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COLUMBUS, Ga. — From an Army Paratrooper being awarded one of our nation’s highest honors for saving four people in a downtown shooting, to city council removing a board member after exposing an illegal conflict of interest, to the treasurer of our city’s youth orchestra being listed as a ‘co-conspirator’ on Trump’s latest indictment, here’s all the muck that’s fit to print from the Columbus, Georgia area, along with a look at what to expect in the week ahead.
COLUMBUS HERO RECEIVES SOLDIER’S MEDAL; SHIELDED OTHERS, TREATED WOUNDED IN DOWNTOWN SHOOTING
This story was originally published on August 21, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — An Army Paratrooper has been awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his selfless bravery that saved the lives of four others during a mass shooting that took place on the 1000 block of Broadway in June 2021.
The Soldier's Medal is our nation’s highest award for service members who perform acts of heroism that did not take place in combat.
On June 11, 2021, then-Second Lieutenant Joseph Guerra was celebrating with friends downtown after they completed a military school on then-Fort Benning (Moore). While outside, heavy gunfire erupted from the street in their direction.
Guerra — with no regard for his own safety — immediately threw another officer to the ground and jumped on top of her, using his own body as a shield to protect her from the gunfire.
When the shooting stopped and the assailant fled, three other people were left wounded.
Explore the full story for the details on how Guerra’s selfless bravery epitomized what it means to be an American Soldier, both on and off duty.
ICYMI: CITY APPROVES $740K OF ‘CRIME PREVENTION’ GRANTS; HUGLEY POCKETS $25K OF IT
This story was originally published on August 9, 2023 and was republished on August 22.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Columbus Consolidated Government approved $740,000 of taxpayers’ money to be distributed to a total of 44 local organizations through ‘crime prevention grants’ at the August 8 city council meeting.
However, with the long list of beneficiaries ranging from the Columbus Symphony Orchestra to a local fraternity chapter headquartered out of the city manager’s own personal house on Steam Mill Road, the credibility of the system’s measures of effectiveness and organizational vetting seem practically non-existent.
Councilors had only received the book-length list of all 44 grant applications a week prior. The list had been prepared all the way back in June, though no one bothered to send it to them with enough time to adequately review it.
Though some councilors tried to delay the vote so they could more closely examine the grant applications, their efforts resulted in an inconclusive 5:4 vote. Some councilors then strongly urged Mayor Henderson to delay anyway — which he could have done — though Henderson refused and insisted on approving the grants without any further inspection.
Five city councilors continued to urge their colleagues to reconsider, though they slammed ahead anyway.
The councilors who urged for diligence were right. They should have delayed, taken their time, and looked more closely.
Here’s why.
Explore the full story for the details.
COUNCIL SHOWS TEETH: CITY BOARD MEMBER REMOVED FOR ILLEGAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST
This story was originally published on August 23, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — In a rare public board hearing, city council members flexed their powers to remove a council-appointed member of the Columbus Golf Course Authority for cause after the discovery of an illegal conflict of interest.
The vote to remove the board member was unanimous by all council members present, though Mayor Henderson, Mayor Pro Tem Gary Allen (District 6), and City Attorney Clifton Fay were all conveniently “on vacation” at the same time and absent from the meeting.
Councilor Judy Thomas (District 9) presided over the entire city council meeting as Madame Chair.
According to an official letter to city council signed by every other member of the Golf Authority, Ms. Stephanie Callahan’s personal business dealings gave “the appearance of a conflict of interest due to business relationships that an entity controlled by Ms. Callahan has or will potentially have with the Columbus Golf Course Authority.”
That conflict, according to testimony given by Golf Authority Chairman Richard Wright on August 22, was discovered during the city’s budgeting process this past spring.
When the letter was received by Clerk of Council Sandra Davis, city council consulted with the city attorney’s office so the proper procedure could be followed.
Explore the full story to see how council flexed their powers against illegal conflicts of interest in a rare public hearing.
HERE’S THE OATH SWORN BY CITY COUNCILORS TO UPHOLD OUR LAWS
This story was originally published on May 23, 2023 and was republished on August 24.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — “Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.” — George Washington, in a letter to Charles Thruston, August 10, 1794.
Before we dive in, it is important that the reader first understands the significance and brief story behind the quote from George Washington printed above.
The quote from Washington is from a letter he wrote in reply to Charles M. Thruston, a delegate from Frederick County, Virginia. Thruston had first written to Washington to warn him of small factions of the neighboring Kentucky government that were censoring and withholding information from the public in hopes of nefariously achieving political ends to undermine their newly-formed representative government and return to the monarchical control of Great Britain.
Washington responded to Thruston’s warning by reminding him that “truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light,” empowering Thruston to take the action required to expose the truth to the public. Washington knew the public would make good use of it to secure the sanctity of their own government — and he was ultimately right.
So, too, will be the future of our city of Columbus, Georgia — if and only if our elected officials honor their oaths and take such pains to bring uncensored truth to light.
