Chairmen of county apologize

Officials publish open letter in newspaper to express regrets for purchase that violated state law

Web posted August 25, 2000

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By Johnny Edwards
Staff Writer

Hoping to satisfy a local grand jury, Wilkes County's embattled commission heads have published an open letter apologizing for Commission Vice Chairman Marshall Sherrer's ``informal manner'' of purchasing a county bulldozer in 1995.

The letter, signed by Mr. Sherrer and Commission Chairman George Grimaud, appeared in Thursday's edition of The News Reporter - the same Washington, Ga.-based weekly paper that published former Wilkes County Democratic Party Chairman Frank Beckum's paid advertisement accusing the two of authorizing road work at a golf course using public funds.

The letter also expressed regret that a recently adopted policy will forbid such work - which is a violation of the state constitution.

``This may be a hardship for those of you who see no harm and who have come to expect, over the years, an occasional grading of their driveway in return for their taxes,'' the letter stated.

Another state law requires governments to dispose of surplus property through a bidding process.

Most of the letter's text concerned Mr. Sherrer's $9,000 purchase of a bulldozer given to the county by the City of Washington. The sale was made without putting the equipment up for bids.

Part of the blame was shifted to deceased Washington Mayor Edward Pope, as ``what he said went.'' The bulldozer was sold so the county could buy another piece of equipment to use at the county landfill.

``In hindsight, it is clear that the dozer was public property either of the city or county and either way it should have been sold at public and not private sale,'' the letter said. ``We sincerely and deeply regret that we handled this transaction in such a way that five years after the fact this so called `scandal' could be paraded before the public to our great embarrassment.''

The public admission comes two weeks after a grand jury recommended the commission come clean about road work and the bulldozer. While the jury elected not to conduct its own investigation, it asked the board to ``supply full and complete answers to Wilkes County citizens.''

Contacted at his home Thursday, Mr. Sherrer said the letter ``tells you what you need to know.'' He said he would not answer questions of The Augusta Chronicle, and that residents could read about the issue in The News Reporter.

The local paper's coverage has been overwhelmingly supportive of Mr. Grimaud and Mr. Sherrer. Regarding Mr. Beckum's road work accusations, an editorial appearing July 27 said ``no law is any better than the will of the people to enforce it. The minor infractions which Beckum complains about have been standard operating procedure for at least half a century.''

An Aug. 10 article by publisher Smythe Newsome called the allegations ``stinking, selfish, vindictive, dirty, mean, repulsive politics.''

Mr. Grimaud did not return phone calls Thursday.

Toombs Judicial Circuit District Attorney Dennis Sanders said if grand jury members - one of whom is Democratic commission candidate Donna Hardy - are not satisfied with the commissioners' response, they could contact their foreman, regroup and conduct an investigation.

``I'm going to follow their recommendation, and if they want to reconvene, I'm going to assist them any way I can,'' Mr. Sanders said. ``At this point, there's nothing the DA can do.''

Mr. Beckum, who alleged the private road work had been done to influence elections, said he is pleased with the commission's new road work policy, but not with the letter.

``This open letter created more questions than it answered,'' Mr. Beckum said.

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or jedwards92@hotmail.com.