Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2023
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipo
tent. Henry Ward Beecher
Commerce murder raises questions about DCs office
The murder of Calvin Varnum at Hard
ees in downtown Commerce shocked the
entire community. Vamum was gunned
down while standing outside the restau
rant early on a Sunday morning as his as
sailant unloaded a piston into him, splat
tering the side of Hardees with a barrage
of bullets. Inside, patrons, including sev
eral kids, dove for cover as bullets came
through the glass.
In the weeks since that murder, an up
roar has ensued: Why was Xavier Clark,
the man accused of gunning down Var
num, even on the streets of Commerce?
Clark had a criminal history that included
violence — so why was he not in jail?
Much of the blame for Clark being out
of jail is being directed at the district at
torney’s office; many are raising questions
about how that office is being run. The
incident also raises the larger question of
how the state is handling, or not handling,
its violent mentally ill population.
• ••
In recent years, Piedmont Judicial Cir
cuit’s District Attorney Brad Smith has
come under criticism in both Jackson and
Banks counties. In Banks County, local
officials have attempted to jump out of the
Piedmont Circuit due to what they believe
is a lack of service from the DA’s office.
In Jackson County, public officials have
not sought to move circuits, but behind
the scenes have been critical of the DA’s
office.
Whether fair or not, the Piedmont DA’s
office has gained a reputation for agreeing
to light-weight plea deals and for attempt
ing to avoid holding
criminal trials by pursu
ing such pleas.
One can’t totally
blame a DA’s office for
seeking to avoid trials,
which are expensive
and put demands on
staff time. Without plea
deals, the entire judicial
system would break
down, its gears grinding
to a halt.
Still, some cases need to be tried and
some deals need to be tougher. That’s the
essential argument surrounding Clark and
the Vamum murder.
• ••
Clark has not yet had his day in court
and so is presumed innocent until proven
guilty. Still, the evidence against Clark in
the Vamum murder is substantial and it’s
legitimate to look at his background to see
if his previous record sheds any light on
what happened.
In November 2020, Clark assaulted
a Commerce businessman, hitting him
in the head with a brick on a downtown
street.
While he was being held on those
charges, he attacked a jailer and faced
forther charges. Mason Anthony was the
jailer he attacked. Anthony posted several
comments about that attack on social me
dia after Vamum’s murder:
“He should have been sent to prison,”
Anthony wrote. “He clearly has an assaul
tive history and behavior. Now, an inno
cent man is dead.”
In 2021, Clark pled to lesser charges,
got 20 years probation with time served
and was granted a first offender status.
In 2022, Clark was charged in a domes
tic attack, but instead of having his proba
tion revoked and going to jail, he was giv
en 12 months probation to mn concurrent
with his existing 20-year probation.
So really, the probation was meaning
less; it was violated and nothing was done.
And who has ever heard of a 20-year pro
bation? If someone needs that many years
on probation, shouldn’t they really be in a
jail cell?
While I can’t say this deal is typical of
how the DA’s office is handling violent
offenders, there are some in law enforce
ment who say it’s just the tip of an iceberg;
that the DA’s office routinely hands out
similar deals to other offenders.
If that’s the case, then why are local
judges agreeing to these deals? If the plea
bargain system is broken, as some believe,
then it’s up to the men in robes to make it
more accountable.
The Vamum murder has put a harsh
spotlight on the local judicial system; the
public deserves some answers.
• ••
This situation is also made more com
plex by questions about Clark’s mental
health and if that might have contributed
to the murder.
Following the 2020 violent assault,
Clark was referred to mental health offi
cials, something that is mentioned several
times in his earlier court records. The spe
cifics of that, however, are sealed so we
don’t know exactly what mental health is
sues he faced or if that had any connection
to his alleged shooting of Vamum.
What we do know, however, is that the
state is poorly equipped to deal with peo
ple suffering from mental health issues,
especially those with violent records.
To a large extent, jails have become
the modem equivalent of the old mental
hospitals. While not set up to deal with
mentally ill people, jails are often the only
recourse society has to house those suffer
ing from a mental illness when they are a
danger to themselves or others.
Our society should do better than that.
Mentally ill people need help, but those
with violent records shouldn’t be allowed
to just roam at-large if they are a danger
to others.
Whatever Clark’s specific situation,
he was clearly a danger to others and
shouldn’t have been out in society where
he could hurt someone. His record of vi
olence is clear and when he violated his
probation, he should have gone to jail and
not just given a slap on the wrist.
The case against Clark will soon begin
making its way through the local judicial
system. Hopefully, that process will an
swer some of the questions the Vamum
murder has raised.
People will be watching.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Main-
street Newspapers. He can be reached at
mike@mainstreetnews.com.
A father's sift
’’When you comin ’home, dad? ”
”1 don’t brow when, but
We ’ll get together then, son, you brow
we ’ll have a good time then ”
— ’’Cats in The Cradle”, by Harry
Chapin
BY DAVID R. ALTMAN
My Dad has been gone for 16 years.
And this column is really more about
him than it is about fishing. Although it
is fishing that united us with our father in
childhood and now in memory.
When you are a father who has raised
his own kids and has been blessed by
now watching them raise theirs, there
comes a point in your life where you be
gin to think about where it all started.
My brother and have I been fishing just
about as long as we have been walking.
It started with cane poles and bobbers
and farm ponds. Mostly, there was the
river.
