Rob Chase #

Introduction #

Rob Chase is a building inspector for the Town of Cohutta, a small town in Whitfield County in northwest Georgia, who resigned in September 2026 after body-camera audio captured him using a racial slur during a closed-door municipal meeting. The recording, obtained by Local 3 Investigates through an open records request, documented Chase referring to a Black church with a racial epithet while discussing code enforcement with the town’s then-mayor, and it set off an internal town council investigation into how the comment was handled. Chase ultimately resigned his position voluntarily, agreed to stay on through a transition period, and left Whitfield County officials temporarily inheriting his duties.

Background Information #

Chase worked as the building inspector for the Town of Cohutta, a role that put him in regular contact with town leadership on code enforcement and building construction permits. It was in exactly that setting that the incident occurred: a Cohutta police officer was requested to attend a closed-door meeting with then-Town Mayor Sandy Clayborne and Chase, and the officer’s subsequent incident report provided the context for what was said there. Little else about Chase’s personal or professional history has been publicly reported; his name became known outside the town only through the body-camera audio and the reporting that followed it. At the time of the incident, Sandy Clayborne served as town mayor; she has since become the town’s vice mayor, and Brian Johnson holds the mayor’s office.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Allegations. The claims in this section are based on body-camera audio and a police incident report obtained and published by Local 3 Investigates, which reported the remarks directly. They were never admitted by Chase, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. Chase has not publicly responded to the recording; Local 3 News’ attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.

The incident traces back to a closed-door meeting about code enforcement and building construction permits, attended by Chase, then-Mayor Sandy Clayborne, and a Cohutta police officer who was requested to be present. Local 3 Investigates obtained body-camera video of the meeting through an open records request after receiving an anonymous tip. The video runs more than an hour, and while its lens was covered, the audio is what put the town in turmoil: Chase can be heard using a racial slur to refer to a church. “If you turn in right beside the church, the n****r church up here, Black church, and he turned it back this way. it’s right there on the hill,” he said, according to the audio.

The officer’s incident report documented the remark and its aftermath. Clayborne, the then-mayor, can be heard on the audio saying Chase’s first name, but no corrective action was taken at the time. The report stated that the slur violated the Town of Cohutta Employee Handbook, and that Clayborne’s failure to address the comment meant “administrative staff and the community remain subjected to discriminatory and racially biased remarks from town officials.” The officer stated that he notified his chain of command of the policy violation, and shortly afterwards an internal town council investigation began. Current Mayor Brian Johnson told Local 3 Investigates the internal investigation remained active, with the town waiting on a corrective action recommendation.

Public Reaction and Consequences #

Allegations. The remarks described above come from body-camera audio published by Local 3 Investigates; they were never admitted by Chase, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. Chase has not publicly responded to the recording.

The immediate consequence was Chase’s voluntary resignation from his position as building inspector, announced in Local 3’s September 10, 2026 update. Whitfield County officials will temporarily inherit his duties, but Chase agreed to remain on the job to ensure a smooth transition rather than leave the town without coverage. The reporting also put scrutiny on the town’s leadership: Local 3 reached out to Clayborne, now vice mayor, about why she did not address the incident when it occurred, and received no response. The station’s questions to Chase went unanswered as well. The episode grew out of the launch of Local 3 Investigates, a team the station formed to pursue stories of this kind, which received the anonymous tip that started the records request.

Current Status #

Chase is no longer serving as Cohutta’s building inspector as of his voluntary resignation, but he agreed to stay on through a transition period while Whitfield County temporarily absorbs his duties. As of the latest reporting, the town’s internal council investigation was active pending a corrective action recommendation, and the incident report’s finding that the slur violated the employee handbook stands as part of the official record. Chase has made no public statement addressing the audio.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The recording ended Chase’s tenure as Cohutta’s building inspector and shifted his duties to county-level oversight, at least temporarily, marking an abrupt end to his role in town government. The officer’s report tied the episode to a formal violation of the town employee handbook and documented a leadership failure alongside Chase’s own conduct, since the then-mayor who heard the remark took no corrective action. The case became an early showcase for the Local 3 Investigates unit and a local reference point for how small-town governments handle racist remarks by officials — captured not by an adversary, but by a police officer’s own body camera in a meeting he had been asked to attend.