The mayors of the five municipalities in the county sent a letter Friday, Aug. 26, to the Newton County Chair and members of the Board of Commissioners (BOC), asking them to remove the five-week moratorium on permits for places of worship.

That decision, along with a town hall meeting to discuss a proposed mosque has spurred involvement by the Justice Department, and responses from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, NAACP, Anti-Deformation League and American Civil Liberties Union.

“The nation is watching Newton County … and we are being embarrassed by our County leaders,” the mayors’ letter said.

The BOC voted to place the hold on the permits after it was revealed that a 135-acre tract of land near Georgia Highway 162 and County Line Road had been sold to Al Maad Al Islami, Inc., for the construction of a mosque, school and cemetery.

The statement from all five mayors, prefaced by a letter to all Newton County residents, was written by Covington Mayor Ronnie Johnston on behalf of Mansfield Mayor Jefferson Riley, Newborn Mayor Gregg Ellwanger, Oxford Mayor Jerry Roseberry and Porterdale Mayor Arline Chapman.

In his note, Johnston wrote:

“I have never written a letter to the entire county. As the mayor of the City of Covington, I don’t typically have a need to correspond on a large scale with those outside of the City limits, even though we all are part of the same community. Recently though, I have been embarrassed by the way the Newton County Board of Commissioners has handled the proposed mosque.

“The mayors of the municipalities in Newton County approached me and asked that I correspond with the BOC and relay to them our feelings. Below you will find a letter I am delivering to each member of the BOC. It contains four requests the mayors have.

“This letter has nothing to do with supporting or not supporting a mosque, church or any place of commerce, school, etc. It is about following the rules that govern our great nation, which we don’t believe the BOC is currently doing. The mayors want to be transparent and let you know the action we took.”

He then signed the note. Because it was not an official letter on behalf of the city, the letter was not sent on City of Covington stationary.

In the mayors’ statement they accused the BOC of “violating the Third Article” of the Bill of Rights and “making Newton County and its residents look ignorant and closed minded.”

The fact that several organizations, they said, are threatening to force Newton County to “do the right thing” is “shameful.”

“We should do the right thing without being forced,” the letter said.

The mayors then issued five requests:

1. Remove the moratorium

2. Set up a meeting with the leaders of the proposed mosque, County Commissioners and the mayors of Newton County’s municipalities to discuss the project.

3. Following that meeting, disseminate the information learned in the meeting and assure the citizens of Newton County the following: That due diligence will be carried out and a comprehensive plan will be created to help the Muslim community integrate into our community in a positive way, provided they meet the permitting requirements and every local law that would apply to all Americans.

4. Fully execute the permitting process in place that protects our community.

Newton County Chair Keith Ellis said county staff currently is working on looking at the county’s ordinance related to the moratorium, and would need to be instructed by commissioners if they were to stop.

“The five board of commissioners voted to put a moratorium on for five weeks and assign staff to take a long look at our ordinances,” Ellis said. “This project is in unincorporated Newton County. The five board members will need to make a decision if they want to lift the moratorium and stop staff form following directions.”

The mayors, in their letter, asked for a response from the BOC by Tuesday, Aug. 30.

Bryan Fazio contributed to this report.