. The "6" affirmative votes were accurate. What was not accurate was the implicit representation that seven commissioners participated in the vote. Six did.

Fourth, under Georgia Municipal Association guidance and the city's standing parliamentary rules, a vote in which one of the council members present at the dais did not cast a vote — for any reason — is a procedural irregularity requiring corrective action before the vote's legislative effect can be certified.

The corrective action the clerk's memorandum recommends is a re-vote. The re-vote is scheduled for Monday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m., in the City Hall meeting chamber, as a Special Called Meeting.

What Commissioner Haverford Has Said

Commissioner Gerald Haverford, who has represented Cleveland's Ward 4 on the City Council since 2020 and who operates a residential and commercial painting business on Highway 129, issued a written statement Friday afternoon. The statement, which runs to one paragraph, reads in full:

"I want to be clear that I take my responsibilities to the citizens of Ward 4 very seriously, and I regret any procedural inconvenience caused by my condition on the evening of March 2. I have been managing a significant seasonal allergy response since late February, and the antihistamine medication I was taking at that time has, I have since learned, a documented sedative effect that I was not previously aware of. I have discussed this with my doctor. I have switched medications. I look forward to being fully present for the March 9 re-vote."

The Bavarian Brainrot newsroom asked Commissioner Haverford's office, by follow-up email, whether the commissioner had any memory of the March 2 vote or of the events immediately surrounding it. His office responded: "He does not."

We also asked whether the commissioner recalled being asleep. His office did not respond to this specific question.

What The Original Minutes Had Said

The original certified minutes of the March 2 meeting — which Bavarian Brainrot reviewed and reported on in this newsroom's March 3 dispatch — recorded item 9(d) as follows:

"9(d). Motion to adjust City of Cleveland 2026 millage rate from 8.4380 mils to 8.4522 mils. Motion offered by Council Member Pendergrass (Ward 1). Seconded by Council Member Torres (Ward 2). Vote: Aye — Pendergrass, Torres, Hall, Whitfield, Kim, Chambers. Nay — Davidson. Motion carries, 6-1."

The amended minutes, which City Clerk Calloway will submit for council ratification at the March 9 re-vote meeting, record item 9(d) as:

"9(d). Motion to adjust City of Cleveland 2026 millage rate from 8.4380 mils to 8.4522 mils. Motion offered by Council Member Pendergrass (Ward 1). Seconded by Council Member Torres (Ward 2). Vote: Aye — Pendergrass, Torres, Hall, Whitfield, Kim, Chambers. Nay — Davidson. Commissioner Haverford (Ward 4) did not cast a vote. [Procedural note: see Clerk's Recount Memorandum, March 5, 2026, filed with meeting record.] Motion carries, 6-1, subject to re-vote per clerk's memorandum."

What The Georgia Municipal Association Says

The Georgia Municipal Association's published guidance on quorum and voting requirements for Georgia city councils addresses the specific question of a council member present at the dais who does not cast a vote. The guidance, dated 2024, notes that under Georgia's Open Meetings Act and standard parliamentary procedure, a council member who is physically present at a duly constituted meeting and who does not vote on a motion before the body is, in most circumstances, recorded as abstaining — and that an abstention counts, for quorum purposes, as presence but not as a vote for or against.

The guidance does not specifically address the circumstance of a council member who did not vote because they were asleep.

The GMA legal staff, reached by the Bavarian Brainrot newsroom Friday afternoon, declined to comment on the specific Cleveland situation. A staff attorney said, in a brief phone exchange, that the GMA's general guidance was to "consult your city attorney."

The City of Cleveland's city attorney, Richard Fargus of the Gainesville firm Fargus & Delacroix, confirmed that he had reviewed the clerk's memorandum and that the re-vote was, in his opinion, the appropriate corrective action. He declined further comment.

What The Re-Vote Is Expected To Produce

The March 9 Special Called Meeting has one agenda item: the millage-rate adjustment re-vote. All seven council members have, per the clerk's Friday morning email, confirmed their attendance.

The outcome of the March 9 re-vote, in the Bavarian Brainrot newsroom's assessment, is not substantially in doubt. The millage adjustment is, as this newsroom reported on March 3, a technical compliance requirement under the Georgia Department of Revenue's property-tax-equalization formula. The city has no discretion in whether to adopt it. It must be adopted before the city's 2026 tax bills are mailed, currently scheduled for May 18.

Mayor Pro Tem Davidson, who voted against the adjustment on March 2, was contacted Friday. She confirmed that she intends to vote against it again on March 9.

"My vote has not changed," she said. "My position has not changed. The only thing that has changed is that Gerald will apparently be awake."

We will be at the March 9 meeting.

— Margaret Holcomb