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PCHS Symphonic Band U# W __ ,*l »H i J II 110 I.III...II...II (Mill IIII...II...U.I Farms State's Ratings A*2 *ALL FOR ADC 301 GEORGIA NEWSPAPER PROJECT UNIV OF GA C'/udt: ATHBYSGA 30602-0001 Sm page 14 p See page 2 ¥ H 4 v, 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 * 4 ft L tv i tin 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. WT LM {♦ Spring Hi Home Lawn & Garden 2012 Ncxf Wee*/ 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 ■Tj ■V .-***>: H _ 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 ■n ■M, 1 ti If# (l 7*? -^41 l w, w ft__: jjgjr, V 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