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The ADVANCE, November 30, 2022/Page 5A
From the Record
THE BLOTTER
These are the reported
arrests from the Toombs
County Sheriff's Office,
the Vidalia and Lyons
police departments,
and the Montgomery
County Sheriff's Office
for the past week,
Incidents are taken
directly from police
files. All suspects are
innocent until proven
guilty.
In Lyons...
• Shandon Lynn
Hammock, of Vida
lia, was arrested on
November 22 and
charged with DUI/.08
or more, Open Con
tainer.
• Felicia M. Lugo,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on November
26 and charged with
Disorderly Conduct,
Possession of a Con
trolled Substance,
Possession of Drug
Related Objects.
• Qwaushawn
Devonte Towns, of
Lyons, was arrested
on November 26
and charged with
Driving While License
Suspended or Re
voked (Third).
• Nathan Way-
man Ward, of Lyons,
was arrested on No
vember 27 and
charged with War
rant Service.
In Toombs
County...
The Toombs
County Sheriff's De
partment police re
port was unavailable
at presstime.
In Montgomery
County...
The Montgomery
County Sheriff's De
partment reported
no arrests for the
week.
In Vidalia...
• Kristi Lane
Browning, of Lyons,
was arrested on No
vember 21 and
charged with Theft
by Shoplifting.
• Clifford Lee Tol
bert, of Vidalia, was
arrested on Novem
ber 22 and charged
with Entering Auto.
• Devon R. Akins,
of Collins, was ar
rested on November
22 and charged with
Possession of Drug
related Objects /
Criminal Trespass /
Bench Warrant (Vi
dalia).
• Ayla Julianna
Sumner, of Vidalia,
was arrested on No
vember 22 and
charged with War
rant Served (Bench
Warrant Vidalia).
• Shaunteia
Cierra May, of Vida
lia, was arrested on
November 22 and
charged with Simple
Obstruction / Giving
False Information.
• Letoi Anqueiha
Nunn-Dent, of Vida
lia, was arrested on
November 23 and
charged with Cru
elty to Children.
• Jesse J. Trujillo,
of Lyons, was ar
rested on November
23 and charged with
Theft by Shoplifting /
Criminal Trespass /
Bench Warrant (Vi
dalia).
• James Richard
Eugene Pope, of Vi
dalia, was arrested
on November 23
and charged with
Battery.
• Roy J. Green,
Jr., of Vidalia, was ar
rested on November
24 and charged with
Warrant Served (Vi
dalia).
Rep. Allen Announces
Community Office Hours
MoCo
continued from page 1A
agreement to not contact
me anymore. This Board
member has not adhered
to this agreement as men
tioned in the letter.”
According to the
teacher, the Board mem
ber has contacted her on
three occasions: August
11, 2022, August 14, 2022,
and November 2, 2022.
“The most recent contact
was the final straw for me,”
Rodgers told the Board. “I
am speaking to you now
as an employee who does
not feel protected from a
Board member who has lit
erally harassed me, mostly
through social media, who
has attempted to tarnish
my reputation, and who
has blamed me for deci
sions that were made in
which I had zero control.”
She explained that on
Halloween (October 31),
she made a social media
post with pictures of her
family’s night of trick-or-
treating, and provided the
Board with a print copy of
the post and comments.
“On November 3, I woke
up to read comments from
this Board member on my
personal Facebook. This
Board member set out to
publicly humiliate me, re
ferring to me as “Michael
Jackson” due to a cosmetic
procedure I had.” Rodg
ers told the Board that the
procedure she underwent
was a common practice
for those who had expe
rienced large amounts of
weight loss, which she
stated she had experienced
throughout the last few
years.
“To try to body shame
me on social media is un
professional, unethical,
and vile,” she emphasized.
The teacher shared
that she believed the issue
of the Board member’s be
havior would not still be
ongoing if the Board had
acted differently in the
dealing with the matter
several months ago. “This
has greatly affected my
family, and my own physi
cal, mental, and emotional
wellbeing,” she said. “I am
not here for sympathy, but
more for the sake of aware
ness, and to show what I
call ‘a slap on the wrist,’
has not only allowed a very
embarrassing situation to
continue, but to escalate.”
