Newspaper Page Text
Letters to the editor
Peach County School system
After 16 years I have decided to go to
college. But that is not directly the
subject of this letter. 1 had to take
placement tests in math, English,
reading and vocabulary to determine
whether or not I needed to rake
remedial courses. To my surprise and
immense pleasure, I scored high
enough on the reading, vocabulary,
and English tests to be placed on an
"Honors" English class. Although I
will take some of the credit, I owe a
great deal of credit to the Peach County
school system.
Through the years I have realized
more and more the value of my public
school education. I never miss a chance
to brag on the Peach County school
system and the great opportunity it
offers its students — not only book
Byron Library programs
Editor:
The Byron Friends of rhe Library are
sponsoring a series of monthly
programs at the Byron Library. These
programs are free, and the public is
invited to attend Each program is
designed to be of interest to the
community. Previous programs have
included a CPR course, a first aid
course, and a program on how to make
homemade bread. Future programs
will included Christmas crafts, how to
Postponed meeting
A goodly number of Peach County
citizens and taxpayers drove many
miles and gathered in the parking area
of the courthouse in Fort Valley on
Thursday, September 22, at 7:30 p.m of
to attend a pre-scheduled meeting
concerned citizens The building was
locked, so it was not possible to
assemble the group inside. After some
telephoning, it appeared the meeting
had been postponed. 4
Travel costs are expensive (in
addition to the time and effort wasted)
so in the f uture it would be appreciated
if a brief, one-line announcement could
be carried in the press and/or over the
Powell responds strongly to editorial
Billy Powell, chairman ot the
Committee on Taxation, has issued a
strong statement about an editorial
which appeared in last week's issue of
The leader Tribune
The editorial supported the Peach
County Commissioners for discussing
the results of a Department of Revenue
study of the recent tax re-evaluation at
their regular monthly meeting, Powell
had criticized the commissioners for
leaking to the press” the results of
the study prior to discussing it with the
Committee on Taxation's steering
committee.
In his editorial, Editor Wilton
Walton defended the commissioner's
actions saying. "The commissioners
discussed the contents of the letter at a
public meeting To expect the
commissioners to discuss such public
matters in private, or only in front of
any sftcual interest group, is foolish,
indeed Would Powell have preferred
that the commissioners break the law
and close the door on the public before
discussing the matter? The newspaper
A as doing its job by being present The
commissioners were doing their job
correctly bv disc ussing it in the open
Responding to ihe editorial, Billy
Powell said Monday he learned of the
audit report over the telephone, from
Walton, who also mid him the
commissioners were trying m get in
touch with him
At 6:00 p m . W L Brown arrived
at my house with copies of the report. 1
declined reading it on the grounds that
it was inappropriate for me as only one
citizen to accept the report on behalf of
several hundred Peach Counnans who
packed the courthouse on September
2." he said
Powell said that the commissioners
had promised at that meeting to tall a
special meeting to review the findings
once the audit report was received He
said the commissioners "had violated
their agreement in prematurely
releasing the report to The Leader
Tribune
"If they were going to discuss it at
their September 13 meeting, why
didn’t they notify us 5 It shouldn r have
been discussed at the meeting which
started at 9:00 a m when most people
are at work." he said.
Powell said that at the time of his
being asked to accept the report, it
was not inconceivable that rhe
commissioners would sav the tax
digest was sanitized, the assessors
were doing a good job. and since the
report’s findings had been published in
the news media, that there was no
need for any further deliberations or
meetings They could have easily
washed their hands on the whole
matter. By my not reading the report.
^ commissions were obligated to
fulfill their promise to meet on the
day and time) a fairly strict dress code
and encourages students to act as
ladies and gentlemen in every way.
I read (in The Leader-Tribune ] with
great pride and pleasure that the
system was "Accredited With Honor. ”
I applaud Superintendent Ernest
Anderson and the faculty of the Peach
County school system. Seldom do !
read an edition of The leader Tribune
that does not have an article
highlighting the accomplishments of
individual students or the system as a
whole. It is rare that a school system in
a small community can achieve such
state and national respect and
recognition. Once again, my hat is off
to Mr. Ernest Anderson and the Peach
County school system faculty. Keep up
the good work. [Mullis] Wallace
JoAnn
handle stress, a on
™ lj ucs
This month’s program will be held
September 29 at 7:30 at the Byron
Library. The speaker will be Sue
Leslie, instructor of history at Macon
Junior College, and the topic will be
' Women of the
Plantation Mistress:
Old South.”
