Newspaper Page Text
1*1VR1 v
Thursday, May 16,2013
3 Sections, 16 Pages
Council Asked To Properly
Channel Complaints To PD
By Victoria Simmons
The Georgia Post
Roberta City Council discussed chain of
command and other complaints concern
ing the police department at last week’s
meeting.
Councilman Robert Cody said he had
received complaints about one of the
police cars being taken out of the county
and therefore costing the city in gas and
maintenance.
Captain Trent Anderson told Cody the
cars in question get about the same gas mi
lage and now vehicles are assigned to each
full time officer which means less wear
and tear on the vehicles as each officer is
responsible for their car.
City Clerk,Vicky Grant told council that
the whole place stayed upset all the time
because one person would say this, another
would say something completely different
and it causes stress and confusion.
Councilman Erv Patton noted that the
original decision for which vehicle Ander
son would take home was initially made by
him, but council voted on it. “We made a
commitment to him and the vehicle was a
condition of employment.”
Councilwoman, Connie Gibson stated
she was asked by someone why she did
not know the new policemen. Chief Benny
Thomas responded that it could be that the
policeman in question was part time, but
that when they are hired they do try to in
troduce them to council. Captain Anderson
said he did try to bring one to her house for
introductions more than once, but she was
not at home. Police officers, who were in
attendance were introduced at that time.
Officer Griffits told council that com
plainants and complaints should be taken
to the chief so he could deal with them,
not dealt with by council. He noted that
all the bickering and different versions
of what was being said, goes down to the
whole force, killing morale and creates a
bad work environment. “We all work really
hard and have a big load to carry with such
a small force. Chief designates well and
I like working here,” he said, noting that
when morale was low it made getting what
needed to be accomplished, harder.
Mayor Becky Smith was concerned
about overtime stating no overtime if
possible. The Chief said overtime was
unavoidable sometimes especially when
officers have court, mandated classes,
specialized classes and events during the
year. They have four regular officers and
two part-time. He stated he tried hard to
keep overtime down but unwarranted com
plaints against officers also costs the city.
He noted that investigating the complaints
takes up a lot of time and costs money, one
recently which took three days of state
ments, cost the city $615 and was found
to be unwarranted. Chief Thomas said that
some council members tell people to fill
out complaint forms without even trying
to rectify the complaint with the chief.
Thomas asked council to refer people with
complaints to him first to see if he could
talk to them and get it straightened out
before having to spend so much time and
money on something which amounted to
nothing in the long run. Officer Roberts,
told council everything should be funneled
down to the chief from the start and that it
not it did not seem like the council or the
city had enough faith in the chief and what
he does. He noted that it was a great town
and a great police department, saying he
begged to work here. He thanked them for
the opportunity to work for Roberta. “If
you support the chief and the departments
goal, it will continue to excel.”
Grant noted that it sometimes looked as
if council did not have any confidence in
the Chief and that he was under a lot of
stress as a result.
Chief Thomas noted that George Hal
liburton was handling the investigations for
the department and wanted him to continue
to do ah investigations until some were
solved, instead of his working shift work.
Council did not object.
In other business, coimcil discussed the
city hah roof leak and will hold a work
session to go over estimates, etc. They also
approved an estimate of $500 from Skin
ner & Douglas to take down the tree at the
funeral home.
probably remained close
to its current circula
tion of 3,000. Crawford
B.H. Moncrief published
the newspaper until his
death on November 14,
1950. His widow, Annie
L. Culberson Moncrief,
and daughter-in-law Anne
Moncrief continued pub
lishing the newspaper. In
1954, the newspaper was
edited in the home of Anne
Moncrief and printed in
See POST, Page 5
Listed On N
ATLANTA (May 13,2013)
- The Georgia Post Building,
located in Knoxville, Craw
ford County, Georgia, was
listed in the National Register
of Historic Places on May 1,
2013. The nomination was
supported by the Crawford
County Board of Commis
sioners, which owns the build
ing and the Crawford County
Historical Society, which
leases the building. Nomina
tion materials were prepared
by the preservation planner for
the Middle Georgia Regional
Commission.
