VARNELL, Ga. — The drama surrounding the Varnell City Council continued to play out on Tuesday with another resignation — the second in a month — and two council members walking out of Tuesday night’s council meeting after a quorum couldn’t be established.

The residents who packed the bleachers and chairs in the Varnell Gym, some of whom planned to take some of the council members to task over their vote to dissolve the city’s police force — later vetoed by the mayor — were left without a council to voice their frustrations to.

Andrea Gordy resigned earlier in the day. Her residency in Varnell and her qualifications to even hold a seat on the council were called into question in a lawsuit filed on Friday in Whitfield County Superior Court by former city manager Ralph Morgan and former council member Bill Morgan.

Gordy sent a two-sentence letter of resignation to Mayor Anthony Hulsey, pointing to her upcoming marriage and “recent changes in the plans of my new family” as reasons she stepped down.

Councilwoman Ashlee Godfrey spoke with Hulsey by cellphone minutes after the meeting was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and informed him she would not be there because of a “family emergency.”

Three council members have to be present in order for the council to have a quorum and legally hold a meeting. The council was already one member short with the resignation of Sheldon Fowler last month after criminal charges were brought against him following a domestic call at his home. That left only David Owens and Jan Pourquoi as council members present, and they, along with Gordy were the council members who voted to dissolve the police department on July 11. Hulsey, who vetoed the action two days later, said he still wanted to give the people who had signed up to speak during the public comments section of Tuesday’s meeting an opportunity to speak if the other council members approved.

But Pourquoi said since there wasn’t a quorum and since there was no business to conduct, he would not stay “for the show” and stood and left the meeting as some in the crowd jeered. Owens got up from his seat, spoke briefly with City Manager Mike Brown and left the meeting without making a comment.

Contacted after the meeting, Pourquoi claimed Hulsey knew Godfrey would not be in attendance and said the mayor was using a lack of a quorum as an excuse to keep Pourquoi and Owens from placing the question of whether to disband the police department on the November ballot.

“The masks are falling down, and now the mayor controls the quorum of the council and thus he can prevent the referendum vote from even taking place,” Pourquoi said. “That was a planned event and that was why Miss Godfrey did not show up tonight. If we were conducting the people’s business I would have listened to every word, but that was just a show.”

At a meeting last Thursday with members of the public, Gordy, Owens and Pourquoi said they would not vote to override Hulsey’s veto, but instead said they would propose a ballot measure be placed before the voters in November and would abide by that referendum. But Pourquoi said in order for the referendum to be placed on the November ballot it would have to be approved by the council by Sept. 2.

“There is one more council meeting between now and Sept. 2 and I predict either the mayor or Miss Godfrey will not be able to show up to that meeting for some reason,” Pourquoi said. “If Miss Godfrey is not there, then we do not have a quorum. If the mayor is not there, then Mr. Owens as mayor pro tem would act as the mayor and cannot vote and we do not have a quorum. This is his way of denying the people of democracy. We did what we did to dissolve the police, and the people said they wanted to vote on the issue, and that was what we were going to do, but now the mayor is ensuring the police department will continue to exist even if people wanted to vote against it.”

Godfrey and Hulsey denied there was any sort of collusion between the two to keep the referendum from coming up before the council, although both are opposed to the referendum and how it would tie the existence of the police department to city property taxes.

“There was no plan in place to not be able to make the meeting,” Godfrey said. “Due to a family emergency and an unforeseen event, I wasn’t able to attend. I had numbers already planned and was wanting to present at the council meeting tonight and wanted to make sure everyone had those numbers. I am sorry to the people that I couldn’t be there.”

Hulsey said he had no idea Godfrey would miss the meeting.

“As far as I knew, Ashlee was going to be there until I got the phone call,” Hulsey said in responding to Pourquoi’s accusations. “I sort of figured that would come out, but this was by no means a plot. They (Owens and Pourquoi) are wanting to tie it into property tax, and I don’t agree with that. I try to be straight up as best I can. We are there for the people, and we need to listen to the people before we make decisions that affect the people. If they had set down and presented the numbers and made their argument and then presented it to the people, then we have the ability to let the people’s voice be heard. Even with this new referendum, it was not shared. This was their doing and we didn’t have a say in the wording or anything. They wanted it worded their way without any opinions from myself or Ashlee.”

Calls to Owens’ cellphone were not immediately returned Tuesday night.

Pourquoi noted the meeting last Thursday in which he, Owens and Gordy welcomed public comments and said he was prepared to listen to the people on Tuesday as well.

“I am not a pawn in his theater and Mr. Owens was of the same opinion,” Pourquoi said. “We are not afraid of the people. We showed up. What is disappointing is that the mayor refuses to let the democratic process take place. If she had been there, we would have had the referendum passed and the question would be before the people.”

Before the meeting, Police Chief Lyle Grant received applause from many in the crowd. All of the speakers — eight in total — spoke in favor of keeping the police department. Grant spoke to the crowd, becoming emotional as he thanked them for their support, and received a standing ovation from most in attendance.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Aug. 15, and Hulsey said he expects to have a full meeting to conduct the city’s business.

“Obviously nothing was done tonight, but I expect to have a full meeting on Aug. 15,” he said. “Our regular business is still important and we are still going to have council meetings. If we have a quorum, we will do our business. If not, we will open it up for comments and go home.”