Newspaper Page Text
City Manager Appoints Lenny Gunther Permanent
Police Chief
Remembering American Journalist
Barbara Walters
By Staff Writer
F ollowing a
robust nation
al search and
comprehensive evaluation pro
cess, City Manager Joseph A.
Melder is appointing Lenny
Gunther as Savannah’s Po
lice Chief. Chief Gunther had
served as interim Police Chief
since July 29, 2022. The com
prehensive process of selecting
a new chief included a public
survey, focus groups, a practi
cal knowledge evaluation and
extensive panel interviews.
“We conducted a na
tional search and considered
a group of impressive police
executives who all brought
unique qualifications to the
table, but one candidate stood
out as the right chief at the right
time for Savannah. Chief Gun
ther is a proven leader who is
committed to installing proven
policing strategies, technolo
gy, and practices to SPD,” said
City Manager Melder. “Chief
Gunther has already made
meaningful adjustments at the
Savannah Police Department
that have increased morale, im
proved recruitment and reten
tion, and most importantly ad
vanced our ability to fight and
prevent crime. Chief Gunther
has also earned the trust of our
community, which is critical to
the success of any police chief.
He embodies what it means to
be a servant leader and brings
a commonsense approach that
couples well with his visionary
embrace of the latest in tech
nology and alternative inter
vention measures. I am proud
to name him Savannah’s per
manent Police Chief.”
Chief Gunther joined
the Savannah Police Depart
ment as a patrol officer in
2001 and moved up through
the ranks to his most recent
position of assistant chief in
2019. He also served in the
U.S. Army Reserve for eight
Lenny Gunther
years. Gunther holds a Master
of Arts in Business and Organi
zational Security Management
from Webster University and is
a graduate of the FBI National
Academy.
“Being selected as
the City of Savannah’s Police
Chief is the culmination of
years of work in this commu
nity and I am extremely proud
to lead the public servants of
this department and serve the
residents of Savannah as their
Police Chief,” said Chief Len
ny Gunther. “I have worked
my way from the bottom of this
department to the top job and
I could not have done so with
out an amazing team of leaders
along the way who chose to
invest in me. Moving forward,
the officers of our department
should know that it is my job
to develop the next generation
of leaders and instill in them a
passion for serving all Savan-
nahians.”
Chief Gunther’s ap
pointment is effective imme
diately. A public swearing-in
ceremony will be announced in
January.
Mayor Van Johnson To Kick Off 2023 Hungry Club Forum Series
The Hungry Club Fo
rum of Savannah, Inc. (HCFS)
will host its monthly virtu
al Signature Roundtable and
Open Forum community edu
cation and issues discussion,
on Saturday, January 7, 2023
at www.facebook.com/liungry-
clubforumofsavannah, at 9:30
AM.
Evidence that the
HCFS Series has inspired
progressive attention, policy
changes, and inclusions have
been noted over the years. The
Forum continues to be herald
ed for making concerted efforts
to engage the total community
with presenters bringing forth
hands-on experience and ex
pertise who are willing and
even eager to share visions,
track records and recommen
dations for the Savannah Ar
ea’s progress.
Randolph L. Slay,
President, and the Board in
vite everyone to log in to Sa
vannah’s premiere community
issues platform, on this com
ing first-Saturday in January.
What a wonderful time as we
reemerge from a host of con
cerns, and seek to plot our
community’s path, policies,
and approaches in the New
Year. Join in the discussion and
make you and your family’s
voices heard. The Honorable
Van R. Johnson II, Mayor, City
of Savannah will serve as the
keynote presenter for an infor
mal “Conversation with Mayor
Johnson on Moving the City
of Savannah Forward.” HCFS
Lead Consultant Diana Harvey
Johnson, President, Pinnacle
Communications Corporation,
says Mayor Johnson is a Char
ter Member of the HCFS, now
in its seventeenth year, and
continues to be a supporter of
its brand of community service
and advocacy.
The HCFS is a
501(c)3 organization dedicat
ed to increasing the awareness
of educational, community
economic development, Black
History and Heritage, cultural
enrichment and other issues
and topics of importance to the
growth and progress of the en
tire community. Co-sponsors
for the January HCFS are An
drews & Sanders Law Offices,
Attorneys Doug Andrews and
Richard A. Sanders, Principals.
For more infor
mation, please contact Julia
Wright at 912-233-0855 or
Diana Harvey Johnson at 912-
927-8425.
Kiah House Structural Evaluation Underway Says New Owner
By Eric Curl (https://savannahagenda.com/historic-savannah-foundation-provides-update-on-kiah-house/)
The Kiah House. Photo: Eric Curl - Dec. 23, 2022
The Historic Savan
nah Foundation (www.myhsf.
org) is taking steps towards
the restoration and reuse of the
Kiah House after purchasing
the former community muse
um in April, according to the
nonprofit organization.
