Newspaper Page Text
Powell Writes ‘Hostile’
Letter To Head Of DCA
Asks DFCS To Keep Jury Foreman ‘At Home’
from front page
misinterpreted the points I was
tr{in* to fiet across,”” Higdon
told The News late last week
after confirming that he had
received the letter from Powell.
“He felt 1 was criticizing his
management of county govern
ment and that was not the
case.’’
Higdon said Powell's letter
had been forwarded to another
DCA official and had not been
returned to his office. He said
his office has been involved in
moving from one facility to
another and the letter could
not be located immediately.
Hidon described the document
as a ‘‘hostile letter” from
Powell.
Although Higdon. couldn’t
remember any specific phrases
in Powell's letter, he did say
that the “‘overall thrust seem
ed to be that | was criticizing
him as county commissioner."
DCA SERVICES
The DCA in the fpast, has
provided a number of services
to Chattooga County's govern
from front page
chases, according to state
officials.
However, Powell refused to
pay the state for that car and
two others until last fall, when
he quietly sent a check to
Atlanta.
If either arby - s
dissatisfied with a gtale Court
ruling, it may then be appeal
ed to Suf)erior Court.
Powell, in the Aug. 12 hear
ing, iave conflicting testimony
on whether McConnell had the
authority to approve purchases
of up to $2,000 without
Powefl)'s specific approval if the
sheriff's department was
within its buJ)geL.
HOMECOMING
PLEASANT HILL
BAPTIST CHURCH
SUNDAY, SEPT. 21
Special Speaker
Rev. Ralph
Brown
PASTOR-WAYNE HINDMAN
e EVERYONE WELCOME °
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ment. An eftort to develop a
countg bookkeeping system
and budgeting process fell
apart this spring when Powell
said he had tossed in his
trashcan a format for a propos
ed budget developed gy the
DCA and the county's auditor.
Higdon said he was
unaware of any services the
DCA may be currently pro
viding to the county govern
ment. However, he said
Powell's letter will not have an
effect on the DCA if assistance
is requested by cities and
towns in the county or by the
county government in the
future. **We'll be glad to hel
you anyway we can,’ he addetf
BUDGET ISSUE
The controversy over the
budget issue may have led the
February term Chattooga
Grand Jury to investigate
Powell for possible violations
of state law. The panel propos
ed three indictments against
the commissioner but “no" bill
ed him on July 31, the last day
the Jury was in session.
The foreman of the Jury
was David Tidmore, who step
ped down as foreman for the
vote on Powell and didn't par
ticipate in any of its delibera
tions after the panel heard all
{yhe evidence in the case on Ju
v 81,
Tidmore is senior casework
supervisor for the Chattooga
Department of Family and
Children Services (DFCS).
Douglas Greenwell, director
of the state division of FCS,
Department of Human
Resources (DHR), confirmed
that he had talked with Powell
about Tidmore's activities on
the Jury.
Greenwell said he couldn’t
recall whether Powell had call
ed him or written him about
Tidmore, or whether he had
called Powell about the
controversy.
Powell reportedly wrote a
letter to Jim Ledbetter, com
Special Singers
The Glory
Bound Singers
missioner of the DHR, about
Tidmore, but Ledbetter said
earlier this month he couldn’t
locate such a letter. He later
failed to return any calls to The
News.
“KEEP HIM HOME”
Powell didn’t think it was
‘‘proper behavior” for a state
employee to criticize county
government and that the state
ought to “keep him (Tidmore)
at home to do his job,”
Greenwell recalled the commis
sioner as saying.
*“...lt's hard for me to
recall how it came to my atten
tion,”” Greenwell saig. ““He
(Powell) may have called me
but as I recai'l. I called him."” If
a letter from Powell exists,
Greenwell said it couldn’t be
located.
Jan Pullen, Chattooga
DFCS director was in Atlanta
on tempora.r% assignment with
the state DFCS office during
the controversy this summer,
Greenwell said. She has since
been promoted to the position
of director of the assistance
pafyments section for the state
office of DFCS.
NEWSPAPER
‘‘She was showing
newspaper articles (at the
Atlanta office) and said Tid
more was foreman of the
Grand Jury looking at Com
missioner Powell and that ‘we
don’t want to have a big fight
with the county commis
sioner,” "' Greenwell said.
Powell claimed that Tid
more seemed to be ‘‘going out
of bounds” in the Jury in
vestigation ‘“‘to shed a bad
light on him as county commis
sioner,”” Greenwell continued.
The state DFCS didn’t in
vestigate Powell's allegations,
Greenwell said. Tidmore was
told to do his job as foreman of
the Jury and as an employee of
the DFCS and not to taie on
other responsibilities,
Greenwell said.
“I disqualified myself (on
Powell’s case) strictly on the
advice of my attomefy and the
district attorney’s office,” Tid
more said Tuesday, “‘and it
wasn't because of any pressure
from the state DFCS office
concerning my employment.”
NO CRUSADE
“We didn’t have any reason
to feel that he (Tidmore) was on
a crusade against him
(Powell),” Greenwell said.
The state didn’t respond to
Powell further after Greenwell
had talked with Tidmore, the
state director said.
State Court
A Chattooga County State
Court civil trial session that
had been scheduled to start
Wednesday morning was
cancelled.
Only one civil case was
ready fi)r trial, court officials
said, and an attorney involved
in the case had a death in the
family, causing it to be con
tinued to a later term.
