Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, February 17, 2021/Page 2A
Stye Aiiuance
Faith
continued from page 1A
positive changes through
out the district.
Essentially, the pro
gram offers early inter
vention for people at
risk of being seduced by
drugs, gangs and violence.
“We’ve got a gang and a
violence problem, and
my office approaches this
problem from both the
front end and the back
end. The back end is when
people commit violent
crimes and go to prison.”
It is better for every
one if the problem is at
tacked at the front end,
Fitzner advised. “The
point is to get to people
early and to change their
minds and, hopefully,
their hearts, too. I don’t
think you have to sell that.
I think every reasonable
person would agree that is
a good idea.”
He added, “On the
back end, we will have
a zero tolerance policy
for people who use guns
to commit crimes in the
name of gangs, or gang vi
olence. I genuinely believe
there is room for both
(the front end and back
end) principles without
being contradictory.”
Fitzner pointed out
this initiative is so impor
tant he wanted to get it
started in his first 30 days
as the District’s new DA.
He won his post in the
November 3, 2020, elec
tion. “We are never ever
going to make progress
in the war against gangs
in our community if we
don’t reach out to every
body and if we don’t get
everybody invested in
the safety of our commu
nity. If law enforcement
(and the judiciary) could
solve this by ourselves, we
would have already done
it. Let’s work together
to make the community
safer.”
Fitzner, who held an
inaugural session for the
new program at Harvest
Time Church in Vidalia
recently, is reaching out to
faith-based organizations
and churches for help in
getting the project started.
“We can find common
ground if we don’t get
hung up in the details,”
he said, noting, “We can
course correct, but let’s
get started.”
It is Fitzner’s goal to
hold open forums in dif
ferent areas of the Mid
dle Circuit three or four
times a year and to hear
directly from community
residents on what they
want to incorporate into
the initiative.”We are not
focused on any particu
lar demographic. We are
bringing people in the
faith community together
to start having a conver
sation about how we can
make the communities
safer and better.”
He is looking toward
investment from faith-
based organizations for
a good reason. “People
in the church are not just
talkers, they are doers.
They are the ones who
can effectuate the most
change by the nature of
what they do. I didn’t
want this to be something
where we talked and noth
ing ever came of it.”
Fitzner described the
effort as a kind of hybrid,
pretrial diversion concept
that has been rebranded.
“We wanted to reach (of
fenders) before they had
significant criminal re
cords and to get them in
volved with faith-based
organizations,” he said,
noting that candidates
would need to agree to en
ter the alternative to incar
ceration program volun
tarily. The hybrid program
would offer the structure
of the judicial system
which involves courts,
random drug tests, certain
legal requirements and re
strictions, and adds an ex
tra layer with a faith-based
component. “This pro
gram is not designed to be
easy. If they don’t want to
change I don’t want them
in this program. We want
people who want to make
an improvement,” Fitzner
advised.
“And we can’t do it if
the faith-based commu
nity doesn’t buy into this,”
he added. “I will also say
the more who are interest
ed, the more we can help.”
The criteria for a can
didate’s admission into
the program is posted on
the Middle Georgia DA
Office’s website (middle-
da.org). Also on the web
site are documents neces
sary for churches and or
ganizations whose mem
berships want to apply for
inclusion in the project.
Additionally, Fitzner’s of
fice will be available to an
swer questions.
“I wanted to be trans
parent,” Fitzner said. He
noted that candidates who
are recommended for the
program will be screened
very carefully. These of
fenders cannot have prior
felony or substantial mis
demeanor records. “These
will be lower level offend-
ers.
Fitzner said criteria
for candidate for inclu
sion also includes that
candidates not be serv
ing a sentence and have
no major drug or alcohol
dependence. He said that
he has reached out to the
Toombs County Preven
tion, Treatment and Re
covery Initiative for ad
vice on substance abuse
disorder services if they
are needed in meeting the
needs of candidates. “We
recognize that substance
abuse requires profes
sional intervention. We
are looking for people
who offer services in the
community because we
want to take advantage of
multiple resources in the
communities we serve,”
Fitzner said.
Offenders will be re
quired to attend court-
appointed appearances, to
be drug tested randomly,
be employed, or seek em
ployment. They will also
be required to commit to
a minimum of 120 hours
to the program over a pe
riod of approximately 12
months. If the candidates
fulfill all of the require
ments of the program,
their cases will be dis
missed, Fitzner said.
What sets this pro
gram apart is that it will be
guided and perfected by
the faith-based commu
nity. Candidates will be
doing volunteer work for
the church, a community
food bank, or anything
that directly affects their
spiritual growth and im
proves conditions in the
community, Fitzner said.
He believes what people
of faith can bring to the
table is critical. “I have
never seen the criminal
justice system save any
one’s soul.”
How the program will
evolve over time remains
to be determined. “We
want to wait and see what
the details will look like
because it’s a new initia
tive and different organi
zations will have different
ideas. We intentionally left
the (parameters) broad
because each organization
will have its own unique
outreach. If we need to
make adjustments down
the road, we will make
changes.” He cautioned
that the program cannot
support political applica
tions or activities intend
ed for individual gain.
Reinforcing that he
wanted to approach the
problems many commu
nities are experiencing
from a different angle,
Fitzner said, “I see the
value in bringing together
people who are united in
purpose.”
