The Griffin Branch NAACP will have a public meeting Saturday, March 2, with city and county officials.

Jewell Walker-Harps, president of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the participants who have committed to participate include Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, Griffin Police Chief Frank Strickland, Griffin City Manager Kenny Smith, Spalding County Manager William Wilson Jr., Spalding County Parks & Recreation Director Louis Greene, Spalding County Tax Commissioner Sylvia Hollums and Robert Dull, chief executive officer of the Griffin Housing Authority.

Walker-Harps said the purpose of the public meeting is to give citizens an opportunity to interact with elected officials and department heads. She said, “Citizens’ comments are so restricted at board meetings that residents receive no public response and limited time is allowed for issues presented.”

Walker-Harps said the meeting “is a time of accountability or a report card for public servants and a reminder that the power belongs to the people.”

Some of the issues to be addressed, she said, are the policies and procedures for the new senior citizens facility, demolition and restoration of public housing, discrimination in law enforcement, hiring and promotion inequities, new tax laws and many other concerns.

Walker-Harps said, “The community will be bringing to the table a spirit of cooperation with the establishment to bring improvements to the community.”

She asked that citizens call in their concerns to the NAACP at 770-228-3990 prior to the meeting “so that research and the proper documentation will be available to answer their concerns.”

All questions for law enforcement must be submitted prior to March 2, said Walker-Harps.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m., and will be held at the Eighth Street Baptist Church, 408 Palace St., Griffin.

Refreshments will be provided by the members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.