Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A — Wednesday, November 18, 2020, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
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LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 17,2010
The longtime manager of the Waynesboro Pizza Hut was
killed as she stood on the shoulder of Highway 24 with a
deputy by her side. Catherine Cooper, 53, hit a deer near the
intersection with Thompson Bridge Road. While Cooper and
a Burke County Deputy were walking near the scene of the
accident, Sardis resident Roy Gamer veered off the highway
and struck Cooper.
Testimony began in the trial of Christopher Buxton, who
was charged with shooting his father, William Buxton, Sr. to
death in November 2008.
The city of Waynesboro approved a new early retirement
plan for police and firemen. If their years of service and age
add up to 70, they could qualify for early retirement with
full benefits.
25 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 23,1995
Martin Dolin defeated William Patterson by 127 votes
in the runoff election for mayor of Waynesboro. Patterson
complained of discrepancies during the election and
threatened legal action over the outcome.
Burke County Sheriff Greg Coursey was named “Top
County Officer of the Year” by the County Officers
Association of Georgia. The award was presented at the
group’s annual meeting in Savannah. He was the first Georgia
sheriff to receive the award among 600 constitutional officers
in the state.
By a 4-2 vote, Waynesboro City Council members approved
a raise for themselves and the mayor. The panel voted to
increase the mayor’s monthly salary from $200 to $350 and
each council members pay would double from $150 to $300.
Council members Harvey Sapp and Tommy Quick voted
against the increases.
50 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 18,1970
Governor Lester Maddox was scheduled to speak at the
11th annual Briar Creek Conservation District’s “Man of the
Year” banquet in Waynesboro.
Santa Claus and Trooper Terry were scheduled to share top
billing at the Waynesboro Christmas parade on Dec. 3. Terry
Sams, children’s program star at WJBF TV, was scheduled
to be the Grand Marshal.
Waynesboro native William W. McCathern was named
president of Colonial-American National Bank. The
Waynesboro High School and Georgia Tech graduate had
been with the bank since 1946.
75 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 22,1945
T.A. Warren, president of Rotary International, was
scheduled to speak to the Waynesboro club on Nov. 26th.
Warren was a retired educator from Great Britain.
Rev. J.O.J. Taylor assumed his duties as the new pastor at
the First Methodist Church of Waynesboro. He was formerly
a missionary to Korea, Japan, China and Siberia. He had also
worked as a reporter for the Associated Press.
Lt. (J.G.) Joe Goldberg was at home after nine months of
duty in the Pacific.
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Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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PLUCKED
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
We’ve all heard it said that
“actions speak louder than
words.” If you attended the
regular County Commission
meeting last week, there was a
lot of talk but it was the actions
of some of the Commissioners
that said the most.
Rumors began swirling last
Tuesday that the Commission
ers had themselves a backroom
deal they had put together for
the meeting that night: a plan to
demote County Manager Merv
Waldrop to a county administra
tor position, changing his ability
to hire and fire some county
positions without the consent
of the Commissioners.
Not wanting to tip their hand,
the possible discussion of such
a move was left off the night’s
agenda. It was added at the
start of the meeting by Com
missioner Lucious Abrams and
no one seemed surprised by his
request.
Then, when it came time to
address the item, County At
torney Barry Fleming rose with
a prepared ordinance that would
change the County Manager
position to one of a County
Administrator.
As Fleming handed out cop
ies of the ordinance to the
Commission, he pointed them
to a specific change “regard
ing the hiring of certain posi
tions, bringing that back to the
Board of Commissioners for
approval.”
The fact that no one was
caught off guard, and that Flem
ing had time to write what
amounts to county-law, meant
that every single one of the
Commissioners had been made
aware of what was coming.
None of them, however, had
bothered to ensure it was added
to the night’s agenda prior to
the meeting where some citizen
of Burke County might take
notice.
If you’re also wondering
what might have brought about
this sudden need for change,
you wouldn’t be alone.
Newly-elected District 5
Commissioner Art Lively still
just an ordinary citizen until
his term starts in January, won
dered the same thing as well.
He then asked another ques
tion on the minds of many in
the room: was this action the
next step in the eventual hire of
former Burke County Sheriff’s
Office Chief Deputy Lewis
Blanchard as the new EMA
Director?
Commissioners Abrams and
Evans Martin, fresh off their
recent reelections, both an
swered “no.”
“We need that full control,”
Abrams said, explaining lat
er that Burke County voters
wanted him to “personally have
control over whatever is going
on in Burke County.”
Abrams repeatedly told those
in attendance the ordinance had
nothing to do with Waldrop or
his work and the change should
not be considered a “demotion.”
