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The ADVANCE, August 25, 2021 /Page 9A
Gubernatorial Candidate Vernon
Jones Wants to Take Back Georgia
Photo by Deborah Clark
TAKING BACK GEORGIA—Republican candidate for
Georgia governor Vernon Jones delivered his message
loud and clear at the Wheeler County Republican Party
meeting last week. He plans to reclaim the state follow
ing the elections of 2020 which saw Georgia lose two
Senatorial seats to Democrats and help put Joe Biden
in office.
Crossword Puzzle
Solution, page 12A
By Deborah Clark
Regional Editor
dclarkadvance@gmail. com
“Why am I running
for governor? To take
back Georgia/’ declared
candidate Vernon Jones
who stopped in Wheeler
County last week on his
campaign swing through
the state. He spoke to
members of the Wheeler
County Republican Party
on August 17 at Little Oc-
mulgee State Park.
The former long-time
Democrat who switched
to the Republican Party
in January served for
12 years in the Georgia
House of Representatives,
from 1993 until 2001 and
from 2017 until this year.
He was Chief Executive
Officer of DeKalb County
from 2001 until 2009, and
launched unsuccessful
bids for the U.S. Senate
and U.S. House of Repre
sentatives before return
ing to the State Assembly.
Jones, 60, joins a field
of contenders including
two other Republicans,
Jonathan Garcia and Dr.
Kandiss Taylor, and Lib
ertarian Shane Hazel, who
will face off with Republi
can incumbent Governor
Brian Kemp in 2022.
Jones lamented, “In
2020, we lost two good
(U.S.) Senate seats.
Trump lost the election. I
even look today at what’s
going on in Afghanistan.
We’re losing there, too.”
An ardent supporter of
President Trump, Jones
said, “When I was cam
paigning for Trump, I was
on the front lines. Kemp
and the rest of the Repub
lican leadership were on
the sidelines. I said then:
as Georgia goes, so goes
this country. When we lost
Georgia (in that election),
we lost this country.”
Brought up on a farm
in North Carolina, Jones
comes from a conserva
tive, faith-based, patriotic
family with a long record
of military service. His
father
fought
under
Gen.
George
S. Patton
in World
War II
and his
four
brothers
are military veterans. “I
believe in hard work. I am
not a victim,” he said of his
work ethic. As an African-
American he admits he
does not fit most people’s
idea of a traditional Re
publican. “But it has more
to do with who you are
and your core values.”
Jones earned a bach
elor’s degree in Business
Administration from
North Carolina Central
University in 1983 and
graduated from Harvard’s
John F. Kennedy School of
Government’s Executive
Program. Although he be
gan his political career as a
Democrat, Jones realized
that the Party had changed
so radically from the days
of President Kennedy that
it was barely recogniz
able. “It was the difference
between night and day. I
didn’t leave the Democrat
Party, it left me.”
He asserted that de
spite all of the hype to the
contrary, the Democrat
Party is not doing Black
communities any favors.
He cited the Party’s em
brace of the tenets of
Black Lives Matter as an
example. “Black lives don’t
matter to Black Lives Mat
ter. Green matters to Black
Lives Matter.” He scoffed
at the idea that Blacks
were being discriminated
against because it was dif
ficult for them to obtain
voter IDs. “It is an insult to
say the Blacks can’t afford
a free voter ID. It’s free!”
He also addressed the
Democrats’ contention
that Blacks are impeded
by voter suppression remi
niscent of the mid-nine
teenth century Jim Crowe
era. “Jim Crowe...really?
In the past, Jim Crowe
meant going to the polls
to vote and being told the
polls were closed, or put
ting a tax on you to vote,
or setting the dogs on you
if you voted. This is noth
ing but “Joe Crowe,” this is
Joe Biden.”
Jones rose to promi
nence in Republican
circles as an African-
American Democrat who
endorsed Donald Trump’s
reelection campaign.
Jones has been vehement
ly supportive of Trump’s
claims of election fraud,
appealing to Republican
voters in Georgia who
might be unhappy with
Kemp. Trump has repeat
edly attacked Kemp but
has not so far endorsed
Jones.
Jones asserted, “Don’t
let anybody fool you.
There was fraud in the
2020 election.” He ac
cused Kemp and other
state officials of cutting a
deal with Democrat Sta
cey Abrams to allow drop
off boxes to be used dur
ing the health pandemic.