Barbara Joyner, program chairman
Byron Friends of (he Library
air
called off or postponed In instances
when significant segments of the
population are involved, such notices
are especially important and most
welcome. Thanks,
K R. Slocum
Byron, Georgia
P S. The writer is not a member of the
Committee on Taxation, The message
above refers to the general assembly of
taxpayers which has been meeting in
the main courtroom in the courthouse
the past several Thursdays.
P.G.S.: Timely Quote: "The power to
tax is the power to destroy.” J.S. Chief
Justice John Marshall
report at a public forum.
Powell also called Walton’s criticism
of him “unwarranted,” “I have never
criticized him for publishing the audit
report. It is his responsibility to report
the news 1 respect the obligation of the
Fourth Estate to keep the public
informed,” he said.
He added that he felt that Walton
was duty-bound to publish the results
of the audit once they had been
revealed to him. “He owed it to his
readership It is almost a sacred right
of the press and the free press is one of
the protectors of basic freedom,”
Powell said
“The entire steering committee and
many loc al citizens have applauded me
for my stand on this issue and for my
presence of mind in refraining from
reading the report which could have
been a ploy by the commissioners to
negate the requirement for further
deliberations,'' he added.
Powell also repeated his criticism of
the audit, saying it was "Nothing more
than white-wash' job. We
successfully shot down tfie audit
report Due to its obvious inadequa
t ies. I don't believe the report will ever
rise again The commissioners
certainly won’t be able to hide behind
it to justify their positions on the tax
digest, " he said
Walton defended the editorial by
calling Powell's leaked to the press'
remark entirely inappropriate
' The basic difference between
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^ *********★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
A patriot’s
perspective
by Cornelia B. Nichols
A lesson or two this patriot has
learned since she began reporting
some news for The Leader-Tribune.
In the first place, she has seen
bloated government bureaucracy in
action. In covering a recent meeting of
the Peach County Commission this
patriot heard a state employee speak
about a matter of relatively minor
importance. Said employee requested
that a county commissioner act as a
judge in a contest to name a vehicle for
use by senior citizens. She then
inquired if any county commissioner
had any questions about the
transportation angle of her job with the
Older American Council,
The woman in question presented
her points clearly, concisely and
capably. No local official had any
questions or problems with her
presentation. spokes¬
However, accompanying the
man were another woman and three
men, at least one of whom probably
came from Atlanta. Only two of the five
persons spoke; the other three
ventured no comments.
This patriot questions why five
employees all of whose salaries are
paid by us, the taxpayers - came to
this meeting. Surely two would have
been enough to convey the information
desired by our county commissioners!
A second lesson has been
re-enforcement of a belief in
representative, not pure, democracy.
Appointed officials will meet gladly
with elected representatives of a
group; said officials flatly refuse to
appear before the whole group. These
officials know, as our forefathers knew,
the dangers of democracy that can
degenerate into mob rule or anarchy,
Good lessons these!
Fire report
Except for aiding county firefighters
in a trailer fire on Highway 96 on
September 23 (see related story on
page l) the city fire department
reported only stove fire at 107
Troutman Avenue on Sunday, October
25, at 2:45 p.m. Only minor damage
resulted
Billy's mine
that I don’t think the commissioners
were being devious. They never have
been devious and 1 believe they are
honorable and good people and he
apparently feels otherwise,” Walton
said,
I'he editor said that Powell thought
the commissioners were “trying to
weasel out of the meeting with the tax
committee, when in fact, at that
September 13 meering (in which the
audit report was discussed), they
agreed to meet with the tax
committee.
The decision to meet with the tax
committee came following a lunch
break at the commission meeting,
Walton said. "I was doing my job by
being there and by knowing about it.
They went out of their way to tell Billy
about the letter and to let him read it
before he read it in the paper.”
Walton said he had talked with
Powell about the audit report and
asked him to call him back after he
discussed it with Commissioner W. L.
Brown. “He didn’t call back,” he said.
The tax committee is a special
interesi group Walton said. ‘A
special interest group should not get
any special consideration other than
the public gets. I was there
representing the vast majority of the
public. No one from the steering
committee was present. Other than the
commissioners and Tom Franklin (the
County Clerk), I was the only one
there ”
The Leader-Tribune, Fort Valley, Georgia, Thursday, September 29, 1983
Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday
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