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The Le*6 Count y Ledger
Your Hometown Source Of Local News
Hometown Newspaper of Bob and Betsy Usrv
Volume XLV- Number 43
Leesburg, Georgia - - June 21, 2023
Fifty Cents
Goodbye and Good Luck to Jim Wright
Special to the Ledger
by David Dixon
After 23 years, Chief
Code Enforcement
Officer and Marshal Jim
Wright resigned from
Lee County and will
continue his career as a
Code Enforcement Of
ficer in Oconee County,
South Carolina.
Those of us who have
had the pleasure to work
with Jim know that he
would literally do any
thing to help the citizens
of Lee County, and
beyond, if requested. To
list all of Jim’s accom
plishments would take
many pages, however, it
is good to be reminded
of what a good man Jim
is and acknowledge his
incredible service to Lee
County over the years.
Starting in 2000, Jim
has been an employee
of the Sheriff’s Office,
including the Narcotics
Division, was Police
Chief of Smithville, and
finally in Lee County
Code Enforcement.
While in Code En
forcement he also took
on several new chal
lenges like Stormwater
Management, Rivers
Alive, the Great Amer
ican Clean-up, and the
supervision of Animal
Control and the Animal
Shelter. Jim exceeded in
every job he held in Lee
County.
Jim has delivered mail,
gotten food for co-work
ers when they are unable
to leave for lunch, spent
weekends and holidays
helping our City Police
and Sheriff’s Office
during emergencies like
floods and hurricanes,
and carried food to the
underprivileged and
shut-ins during COVID.
He also worked at the
Lee Animal Shelter
as needed to help his
staff care for the ani
mals during weekends,
holidays, or anytime
they were understaffed.
He and his wife Stacy
are longtime members
of the Lirst Baptist
Church of Leesburg
and served on the Lee
County Board of Lamily
Connections for many
years. Just about every
event Lee County has
held in the last ten years,
Jim contributed as an in
strumental part of those
successes. He was once
even the goose crossing
guard for some babies
on Ledo Road.
Jim was a recent
honoree of the Geor
gia Water Coalition’s
Annual “Clean 13”
Water Heroes in 2021.
This honor is awarded
to groups or individuals
that make a positive
impact on the protec
tions and preservation of
Georgia’s water resourc
es. His award was for
his long-time work on
the Kinchafoonee and
Muckalee Creeks. He
lead the efforts to estab
lish Kinchafoonee Creek
Commissioners Approve
911 Tower Site
The commissioners
received an update on
proposed site for an
additional 911 communi
cation tower that would
serve the northern
portion of the county.
Commissioners were
provided with maps
showing the inbound
and outbound coverage
for the radios.
With the Lamm St
10499 02456
tower in Albany and the
tower on Highway 32,
the proposed tower at
the fire station in Smith
ville will vastly improve
the coverage for the pub
lic safety radios and help
prevent any incidents
where radio communi
cation were dropped.
After discussing other
possible sites, it was
agreed that locating the
proposed tower at the
Smithville Lire Station
would provide the most
coverage.
and Muckalee Creek
as state water trails,
and was instrumental
in establishing the new
trails and park named
Jackson’s Lord, off the
Leesburg By-pass. He
was also the spearhead
behind the purchase and
installation of two new
USGS creek gauges to
better help Lee residents
prepare for potential
flood level action. Jim
helped establish Sut
ton’s Landing, Skipper’s
Landing, and Sandy
Beach Landing and
instituted signage and
a life jacket loaner pro
gram for those landings
for all to use and enjoy.
Probably one of his
biggest contributions to
Lee County has been
his leadership in caring
for and preservation of
our waterways. He has
led numerous efforts
through his job and
personal time to help
remove trash from
our waterways. Under
Jim’s leadership, Lee
County Rivers Alive
was formed. It is now
in its 18th year and has
collected over 66,000
pounds of debris from
our waterways. He
often took citizens on
stormwater inspections
and hosted education
opportunities on the
creek. Lor the over 20
years Jim was managing
the County’s stormwater
permit, Georgia EPD
never issued a “Notice
of Violation” to that
program.
He often worked
with the local Lee and
Dougherty County Boy
Scout Troop on Eagle
Scout projects such
as trail benches, duck
boxes and picnic tables
for our local parks and
landings. In conjunction
with one of these Eagle
Scout projects, Jim
aided in the installation
of mile markers along
the most used paddling
sections of the creek
which have aided fisher
man, paddlers, and even
swimmers in knowing
their creek location.
