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gfre Aiiuancg 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