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GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT
UNIV OF GA
C'/udt: ATHBYSGA 30602-0001
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Vol. 126 Issue No. 12 500 Peach County's News r much ii> ton
Legal Organ For Peach County. City of Fort Valley and City Ot Byron
Roy lewis
Announces
Re-Election
Run at Board
Meeting
By Victor Kulkosksy
Newt Editor
County Commissioner Roy Lewis
used the occasion of the regular
monthly meeting of the Peach County
Board of Commissioners to announce
his intent to seek a third term.
‘Tve enjoyed serving the people of
Peach County and I want to continue
that,” said Lewis, who in his second
term on Post 1, which covers the Byron
area. Lewis said he intends to qualify
when the qualification period takes
place in May.
In other business, Bobby Patel
addressed commissioners concerning
Sunday beer and wine sales in the
unincorporated areas of the county.
He said he wanted his stores to be able
to compete with businesses in Bibb
and Houston counties and the City of
Byron. Voters in those areas recently
approved Sunday alcohol sales. Peach
County voters approved liquor by the
drink last year but not Sunday alcohol
sales.
County Attorney Jeff Liipfert said
the earliest date a ballot measure could
be put up for a vote would likely be
November if commissioners wanted to
do so. Commissioner Martin Moseley
said there was a consensus among
commissioners to put a Sunday alcohol
Continued to page 3
What’s
INSIDE
Peach In 6* Out 8
Police Beat...... S
Opinion........... A
Country hiring. 8
Faith Matters.. 8
Sports............. 7
School............ 8
Local 9
10-18
GUssiflads..... 13
Just For You.. 14
Local Weather
Forecast
BarfyQoudy Wednesday, Mar. 21
Hi: 86* rSI
lo: 60*
Partly Cloudy Tfo/rsdaY. Mar. 22
Hi: 85* jjpPkfc
Lo: 60*
ftudar Storms f r j ( j a y / Mar 23
Hi: 85*
Lo: 63*
Thunder Storm Saturday, Mar 24
Hi: 82*
Lo: 58*
Portly Cloudy Sunday, Mar. 25
Hi: 81*
Lo: 56*
Serving i ntv r i i a h er I Off ) cars I Peach Publishing ( o. \ewspaper
City Over Firing
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John David Anderson
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
John David Anderson is contesting
the decision by the Fort Valley Mayor
and Council to fire him as Director of
Public Safety.
Last Thursday, the Mayor and
Council split 4-3 to accept the recom¬
mendation of City Administrator Marta
McAfjgyto disnyss Anderson following
an investigation into a complaint of
sexual harassment made against him by
Officer Casey Pippin.
In a memo to the Mayor and Council
dated March 13, 2012, McAfee wrote,
Bentley Campaigns
in Fort Valley
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
With redistricting and the announced
retirement of Rep. Lynmore James, the
State House district that includes Fort
Valley is up for grabs.
Patty James Bentley, Chairwoman
of the Taylor County Board of
Commissioners, was in Fort Valley
Monday campaigning for Georgia
House of Representatives District 139,
which will include Taylor, Macon and
Dooly counties and the Fort Valley side
of Peach County.
Two other candidates have filed with
the Georgia Government Transparency
and Campaign Finance Commission:
Peach County Commissioner Michael
B. Dinkins and Thomas Leslie Coogle,
an Oglethorpe businessman. Filing
with the ethics commission is necessary
for a candidate to begin accepting dona¬
tions. Qualifying for State House seats
is in May. The primary for State House
and Senate elections is July 31, 2012.
In between greeting passers-by
in downtown Fort Valley, Bentley
answered questions for The Leader
Tribune.
“I'm running so I can be able to
help more people,” Bentley said. She
is Chairwoman of the Taylor County
Fort Valley Finished Fiscal 2011 in the Black
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Mayor John Stumbo allowed
Councilwoman Melba Hester to deliv¬
er the meat of the good news: the
audit of the city's fiscal 2011 finances
showed the city finishing solidly in the
black. The announcement came at the
Mayor and Council's regular monthly
meeting last Thursday.
Hester, who chairs the Finance
Committee, said the city's General
Fund had ended the previous bud-
Congratulations Ryan
Sharpe For Winning the
Nail Driving Contest
See page 7
"Based on my investigation of that
complaint, it is recommended that
Director Anderson’s employment with
the City be terminated for his failure
to properly supervise and a serious
dereliction of duty with regard to
maintaining command. His failure
to adequately address personnel
matters has compromised his ability
to continue to lead the Public Safety
Department.”
The memo goes on to say that many
of Officer Pippins allegations "were
not substantiated or confirmed from
other sources,” but "the investiga¬
tion clearly revealed that Director
Anderson made unprofessional and
inappropriate comments about Officer
Pippin to at least one other employ¬
ee.” The memo says that Anderson’s
"intimate and casual conversation”
with Pippin and other officers, “falls
well below the acceptable standard
of conduct for his level of command "
McAfee further wrote that Anderson
failed to uphold personnel policies “so
as to protect the decorum and integ¬
rity of the Public Safety Department,”
and both failed to act against inappro¬
priate conversations and participated
in such conversations himself.
