Newspaper Page Text
, GEORGIA
O
04
^3*
■'3-
O
04
CM
GO
Vol. 143, No. 13 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 - $1.00
Breach of trust: DABC terminates director
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
After a closed-door annual review
Thursday May 11, the Develop
ment Authority of Burke County
(DABC) announced their decision to
terminate Director Jonathan Lupo’s
employment.
Chairwoman Lindsai Gentry said
multiple reasons factored into the
Board’s decision.
Emails between the county and the
DABC show unapproved credit card
use, missed work, incomplete mile
age logs and gasoline purchases for
personal use may have all played a
part in the decision to fire him.
Lupo was hired as the President
and Chief Executive Officer of the
Waycross-Ware County Develop
ment Authority (WWDA) in May
2021. According to an official docu
ment, he resigned approximately
eight months later.
However, there was little hope of
the DABC knowing details of Lupo’s
prior work performance before they
hired him. As part of the resignation
agreement, the WWDA
agreed to keep the terms SEE
of the “termination” con- DABC
hdential. ’
BCHS senior gets full ride
scholarship to Vanderbilt
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Jada Curd, Burke County High School senior, has
received a full-ride scholarship to the prestigious Van
derbilt University. Being ranked 13th in the country
by the U.S. News Best National Universities Ranking,
Vanderbilt University received over 46,000 applica
tions and only admitted 1,763, boasting a competitive
admission rate of just 4.2% for the class of 2027. Jada
was one of these talented 1,763.
To maximize this accomplishment, Jada also was a
recipient of the Gates Scholarship, one of the nation’s
most prestigious scholarships. This year, the Gates
Scholarship received over 51,000 applications from
top-performing, low income seniors from across the
nation, and after a three phase selection process, se
lected only 750 scholars, exhibiting an admission rate
of less than 1 %. Gates Scholarship not only meets full
financial need for all four years of the undergraduate
experience,but it also provides its scholars with access
to a range of support services, including mentoring,
leadership development, wellness, career guidance,
internship and job opportunities, and more. Just as a
testament to the talent of the class of 2027 cohort of the
Gates Scholarship, the majority of its scholars will be
attending Yale University which is directly
followed by Stanford University.
Jada owes her success to her many aca- CURD
demic and mentoring experiences. One of 6A
Richmond County refuses
to assist in high-speed chase
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetuecitizen.shelliel@gmail.com
As a Burke County Sheriff’s Of
fice deputy pursued Kevin Gerard
Galamb in speeds of 100 mph, dis
patch advised him that Richmond
County decided not to respond to
assist, stating that they already had
warrants on file and would “catch
him another day.”
According to an official incident
report, the BCSO deputy was pa
trolling the area of Usher Road near
Greens Cut Road May 2, when he
observed a Jeep Cherokee failing
to maintain a lane. The Cherokee
initially stopped at the intersection
of Hwy. 56 and Usher Road. How
ever, before the deputy could exit his
vehicle, Galamb drove way, turning
left on Hwy. 56 N.
“As I was pursuing the vehicle,
in excess of 100 mph, the driver
continued north on Highway 56 N.
I advised dispatch that it appeared
as if the driver was attempting to
reach Richmond County, as the
vehicle continued on Highway 56
N passing Highway 23, with speeds
at 103 mph.”
Galamb headed down Hwy. 56
N, into Richmond County while
dispatch advised the BCSO deputy
that the vehicle was registered to
Galamb, who has outstanding war
rants through Richmond County
Kevin Gerard Galamb
for numerous failures to appear for
traffic- related offenses along with
drug offenses.
The BCSO deputy was advised to
stay with the vehicle until Richmond
County arrived to take over the
pursuit. In the meantime, Galamb
took an abrupt left onto McCombs
Road, going off the roadway into a
ditch on McCombs Road and then
continuing west.
Eventually Galamb’s vehicle
slowed to 42 mph and appeared to be
smoking as if it was
damaged from going SEE
off the roadway. He CHASE,
turned onto Hephzi- g^
bah McBean Road,
LOOK FOR THE
2023 GRADUATION SPECIAL
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
OF THE TRUE CITIZEN
Inmate costs to deplete salary funds
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Incurring staggering inmate hous
ing and medical costs, the Burke
County Sheriff’s Office is at risk
of running out of money to pay its
detention center personnel.
The Board of Commissioners ap
proved $241,061.78 in Sheriff Office
expenditures during the monthly
meeting Tuesday, May 9. First, the
panel acted on pay requests to cover
inmate housing and medical costs.
Two invoices from the Jefferson
County Sheriff’s office showed
a combined $34,160 due for the
months of March and April. Two
more invoices showed the Glynn
County Sheriff’s Office was due a
combined total of $42,255. Southern
Correctional was due $101,500 for
inmate medical services. An Augusta
University Medical Center invoice
showed $30,196.78 for an inmate
medical claim.
The BCSO submitted a budget
amendment that took the total of
$208,111.78 from money designated
to cover detention center salaries.
“Which is problematic because
we are going to have to pay those
salaries by the end of the year,” said
County Manager Merv Waldrop.
When asked if the BCSO had a
plan, Major Lee Webster said the
Sheriff’s Office sounded the alarm
last summer about the lack of space
at the detention center prior to the ap
proval of the budget for this year. He
said there was not two or three items
in the budget that the department
could draw together to make up the
difference. County Finance Director
Michael Wiseman estimated that the
BCSO would run out of money to
pay the detention center salaries by
mid-to-late August.
“We sounded the alarm again in
December and at every Finance
Committee meeting that we have
had since then,” Webster said. “We
don’t have enough room to house the
inmates that we are hous- g^
ing now and it has been a gcSO
huge problem for us with
the safety of the people
Major Lee Webster said the BCSO sounded the alarm about inmate
housing prior to the approval of this year’s budget.