WOODBINE, Ga. – Inside a nearly full town hall at the Lions Club in Woodbine, residents and visitors pressed the mayor and city council for answers Tuesday night.
Their concern: the city is five years behind on required financial audits, putting its charter and its future as an incorporated city at risk.
For many in the room, the frustration ran deep.
“I’m just at a loss,” said Woodbine resident Jannie Everette. “For the first time in my life, I have considered packing my stuff and leaving Woodbine.”
Others were more pointed, noting that getting all five council members in the same room was itself an achievement.
“It took a whole lot to get all five of you in the same room,” one resident told the council.
Georgia cities are required to submit annual financial audits to the state. Woodbine has not completed one in five years. Without those audits, the city is ineligible for state grants used to fund road upkeep and other municipal projects. State lawmakers have warned that the legislature could revoke the city’s charter, which would effectively dissolve Woodbine as an incorporated city and fold it into unincorporated Camden County.
State Sen. Mike Hodges, R-St. Simons Island, has said the legislature is “losing patience” with non-compliant cities. He and state Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys, have introduced draft legislation that could amend or revoke Woodbine’s charter if the city does not come into compliance.
Mayor Kizzi Knight acknowledged the seriousness of the situation but stopped short of making excuses.
“We’ve had a lot of things that happened during the last five years,” Knight said. “However, I won’t make them an excuse why we don’t have those audits complete.”
When asked what steps the city is taking to get back into compliance, Knight said the city has contracted with a new auditing firm, CKH Group, to address the five-year backlog.
“So we contracted with a firm, with an audit firm, and currently we’re on track,” she said.
But she was candid about the timeline.
“It’s going to take a while. It’s not gonna happen overnight. It will be a couple of years.”
Knight also acknowledged the deeper problem facing the city goes beyond the audit.
“I am confident that we will get the audit done,” she said. “Where my confidence is shaken is in the governance.”
Ultimately, responsibility for ensuring audits are submitted to the state falls on the city council, the mayor, and City Administrator Samantha Young. Young was not present at Tuesday night’s town hall, but her name came up repeatedly as residents questioned who is handling the city’s finances.
Residents at the meeting said she has effectively been doing the job of three people.
“They need to fire her! They need to give them some help in there,” one resident said during the meeting. “I told them before, she’s got three different jobs.”
News4JAX reached out to Young via email and attempted to speak with her in person Tuesday by stopping by Town Hall. We were told she was unavailable due to previously scheduled meetings. A follow-up request for comment has not yet been answered.
For many Woodbine residents, the audit failure is not just a paperwork problem — it is a crisis of trust.
“You’re in crisis,” resident Janney Everett told the council. “The citizens are waiting to hear from you.”
Resident Robert Nason said he fears for the city’s future.
“I hate to see Woodbine go down,” Nason said. “But I think it’s just bad management.”
Nason added that residents are already organizing to hold elected officials accountable.
“We are going to do some recalls and some revoting and stuff like that, trying to get things changed,” he said.
News4JAX has also submitted a formal open records request to the City of Woodbine for all financial audits from fiscal years 2020 through 2025, as well as any correspondence with the state regarding audit compliance. The city has acknowledged receipt of that request and says it will respond in accordance with the Georgia Open Records Act.
What Comes Next
Mayor Knight says she plans to bring residents’ concerns to the city council and hopes to have the audit issue added to the agenda for its next meeting.
That meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Woodbine City Hall.
The mayor and the city are currently working with the state and CKH Group to bring Woodbine back into compliance, but Knight was clear that resolution will not come quickly.