AW Digital Communications Owner Files Ethics Complaints Against Mayor and City Administrator of Washington, Georgia

At the August 2025 city council meeting in Washington, Georgia, a woman named Amethyst Wesley made public comments before the city council. She told the council that she is the owner of a digital marketing company based in Atlanta, Amethyst Wesley Digital Communications and that she had done a prior project for the city in designing a policy handbook. You can view the video of her comments here at 38:21 minutes into the recording. The city's current website was newly built in 2021. It is somewhat unusual for someone to make a pitch for a business contract during public comments at a council meeting so there were some questions from the beginning. Had she been told to do this? Had she already met with someone on council? Why would the city pay for more web design work when the city had already had a new website built not that long ago?

At the September city council meeting, councilman Larry Hill made a motion to approve the work Wesley had proposed at the August meeting. He also said three council members had agreed to consider Wesley's proposal. It is unknown who those three council members were. During the council meeting, city administrator Will Long, said he knew Wesley’s work, had seen it and that “She does good work.” He said it was a three-year contract and that the work would need to be bonded. The council voted unanimously to approve the proposal and left it up to Long to manage. You can watch the video of that meeting here at 1 hour 11 minutes into the recording.

Wesley made the proposal, dated July 8, 2025, available on her company website.  The proposal lays out a timeline of 15 weeks to complete and a cost of $56,000.00. The proposal included, among other things, surveys of citizens and business owners, designing a new logo, taglines and social media assets as well as a review of the current website. Since the city didn’t approve the proposal until September, it makes sense the work wouldn't begin until that time so the 15 weeks it can be assumed, began in September, after the contract was signed by Wesley and Long on September 11, just a few days after the council meeting. Some of the work in the proposal is different from the work Wesley stated would be done while she spoke to council in August and is also different from what is listed in the contract which you can see below this article. The contract is surprisingly brief and lacking in protections for the customer (the city) that are customary in this type of contract.

It is unknown who created the contract or if it was reviewed by the city attorney Adam Nelson. The contract does not state a three-year agreement which Long stated publicly was the case. The city also has no record of any bond presented by Wesley as Long said, in the same meeting, the work would need to be bonded. A records request made to the city for any bonds presented by Wesley, to the city, was answered with there being no record of a bond. Wesley did not publicly state she would provide a bond.

For comparison, copies of the contract for the company that built the current City of Washington website, 365 Total Marketing (see in documents below), show a cost of $15,000.00 for the full build of the website. There were some additional costs for creating online forms and an online calendar totaling approximately $4500.00. This contract is also more in line with what would be expected for this type of web design and marketing work. It is unclear if 365 has been asked to make changes to the website they built since there is now apparent dissatisfaction with the current website. It would make sense to ask the company that built the website and manages it, to make any updates or changes prior to hiring a completely different company. No request for proposal was put out for the work that was given the Wesley.

Wesley’s prior education, experience and work has proven challenging to find. Her LinkedIn profile shows no prior work or education history listed. Her company website awdigitalcommunications.com shows a few examples of graphic, brand and logo work. A link to view prior work requires a password. I am not claiming Wesley doesn’t have experience in website design, logo design, branding and marketing. I am saying typically individuals and companies that do this work, show prior work, customer testimonials and list qualifications because that builds trust and confidence in their abilities.  

I requested from the city, all payments made to Wesley. Documents show (see below) Wesley was paid $28,000.00 on September 15, 2025, four days after the contract was signed. Payment of half the entire amount of a project, of this type, before any work is done, stands out and has caused concern among people in the community who are familiar with digital marketing and web design work. The payment was made under the accounting designation “professional services.” On October 7, 2025, less than a month from the first payment, another payment was made to Wesley for $22,400.00. It was under the accounting designation “administrative/disaster.” A project with a 15-week completion timeline, almost fully paid for less than a month from execution of the contract, raises a red flag. There is no record of any other payments ever made to Wesley even though she and Long stated publicly in the August and September city council meetings, that she had done prior work for the city. 