The muddy Muskingum River running
through Dresden and Zanesville Ohio,
where Dad would take us, after working
all day at his furniture store, to the river
bank, where we would set poles in the
ground on forked sticks.
We would reach into the Maxwell
House coffee cans that were full of giant
nightcrawlers that we had hand-picked
after dark in my grandmother’s ap
ple-tree infested back yard. The worms
were threaded onto hooks with weights
that must have been at least a half ounce,
as the river current would have moved
them downstream the minute they broke
the surface.
We fished below a suspension bridge,
behind a baseball field and football field
where Dad had played just a few years
prior until two concussions sent him
in another direction. He played in the
band—not just the high school band—
the All Ohio Boys Band and was later
said to have played a set with the famous
saxophonist Stan Getz in some small
venue that no one now recalls. He loved
that trumpet and loved jazz.
About 1960 he was traveling on a flight
when the cabin depressurized, collapsing
both ear dmms. He was deaf in one and
was barely able to hear out of the other.
The tmmpet was put up—but he never
stopped listening to Louie Armstrong
and Jonah Jones and A1 Hirt. He wore
hearing aids with large black glasses and
he could adjust the volume with a little
dial on the top—a device that often came
in handy when he wanted to tune out my
mother (or his own mother).
My father loved owning his own busi
ness in his twenties, was proud of get
ting his college degree in his thirties and
forced his way through working tire
lessly in a corporate sales job for much
of his forties. In his final 15 years, my
Dad started his own business with two
other associates—which lasted just long
enough to get the house paid off.
My Dad hated working for other peo
ple and had an entrepreneurial spirit that
would have impressed Ayn Rand.
After that business had its ups and
downs, Dad ultimately sort of came back
full circle back to where he started. He
formed Altman & Associates, called on
customers, kept meticulous notes (sort of
a primordial CRM system), took home
made fudge to his favorite customers
(and his grandchildren) and had two
green telephones in his office that had
blinking lights—something my brother
and I thought was very cool. My brother
Jim was blessed with the same entrepre
neurial spirit—as is my daughter Jenni
fer. The father’s gift travels seamlessly
across the generations.
Dad was an advocate for the homeless,
cooking meals at Clifton’s Night Shel
ter, leading the Northwoods Presbyte
rian Church into serving the homeless.
He and my mother worked tirelessly on
behalf of strangers who had nothing. In
the New Testament, James tells us ‘faith
without works is dead”.
My father put his faith into works. He
expected that from others—not by in
sisting they do so, but my doing what he
believed. I would watch that from a dis
tance, admire it, but not fully grasp the
importance of it. Life is moving too fast
for a man-on-the-go in his thirties, just
as it had for my father in his thirties—
which happened during the 1960’s.
Dad’s mental and physical health be
gan to deteriorate when his career slowed
down.
Ultimately, Dad’s condition worsened.
Watching someone slip away, like a riv
er’s current carrying away anything in its
path, forces you to recall not just those
memories of your childhood.
Now, having lived nearly as long as my
father did, I have a greater understanding
of what his adulthood must have been
like. Can we as children both understand
our roles as parents as we seek to under
stand how we as children must have af
fected the lives of our parents?
His love for his family remained con
stant—even in the final years of his life.
He died six months before their fiftieth
wedding anniversary—which would
have come exactly eight days after 9.11.
Now, as a father and grandfather, I
am sorting through a haystack of emo
tions and understanding that escaped
me during his final years. Recognizing
your father as a good man instead of just
a good father is a life cycle of parental
inevitability that visits us all, a dream-
scape that comes in sudden flashes that
fortunately brings with it the soothing,
richness of memory.
Now I am a father of three sons-in-law,
each of them a blessing for our family.
Each of them now fathers themselves.
They are living the fast life and won
derful chaos that comes with raising a
family. They are good fathers and good
husbands. And someday they will make
good grandfathers. I can only offer them
the support that I got from my father and
remind them that fatherhood comes with
a beautiful price—the price of sacrifice,
unselfishness and time.
Those are not only the price of father
hood, but also its gifts.
• ••
Editor’s note: A version of this column
first appeared in 2016 in the Pickens
County (Ga.) Progress.
David R. Altman lives in Hoschton
with his wife, Lisa. He is the author of
two poetry chapbooks and is a former
Georgia Author of the Year nominee.
Seniors live on fixed income
Dear Editor:
For the most part, I agree with the logic and information
presented in Mike Buffington’s column about senior tax ex
emptions.
However, I strongly disagree with his statement that seniors
don’t live on a fixed income (OK, some don’t), and especially
that nobody lives on a fixed income.
My income is SS and 2 pensions. The pension amount nev
er goes up and after 12 years, it looks like chump change. My
only increase in income is when Social Security increases and
most of that is eaten up by a parallel increase in Medicare.
I can’t get overtime, get a promotion, move to a better pay
ing job, or get a second job. My income is fixed. When I have
to cope with inflation and thus higher prices for all goods and
services, my ability to pay for basic living costs dwindles.
Then if a huge tax increase lands on top of that, I find myself
getting poorer and poorer.
I don’t think I should not pay school taxes, but I think my
property value should not increase at this rapid rate. People
coming to Jefferson and paying $425,000 for a house that cost
$300,000 just a few years ago had to have had the income to
support the taxes on that $425,000 value. I can’t because I live
on a fixed income.
Sincerely,
Tina Jowdry
Jefferson
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The Jackson Herald
Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Founded 1875
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