As part of the preser
vation effort, HSF put a tempo
rary roof over the deteriorating
structure in September to keep
it dry during the hurricane sea
son, Ryan Jarles, HSF’s Direc
tor of Preservation and Historic
Properties said during a Dec.
20 interview with Savannah
Agenda.
HSF also hired a local
architecture firm. Ward Archi
tecture + Preservation (www.
wardarch.com), to evaluate the
property and determine what
is wrong with the structure,
Jarles said. In addition, they
are working to get the property
listed on the National Register
of Historic Places (http://bit.
ly/3CjqhSV), which will open
the door for grant opportunities
and tax credits to help restore
the structure, he said.
Built in 1915, the
house at 505 W. 36th St. in his
toric Cuyler-Brownville was
transformed into a communi
ty museum in the late 1950s
by the late artist and educator
Virginia Jackson Kiah and her
husband, Calvin Kiah, a fonner
Dean of Education at Savannah
State College.
In July 2021, the
Savannah City Council voted
to designate the Kiah house a
local historic structure, along
with 89 other Cuyler-Brown
ville properties. Then in De
cember 2021 the city council
approved the African Diaspora
Museology Institute’s request
to install a historical marker
outside the home to recognize
the significance of the property.
The sale of the prop
erty to HSF came after years
of deterioration resulting from
a more than two-decade-old
Chatham County Probate Case
(http://bit.ly/3Z7BTlG) con
cerning Virginia Kiah’s estate.
After obtaining the
engineer’s report, HSF intends
to start holding public en
gagement events to determine
the future use of the property,
Jarles said.
Barbara Walters, the
trailblazing television journal
ist known for her interviews
of the famous and the not-so-
famous, died December 30,
2022. She was 93.
Walters, bom Sep
tember 25, 1929, in Boston,
Massachusetts became the
American journalist known for
her successful television inter
views of world-renowned fig
ures.
She graduated in 1951
from Sarah Lawrence College,
Bronxville, New York. Walters
spent a short time employed
with an advertising agency.
She then progressed to assis
tant to the publicity director for
New York City’s NBC-affiliat-
ed television station and gained
experience in writing and pro
ducing for television. She was
then hired as a news and public
affairs producer and writer by
the CBS television network. In
1961 she became a writer for
the much-favored NBC morn
ing show Today.
Walters was hired
in 1964 as the “Today Girl”.
She soon expanded that narrow
role, making a place for herself
among the Today show’s pan
el of commentators and news
readers. She went from Today
Girl to a pioneering media star.
Her intelligence and camera
presence made her one of the
most popular personalities on
the program. In 1974 she was
named cohost of Today with
Hugh Downs. The following
year she won an Emmy for her
work on the show. The subse
quent year she joined the ABC
newsmagazine show 20/20 as
a correspondent and remained
Barbara Walters
with the program until 2004.
Walters was particu
larly known for her interviews
of world-renowned individu
als. She was able to secure ex
clusive interviews for her pop
ular Barbara Walters Specials,
which premiered in 1976. In
1982 and 1983 she received
Emmy Awards for best inter
viewer. She was named to the
Hall of Fame of the Academy
of Television Arts and Sciences
in 1990. In 1993 Walters intro
duced a program that featured
her interviews with the news
makers. In 1997 she began co
hosting the daytime talk show
The View. The show spotlight
ed a panel of women who trad
ed opinions and interviewed
guests. Walters retired from
The View, and from regular
television news broadcasting,
m2014.
Join The Links, Inc. For An Afternoon
Of Literary Excellence
Wanda S. Lloyd and Tina McElroy Ansa
Join the Savannah,
GA Chapter of The Links, In
corporated on Sunday, January
15, 2023 from 2:30 PM - 5:30
PM at the Historic Beach Insti
tute, 520 E. Harris Street, for
An Afternoon of Literary Ex
cellence.
Attendees will have
the opportunity to meet and
speak with regional writers,
expanding on all genres of the
literary arts, and enjoy a book
marketplace, giveaways, live
music, and light refreshments
presented by the Savannah
(GA) Chapter of The Links In
corporated.
Featured authors
include Tina McElroy Ansa
(Ugly Ways) and Wanda S.
Lloyd (Coming Full Circle, A
Memoir) discussing their book
“Meeting at the Table: African
American Women Write on
Race, Culture, and Commu
nity” and Master Storyteller,
Celebrant, and Inspirational
Speaker Lillian Grant-Baptiste.
Adult tickets are $10
and Student tickets are $5.
Scan the QR Code to purchase
tickets.
Lillian Grant-Baptiste
ROBERT E. JAMES
President Since
December 1971
CARVER'
STATE BANK
est. Feb. 23, 1927
95 Years of Service, Leadership and Success!
LOUIS 6 TOOMER
Founoerond
Presictenf
MAIN OFFICE
70 i Martin Luther King. Jr. BJvd.., Savannah, GA 3140)
SKI DAW AY BRANCH
71 tO SkieJatvay Rd., Savannah, GA 31406
