Newspaper Page Text
Page A— Wednesday, February 16, 2022, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
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LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-FEBRUARY 15,2012
U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu toured Plant Vogtle
to voice the Obama administration’s support for nuclear
powered electricity.
Cannon McClain was named STAR Student for Edmund
Burke Academy, and Jennifer McDaniel received the honor
for BCHS.
Third grader Cobb Hollingsworth won first place in the
spelling bee held at Faith Christian Academy. Second place
was claimed by Lauren Ford. Both were students in Jean
Ivey’s class.
25 YEARS AGO-FEBRUARY 19,1997
Globe Business Furniture was fined $144,900 by the
U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA). The fine was imposed after an
investigation into the death of Robert “Robby” Purkey, 23.
The Waynesboro City Council indicated it would delete a
city policy requiring city employees to live in Burke County
after a probationary period of six months.
Nell Mobley was named region and division manager of
the year by First Family Financial where she had worked
for 35 years - as manager for 11.
50 YEARS AGO-FEBRUARY 16,1972
Roy F. Chalker, Executive Director of the Burke County
Chamber of Commerce, announced that the chamber would
be the official sponsor of the Student-Teacher Achievement
Recognition (STAR) program in the county for the current
year.
Kris Kimberly Gilliam was named “Little Miss Burke
County” in a pageant sponsored here by Young Life. She is
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Gilliam of Waynesboro.
Advertisers included Buxton Supermarket, Mundy-Shu-
man Furniture, Mack’s Department Store, The Glamour Box
and Rollins Gulf Service Station.
70 YEARS AGO-FEBRUARY 21,1952
J. Frank Farmer, M.A. “Bee” Miller, Jesse C. Palmer,
A.J. Greene and Hubert Rackley were elected to the Burke
County Commission. John Rackley Dinkins led the voting
for tax commissioner with 1145 votes. Mamie Hopper had
1069 and Lawson Glisson, Jr. received 239.
The AmLe Heights neighborhood in Waynesboro began
receiving mail through the extension of Rural Route Two.
The service was made possible by the intervention of Con
gressman Prince Preston.
John Doty Gage and Ralph Dodd, both of Waynesboro,
held prominent positions on the staff of the Tyler, Texas
Morning Telegraph newspaper.
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Former Waynesboro Police
Department (WPD) Major
Gary Jones has sued the city
of Waynesboro for wrongful
termination.
Council members Alberta
Anderson, Dick Byne, “Chick”
Jones, Vickey Bates, Bill Tin-
ley, Willie Williams; city man
ager Valerie Kirkland; and
WPD Chief Willie Burley are
all named as defendants in the
case. Councilman Maurice
McBride, who was elected in
November and replaced Alberta
Anderson in January, was not
named in the suit.
Major Jones was bred from
the WPD on Oct. 20,2021, for
his role in what was alleged to
be the possible mismanage
ment of Municipal Court funds.
Jones wasn’t accused of actu
ally mishandling any money
himself, but he accused others
in the department of such.
According to the lawsuit,
Jones is suing under the Geor
gia Whistleblower Protection
Act, stating that he was fired “in
direct retaliation” for bringing
to light a list of issues with the
city’s Municipal Court and its
processes.
On Oct. 1,2021, a Facebook
post by The Austin Rhodes
Show, of Augusta, first broke
the story, alleging “a municipal
employee [was] suspected of
embezzling over $120,000.”
In his complaint, Gary Jones
admits that on Sept. 17, 2021,
he reported to Chief Burley
that he could not account for
$64,000 in collected funds. Ten
days later, he told Burley that
figure was $144,000.
The suit also claims that at
no time did Jones use the words
“stolen” or “misappropriated”
to describe the missing funds.
A separate investigation by
the city manager and the city
attorney concluded that only
about $2,000 was unaccounted
for. Jones, they suggested,
didn’t have all his facts in order.
Exhibit “D” of the suit is
Jones’ termination letter from
Chief Burley. The two-page
letter paints a very different
picture than the lawsuit. In it,
Burley accuses Jones of causing
disruption to WPD; and that his
“significant misinformation”
had “negatively impacted the
Department.”
It should come as no surprise,
that Jones is seeking a substan
tial payout.
On a side note, the suit has
been assigned to Augusta Ju
dicial Circuit Judge Jesse C.
Stone. You may recall, Stone is
a Waynesboro resident as well
as its former mayor.
Information about Major
Jones’ firing has been dif
ficult to come by as the City
of Waynesboro has been tight-
lipped with its details.
A few weeks ago, I wrote
about Waynesboro’s failure to
turn over documents regarding
Maj. Jones firing and the city’s
investigation into his actions.
Those requests were emailed
on Dec. 1,2021.
As of today, they are still us
ing a bad interpretation of the
Open Records statute to refuse
to turn over those documents. In
my opinion, they have clearly
broken the law in doing so.