These markers are
extremely helpful to Lee
County first responders
and 911 personnel to
be able to effectively
and quickly locate and
rescue anyone who has
found themselves in
trouble on the creek.
You would also be
hard pressed to find
someone who knows
more about Lee Coun
ty’s history. Whether
your interest is in the
Civil War or Native
American heritage, Jim
Wright is your man for
a history lesson! Many
of his classrooms often
happened with a “field
trip”, and he has plenty
of artifact collections
for “show and tell”. He
and has established
a historical museum
quality collection from
his own private collec
tion from Lee County.
It is on the second floor
of the Tharpe Building.
Binding “lost” grave
yards became a passion.
Lorty-three old family
Pictures of Jim Wright by Lee County Chamber
of Commerce.
grave sites, so far, have
been relocated and
mapped in Lee County.
His collection was even
loaned to the Throna-
teeska Heritage Muse
um in Albany for a few
years.
He was recently
recognized by Llint
Riverkeeper for his over
16 years of protecting
the waterways of Lee
County. His service to
protecting the water of
Lee County goes far
beyond his job duties.
Gordon Rogers, Exec-
DOHERTY, DUGGAN,
HART&TIERNAN
INSURORS
Home • Auto • Business • Life/Health
P.O.Box 71628 (229)888-2040
Albany, GA 31708-1628 800-628-2040
2301 Dawson Road (31707) Fax (229) 435-3036
www.ddhtins.com
Lee County
Commission will
meet Tuesday,
June 27
at 6:00 p.m.
The meeting will
be held at the
T. Page Tharp
Governmental
Building
Lee County Sheriff’s Office Weekly Report
utive Director of Llint
Riverkeeper said “If
we had a Jim Wright in
every county in the Llint
watershed, the Llint
Riverkeeper wouldn’t
need to exist.”
Lor all of these efforts,
and more, Jim was
recently awarded the
Lee County “Man of the
Year” at the Chamber
of Commerce’s 33rd
Annual Awards dinner
in 2022.
Congratulations to Jim
on a very successful ca
reer in Lee County and
good luck in his new job
in South Carolina.
All subjects are inno
cent until proven guilty
HANCOCK, Bruce
Wayne W/M/52 arrest
ed 06/02/2023 simple
battery
ADAIR, Douglas
Marion W/M/72 arrest
ed 06/03/2023 vehicular
homicide 2nd degree
warrant out of Dough
erty County, GA
CHAMBERS, Sonya
Hughes W/L/40 arrested
06/04/2023 burglary
HEATH, Christopher
Jordan W/M/22 arrested
06/04/2023 disorderly
conduct
WHITE, Sha’terrica
La’quandria B/L/28
arrested 06/05/2023
failure to appear and
aggravated stalking
HOOVER, Jessica
Marie W/L/38 arrest
ed 06/06/2023 willful
obstruction of police
officer
ROBERTS, Rico
Omar B/M/23 arrested
06/06/2023 possession
of marijuana with the
intent to distribute, 2
counts possession of
firearm by convicted fel
on, possession of tools
during the commission
of a crime, possession of
a knife or firearm during
commission of a crime,
arrest warrant for failure
to appear, arrest warrant
for aggravated assault,
and arrest warrant for
gang participation
SHELKE, Jarod
Wade W/M/30 arrested
06/06/2023 2 counts
cruelty to animals,
abandonment of domes
ticated animal, burglary,
and probation violation
warrant
ADKINS, Laura
Leigh W/L/33 arrested
06/07/2023 failure to
appear
CLARK, Kimberly
Diane W/L/39 arrested
06/07/2023 failure to
appear
RIVERA, Alexas
Evette B/L/24 arrested
06/08/2023 battery
PORTER, Jeffery
Scott W/M/47 arrested
06/08/2023 failure to
appear
SLAPPEY, Dillon
Cole W/M/19 arrested
06/08/2023 reckless
driving and laying drag
WEST, Stephanie
Denise B/L/39 arrested
06/09/2023 probation
violation warrant
WILLIAMS, Jimmy
Ray W/M/60 arrested
06/09/2023 aggravated
stalking
GIVENS, Michael
Lee W/M/47 arrest
ed 06/10/2023 simple
battery
RILEY, Zemarcus
Montrez B/M/32 arrest
ed 06/10/2023 loitering
and prowling
TABB, Clint John
W/M/41 arrested
06/10/2023 possession of
fentanyl and Dougherty
County arrest warrant
for theft by receiving
stolen property
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