But Martin lost his temper and
went off script a little later,
saying Waldrop should have
“watched what you say in pub
lic on the street as a professional
and as a citizen.”
There’s a disturbing trend
in this county that points to a
number of elected officials not
understanding their positions
or the jobs they’re asked to do.
Abrams is one of five elected
members of the Commission.
A board whose job it is to
steer the county in a positive
direction through budget and
policy-making decisions, not
to micro-manage every aspect
of the daily operations. That
job falls to the county manager
and the county’s various depart
ment heads.
When it finally came time
to vote on the ordinance,
Abrams made a motion - for
a single reading for passage
rather than for two so that the
ordinance would be finalized
at next month’s meeting. Out
going District 5 Commissioner
George DeLoach, content with
ending his long career in poli
tics in a questionable manner,
gave the motion a second. Mar
tin joined Abrams and DeLoach
to pass the ordinance 3-2.
It’s worth noting, Chairman
Terri Lodge Kelly and Commis
sioner Tommy Nix both voted
against the ordinance.
In remarks before the vote,
Kelly told those in attendance,
“We don’t want division and
conflict ... I want us to do the
right thing.”
Fine words but it will take
better action on the part of her
and her fellow commissioners
to see such results.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook.
Don Lively
NO CLUE
It was going to be one of
those nights, y’all.
Once again I'd come up on
the eve of the dreaded deadline
with not a clue as to what to
scribble about.
So, in order to clear my mind
and come up with an idea or
two, I sat on the north porch
with my worthless dog, Lucy
AKA Loose-E, and a glass of
(hopefully) liquid creativity,
relaxing in the Cracker Barrel
rocking chair and hoping for
sounds to inspire me.
Nope.
It was as quiet as a church
house on Monday morning.
No crickets. No cicadas. No
tree frogs.
All I could hear was Loose-E
wheezing.
Or maybe it was me; I don't
know, we're both at the age
where wheezing is an accept
able form of breathing.
As I sat, I saw movement
toward the door and when I
glanced in that direction, I saw
the cat, Maggie, with her nose
under the blinds watching the
dog and me as we languished.
Incidentally, aren't around
nine out of ten cats these days
named Maggie? We didn't name
her. When we adopted her, we
were told that she wouldn't
answer to any other name, so,
she's Maggie. I would have pre
ferred a name like Skywalker
or Solo, but I wasn't given the
choice.
But, I digress.
Loose-E and Maggie have
never actually met because the
cat never leaves the house and
the dog refuses to come inside.
They do occasionally stare at
each other through the glass,
but that's as close as their inter
actions get. Never once have I
seen Maggie raise her hackles
or Loose-E bare her teeth. They
just stare.
I still seem to be digressing.
Where was I?
Oh, yes, sitting on the porch
trying to find literary revelation.
When nothing came, I de
cided to have a conversation
with Loose-E since she and I are
often on the same wavelength.
"Hey, girl, did you ever won
der where elevator music comes
from?"
It didn't occur to me at the
time that Loose-E had never
been anywhere near an elevator.
But I have.
And it's a legitimate question.
Where does elevator music
come from?
There are no speakers.
There's no built-in stereo
system.
There’re certainly no live
musicians huddled in a comer
playing the soothing instrumen
tals twenty-four hours a day,
seven days a week, fifty- two
weeks a year.
Still, the music is constant.
While my porch mutt and I
continued the conversation, I
told her about my recent online
adventure. I started playing a
digital version of Scrabble with
an old friend and I instantly
became hooked. I love words,
so it was a fine fit and decent
and cheap entertainment. I
quickly expanded to where I
play several games simultane
ously. During one recent game,
the perfect storm occurred. The
letters appeared that allowed me
to make the greatest Scrabble
play of my life and to spell a
word that I've never spelled
playing Scrabble.
The word?
Scrabble.
It was worth 99 points.
Sadly, I still lost the game.
As we sat and pondered
words games and other modes
of time-well-wasted, a shadow
glided across the yard. I looked
up and saw a buzzard meander
ing just above the treetops. I
didn't know if he was sniffing
out Loose-E or me.
"Girl, do you ever wonder
what happens to a buzzard that
gets killed on the highway?"
Again, she lovingly looked at
me as though I'd lost my mind.
"Well, it's a good question.
Do other buzzards clean up the
mess? And, if so, would that be
some sort of avian cannibalism?
I mean, it does happen on oc
casion. Some greedy buzzard
won't leave the deer carcass in
time to avoid a speeding pickup,
gets smacked and instantly goes
to buzzard Heaven. Who eats
the buzzard?"
The dog had no response
other than to roll over on her
back, which meant she wanted
her belly scratched.
continued on page 5A