September 16, 2014 Comments for the Waycross City Commission Meeting To the Honorable Mayor Clarence Billups, The Honorable Diane Hopkins, Mayor Protem and the Honorable Members of Waycross City Commission, Davis, Ethridge, Nelson and Solomon-Gaines. Greetings and Salutations My name is The Reverend Fer-Rell M. Malone, Sr. and I reside at 709 Jones Street, Waycross, Georgia 31501. I am the Senior Pastor of The Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, I serve as President of the Concerned Clergy of Southeast Georgia and President the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southeast Georgia. I love this community and only desire the best for it and will work to make sure that it is served with the best, with integrity and character. Thank You for the opportunity to speak with you on this evening. I will be brief and to the point and I have provided a copy of my comments tonight to the City Clerk and to the Media should I not finished within my prescribed time. However, please note that my entire presentation is already available on Facebook, as it is a public forum. The Bible States from Ephesians 6:10, 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against [a]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Four Points of Concern As I represent a large number of qualified voters in the City of Waycross Point 1 • Although I have no personal issues concerning our newly appointed City Manager, Mr. Rafael Maddox, I must state for the record as I have stated before to this body and the community, that the process in which he was selected is totally unethical and immoral. For him to control the office that processed the applicants was in no way transparent. With over 120 resumes in, The Mayor and the City Commission received only 26 after Mr. Maddox office reviewed and made recommendations of which he was one. I am in no way casting an accusation on him or his office, I am simply stating the he should have been arms length away from the process. The Mayor Office was not aware of his selection, neither did the Mayor Office hold the ballots and did not in any way handle the process. So please let’s not repeat that lie. The Mayor was one of the last to know as a commissioner called and added the appointment of the City Manager to the agenda for last Wednesday. The Carl Vinson Institute, of which I personally spoke with, was not utilized as it was in all previous selections. Commissioners stated that it was in the best interest of the taxpayer but those same commissioners failed to be as concerned about the tax payer’s money as one of our commissioners overspent their last year’s budget by more than $2,000.00. If you are concerned about the money, please be concerned at all times. However, Mr. Maddox is the newly appointed City Manager and we will support him in that capacity as we honor the office as a legitimate branch of our city government. We did not like the way the President Bush stole the White House, however when he was sworn in, he was our President. Point 2 • Please note that in stating these facts that the City of Waycross Charter mandates that the City Manager is to run the Day-to-Day operations of the City. That he reports to the Mayor and that the Mayor is the liaison between the Commission which is the policy making body and the City Manager. That NO Commissioner should be involved in the Day-to-Day operations of the City and that any commissioner who does in violating their oath of Office and are therefore and thereby guilty of malfeasance in office and is subject to trial by jury for violation of that Oath. You appointed him to be the City Manager, so let him run it. Any commissioner meeting with operational heads and employees without his direct knowledge and consent as has been done in the pass, are in violation of the law and ordinances as prescribed in the Charter of the City of Waycross and the community WILL filed charges against that commissioner as well as seek a T.R.O., A Temporary Relief of Office from 30 to 60 days to provide time for an investigation to take place. Point 3 • We petition the City of Waycross AGAIN for a Citizens Review Board. We have witnessed in the last two years repeated attacks and literal death of African American Men with NO Objective Review Process in place to hold the Chief of Police and his officers accountable. As long as you have the fraternal order of Police, they will protect their brothers at all cost. Please consider instituting a Citizens Review Board so that Chief Tanner and The Waycross Police Department GONE WILD can be put in harnesses, not ones that stop them from protecting and serving, but harnesses that prevent them from killing and abusing as has been their most recent history. We continue to ask for the Resignation of Chief Tanner as he has presided over an administration and department that does not value the life and liberty of the African American Men. You actually fired Mr. Deron King because you said that his administration had problems. Be consistent and fire Chief Tanner as it is evident that his administration has problems. Point 4 And lastly, the United States Declaration of Independence states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the CONSENT of the governed, - • The powers that this body has are powers derived from the Consent of the Governed. We announce tonight that effective Friday, A recall process will be officially filed in the Board of Elections to legally and legitimately TAKE THOSE POWERS BACK from the governing as they have failed and unethically performed the duties of their office. This process will begin in the middle at District Three and move as quickly and methodically as possible to move our city government into a direction where it is responsive to the governed (the citizens). Those seats do not belong to the individual persons, those commission seats belong to the people. When you fail to represent, respect and care for the concerned of the governed, the constitution provides an avenue in which the governed can change those who govern. The RECALL WILL begin on this Friday and we are prayerful that we can actually find common ground and resolution in and during the process. We ask that there be a mutual facilitation of concern and we offer that to you tonight. May God Bless You and Keep You is my prayer and Thank You for this time. The Reverend Fer-Rell M. Malone, Sr. President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Southeast Georgia Chapter
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:42:39 +0000
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