The funds paid to Wesley were also sent to a personal account under the name Amethyst Johnson. This is notable as a business is typically registered with the state and a tax identification number or EIN, applied for through the IRS. Bank accounts are opened requiring the articles of incorporation of the business and the EIN number so payments can be made to the business directly. I searched the Georgia Secretary of State business registry and found no business under the name Amethyst Wesley Digital Communications, Amethyst Wesley or Amethyst Johnson. It is possible she had a company registered in another state. On November 13, I searched again and found Wesley had registered her business with the Georgia Secretary of State on November 11, 2025.  

On November 6, 2025, Wesley submitted an ethics complaint (see below this article) alleging  “Alteration and circulation of a falsified financial document within City of Washington administrative email systems.” This was related to the payment she received in October. She claims there was a discrepancy on a document time and date stamp that was handled by Long and city finance director Kathy Bouttrey. The copy of this complaint was provided to me anonymously and can be seen below this article. In Wesley’s complaint, she does not indicate exactly who she believed altered the document. In the complaint, Wesley confirms she did receive the payment. She submitted copies of text messages between her and Long and the financial documents in question.

On Friday November 7, 2025, I sent an email to Wesley (see below) requesting invoices she had sent to the city and payments made to her, any communication she has had with any city employees or elected officials and deliverables she had created for the city. I also invited her to have a phone conversation where she could explain the benefit the work she was doing, would have for the city.  She replied telling me the law didn’t require her to provide this and the city was to provide this information. I responded explaining the Georgia supreme court in 2024 had decided private companies that contract with municipalities were required to comply with open records law. She responded by sending “cease and desist” verbiage but also saying she was willing to provide documents if I requested them from the city.

On the same day, I made a request to Yoshe Jenkins, the custodian or records for the City of Washington, requesting the records I was requesting from Wesley. 

I didn’t receive the records and Wesley told me not to contact her, so on November 20, 2025, an attorney, on my behalf, sent Wesley a letter stating the legal statute that obligated her to provide the records (see below). He sent the letter to her physical address as well as her email address. She responded that day via email, saying the records I requested were exempt and she wasn’t required to provide them. I and the attorney, believe she is incorrect and the exemptions she stated are for specific situations involving law enforcement cases, research situations and other very specific instances.  If she had provided evidence of the work she has done for the city, it would diminish or eliminate suspicion I and other  citizens have and prove she is capable, competent and qualified to receive the money she has been paid.

Wesley filed a complaint to the Georgia state bar against the attorney representing me. He informed me of her doing this but he didn't send me  me her complaint nor did I ask for it. He sent me his response to the bar ( see below). The actual complaint filed by Wesley has been made public on an anonymous Facebook page. Only Wesley, my attorney and the Georgia state bar, had access to her complaint and the attorney didn’t release it publicly nor would the Georgia state bar.

I sent direct requests to Washington mayor Bruce Bailey, Larry Hill, finance director, Kathy Bouttrey and Nathaniel Cullars Sr. for all communication they have had with Wesley. Cullars Sr. acknowledged and complied with my request. Hill has not provided the records nor has he ever responded to or acknowledged my request. I got an acknowledgement from Bailey after asking him three times about my request but have still not received what I requested from him. Bouttrey referred me to Yoshe Jenkins but I have still not received the documents. Georgia Open Records Law requires records be provided within three business days and if they can't be provided in that time frame, a reason for the delay and estimated time they will be provided, stated. I have been told by Jenkins some records will be available in 15 days but I have asked for clarification on 15 days from when I requested them or 15 days from when I was told they would be ready in 15 days and I haven't received a response. There are personal fines and other penalties that can be imposed for violating open records laws.

On November 24, 2025, Wesley filed an ethics complaint against Washington mayor Bruce Bailey alleging he interfered with and mishandled prior ethics complaints. Emails leaked on an anonymous Facebook page but verified by sources, show several communications between Wesley, Bailey and members of city council regarding this. Some of the emails sent by Wesley also include WRDW news being copied by Wesley, making it apparent, she wants her issues with Bailey and the city, to be public.