Rodgers noted, “As
you know, my job is to give
my students the best edu
cation I possibly can; but
more importantly, my first
job is to protect them, to
keep them safe at all costs.
As a teacher, I feel that I
should be, or should have
been, protected as well,”
she emphasized.
Rodgers told the Board
that she is aware that the
Board member’s term will
end in January, but that
she now fears for what is to
come within the situation.
“If [this individual] is go
ing to harass me as a sitting
board member, what will
happen when [this per
son] is no longer a Board
member?” she questioned.
“I pray no other employee
will ever have to deal with
anything remotely close as
the harassment that I am
dealing with. What steps
will you put into place to
protect other teachers and
employees from harass
ment — particularly on
social media — by those
affiliated with our school
system?”
Former SRO
Former Montgom
ery County Elementary
School SRO Mickey
Moore addressed the
Board about practices
within the School System
during the public par
ticipation portion of the
meeting.
“I noticed on the
school website that you
were looking for parent
involvement,” Moore be
gan. “We have some good
parents, a great staff, great
teachers, a good Board,
and a good Superinten
dent; but our stuff just isn’t
right in order.”
Moore gave as an ex
ample an experience he
had while trying to get
information about the
School Board meetings.
“When I went to look at
some things on the School
Board website, such as
minutes, I couldn’t find
anything.”
He continued, “In pre
vious times that this has
occurred, we did not have
the previous month’s min
utes, and I was told at the
time that the last month’s
minutes would not get
posted until the next
month, after they had been
approved.”
According to Moore,
this practice, and the prac
tice of holding public par
ticipation at the opening of
the meeting rather than at
the conclusion, limits the
public in addressing the
Board. “We have no idea
what you are going to say
or what is being discussed
later on in the meeting be
sides what is on the agen
da, and that’s generalities.”
He added, “Also, if
we’re not here, we have to
wait two months until you
post the minutes to read
what y’all discuss.”
Moore told the Board
that it is important that the
public have access to the
reports of meetings in or
der to address matters in a
timely fashion.
He emphasized, “We
have not gotten to the
point to where we are
making it beneficial or
easy on the public to par
ticipate with the Board and
have a say-so in how their
children’s education goes
about.”
He told the Board that
several teachers and other
members of the commu
nity contacted him with
their own concerns over
this matter.
“They feel intimidated
enough that they cannot
come before this Board to
tell [you] how they feel.
The only way that your
policies within the schools
will get better is if you lis
ten to (teachers and com
munity members) about
the outcome of all these
policies and whether they
actually work,” he empha
sized.
He emphasized the
need for not only keeping
the public and teachers in
formed of actions, but also
advocated allowing teach
ers to give input on how
policies are working in the
classroom.
“I support everyone of
you the best I can. I sup
port the teachers and the
School System, but please
let’s work together to get
this right. Our kids de
serve to be treated fairly,”
he commented.
Board Response
BOE Chairman Jim
Paul Poole responded
to Moore’s address. “Mr.
Moore implied a few
things there that certainly
nobody was aware of,” he
said. “I think technology
is a wonderful thing, but
sometimes, it takes a little
time to get those things
right.”
He continued, “But,
the other implications that
I heard, have no founda
tion whatsoever. For the
17 years that I have been
on the Board, we have ap
preciated and encouraged
public participation, ex
cept for 4-5 years when we
had a superintendent that
did not allow anyone to
speak at the Board meet
ings. That all changed,
and since that time, we
have gone back to public
participation. I hope that
we will continue to have
that policy.” Poole added
that sometimes the Board
is not aware of problems
until someone comes for
ward to make the Board or
individual Board members
aware. “So, we want to en
courage the continuation
of our teachers, all of per
sonnel and the public, to
come let us know and give
us their opinion.”
Poole noted, “The
Board does not take these
things lightly. We go into
executive session to dis
cuss a lot of things in our
meeting. So, don’t think
you are speaking to deaf
ears when you come to tell
us about things we may
need to take a closer look
t »
at.
Action Items
A $25,000 Term Life
Insurance Policy will
now be provided annu
ally for employees after
the Board’s approval at the
meeting. Premiums for
these policies will be paid
for by the Board.
Congressman Rick W.
Allen (GA-12) announced
his office will host Com
munity Office Hours across
counties in Georgia’s 12th
District during the month
ofDecember.
