Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140, No. 19 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, July 1,2020 - $1.00
How a Supreme
Court ruling
changed Burke
County politics
Burke commissioner Herman Lodge keeps a water fountain in his church to remind
him of past days of discrimination.The downward-curved water spout required anyone
wanting a drink to use a paper cup, so that whites and blacks would not have to drink
after each other. At right, Lodge's daughter, Terri Lodge Kelly.
BEN PALMER
Burke County’s historically
discriminatory method of electing
county commissioners ended 38
years ago, July 1, 1982, when the
U.S. Supreme Court found that the
county’s at-large elections violated
the Equal Protection Clause of
the Fourteenth Amendment to the
Constitution.
In a 6-3 decision, the court upheld
the system of five single-member
districts established in 1978 by the
district court, two of which were
majority black.
From the time of the commission
was created in the early 1900s,
county commissioners were elected
at-large. Black candidates had
never been elected before the 1982
Supreme Court decision, despite the
county’s substantial black population
By having to run at large,
candidates had to receive a majority
of the votes cast in the primary or
general election. This was also true
for election to the county school
board.
The court held that the at-large
system of elections in Burke County
violated the Equal Protection Clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment. The
Court held that there was sufficient
evidence to warrant the conclusion
that the at-large system was operated
as a purposeful device to further
racial discrimination.
The effort to overturn the at-large
system for electing commissioners
took years to accomplish, starting
in 1976 when eight black citizens
joined in a suit filed in Federal
District Court in Savannah.
In subsequent elections after the
1982 high court decision, several
black Burke County residents were
elected to the commission including
Herman Fodge, Alphonzo Andrews,
Ellis Godbee, Woodrow Harvey and
Fucious Abrams.
The plaintiffs included Fodge and
Harvey as well as Shelly Coleman,
Fizzie M. Sams, K.C. Childers, Rev.
Dave Nelson, Talmadge D. Fodge
and Fevi Crawford.
Defendants were the all-white
Burke County commissioners J.F.
Buxton, Ray DeFaigle, Quinton
Rogers, Roy Marchman and Probate
Judge Mary Herrington
Following District Judge Anthony
Alaimo’s decision that the at-large
system was discriminatory and
setting up the five single member
districts, the commission appealed
the judge’s ruling.
In 1981, United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld
the district court’s ruling. On appeal,
the case was designated Rogers v.
Fodge.
Still the commission chose
to appeal again, this time to the
Supreme Court, which on July 1,
1982, upheld the lower court ruling,
including the creation of the five
single-member districts.
Fodge won election to the
commission from District 2 and
served for 20 years until he chose
to resign in 2003 because of failing
health. He died Feb. 13, 2005, at
age 76.
Fodge’s daughter, Terri
Fodge Kelly, currently serves
as commissioner for District 2,
her father’s old seat. She also is
commission chairman, a position
elected by the commissioners.
Kelly, 61, recalls the years of
controversy while her father and
other community leaders fought for
the opportunity to have fair elections.
“My daddy never was at home.
He was always going to meetings,
sometimes at home or at our church,
Mount Olive AME Church,” she
said.
And she remembers the threats
that came with her father’s activism,
anonymous telephone threats. It was
only years later, after discovering
her mother’s written record of the
threats that she understood why they
sometimes sent her to a neighbor’s
house at night. “It was for my
protection,” she said.
In his resignation letter to County
Administrator Merv Waldrop dated
Oct. 3, 2003, Fodge said: “It was
my goal to help create a community
where children could thrive and
remain to build their families, state of
the art schools, recreational facilities
and up-to-date emergency response
capability.”
Kelly shares many of her father’s
interests in serving.
“I want to work to eradicate
poverty, make people’s lives better
by providing jobs. That’s what I
want. Rural economic development,
education for our youth, equality in
housing. We still have a way to go.”
Georgia passes hate
crime legislation
DIANA ROYAL • jdianaroyal@gmail.com
On Friday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a much
anticipated hate crime bill into law.
House Bill 426 had previously passed the House of
Representatives in March 2019 but stalled in the Senate.
Following a months-long hiatus due to COVID-19, one local
lawmaker helped push to revive it.
