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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
DEBATE
From page 1A
Mayor Harold M. Edwards
Jr., and asked former mayor
and councilman Walker
Fowler who was in atten
dance to give the background
about how the exemption
law first came into place.
Fowler said that it was
first started in the 1970 s
when Sherrill Stafford was
mayor and had reached age
65 and had lived there since
1958.
He said that at that time
council had no idea the city
would grow to the size it is
today with such expensive
homes.
Fowler said what is a
big concern to him is that
people who are moving to
Centerville and meet the age
requirement don’t have to
pay taxes. He has lived in
Centerville since 1963.
Centerville resident Troy
Wyndom suggested adding a
residency requirement to the
referendum, but the mayor
said he has been advised
that a residency require
ment, although it has not
been tested, would not stand
up in a court of law, accord
ing to his attorneys.
Councilman Sherod
Wilson told the group that
last year 185 residencies
had the exempt status in
Centerville.
Of those, with a $25,000
homestead exemption, 30
will maintain the exempt
status, 66 will pay $l6O or
less per year in taxes, 59
will pay $l6O to $365 in
taxes per year and 40 will
pay more than $365. Wilson
said he currently pays $470
a year in taxes.
Centerville resident
Robert Bundrick questioned
what the city was doing
with SPLOST funds the city
received.
“We didn’t get a very
large cut of SPLOST,” said
the mayor, adding that it
was approximately $3 mil
lion. Some of the things the
mayor said the city hopes
to accomplish is the Margie
Drive extension which he
said will help the develop
ment of downtown as well as
the widening of Thompson
with curbs, gutters and side-
TAX
From page 1A
disgruntlement about the
previous meeting, how he
expected the current meet
ing to run and some back
ground on the issues. He
was not present at the pre
vious meeting because he
was out of town attending a
family function; Councilman
Sherod Wilson presided over
the June 22 meeting.
“We want to hear other
input that will help the
mayor and council do what
we need to do,” he said
The mayor continued by
saying that council brought
a budget with only a $l7B
increase to the city and put
it in the black.
“We brought the city back
from red ink,” he said add
ing that the city would have
had to turn in its charter
had it gone bankrupt.
The mayor also said that
the people in the city made
too much per capita income
to get a grant, but that he
fully intends to go back
again this year and ask for
money for sidewalks and
things that the city needs.
Edwards told the audience
that City Administrator
Patrick Eidson initially came
to him and said that the 100
percent exemption needed
to be eliminated; however,
after the meeting the mayor
change that to it being a
cooperative idea between
him and Eidson.
“This is not all about senior
citizens,” he said. “I will not
be intimidated by any spe
cial group in this city.”
The mayor repeatedly
said that he was going to do
what’s right by everybody in
the city.
He also addressed the sale
of alcohol by the drink on
Sunday. He said he had in
the newspaper where one
resident said that alcohol
shouldn’t be sold on Sundays
because it’s the Lord’s day
He said he thought every
*• *>
ENI (»arv llarmon
Tuesday evening at Centerville's town hall meeting Don
Eisley, a veteran of three wars, explains to Mayor Harald
Edwards he believes the veterans are being targeted by
the council and mayor.
walks for the children to
walk to school. “It allows
us to program things like
that.”
“$3 million is a lot of
money,” retorted Bundrick.
“Hope it is being spent wise
ly.”
Centerville resident Jean
Meeks said she wanted to
know about sidewalks going
onto Carl Vinson.
“We’d love to do that if
we had an unlimited pot of
money,” the mayor said, add
ing that sidewalks are one
of the things that attracted
him to live in Eagle Springs.
The mayor also addressed
questions about developing
a downtown area with busi
nesses.
“In downtown, developing
business property, it gener
ates taxes all the time...and
a lot of it,” he said. “Right
now the mall is a tax write
off for the man up north
who owns it.”
He also told the audi
ence that Planned Unit
Development is how the cit
ies are being planned in the
Atlanta area - with apart
ments for rent on top of the
stores.
“When you can’t get where
you want to go, it gets pretty
tough,” he said.
Centerville resident Dr.
Dan Callahan told the coun
cil they have “very unhap
py senior citizens on their
hands” by trying to take
away the exemptions. He
said that could be considered
an “Indian Giver.”
day was the Lord’s day.
“I stand in favor of always
allowing the people to vote,”
he said.
