Candidates make pitches at Macon-Bibb NAACP forum

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis and one of his two challengers disagreed Thursday with how accountable the office has been in the past several years.

Davis said his office continues to build relationships in a proactive manner, but former deputy Timothy Rivers disputed the notion that progress has been made since Davis became sheriff in 2012.

Davis and Rivers were among eight candidates from various local races who attended a Thursday evening forum hosted by the Macon-Bibb County NAACP.

In the May 24 elections, voters will decide whether Davis, Rivers or retired sheriff’s Capt. Mike Smallwood will be the next sheriff. Smallwood did not attend Thursday’s forum.

Davis, who is completing his first term, said community neighborhood walks and other community outreach programs by his office are efforts that tie law enforcement and residents closer together. The sheriff’s office has had to spend time reorganizing after 2014’s consolidation, but the focus has remained on holding sheriff’s employees accountable, Davis said.

“This election here is about moving forward, and ever since my first day in office we have been moving this community forward,” Davis said. “We’ve been doing that by bringing accountability, results and progress.”

Rivers said the number of homicides in Macon is evidence that better results from the office are needed. In 2015, there were 28 homicides in Macon-Bibb County.

“When you don’t see progress, you can’t throw that term (progress) around loosely,” Rivers said.

Rivers, who resigned from the sheriff’s office in May 2015, was demoted in November 2014 following an Internal Affairs probe that found he had violated department policies. Rivers is also embroiled in a two lawsuits against his former employer. In one of those suits he alleges that Davis is a member of the Ku Klux Klan, which Davis has vehemently denied.

Rivers said Thursday that he wants a better process for sheriff’s employees to be able to lodge complaints against their supervisors.

“I want to start a civil board for grievances where deputies have a fair advocate in the workplace,” he said.

Thursday’s forum also featured candidates for the Macon-Bibb County Commission, mayor, tax commissioner and Macon Water Authority. The lone other race with more than one candidate attending Thursday’s forum was the District 6 County Commission race.

That race pits longtime Commissioner Ed DeFore, who has been an elected official for more than 40 years, against former Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen and Don Druitt, who recently retired as director of the Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management Agency.

District 6 spans sections of west and south Macon, including Lizella.

Druitt said that while his opponents have experience in politics, it’s time for a new perspective. He cited being involved in several technology projects, such as a new public safety radio system and the revitalization of the emergency operations center as examples of how he’s helped move the community forward.

“I think I understand what this government needs to keep the technology needed to go forward in the 21st century,” Druitt said.

DeFore said he’s been a commissioner who has fought for residents. He said he was proud to have been part of paving more than 92 miles of dirt roads in the former city limits and has kept recreation at the forefront.

“We have a fine organization and fine administration, and I’m tickled to death to be a part of it,” DeFore said.

Allen, who served on the Bibb County Commission for 20 years, said there are major problems, such as an outdated stormwater system that need to be addressed. Allen said he would push for more special purpose local option sales tax money to be used on stormwater and recreation projects.

“We have to have a SPLOST that will take care of this stormwater draining problem,” he said.

Allen said a commissioner’s role is to make sure to “represent every single person out there, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.”

Meanwhile, in a hotly contested tax commissioner’s race, former Macon Mayor C. Jack Ellis reiterated his stance that property liens should not be placed people because of overdue garbage fees.

His opponent, interim Tax Commissioner Wade McCord, did not attend the forum.

Ellis also said he would never cut someone’s garbage service for not paying their bills. The Ellis campaign’s legal counsel mentioned last week at a news conference that some communities suspend garbage services after a few months in an effort to get people to pay.

Ellis said his first priority as tax commissioner would be to ensure that “we collect every penny that’s owed” to the government. There’s about $7 million in delinquent garbage fees on the books.

“We want to work with the city and make sure we come up with a better system than we have,” Ellis said. “I will never place a lien or advocate directing anyone’s property to be sold on the courthouse steps because they didn’t pay garbage fees.”

On Friday, the Macon-Bibb County NAACP is hosting another candidate forum.

Friday’s session will involve candidates for state House District 142 and the Bibb County school board. The forum will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Macon-Bibb County Government Center, 700 Poplar St.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Candidates make pitches at Macon-Bibb NAACP forum."