State Rep. Gloria Frazier (District 126) believes if not for
the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the bill may have never seen
the light of day. “This is a historic moment for the state, but
special recognition must be given to a young man from South
Georgia who was tragically taken from us,” she said. “That is
why I introduced a resolution to honor his memory. We, as a
legislative body, wanted to ensure his death would never be
forgotten and in vain.”
In May, Frazier held a press conference at Arbery’s
gravesite, calling specifically on Ft. Gov. Geoff Duncan and
Senate Judiciary Chairman Jesse Stone to allow the hate crime
bill to come to the floor of the senate for a vote.
Arbery, a native of Burke County, was jogging through a
neighborhood in Brunswick when he was gunned down on
Feb. 23, authorities say. The killing of the 25-year-old black
man garnered nationwide attention.
“In my fourteen years of service as State Representative for
House District 126,1 have consistently tried to be an extension
of the people I serve in Richmond and Burke counties,”
Frazier told The True Citizen in an interview. “We believe in
justice, community, family and opportunity. It is with great
honor that I, along with my colleagues in the Georgia General
Assembly, were able to pass House Bill 426, Georgia Hate
Crime legislation. This bipartisan measure
became a national touchstone for the changes SEE
we want and need in our society.” HB 426,
According to the U.S. Department of 7A
Mad Anthony’s
Big Boom is Friday
DIANA ROYAL • jdianaroyal@gmail.com
When the sun down goes Friday evening, fireworks
will sparkle in its place.
The Downtown Development Authority’s Mad
Anthony’s Big Boom Fireworks Extravaganza is all
set for July 3 at Jonathan Broxton Park in Waynesboro.
Though the show is expected to begin around 9 p.m.,
DDA Director Don Lively says come early to tailgate
and enjoy the time leading up to the fireworks with
small groups of family and friends. Gates will open at
5:30 p.m.
“We will have dance contests and patriotic giveaways
but will limit those in order to maintain social
distancing,” he said, adding that music will be provided
by Joe Jeselnikof DJ Productions. “We won’tbe selling
glow necklaces as we have in the past in order to limit
person to person contact. The recreation department
concessions will be open with limited snacks and
drinks, and their bathrooms will also be open. Duggs
Doggs will be on site with hotdogs and sausages dogs,
and we’ll have shaved ice, lemonade and funnel cakes.
Due to the pandemic, things will be somewhat different,
but we are still going to have a great time with another
fantastic fireworks show our community deserves. I am
so thankful to all those who made it possible.”
So far, a total of $10,330 dollars has been donated to
this year’s show by local patrons and businesses, leaving
more than a $1,000 to roll over into the show for 2021.
Lively says a Venmo account as been established to
continue accepting donations. Contributions may be
made to @WaynesboroFireworks.
RAIN DATE: JULY 10
SEE MAD ANTHONY'S, PAGE 3A
State public health
emergency extended
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal @ gmail.com
As positive cases of COVID-19 continue to rise throughout
Georgia, with the state consistently setting daily record highs,
Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order on Monday to extend
the public health emergency through Aug. 11.
Though Kemp said he doesn’t plan to impose new restrictions,
the extension does push the shelter-in-place order for the
“medically fragile” and certain restrictions on businesses and
restaurants that were set to expire today (Wednesday) another
two weeks to July 15. Additionally, the order requires the state
Board of Education to draft guidelines for local public school
officials planning to reopen schools. Kemp has also embarked
on a statewide tour encouraging Georgians to wear face masks.
Georgia, which is among the states with more aggressive
economic reopening strategies, experienced a record high of
more than 11,000 cases last week. According to the Georgia
Department of Public Health (DPH), 2,207 new cases were
reported on Monday, just behind the previous day’s single-day
record of 2,225. While testing efforts have increased, so has
the rate of positive results, indicating increased spread of the
coronavirus.
Locally, from Tuesday, June 23 to Monday, June 29, Burke
County is showing 13 new cases on the state DPH site, for a
total of 143. Of those cases, six resulted in death and 32 have
been hospitalizations. Data shows that adults under the age of
30 have been the leader in new cases.
The effects from the pandemic have been felt in all business
sectors, from catering and real estate to day care and policing. A
large portion of real estate appointments have taken to FaceTime
and Zoom, but Blanchard & Calhoun realtor Elizabeth Billips
has found the positive side in doing business from
a distance. “My favorite new thing is the virtual
360 matterport tours we now provide for our new C0VID,
listings,” she said. “We ask buyers to explore the 7 A