He emphasized this move
favored Democrats and
Joe Biden. “The Consti
tution says that only the
Legislature can change the
election laws. Brian Kemp
caved in.”
Kemp this year signed
and has championed an
election law that Demo
crats have attacked as
discriminatory, but Jones
insists that Kemp should
have done more, including
calling a special session to
try to block Georgia's elec
toral votes from going to
Biden.
Jones also cited the
failure of the controversial
Dominion voting system,
noting, “We saw what was
going on in Fulton Coun
ty. We need some ques
tions answered. What is
wrong with a 159-county
independent audit?” He
said one of his immediate
goals as governor would
be to authorize a statewide
forensic audit of the 2020
Presidential election. “I
will form a committee to
immediately explore re
placement of the current
Dominion voting ma
chines.”
Jones noted, “When I
put my country before my
political party, the Demo
crats said I didn’t share
their values. Doggone
right I didn’t share their
values. I am going to draw
conservative Blacks to the
Republican Party. Liber
als destroyed the Black
community, and it’s go
ing to take
the Black
commu
nity to
destroy
the liber
als,” Jones
asserted,
adding,
“Kemp
can’t beat
Stacey
Abrams but I can.”
Jones said he is an
unapologetic admirer of
President Trump. “He has
done more for this coun
try than any Democrat
in the last 40 years. He
stood up to those foreign
countries and said you
are going to pay your fair
share. He built the wall
and sealed the borders. He
stopped the catch and re
lease and started catching
and returning them. He
told Mexico, you are not
going to get any money
unless you stop those cara
vans from coming through
here, and those caravans
stopped. And, look what
he did for small business
es. He put America first. If
you are going to call him
a nationalist, call me a na
tionalist,” the candidate
said of Trump.
“Look at where our
country is going: hand
cuff the police and let the
criminals go, outlaw guns.
When you outlaw guns,
only outlaws have guns,”
he said of his support of
the Second Amendment.
“On Day 1, through ex
ecutive order, I will make
Georgia a Second Amend
ment sanctuary state. I
will also work with the
General Assembly to pass
legislation making Geor
gia a constitutional carry
state.”
Jones also plans to
seek to dramatically re
duce, if not fully eliminate,
state income tax. He will
work aggressively to pass
comprehensive legisla
tion that would, in part,
ban political and social in
doctrination in the state’s
schools and ban health
care professionals from
performing transgender
medical procedures on
minors. He would also
require all public schools
in Georgia to recite the
Pledge of Allegiance daily.
His platform also in
cludes a commitment to
make it a hate crime to
commit an act of violence
against an individual due
to his or her political ide
ology or affiliation. He
also pledges to protect
peaceful protesters while
enhancing penalties for
those who commit vio
lence or incite riots.
“It’s time to fight. Are
you just going to cut bait
or fish? The Republican
Party is still the majority
in Georgia. It’s still a red
state. I want to take back
Georgia and when we take
back Georgia we take back
the rest of the country.”
By Makaylee Randolph
Contribufing Writer
Vidalia Mayor Doug
Roper and Engineer Trey
Gavin met with citizens in
a town hall forum on Au
gust 12 to address concerns
with the discolored water
throughout the city and
to present the municipal
ity’s plan of action to solve
the issue. The pair shared a
presentation of planned ac
tion with the community
before inviting citizens to
voice their thoughts at the
conclusion of the meeting.
The plan of action is
founded upon two types of
tactics: operational initia
tives and capital initiatives.
The operational initiatives
include a flushing program,
chemical optimization,
and annual cleaning while
the capital initiatives were
key pipeline replacements
and WaterValve additions
and replacements.
Gavin explained dis
colored water within the
city system could be oc
curring because of old cast
iron and rusted pipes, or
manganese and iron in the
water, which are naturally
forming and safe miner
als. These minerals tend
to settle during low usage
periods, resulting in water
discoloration; on the con
trary, the minerals stir in
the water used during high
usage periods because of
the decrease in reservoir.