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He suggested a discounted
rate for seniors at age 65
and an increased discount at
age 70, 75 and 80. At age 85,
he suggested those seniors
not have to pay taxes.
Approximately 10 min
utes was spent on discuss
ing the sale of alcohol by
the drink on Sunday. Many
citizeqs left after the discus
sion of the senior citizen tax
exemption issue, prompt
ing Councilman Cameron
Andrews to ask where every
one was going.
Centerville resident David
Maynard said he was not
in favor of the referendum
because people take their
children to church on Sunday
and then out to eat.
“They don’t need to see it
in restaurants after church,”
he said.
Another resident, Linda
Singletary said she thought
if the referendum were
passed, it would “desensi
tize” children to the use of
alcohol.
Don Isaacson, another
resident, said he did not see
the big deal about it because
people take their children to
restaurants during the week
that sells alcohol.
“Whoever shows up with
the most horses wins,” con
cluded Edwards.
The council is expected to
vote at the July 11 council
meeting as to whether or
not the two issues should be
put on a referendum for the
public to vote on in a special
election.
“I am in favor of both ref
erendums. The right to vote
is the most precious thing
we have.”
LOCAL
LAW
From page 1A
“I think that’s what the
legislature intended when
it enacted the law,” Burke
said.
School bus stops are set
by the local board of edu
cation, Burke said and: “A
school bus stop is consid
ered a place where the bus
stops. In some neighbor
hoods it’s at a street corner,
but in my neighborhood the
bus stops at each house to
drop the kids off.”
“We had several meetings
with the Sheriff’s Office
and probation offices as to
how to respond as of July
1,” added Burke. “We will
not enforce the bus stop
portion until the court
rules, but we’re definitively
enforcing the rest of the
law. It’s not a huge, criti
cal issue right now because
schools are out.”
“We already had restric
tions on schools and plac
es children congregate,”
Burke continued. “What’s
new is churches. We’ll look
at enforcing that for July.”
Burke added eight indi
viduals were given a
reprieve in the ruling that
raises questions about the
constitutionality of the new
state law intended to keep
sex offenders away from
children.
Court Judge Clarence
Cooper said the court appre
ciates the need to protect
the public from sex offend
ers but, “Does not favor
doing so in a manner that
offends the Constitution.”
He has scheduled another
hearing for July 11.
As of last week, 10,755
registered sex offenders
were living in Georgia,
with 1,932 of them
incarcerated, according
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1361 SAM NUNN BLVD.
PERRY
478-987-7449
to the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation.
Houston County has 28
sexual offenders incarcer
ated and another 101 no
longer incarcerated, accord
ing to the GBI sex offender
registry
Most of the registered
sex offenders, 69 of the
101 offenders reside within
Warner Robins, which has
a more restrictive law than
the state as to distance they
can reside from schools,
parks, churches and places
children congregate - 1,500
feet versus 1,000 feet by
state regulations.
There are 13 registered
sex offenders in Perry, seven
in Bonaire, six in Kathleen,
two each in the Byron and
Hawkinsville ZIP codes in
Houston County and one in
Centerville.
Of the 101, most are
white males, but 38 are
black and there are also
two white women. None of
those no longer incarcer
ated is considered a preda
tor. “Predators have to be
monitored for life,” Burke
explained.
Only one in Houston
County is listed as an
absconder - not accounted
for - Holly Williams 111, of
Warner Robins. He is 5-foot
4, weighs 185 pounds and
has black hair and brown
eyes. He is a black male and
was convicted of statutory
rape. He last reported on
April 20, 2006.
The single largest offense
of those 101 is child moles
tation with 43 convicted
of child molestation. The
next single largest crime is
statutory rape with 15 con
victions. There are 10 con
victions for sexual battery,
and four convictions each
of sexual exploitation of a
child and sodomy. There
are some with more than
one charge and conviction.
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2006 ♦
There are two convic
tions each of the following
crimes - lewd and lascivi
ous acts with a child under
16; aggravated child moles
tation, aggravated sodomy,
aggravated sexual assault,
incest, kidnapping, sexual
assault, enticing a child for
indecent purposes, false
imprisonment and failure
to register as a sex offend
er.
There is one conviction
each of the following sexual
offenses - indecent exposure
with a child, public indecen
cy, criminal attempted rape,
rape, aggravated assault,
indecent liberties with a
student, possession of child
pornography, aggravated
sexual battery, indecent
exposure and indecent acts
with a child.
The Associated Press con
tributed to this story.
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