The Georgia Post Building
was built in 1928 to house the
printing press and editorial op
erations for The Georgia Post
newspaper. Foimded on Janu
ary 1, 1921, by Crawford B.
H. Moncrief (1889-1950), the
weekly paper was published
from his house in its early
years. In 1928 production
was relocated to this building,
located on the same property
as
longer extant). Historical
ly, the front two-thirds of
the building was used for
the newspaper and the rear
one-third was separated
by a curtain and used for
living space. Circulation
for The Georgia Post was
primarily the county seat
of Knoxville, the larger
nearby town of Roberta,
and the surrounding rural
area of Crawford County.
Publication numbers
i lie first ever
DARE (Drug
Abuse Resistance
Education) essay
winners from left,
David Mancil,
Alexis Holmes,
Anna Beth Walker,
Casey Presley, Gia
Carter, Chely Trejo
& Jacolby McAfee.
In back are Chief
Benny Thomas,
Officer Wes Grif
fits and CCES
Principal Paris
Raines. At right
are Officer Grif
fits who presented
fifth grade teachers
Jennifer Donald
son and Polly Wells
with appreciation gifts. A graduation for DARE students was also
held last week (May 8th).
County Appoints Cook To Dev. Authority
By Abigail Adams
The Georgia Post
The open position on the
Crawford County Develop
ment Authority was filled at
the May 7th meeting of the
commissioners. Also the ques
tion of gaps in insurance for
volunteers on county business
that had been brought to the
attention of County Attorney
David Mincey was added to
the agenda and a special excep
tion request by Joanne Hamlin
was denied by the board due to
objections from citizens.
After the approval of the
minutes from their last meeting
and approval of an amended
agenda with several added
items, the county commis
sioners began their meeting
by tabling the first item on
the agenda to allow time for
the applicant of the special
exception to show up for the
meeting. Zoning officer Frank
Miller requested the board
wait on the applicant and they
agreed.
The next public hearing on
the agenda covered the text
amendment of the Crawford
County Land Development
Regulations. One of the
amendments will allow the
board to put a twelve-month
time frame on special excep
tions. If a person requesting a
special exception does not act
on that exception within twelve
months, the exception will be
void.
Clerk of the Superior Court,
Ryan Johnson came before the
board to ask for a pay increase
for the Board of Equalization.
The current rate for members is
$25 per meeting, but the Grand
Jury has recommended the
rate per meeting be increased
to $40. County Manager, Pat
Kelly stated that the impact
to the budget would be mini
mal. The board approved the
request.
After reviewing the appli
cations for the open position
on the Development Author
ity board, the commissioners
chose Troy Cook to fill the
position. The board felt that his
background was the best fit for
the board. Cook was present at
the last meeting and promised
to work hard to make a posi
tive impact on the community.
Questions about insur
ance coverage for volunteers
conducting county business
have been brought to Mincey.
Concerns about what would
happen if a volunteer (such
as volunteer firemen) in their
own personal vehicle had an
accident have been raised and
Mincey has found that some
private insurance providers
were offering opinions they
may not cover accidents that
damage personal property
while on county business. He
stated that he is working with
Kelly to find a solution to this
issue and would update the
board later.
Joanne Hamlin’s special ex
ception request was last on the
agenda, after giving time for
Justin Spillers (speaking on her
behalf) to appear at the meet
ing. Spillers stated that he was
in the process of purchasing
the property in question from
Hamlin and wanted to place a
manufactured home there. The
property is currently Rl-AG
and only permits manufactured
homes with special exception.
Miller stated that there were
four residents against the spe
cial exception at the Planning
and Zoning meeting and one
letter of opposition had been
sent. There were two people
at the commissioner’s meeting
in opposition. The neighbors
oppose because the neighbor
hood is primarily houses and
they would like to see it stay
that way.