Last week I sent the city
a request to be added to the
agenda for council’s regular
meeting, next Monday, Feb. 21.
I’d like to hear, in person, how
they believe they can continue
to withhold these public docu
ments.
To make the request, I had
to fill out an “Agenda Item
Request Form.” Along with the
form, I was sent an accompany
ing sheet of “guidelines.” These
guidelines explain the various
ways a petitioner’s requests
might be addressed. They also
make clear I could be denied the
opportunity to address council.
As a reminder, the mayor and
council are elected by voters of
the City of Waynesboro. They
receive a salary for their posi
tion, paid for, in part, through
property taxes. City employees
are also paid with public funds,
as is the city attorney.
Call me old-fashioned, but
why would I, a Waynesboro
resident, voter and taxpayer,
need the city’s permission to
address the council at their
regular monthly - and public
- meeting.
It would appear the city is
in need of a civics lesson, but
then if you’ve been paying at
tention to what’s been going on
in Waynesboro, you’re already
aware of that fact.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook,
Don Lively
It’s hump day, y’all.
Normally that short phrase
applies to Wednesday, which
is when my weekly scribblings
go to print. Wednesday, by the
very nature of where it falls,
is the middle of the week. If
you’re working and you make
it past Wednesday, you’re over
the hump.
Of course, if you’re one of
those who don’t see the need
to work, hump day doesn’t
ring true.
But, the vast majority of
Americans do have enough
pride in themselves to want to
be productive and to make their
own way in the world.
I’ve always liked having a job
and have always had one.
What I sometimes found
lacking were certain co-work-
ers.
This week we’re going to
talk about work people, folks
who we mb elbows with only
at work. Folks who can be fun,
folks who can be infuriating.
Sort of like family members,
sometimes we have no control
over who we labor through our
days with.
I was once a labor grant in
a plumbing distribution ware
house. On occasion I would be
sent out with Otis, a delivery
track driver. The first time I got
in the passenger seat of Otis’
truck, early one morning, I
noticed that the floormat on my
side was covered with clean,
white sand. Not wanting to
seem ignorant, I didn’t inquire
as to why the sand was there.
About five minutes after we
left the warehouse, Otis, who
always had a huge wad of Red
Man tobacco in his cheek, sud
denly turned his head my direc
tion and spit a stream of nasty
tobacco juice directly between
my feet. I instinctively jumped
like I’d been scalded. Otis just
laughed. I have to admit, he was
quite the marksmen. All day, he
never got one drop on my boots.
Still, by the end of the day
the clean, white sandpile was
no longer clean or white and I
never volunteered to ride with
Otis again.
In the years before I became a
police officer, I took a part time
night job as an armed security
guard. To train for the position I
was required to fire six shots at
a paper target ten feet away. Ap
parently, if the applicant bred
the shots without shooting a toe
SMARTER, NOT HARDER
off, he was hired. Also appar
ently, other guards got the same
poor training. One fellow that
I worked with, Tim, loved to
stand in front of mirrored plate
glass windows and practice his
quick draw. He looked foolish
and I told him as much, but he
fancied himself to be quite a
gun handler. One night he got a
little too enthusiastic and during
one of his fast draws, he fired a
shot through the glass out into
the parking lot where he hit a
red Toyota. I’ll never forget that
red Toyota.
Needless to say, Tim was
relieved of his firearm, and his
job, and I was happy to see
him go.
I was once a roofer and even
after I became a cop, I roofed
houses on the weekends to
make ends meet. One of my
partners, Tommy, was as big
an Atlanta Braves fan as I was,
him being from north Florida.
During the Braves stretch ran
up to their first World Series
win in the 90s, we were putting
a new roof on an old house,
listening to the playoff game
on the radio. When the last out
was called and the Braves had
won, Tommy started doing the
famed “chop” with his roofing
hatchet and the equally famed
“chant”, standing at the high
est point on the roof. Then,
deciding he needed to get even
higher, he began climbing up
the old brick chimney. Just as he
got to the top, the 100-year-old
mortar that had held the bricks
together since the 19th century,
collapsed under Tommy’s con
siderable weight.
We lost money on that job.
A fellow police officer I
worked with loved to don a
head-covering gorilla mask and
drive his patrol car slowly down
crowded streets.
A guy I worked construction
with thought it would be fun
to ride a wheelbarrow down a
steep slope, not taking into con
sideration that wheelbarrows
don’t have brakes. He went to
the emergency room.
The only time I ever worked
in a real factory, a fellow
thought it was great fun to
hook the cable on the overhead
winch and pulley to the back
of his belt and hoist himself
up, pretending to be Peter Pan.
Where was OSHA when you
really need them?
Those are some of my crazy
work people.
I’m sure you’ve worked with
your own.
Next week: Strangers.