Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by Georgia HomePLACE, a program of the Georgia Public Library Service, and by the generous citizens of Butts County, Georgia.
Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, SEPT. 21, 1 7 2
HAMMOND BARNES
Butts County
Commissioner
Jackson, Georgia
September 20, 1972
Dan Fears
Jackson, Georgia
Dear Dan:
I am having to write you this letter because of your habit of turning away when we meet
and hanging up on me when I call. I am also going to put a copy of this letter in the paper
this week so the citizens of Butts County can get an idea of what has been going on in the
past Sy 2 years.
In the paper last week, you said you started the work on a county wide fire protection sys
tem. You know, Dan, that 6 months before you even mentioned this at a meeting, I contact
ed Bob Lane of the Butts-Henry County Forestry Unit and he advised me to obtain the nec
essary equipment from the Georgia Forestry Commission. I did this and ordered one truck
right then and one to be delivered later. These trucks were obtained at no cost to the Butts
County Tax Payer. You also know, Dan, that you did not like this because it was my idea
and one of the trucks is still sitting at the County Barn because you would not approve the
necessary repairs. To cap all this off, Dan, if you could have stopped your war with the
Jackson City Council, maybe they wouldn’t have stopped the truck from going out into the
County. All they wanted was for the County to help with the repairs on the motor, but you
refused. So some homes burned to the ground to save a few dollars repair money.
You also stated in the county paper that you wanted a land fill dump in each Militia District.
If you are so heped up on this, why did you fight Georgia Power when they wanted to use
our dump to dispose of th 6 trash and garbage from around Jackson Lake?
Georgia Power spent a lot of money to clean up Butts County by placing the Movable Dump
sters around in locations convenient to everyone around the lake. Our fellow citizens should
know the garbage of Butts County is being hauled to Milledgeville. This is a disgrace to
Butts County to preach a clean Jackson Lake on the one hand and making a company trans
port trash 60 miles because of your inability to get along with anyone with the least bit of
authority.
Dan, you also have sought votes by claiming that your legal experience will save the taxpay
ers money on matters needing legal advice. This, as you know, is exactly the opposite. Even
last week in the article you had on the front page concerning the Fire Protection plan, is one
of the best examples of your willingness to spend tax money on legal advice. You wanted
Charles Campbell to write a “Legal Opinion” on whether Butts County can legally set up a
Fire Protection System. This is the biggest waste of Tax Payers Money that I’ve seen you
pull in the last few weeks. Any six year old would know it could not be illegal to have a Fire
Department. But, Dan, you are so eaten up with this legal stuff that you sometimes lose your
common sense. Why should our citizens wait on a “Legal Opinion” to have fire protection,
and why pay someone to say it’s alright. Phooey!
Dan, you also said you got the county out of Debt. Before you hurt your arm patting yourself
on the back, be sure to give credit to each Tax Payer. They paid the bills.
Finally, Dan, I want to say that as a businessman and citizen, I know that I can do a better
job than you because I care about people. I like having friends and I like working with the
public. I want people to like me and respect me and work with me for a better Butts Coun
ty. In the last 3 y 2 years I have talked to a lot of people in and out of your presence and I’ve
never met a man that called you a friend.
Meet you at the polls!
Sincerely,
Hammond Barnes
cc: Jackson Progress-Argus
THE JACKSON PROGRESS-ARCUS, JACKSON, GA.