Vidalia plans to regu
larly use a unidirectional
flushing strategy to regu
larly clean the pipes. This
flushing will usually occur
at night and will consist
of a strategic opening and
closing of valves within
an area to create a force
ful transition of water
CLUES ACROSS
1. Nature expedition
7. Take the energy from
10. Bungled
12. Young salmon
13. Botanical gardens
14. Source of chocolate
15. Country singer LeAnn
16. Yokel
17. Unit of energy
18. Plant of the lily family
19. Tusked wild pig
21. Form of “to be”
22. Formerly
27. Letter of the Greek alphabet
28. Former First Lady
CLUES DOWN
1. Nuclear undersea weapon
2. Flelps the skin
3. Evergreen coniferous trees
4. Relieve of employment
5. A way to drench
6. Journalist Tarbell
7. and Venzetti
8. Alcoholic liquor
9. An athlete who plays for pay
10. Where to get drinks
11. Japanese art form
12. Baseball great Satchel
14. Winged angelic beings
17. One point south of due east
18. Group of islands in Polynesia
20. A place to play: center
23. Masses of gray matter in
the brain
24. Belgian city (alt. sp.)
through pipes, which will
clean them. Gavin warned
that use immediately af
ter flushing may result in
discolored water, but the
activity should ensure the
pipes are clean. Also, regu
lar flushing during the day
will still occur to freshen
water with “dead ends.”
The city uses a poly
phosphate strategy to
chemically treat and test
the water, which they plan
to optimize for the best
possible results. For this to
happen, the chemical will
be released more quickly
following flushing to coat
the pipes but will not be
overused to avoid remains
left in the water. Vidalia
will follow the amount of
chemicals suggested by
Gavin to ensure the correct
mixture.
Also, the water tanks
are currently only cleaned
once every two years. How
ever, Vidalia plans to clean
all water tanks this year to
ensure that sediment is not
contributing to the issue
and polluting the water.
As a long-term project,
the city plans to replace
the old main water system,
which is made of cast iron
and galvanized pipes. The
cast iron pipes will be treat
ed first, then the remain
der. Also, new valves will
be installed in the system
to ensure improved flush
ing. This project will use
some of the municipality’s
ARPA COVID recovery
dollars, but the city plans
to continue to apply for
grants to minimize any tax
rate increases.
The flushing program,
chemical optimization,
and tank cleanouts will be
gin to occur next month. In
33. News organization
34. Shining brightly and
intermittently
36. Brew
37. Teams' best pitchers
38. Edible fruit
39. Pitching stat
40. or bust
41. Baby product manufacturer
44. Monetary unit of Finland
45. Small spherical structures in cells
48. Pouches
49. Reached
50. Investment account
51. Oft-repeated slogan
25. Millilitre
26. Beloved Will Ferrell film
29. Railway above ground
30. Satisfaction
31. Aggregate of molecules
32. Type of barometer
35. Type of college teacher (abbr.)
36. Long periods of time
38. Native people of Nebraska
and S. Dakota
40. Deliver
41. Thin, narrow piece of wood
42. Modem Israel founder
43. Small NY college
44. Pounds per square inch
45. Veterans battleground
46. Hollywood talent agency (abbr.)
47. Popular kids’ channel
September, October, and
November, design engi
neering will begin for the
replacement of the main
water system; the following
December and January will
be the bid and contract pe
riod. Mayor Roper hopes
to begin construction in
March of 2022, which
could take six months to a
year to complete.
Roper stressed that the
city will be in communica
tion with its citizens and
those affected when the
water is being flushed or
worked on. The flushing
process will result in a de
crease in water pressure, or
possibly a complete water
outage. “If you experience
a water outage and have
not been contacted by a
city employee, please let
our administration know,”
he said.
Gavin advised resi
dents that if discolored
water occurs shortly after
an area has experienced
the flushing process, they
should turn on an outside
water faucet and flush the
water until clear. If the is
sue persists, they should
remove the screen/aerator
from their faucet lowest to
the ground (first story or
basement) and run cold
water until clear. If the wa
ter then clears, they should
replace the aerator or
screen. If these procedures
do not work, they should
call the Vidalia City Water
Department.
Roper stated he is
hopeful that through these
measures, citizens may see
an improvement in their
water quality. “We are do
ing the best we can and will
work until we solve the is
sue,” he said.
"I am going to draw conservative Blacks to the
Republican Party. Liberals destroyed the Black
community, and it's going to take the Black com
munity to destroy the liberals,"Jones asserted, add
ing, “Kemp can't beat Stacey Abrams but I can."
—Vernon Jones
Vidalia Announces Long-Term Plan
For Water Quality Improvement