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COL. CURTIS EARP (R) TALKS WITH BILL DAVIES
Introduced By Rotarian Dr. Gary Smith (C)
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SHERIFF GARY McCONNELL (L) TALKS WITH COLONEL
Head Of Public Safety Department Addressed Rotarians
State Patrol Praised
Earp Says Retail Market Cause Of Drug Trafficking
from front page
& -
has been training every trooper
to look for imfications otger
than traffic violations when a
motorist is stopped, he said.
Called ‘‘looking beyond the
ticket,” the program teaches
troopers to look for indicators
of illegal activity besides a traf
fic violation, Earp said.
If there are felons on the
roadway, the Patrol wants to
catch them before they ‘‘go
through your county and
become a problem for Sheriff
McConnellp. .. Earp added.
Meanwhile, the Batrol is
also making 28,000 to 30,000
traffic cases per month, the col
onel continued.
In the late 19605, law en
forcement emphasis focused on
technology but neglected the
~ officers t%}e’emselves, Earp said.
~ Society was in danger of hav
~ing its lawmen endowed with
~ ‘‘space-age technology and
stone-age brains,”” he
continued.
BENEFIT
However, technology has
. {)roven to be of great benefit to
law enforcement, he said. One
| exgeriment by the GSP placed
video cameras in patrol cars
and a wireless microphone on
troopers patroling I-7g, he said.
‘ In one case, the camera and
microphone recorded a
motorist pulling a gun on a
trooper, the trooper telling the
man 21 times to drop the
weapon, and then the trooper
firing when the man attempted
to shoot the trooper, Earp said.
The motorist was transporting
illicit drugs.
The cameras also proved to
be valuable evidence in at least
17 major felony cases, Earp
said, and the cameras are now
scattered around about a dozen
different locations in Georgia.
They are also valuable in clear
ing troopers of false accusa
tions, he added.
“BLUE LINE”
Describing the GSP as ‘‘the
thin blue line,” the colonel said
the Patrol's manpower hasn't
been increased in seven years
but that it is handling many
more duties.
It has an authorized
strength of 825 troopers but is
short about 40 now with 31 in
trooper school this week, he
continued.
The Patrol is one of five
units of the Department of
Public Safety, ang everything
the GSP does affects the other
divisions, he said. For example,
every accident in Georgia is
processed by the accident
reporting section. If the Patrol
had another 100 troopers now,
the additional work likely
would ““shut down’ some of the
other divisions, the colonel
said.
TESTING
The GSP also handles all
testing for driver’s licenses and
all suspensions and revoca
tions, Earp said. In some loca
tions, the Enes for people seek
ing licenses or renewals is one
and one-half blocks long, he
added. The Patrol is short 50
examiners at the present time.
The legislature has also
mandated the retesting and
relicensing of all commercial
drivers within the next 18
months, Earp pointed out,
which will adj‘ to the Patrol's
work load.
RADIO OPERATORS
The GSP is short more than
70 radio operators and in many
cases, certified troopers are
having to operate base radio
equipment rather than being
on the highways patroling,
Earp continued. gome troopers
still have to patrol three or four
counties at night alone because
of the lack of manpower, he
indicated.
The **quality of life”" for in
dividual troopers is a matter of
major concern to the Patrol,
Earp said.
The legislature has funded
a program to provide hand-held
radios for 100 troopers, he said
in pointing out that troopers
now are out of contact with
their base anytime they are
outside their vehicle. Addi
tional radios are expected to be
funded in the future, he said.
BODY ARMOR
No trooper had any body
armor last fall except that
bought by local communities,
he said, but every trooper has
access to body armor this year.
The *‘bullet-proof vests™ were
bought with funds confiscated
from drug dealers, he said.
Troopers were issued only
regulation dress shoes a year
ago regardless of whether they
were patroling in the snow of
Northeast Georgia or on a scor
ched interstate highway in
mid-July, he said. 'l‘fie GSP is
now in the process of making
high-top boots available to
every trooper, the colonel
pointed out.
HELMETS
Only a few troopers had
high-impact helmetsgast year
but every trooper now has
headgear available for protec
tion in riot-type situations, Col
onel Earp added.
“We'll alwadys be there
when f'ou need us,”' Earp
assured the Rotarians.
He was introduced by
Rotarian Dr. Gary Smith.
. . !
Bid Opening
Bids will be opened at 2
p.m. next Tuesday on the se
cond phase of Summerville's
sewer expansion project in the
western part of the city.
The bids will be opened at
city hall. The project will be
financed by a Community
Development Block Grant.
© Family
~ Portraits
| By
i Kay Abbott
. Studio Hours
l By Appointment
§,734-2038 &
The Summerville News, September 24, 1987
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We are a Co-op Mutual Co.
We are exempt from all taxes and licenses.
We are a non-profit association and prohibited by state laws from
making a profit
We have no agents — so you pay no agent's commission.
You deal directly with an officer of the company. You deal with
homefolk in buying your insurance and paying claims.
We are the largest and oldest Farmer's Mutual in Georgia,
organized in 1892 and insuring property in our area ever since.
CONTACT BILL TATE
AT TATE FURNITURE CO.
734-2281
WE DO NOT INSURE AUTOS
Old Fashion
SUNDAY, SEPT. 21
® Old Fashioned Covered Dish
dinner after the morning worship
service
HIGHLAND AVENUE
BAPTIST CHURCH
Wilburn Dooley, Pastor, and Members
Extend to Everyone An Invitation
To Attend.
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