Letter From the Editor; A Word About Accountability

Yesterday, mayor Bruce Bailey’s wife, Tina Bailey publicly posted a complete fabrication about me. She said I have a “prior arrest” which is absolutely false. To make matters worse, she invited the public to contact her so she could spread this lie around to whoever asked for the information. I have asked her for her “proof” and she hasn’t responded. There is none because I have never been arrested. Surely, there are more helpful ways the wife of the mayor, can spend her time and be useful in the community.

I am accustomed to Tina Bailey raging to and about me. It has been happening since I wrote the article last October, about the lawsuits Bruce Bailey was the subject of in the past. That kicked off behavior that was disgusting, unprofessional and frankly, embarrassing to the citizens of Washington. That article was based on facts that were publicly available to anyone. Facts that the mayor and his wife, had every opportunity to refute but not once did they or anyone show me evidence that anything I wrote in that article was untrue. Some might say they should have known the lawsuits would come up in the election and could have brought them up right away since the mayor was talking about how important it was to know your candidates.

What has become quite clear since the election last November, which, I will add, is under investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State, is that for Washington to move forward and become what so many believe it can be, is going to take citizens working together. In my opinion, that is the only way Washington will start to grow instead of shrinking, as it has for decades. It’s the only way it will be a place people want to move to instead of away from. There is little we can do now about local government aside from voicing opinions, holding accountability and voting in elections. This mayor and council have had many opportunities over the past seven months to show how they respond to problems and what their priorities are.

The mayor began his term by trying to make a policy to punish people who have late utility bills including a sitting member on the Housing Authority Board. He wanted it to be a stipulation that if anyone had a late utility bill, they couldn’t serve on a board commission or authority. He still hasn’t dropped that entire fiasco with the Housing Authority Board even though he was told repeatedly by the HUD attorney he has no authority over that board and will be sued if he attempts to remove any members. The council continues to violate open meetings laws on a regular basis. They go into executive session to discuss agenda items that don’t qualify to be private, under the law, over and over. Bruce Bailey has talked a lot about transparency but his actions show otherwise. He has withheld documents I request, only to instead post them publicly on his own Facebook page. This isn’t transparency, this is attempts at vindication and retribution. We don’t have time for vendettas. There are problems that need fixing in Washington.

The utility deposits are gone because others joined me in speaking up about them and the damage that was being done. It became very clear, finally, that deBin’s actions were hurting Washington in ways we still don’t exactly know. The city council members voted for his resignation. Yet, the mayor has chosen to continue paying deBin since he was terminated even though the city had every right to withhold those payments when deBin refused to accept the severance offer and potentially complicating potential future litigation. You can see the evidence of these payments below. 

Ethics complaints are still being handled in the shadows and swept under the rug. I have asked about the status of the complaint I filed but have received no response.  Again, citizens worked together and at the August city council meeting, Juan Jackson presented a fairer option for handling future ethics complaints and hopefully, that will be implemented soon.  A process where people accused of violating ethics cannot make decisions on their fellow council members who participated in the very same behavior, as the mayor has chosen to handle my complaint. A clear attempt at manipulating so the outcome will be what he wants it to be. There is no mistake of the motive when there were others who were not involved in the action who could have been appointed.

Economic Development Director, Brittany Buttrey, has been accused of calling an employee at Al’s Pizza a “stupid bi***.”  It is a serious allegation and nobody should be assumed guilty of something without fair consideration of all evidence but none of us were there. The mayor surely wasn’t there so making statements and efforts favoring one side of the story, sends a clear and unfortunately common, message to citizens, especially other young people who may experience something similar in the future. The process matters, words said publicly, matter.

So while city employees, elected officials and county candidates are accused of behaving badly, in some cases, illegally and some of their spouses are slandering citizens and creating their own legal issues, problems go unsolved. There is still no organized way for citizens to receive crucial information, 20% of children are still living in poverty and are hungry, not enough of them can go to preschool because we don’t have the facilities or outreach, 4E Youth are still cramming into Roxeann Cobb’s living room every afternoon, there aren’t enough mental health and addiction services, pregnant women are going without prenatal care and having babies to small and too early because they don’t have transportation to get to Athens or Augusta for OB care, some children are graduating from school and can barely read, there isn’t enough affordable housing, we have train cars on tracks in district 1 that citizens worry may be harming them or their children, there are very few good paying jobs, we have a significant stray animal problem and some businesses are really struggling.

None of these issues can be fixed overnight and since I haven’t heard any of them brought up as priorities at a city council meeting, it is us, the citizens that can work together to find solutions to them.  It will take determination, organization, creative ideas and action but I believe it can be done. Many citizens are rolling up their sleeves and coming up with solutions. Local government can never solve all of a city’s problems even when operating competently and efficiently. If you are interested in working on issues in the community, with other citizens or you have thoughts on things that need attention, you can contact me at mdchaffee@gmail.com.