In recent months, there have been several instances of our city councilors appearing to the public to be idly standing by while other officials — both elected and appointed — are permitted to make a mockery of our City Charter and our representative form of government.
According to sources close to the Muckraker, these actions have been outwardly permitted to persist — entirely unchallenged — out of city councilors’ fear of taking action; fear of how some members of the public may perceive them if they were to take the appropriate actions to uphold our city’s laws.
However, what some councilors may not be considering is how their inaction ironically causes the very effect they are trying to avoid: a negative perception of council’s weakness by its constituents, ultimately resulting in the public disdain they are fearful of in the first place.
Should council discover the irony of this reality, they may come to actually embrace the responsibilities they are empowered to uphold instead of shying away from them — and there is nothing more their constituents would value from their elected officials than that.
Those responsibilities which council members are empowered to uphold are enumerated in their oaths of office. Their constituents don’t merely legally require that their oaths are upheld, but they need them to be as a People: both for their own good and for the good of our government.
The future of our city depends upon it.
Explore the full story to see the full oath sworn by our city councilors, along with what its wording actually means.
WHY RIVERCENTER RESIGNEES EXEMPLIFY LARGER COLUMBUS CONUNDRUM
This story was originally published on July 14, 2022 and was republished on August 25, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts is a landmark staple of Downtown Columbus, Ga. Complete with grand entrance and a red-carpet interior, its halls have hosted a plethora of world-renowned acts at its Broadway location.
But the days of sold-out showrooms may be numbered if the RiverCenter doesn’t address the large purple elephants currently residing in its grandiose foyer.
From 2014 to 2019 alone, the RiverCenter accrued a cumulative net loss of more than $1.13 million. The organization has only produced positive revenue during one of those years in 2018, which was quickly overtaken by an even larger snowballing deficit the following year.
Though Columbus says it wants to retain talented and educated people, its actions continue to drive them away.
Explore the full story to see how this irony may provide the valuable insight needed to get it right.
TRUMP INDICTMENT NAMES COLUMBUS YOUTH ORCHESTRA TREASURER AS ACCOMPLICE
This story was originally published on August 26, 2023.
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A local Columbus man is listed among the 30 unindicted co-conspirators in Fulton County’s latest indictment of former President Donald J. Trump.
Joseph Brannan, the newly-appointed treasurer of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus, is referred to a total of seven times as “unindicted co-conspirator Individual 9” throughout the 98-page indictment by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis.
Brannan’s identity as “Individual 9” has been widely reported by several news outlets including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Though Brannan’s identity was technically redacted, it was not effectively redacted; Fulton County put forth little effort in doing so given the wide public knowledge of the acts described within the document. An argument could very easily be made that Willis knowingly failed in her duties to properly redact Brannan’s identity from the nation’s most controversial political indictment in history.
Explore the full story to see how Columbus local Joseph Brannan is ‘Individual 9’ in one of the nation’s most controversial conspiracies.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Columbus City Council is scheduled to meet for a consent agenda/work session this Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. on the second floor of the C. E. “Red” McDaniel City Services Center located at 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, GA 31906.
The meeting’s published agenda includes several important items of discussion, including a resolution authorizing an appeal of the results of the State Department of Audits 2022 Sales Assessment Ratio Study. You can view the meeting’s full agenda packet through the city council website.
Join Today. Protect Tomorrow
There has never been a better time to be a Columbus Police Officer! The Columbus Police Department is a state and nationally accredited law enforcement agency dedicated to protecting and serving the citizens of Columbus, Georgia. Become part of a highly trained law enforcement team focused on building and maintaining strong community partnerships that improve the safety and quality of life for every citizen. Join today and protect the promise of a better tomorrow. ProtectColumbus.ColumbusGa.gov
A Look At Personal Safety
As the Columbus Police Department continues to unify under its new leadership model, violent crime is still likely to exist at higher levels than we would all like — even in what have previously been thought of as the “safer parts” of our city.
We at the Muckraker want to encourage our readers and their loved ones to remain hyper-vigilant as they go about their daily lives.
Based on lifetimes of experience and the combined professional careers of us at the Muckraker and our associates, here are what we consider to be the most important ways Columbusites can make themselves “hard targets” to avoid becoming a crime victim:
Situational Awareness: Be aware of your surroundings at all times. Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t walk around with headphones in. Keep your eyes moving and scanning around you as you move about.
Trust Your Gut: If something inside of you is telling you that something isn’t right, trust that feeling. For example: If you’re parking your car at night and your gut tells you the dark shady spot next to the alley isn't the best place to park, don't park there. Your intuition is often more powerful and protective than you think.
Move With Confidence: Think about this one for a minute. Are criminals going to target the guy or gal who struts hard down the street like a freaking lion patrolling their own domain, or are they going to leave that hard target the heck alone? Keep your head up. Move from place to place with a purpose. Don't walk around with your face in your phone with your purse wide open. Don’t look weak. Look dangerous.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.
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