During these events,
members of Congressman
Allen’s staff will be avail
able to assist constituents
with a variety of federal
issues, including help navi
gating various federal agen
cies such as Social Security,
Veterans Affairs, Medicare,
and others. Congressman
Allen himself will not be in
attendance.
Allen said, "I invite
anyone seeking help with
a federal issue to take ad
vantage of the one-on-one
services my office provides.
If you need assistance deal
ing with a federal agency,
our team of dedicated
caseworkers stands ready
to help you. Please visit us
during Community Of
fice Hours this month or
contact one of our district
offices for more informa
tion.”
See below for a list of
Community Office Hours
dates, times, and locations
in this area.
Montgomery County
WHEN: Monday, Decem
ber 5 from 11:00 AM to
12:30 PM
WHERE: Montgomery
County Courthouse
Mount Vernon, GA 30445
Treutlen County
WHEN: Monday, Decem
ber 5 from 9:00 AM to
10:30 AM
WHERE: Treutlen County
Commissioners Office
1830 Martin Luther King,
Jr., Drive
Soperton, GA 30457
Wheeler County
WHEN: Monday, Decem
ber 5 from 1:30 PM to 3:00
PM
WHERE: Alamo City Hall
105 Commerce St.
Alamo, GA 30411
TOOMBS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PUBLIC NOTICE
A copy of the 2023 proposed budget for Toombs County will be avail
able at the Commissioners Office in the Courthouse located at 100
Courthouse Square, Lyons, Georgia from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Mon
day through Friday beginning November 30, 2022.
The Board of Commissioners will have a Public Hearing for public
comments on the 2023 proposed budget Monday, December 12, 2022
at 3:00 P.M. in Courtroom A located in the Courthouse at 100 Court
house Square, Lyons, Georgia.
The Board of Commissioners will adopt the 2023 Budget Resolution
at the Regular Scheduled Meeting Tuesday, December 20, 2022 at 5:30
PM in Courtroom A located in the Courthouse at 100 Courthouse
Square, Lyons, Georgia.
ADVERTISEMENT
FOR BIDS
Sealed bids will be received for Water System Improvements on McIntosh Street (SR 130)
- (Pine Street to SR 292) at the City of Vidalia, City Hall, 114 Jackson Street, Vidalia, Georgia
30475 until 11:00 A.M. (Local Time), on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at which time they will be
publicly opened and read.
The work under this Contract will consist generally of the following:
The construction of + 1950 FT of 8” DR 18 C-900 water main, + 5 fire hydrant assemblies, +
8 3 4” long side service transfers, + 16 3 4” short side transfers, + 2 connections to existing water
mains, abandoning the existing water main and all other necessary appurtenances for a complete
project. An alternative bid will be received to construct a 12” DR 18 water main in leu of the 8”.
All work on the Project must be completed within 120 consecutive calendar days of date of
notice to proceed.
Bid shall be submitted on Bid Proposal Forms furnished for that purpose, in accordance with
the Contract Documents and the Plans and Specifications, which are on file and maybe reviewed
at the office of the City of Vidalia, City Hall and the office of Hofstadter and Associates, Inc.,
Consulting Engineers, 4571 Arkwright Road, Macon, Georgia 31210.
Copies of Bid Forms, Plans, Specifications and Contract Documents may be obtained from
Hofstadter and Associates, Inc., 4571 Arkwright Road, Macon, Georgia 31210, upon deposit of
$150.00 per set (.pdf format). No refund will be made for returned documents.
No bid will be considered unless sealed and filed with the City of Vidalia prior to the time set
forth above, and accompanied by a Bidder's Bond, payable to the City of Vidalia, for 10 percent of
the amount of the bid; to be forfeited as liquidated damages in the event that the bid be accepted
and the bidder fail to enter promptly into a written contract and furnish the required Payment
Bond and Performance Bond and Insurance Certificates. Bids arriving after the designated time
will be returned unopened.
No bids shall be withdrawn for a period of 60 days after the opening of bids. The City of
Vidalia reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to overlook and/or disregard informalities
or irregularities in the proposals.
DATED: November 1, 2022
CITY OF VIDALIA, CITY HALL
114 JACKSON STREET, VIDALIA, GEORGIA 30475