A College Park business owner is pushing back against a city councilman she says is unfairly targeting two of her establishments. Her allegations have drawn public support from Mayor Bianca Motley Broom.

“I’m doing so much in your area, in your community. What did I do bad for you to come against me?” Shawn Perkins said of Councilman Joe Carn.

Perkins, owner of Big Back’s Cajun Kitchen and We R NOLA smoothie shop, is alleging that Carn is attempting to find ways to shut down both businesses, which are located in Hampshire Plaza.

The New Orleans native describes it as a “shakedown.”

Carn did not return a phone call seeking comment. City Attorney Winston Denmark issued a statement saying the councilman is not targeting or harassing Perkins and that city staff is carrying out “routine fact-gathering and due diligence efforts.”

Motley Broom has publicly accused Carn of weaponizing city employees against Perkins.

Code enforcement has shown up multiple times at Perkins’ businesses, she said, first to claim she was operating a nightclub at Big Back’s Cajun Kitchen and later to state that We R NOLA did not have a current business license.

Perkins disputes both claims. She said Big Back’s is not a nightclub and that her businesses close at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. She also said the business-license issue stems from a city error.

Last year, Perkins said, she paid a $250 fee to change the smoothie shop’s name to its current moniker. Earlier this year, she learned the name change had never been entered into the city’s computer system, preventing her from properly renewing the business license.

During a visit this week, City Manager Michael Hicks was having lunch at Big Back’s and was unaware that code enforcement had been directed to address Perkins’ businesses that day, according to Perkins.

Perkins said city employees previously warned her that the councilman was scrutinizing her businesses. She believes Carn is focused on her for two reasons: her support for Carn’s opponent during his 2025 reelection campaign, and the presence of gaming machines at her restaurant. The machines, she said, might draw customers away from another business in the shopping center.

Perkins said her gaming machines are legally licensed by the state. Carn is working to create an ordinance requiring the machines to be licensed by the city as well and, in the meantime, has sought to have them unplugged, according to the mayor and Perkins.

“They want me to give these machines back to the Georgia Lottery,” Perkins said. “It makes no sense. Everybody who wants to sell lottery gaming, they can do it if the state approves it.”

Motley Broom said the sequence of events supports Perkins’ claims that Carn is targeting her businesses.

“When you show up first thing Monday morning claiming she’s got a nightclub, and that doesn’t work; and then move to a meeting in the afternoon with code enforcement and the city manager to try to find another route,” Motley Broom told SaportaReport on Friday. “And then bring in legal on Wednesday to try to devise an ordinance so she won’t be able to use her gaming machines; yes, I do think there is some targeting there.”

Both the mayor and Perkins told SaportaReport that they believe city staff operates in fear of the councilman.

It is not the first time a business owner has accused a council member of unfairly trying to shut down a business. Last year, an unrelated allegation was made by a business owner against Councilman Roderick Gay.

In Perkins’ case, she has invested heavily in College Park, operating multiple businesses and recently establishing a nonprofit to help children in need.

As the public has become aware of the dispute, Perkins said city leaders, including Hicks, have sought to meet with her. She believes the motivation is now to resolve the issues quickly before public attention grows.

“Everybody wants me to sweep this under the rug,” she said. “But I don’t want to sweep it under the rug. Who is to say that you’re not going to come back with something else? Leave me alone. I am doing good for this community.”

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