“In failing to act and in engaging
n
»
• *.
Patty James Bentley during greets a pass¬
ing truck driver a cam¬
paign stop Monday the in Fort Valley.
She is running for new State
House District 139, which includes
the Fort Valley side of Peach Coun¬
ty, along with Taylor, Macon and
Dooly counties. Photo by Victorr
Kulkosky
Board of Commissioners and has been
a commissioner for eight years. She
also co-founded the Taylor County
Chamber qf Commerce. The new
District 139*covers some of the terri¬
tory from Rep. James' district. James
has announced he is stepping down
after 20 years and Bentley said he has
endorsed her candidacy. Her campaign
Continued to page 3
get year with $52364 under budget
for expenses, while taking in about
$137jOOO more than budgeted in rev¬
enues
"All of you know these are difficult
times,” Mayor Stumbo said, “difficult
for people, difficult for businesses and
cities. We came up with a budget
we felt we would live within. I want
to express my appreciation the coun¬
cil’s appreciation to every one of the
employees in the city," for the finan¬
cial performance in fiscal 2011, which
ended Sept. 30, 2011. He said “few.
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in such conversations, he unreason¬
ably exposed the city of Fort Valley
to potential liability. Consequently,
Director Anderson has compromised
his ability to continue to lead the
Public Safety Department,” McAfee
wrote.
In a statement emailed to The
Leader-Tribune on Monday, Anderson
announced his intent to appeal the
Mayor and Council's decision and to
possibly sue the city for breach of
contract.
“1 was on administrative leave with
pay while the city investigated what
turned out to be an unsubstantiat¬
ed complaint of sexual harassment
against me as well as against training
Lieutenant Randall Harris. We both
were cleared of any wrongdoing in the
investigation: However the city admin¬
istrator still choose to recommend that
my contract be terminated," Anderson
wrote in his statement.
(In her interview with McAfee,
Officer Pippin said Lt. Harris had
“never made any dcmpnfrry
ments,” had never harrassed her and
“had always been supportive of her and
helped her in her job.’’)
Continued to page 9
Kelley Brock
Is New
Farm Bureau
Manager
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By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
The Peach County Office of the
Georgia Farm Bureau has a new
Agency Manager.
Kelley R. Brock, LUTCF, just recent¬
ly came to the local Farm Bureau
office after four years in the Crawford
County office. He replaces John
Hughes, who retired January 1 after 18
years in the Peach County office.
The Georgia Farm Bureau is a vol¬
untary organization that promotes the
interests of over 300,000 members,
mostly farm families in rural Georgia.
Continued to page 3
if any” cities in Georgia finished their
most recent fiscal year with below
budget expenses and above budget
revenue.
In a related matter, the council
approved a resolution amending die
fiscal 2011 operating budgets. Stumbo
said the amendments are necessary to
balance out line items that were under
budget with those what were over bud¬
get. The main difference was the city's
health insurance costs, which were
Continued to page 9
Regina
Mansfield
Leaves
Byron Better
Home Town
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Regina Mansfield with one
of the bird houses she paint¬
ed for the Battle of Byron's
Bird House fundraiser. Be¬
hind her is the mural she
painted for The Cow and
The Calf Gallery. Photo by
Victor Kulkosky
By Victor Kulkosky
News Editor
Last Friday, Regina Mansfield was
clearing her desk as she prepared to
depart as Director of Byron's Better
Home Town program. Movers were
coming to her home at 5 p.m. that
day. By Monday, she was scheduled
to start a new and equivalent posi¬
tion with Gainesville (Georgia) Main
Street.
When took the job with Byron
BHT about three years ago, “I hit
the ground running,” she said in an
interview.
Better Home Town is a program
created by he Georgia Department of
Community Affairs that helps small
towns develop and promote their
downtowns. In Regina's case, that
involves coordinating and collaborat¬
ing with other people in all kinds of
events, from the Byron Christmas
Parade to Nightmare on Main Street,
to the annual Easter Egg Hunt. It
also means running the Farmer's
Market, which brings vendors of
produce, food and crafts to down¬
town on Saturdays during the spring
and summer. There's also working
with the Georgia Peach Festival, col¬
laborating with the Lion's Club and
the Byron Area Historical Society,
booking and promoting the confer¬
ence center at the Byron Municipal
Complex, putting together and dis¬
tributing a monthly newsletter, and
of course, sending a monthly report
to the state.
“1 wear so many hats," Regina said
The Chicago native earned a degree
in marketing from the University of
Kentucky, with a minor in art history.
Those credentials cover all of Regina's
interests: painting, graphic design,
historical preservation and marketing.
She did some work painting the old
drugstore in Downtownn Byron when
the Convention & Visitors Bureau
was still housed there.
“I just kept coming back,” Regina
said. She had been doing some
graphic design work for the CVB
when Director Frances McDaniel
hired her for the Better Home Town
position. Among the work she leaves
behind is the mural for The Cow and
The Calf Gallery, where the CVB is
housed. She just finished painting
a couple of the bird houses that are
Continued to page 3