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Peach terminates local
state of emergency
BY KRISTI WATKINS
The Byron Buzz
Peach County Commission
ers has terminated the Local
State of Emergency.
In a called meeting on
Friday, May 22nd, Peach
County Commissioners
agreed 3-2 to terminate the
Local State of Emergency
as of Tuesday, May 26th at
12:00 a.m. Some terms to
the Local State of Emergency
had already been lifted but
this is to fully terminate the
remainder of the terms.
Chairman Martin Moseley
stated the termination ends
hazard pay for public service
employees and will allow all
employees to regular shifts
to form some kind of “nor
malcy” in public buildings.
He added all safety protocols
will be in place including
sneeze guards, hand sanitiz
er and etc.
Moseley stated after talking
with Byron and Fort Valley
mayors with Fort Valley
following Peach County gov
ernment’s lead and stated
Byron will begin normal op
erations on June 1st so that
more safety requirements
can be done before opening
to the public.
Betty Hill and Shanita
Bryant were both reluctant
on opening at full capacity
voting against the termi
nation. Hill stated she had
concerns and was reluctant
to agree since the numbers
are still growing in Peach
County although she knows
the county needs to be re
opening.
Moseley stated the num
bers are cumulative num
bers (total numbers from
the beginning of the corona-
virus) and will continue to
rise. He added the numbers
do not tell the people who
are coming off the list of
active cases. He stated the
numbers are going down
and was told by the health
department the numbers are
looking good.
Bryant stated in the news
that the numbers are not
represented correctly given
to the them by the governor
in an attempt to open the
state and the county needs
to take that into consider
ation, so they should are not
sacrificing their employees.
Moseley stated they are
not going to sacrifice Peach
County employees but will
open for the citizens of
Peach County and provide
the services they are elect
ed to do. He added they
are still following the state
guidelines and the State of
Emergency but is doing what
is in the best interest for the
county. He stated they are
following the local numbers
and advice from the health
officials and task force.
Bryant asked Moseley
which doctors and scientists
he spoke with to get that
information with Moseley
responding: no scientists
and no doctors, but by the
experts in charge of the facil
ities (the health department,
health board and task force).
Wade Yoder stated he has
concerns as well with keep
ing the numbers down, but
people need keep up their
immune systems and keep
their body as strong as pos
sible. He added the immune
system will get weaker if
they are not exposed to nor
mal elements and their sur
roundings. He stated some
of his family members had
the coronavirus and advises
those who may be exposed
to limit being around the
elderly and the vulnerable
people and by wearing a
mask around those people.
Roy Lewis stated the coun
ty needs to return to serving
the citizens by opening its
doors to do so. Continuing
to social distance and doing
what they can and follow the
CDC guidelines.
Moseley ended by stating
he appreciates Peach County
employees, elected officials
and will be moving forward.
Candidates expound on issues
NOTE: We sent all candi
dates a request to answer
several questions concerning
their views on the office they
are seeking. Not all of them
responded back, so if they are
not listed below with an
swers, they did not respond.
Incumbent Wade Yoder, Post
5 at Large County Commis
sion, is being challenged by
newcomer Larhonda Eason.
1. What do you feel are
the major issues facing
the county?
1. Not getting work and
projects done once they are
funded. 2. Road infrastruc
ture and drainage. 3. Taxes
that are burdensome to ones
on the lower income ladder.
4. Unfunded mandates and
guidelines from a federal and
state level. Physical and men
tal health issues and dispari
ties and making sure people
are connected to resources in
place.
2. What do you bring to
the table if re-elected?
I work hard to connect people
to work on primary issues
facing our county as well as
positioning ourselves for
the opportunities ahead for
our county. I’ve managed or
owned business(s) since 16
years of age and have gotten
pretty beat up by some mis
takes and rewarded by some
successes and believe this has
helped give me a pretty good
filter. The past 3 years has
built in me a firm belief that I
work not only for the citizens
of Peach County but also the
employees of Peach County.
Empowering our employees
to better do their job is what
helps us return a value in ser
vices matched with tax dollars
spent.
Wade Yoder
3. What would you like
to see changed?
I would like to see Fort Valley,
Byron and the County work
closer together. We all pay
county taxes and I do not like
our citizens paying for dupli
cate services. We owe it to our
community to find overlaps
in services such as Public
Works and Public Safety.
Even if these services are not
consolidated, we have to look
for every overlap to keep total
taxes (municipal and coun
ty) down. I believe in return
on investment of taxpayer
dollars, in the form of services
that exceed expectations and I
believe we owe it to our county
to look for the areas we over
lap as well as the areas we can
advance each other.
4. Accomplishments
during your time in of
fice?
I don’t like to talk about
what I accomplished, (almost
everything we do and get done
is a team effort) but these are
some of the primary ones I
personally helped put a push
on to get done.
• Getting GDOT to put a turn
lane on state highway (247
connector) at Autumn Cove.