In addition to Toombs
County, the District also
serves Candler, Emanuel,
Jefferson and Washington
counties.
Financial Strength In A Growing Community
A*f Your Local Financial Center...
Home Loans • Auto Loans • Consumer Loans • Mortgages • Checking Accounts •
Savings Accounts • Safe Deposits • Drive-In Service- ATM & Debit Cards
24 Hour Banking: 537-4540 www.vidfedonline.com
Wheeler School Board Plans
March Groundbreaking
By Andrea Towns
Contributing Writer
The Wheeler Coun
ty Board of Education,
which met February 8,
voted to wait until March
to reschedule a ground
breaking for the new K-12
school. The ceremony was
postponed from Febru
ary 2 because of inclement
weather. Rain has slowed
progress at the school’s
new site; however, the con
struction crews are work
ing as diligently as possible,
Superintendent Suzanne
Couey reported.
“Property taxes have
started rolling in,” Couey
said. As of the board meet
ing, 29.94% of the pro
jected amount has been
received, “which was great
to see since we have been
operating all year thus far
without them.”
Couey noted, “The
month of January went
very well as far as COVID
cases go, but we had a few
cases the first week of Feb
ruary.” There were “just
a few positive cases, but
they led to many students
being quarantined.” Most
students were scheduled
to return either February
8 or 9. The week following
Monday’s meeting, no pos
itive cases were reported
among staff or students nor
any additional quarantines
due to school-related cases.
“We will continue to moni
tor community and school
spread and adjust accord
ingly,” Couey said.
In other business, the
board approved the pur
chase of a used truck for
the maintenance depart
ment, as well as a drag
machine for the baseball
and softball machines. The
board recommended Kris
tin Hartley as a classroom
substitute and approved
the letter of resignation/
retirement from Cindy
Bowen.
MoCo
continued from page 1A
by EMC Engineering in
volves conducting research
and reports necessary
for the development of a
county ordinance for speed
limits. “This will only apply
to paved roads, not to un
paved county roads,” Brad-
dy said.
All of the work con
ducted by the firm will
comply with Georgia De
partment of Transporta
tion policy regarding es
tablishment of speed zones
and will include necessary
public meetings, planning,
site visits and reports nec
essary for decision making
by the County Commis
sion.
The work will include
two preliminary input
meetings with interested
parties prior to the adop
tion of the ordinance re
vision to allow public in
put. These meetings will
be information gathering
sessions to allow those
with the most knowledge
of local roadways the op
portunity to provide input
regarding the appropriate
speed limits for the road
ways under scrutiny.
The firm will use avail
able online data including
GDOT county maps, on
line aerial and topographic
mapping, tax assessor’s
website parcel data along
with GDOT STARS traf
fic information and other
online data sources. These
courses, long with data
gathered during prelimi
nary input meetings, will
be used to determine the
initial speed limit for the
targeted roadways.
Site visits will be made
to each road where EMC
personnel will ride each
mile of the subject roads at
the speed limit determined
to assess the safety of the
initial sped determination
from a geometric stand
point. Areas that require
cautionary signage will be
noted on the speed limit
analysis sheet. Adjustment
will be made from these
site visits which will be
used in the final ordinance.
The firm will develop
an ordinance that meets
GDOT policy and attend
one County Commission
meeting to discuss find
ings and answer questions
about the proposed ordi
nance prior to its adoption.
Your
ONLINE
Got a complaint? Got a
compliment? Call Your
Mind On Line at 537-6397
and let us know what's
on your mind. Quotes are
printed exactly as they are
called in and are not nec
essarily factual, but rather,
callers' opinions. Libelous,
slanderous, personal at
tacks, and unfounded ac
cusatory or lengthy com
ments will not be printed.
Two calls per week per
caller, and calls should
not exceed 30 seconds,
please.
“Rush Limbaugh
has been preaching
32 years, not 30 years.
If he hadn't been
preaching, we'd be
in worse shape than
we are.
“There’s something
terribly wrong with
the Vidalia Post Of
fice. When a bill is
dropped in the mail
slot going to a P.O.
box in Vidalia and in
10 days, the bill has
not arrived, there is
something wrong
with the postal ser
vice in Vidalia."
“I went to Walmart
today. All it did was
confirm why I'd
rather go to a gro
cery store, 2 dollar
stores, and a drug
store instead of hav
ing to go in that
place where I have
to check myself out
and bag myself ev
ery time I go."
“This request is for
all area high school
baseball coaches.
Would you please fix
up a roster of your
players where grand
parents or friends
who don't know the
kids can keep up
with who's playing. It
would be a great
help for grandpar
ents."
“While we are
sprucing up the city
for visitors to the On
ion Festival, it might
be a good idea to
identify the streets
with street signs. Ride
down 280 and you
will find that very few
of the side streets
have signs naming
them, as well as
streets in the neigh
borhoods. The signs
that are there are
faded and unread
able."
Your Local Tax
Professional
Also Serving You In:
Vidalia
Sandersville
Eastman
Warner Robbins
Fort Valley
M i I ledgevi 11 e
Perry
Dublin
Find us on:
facebook
602 E First St., Vidalia
FreedomTax
912-386-0066