In an email dated November 13, 2025, Wesley sent to Bailey, Yoshe Jenkins and all members of city council except Kimberly Johnson,

Wesley stated the following:

On February 20, 2025, at 9:35 PM I sent a text message to city administrator Will Long explicitly instructing him to cease all forms of personal communication with me. In that message, I made it clear that I wanted no romantic, personal, or informal association with him in any capacity.

You can see the copy of this email below this article. The email is cutoff at the bottom so it is unclear how it continues. Wesley also made reference, in the email, to creating a summary timeline she would be sending to the mayor and council the next day.

This is concerning. Any indication Long and Wesley have been involved in anything other than a purely professional relationship combined with the fact nobody else was given an opportunity to do this work for the city, gives an appearance the work and the money could have been given, in full or in part, to Wesley because of her favor with Long. Such large payments being given before work had been done, the contract lacking standard protections, withholding of documents and the difficulty in knowing Wesley’s prior experience, unfortunately adds to skepticism on the part of the citizens, who the money belongs to. 

When taxpayer money is being spent, several laws are in place to deter malfeasance of resources. Laws that come with steep penalties and rightfully so. If things aren’t as worrisome as they appear, why isn’t the city providing evidence to put minds at ease and establish trust?

Bailey replied to Wesley's email (see attached below article):

Ms. Amethyst,

Please send me any emails where you addressed concerns to me as I only have emails to me and council members. I have been reading all emails received, and until yesterday only knew of the complaint against our finance director being rude to you. We did discuss this in the meeting last week and are currently working to resolve the problem.

Today, is the first I have heard of you texting the city administrator in February. So, not sure what occurred prior to your presentation at the council meeting. Please, in the future, email me or the city clerk directly. This can eliminate the leaking of information to citizens. We have several council members that provide information to so called online news and Messy WW. Ido not like inappropriate information being released and any organization or person that we work with being aggravated or even stalked out.

On November 26, 2025, Bailey sent an email to Wesley verifying he had received a complaint she had filed against city administrator Will Long. Bailey told her he would proceed with the investigation and keep her updated. I do not have a copy of any complaints made against Long.

On the same day Wesley provided a scathing reply to Bailey stating in part (read full email copy in documents below article):

Mayor Bailey,

Let’s get something straight immediately.

You cannot investigate anything at this point.

By law, and per the City's own ethics ordinance, you are disqualified from touching, directing, or "moving forward" with any complaint once you become a subject or one. Any attempt to do so reads exactly as it looks, a clean-up job and damage control for your own failure to follow due process when you were supposed to.

You had two full weeks of back-and-forth communication with me and never once mentioned that the complaint was "unverified," "notarization required, or unable to be acted on. Instead, you played along, knowing full well that staying silent benefitted you. That silence is the entire reason this situation escalated as it did.

Now suddenly, after I file a complaint against YOU, the City magically discovers its voice on "verification requirements"? Please.

The intent is not subtle.

The pattern is not subtle

It is unbecoming of your mayorship, and honestly, at this point, predictable.

So, let's be extremely clear moving forward:

You will not be conducting, guiding, or influencing this investigation. you are legally barred from doing so.

Wesley goes on to accuse the mayor of several offenses including sending an email to the wrong person, purposely trying to hide information and being incompetent and sloppy.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

This is the third ethics complaint, that the public is aware of, made against Bailey since he was sworn in as mayor in January 2024. In 2024 I filed an ethics complaint naming Bailey, Councilmen Newton Gunter and Andy Anderson. Bailey was involved in assigning the investigative committees in a complaint he was named in. 

Councilman Nathaniel Cullars Sr. has started a process to recall Bailey and remove him from office.

It is the first ethics complaint made against Long since he has been in the position as city administrator beginning in November of last year. I have not seen and am not aware of what Wesley alleges in her complaint against Long or if investigative committees have been assigned for any of the three known ethics complaints Wesley has filed against city officials. The city won't release ethics complaints that involve city employees while the investigations are active.

It seems clear, Wesley is unhappy with several representatives of the city. The city has made no public statements regarding the public release of these documents or Wesley's allegations. Any work Wesley has completed per the contract signed by she and Long, has not been presented to me per my request to the city or to Wesley herself, so it is unclear how much of the work has been completed or the full nature of her relationship with Long.