• Live streaming our county
meetings.
• Getting the old fire station
on Lakeview sold to help fund
a much needed fire station
on Norwood Springs Rd (we
should have fire station built
and in operation this year).
• Getting Animal Control
back on deck (facility and pro
gram should be in place and
operational in early 2021).
• Getting a storm water
(drainage crew formed within
public works). Hopefully we
will start seeing improve
ments with bottlenecks of
water-flows as well as cleaner
ditches over the next year.
• Put together a mental
health task force to work
together with our local mental
health provider and plug
ging in better at a state level
through our Appointee to
Region 6. Coordinated a push
for getting an accountability
court for mental health and
drug cases started here in
Peach County (this is sup
posed to start in a small way
this summer but may vary due
to state budget cuts). We need
this to grow, this program will
work like hand and glove with
our mental health services
provider working within our
court and jail system to help
make sure people land on
their feet instead of having so
much recidivism and return to
the system.
• Getting Fort Valley to the
negotiating table with Warner
Robins for the area Buc-ee’s is
going into. This was hard but
there were 2 primary things to
split hairs with-1. the interest
of property owners in this area
(that were locked into a anti
quated service delivery that
was holding back the value
of their property and keeping
them from connecting into
the infrastructure along the
Russell Pkwy roadbed) and 2.
protecting infrastructure in
vestment that Fort Valley had
See CANDIDATES, Page 2B
Seniors honored with parade
COVID-19 nor the rain
could stop the 2020
graduates of Peach
County High School
from celebrating. A
graduation ceremony
is being planned for
later this summer but
Friday, the commu
nity lined the streets
from Byron to the high
school in Fort Valley to
honor these graduates
in spite of the rain.
There were signs on
cars, balloons and a
slide show at the high
school. The community
turned out en masse.
CONGRATULATIONS
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Citizen journalist has right to sue FV
BY KRISTI WATKINS
The Byron Buzz
A lawsuit from a citizen
journalist is now ongoing
after Federal Judge Tilman
Self stated he could sue the
City of Fort Valley.
On Tuesday, May 19th,
Judge Tilman Self III
rejected the City of Fort
Valley’s motion to throw out
a civil-rights lawsuit filed by
Kennon Dunn, who lives in
Pulaski County.
Kennon Dunn says he was
arrested for filming in the
city hall lobby in July 2018
while filming downtown Fort
Valley and Fort Valley City
Hall.
In his lawsuit filed last
July in U.S. District Court
in Macon, Dunn wrote that
he planned to film a story on
missing persons in the Fort
Valley area. In his lawsuit, he
states he is a United States
veteran and independent
journalist who is passionate
about continuing to uphold
his vow to the Constitution,
encouraging other govern
ment officers to do the same,
and educating the public on
civic engagement and consti
tutional rights.
According to the lawsuit,
Dunn went inside city hall
and stated a city employee
asked why he was filming,
and Dunn stated he “politely
declined” to explain. Dunn
added the employee and
Mayor Barbara Williams
reported him to police as a
“suspicious person.”
His lawsuit states that two
officers questioned him and
tried to push him outside.
One telling him he was not
allowed to shoot pictures
of the mayor without her
permission. Dunn was then
arrested taking him to the
Fort Valley police station.
Judge Self stated “if that
wasn’t enough, the Fort
Valley Police Department
then issued Mr. Dunn two
criminal trespass notifica
tions, indefinitely barring
him from entering Fort
Valley City Hall or the Fort
Valley Police Department
without a police escort—even
for the purpose of attending
City Council meetings or
conducting business.”
Judge Self added, “And,
finally, the Fort Valley Police
Department has refused to
provide Dunn with any of
the documents dealing with
his case, notwithstanding
that Dunn requested the re
cords via the Open Records
Act.”
Self stated Fort Valley
officials haven’t shown that
they had probable cause to
arrest Dunn or that they’re
immune from being sued.
“The First Amendment
protects the right to gather
information about what
public officials do on public
property, and specifically,
a right to record matters of
public interest. Pretty simple
rule,” said Judge Self.
Prosecutors later dropped
the trespassing charges.
The city argued that Dunn
brought his troubles on him
self by refusing to cooperate
and provoked the officers
into arresting him writing
his complaint “smacks of a
setup.”
A brief supporting Dunn
written by the Georgia First
Amendment Foundation and
PEN America, a civil-lib
erties group that supports
writers and journalists. Writ
ing “citizens and journalists
must be permitted to film
peacefully in public spac
es without interference or
obstruction by law enforce
ment.”
Dunn stated he films and
produces stories focusing
on government account
ability throughout Georgia.
He stated he has a YouTube
channel where he has more
than 8,000 people subscribe
to his channel.
Dunn is suing Police Chief
Lawrence Spurgeon and sev
eral officers and although he
initially named Mayor Wil
liams and a city employee in
the lawsuit, he later dropped
them from the case.