Rush to judgment

found lacking…again

Editor:

It was a surprise to learn that former Warner Robins city employee Christine Armstrong has been judged innocent of any "inappropriate conduct" by an administrative law judge. After she was found innocent by the GBI and a grand jury, our interim Mayor John Havrilla and city council grasped for straws and in fits of anger found her guilty. Now its time for Mayor Chuck Shaheen to show leadership by finding a way to exonerate our former City Clerk, Stan Martin, who was wrongfully charged and fired for "inappropriate conduct". Adequate financial compensation is in order, plus public apologies by our city council.

Frank W. Gadbos

Warner Robins

LEC move doesn’t pass the smell test

Editor:

Recently, the Mayor and some City Councilmen made an attempt to rescind the previously approved resolution to build the Warner Robins Law Enforcement Center (LEC) in an executive session. I don't want to make a big deal about doing that in executive session, but my understanding of the Georgia Sunshine Law only allows Personnel matter and Purchase of real estate to be discussed in an executive session. I don’t believe talking about rescinding a resolution to build in an area already owned by the city fits into either category.

The stated rational (sic) for wanting to rescind the resolution is that another parcel of land with a building (the deserted FoodMax store on Russell Parkway) could be purchased and remodeled for less than the $9,500,00 is now available. They attempted to reinforce that argument by saying that Henry County remodeled a strip mall for around $7,000,000.

The city already has $5,000,000 allocated from a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) that will expire in 2011. They also, have several proposals to assist them with financing the remaining $4,000,000. But, there is still another option, simply extend the SPLOST when it expires in 2011 and pay it off.

Warner Robins needs to have all government offices in a place that keeps within the redevelopment plan that was approved by the Mayor and Council in June of 2007. The Paragraph below was copied from page 12 of that plan. I urge each Warner Robins Taxpayer to call the Mayor and Council and ask them to move forward with the original plan of building the LEC downtown.

Civic Corridor Redevelopment Concept: Watson Boulevard between Robins Air Force Base and Commercial Circle should be developed as the hub of governmental and cultural activities in Warner Robins. The existing City Hall complex and Macon State College campus provide a strong foundation on which to build a governmental/cultural hub. All new government offices or expansions (including county, state, or federal facilities) should be strongly encouraged to locate along this corridor, as should any new cultural facilities such as performance halls, auditoriums, libraries, museums, or galleries. The city’s proposed new law enforcement complex will be developed within the boundaries of this corridor. Public intervention will be used to upgrade this important corridor with streetscape improvements and higher density commercial or residential development that supports the government/cultural hub.

AARON HUFSTETLER

Warner Robins