RE: http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/local_story_311225312.html


This is a crock of B.S. Mr. Reed is a fine man and a veteran who served his country in time of war. I have known Mr. Reed for 40+ years. He never caused trouble to anyone. Granted he is a bit odd but he is also very smart. I can understand the possition Mr. Kidd was in and that he tryed to help this man in anyway he could. The officals in the City of Milledgeville did nothing for him. They should hang their head in shame on what they did to Mr. Reed. Our Mayor can bet the farm he will NOT be getting me or my family's vote come next election. In fact if he is opposed in the next election my wife and I are going to voleenter our time to help his opponent get elected.

quote:

Originally posted by James2:
RE: http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/local_story_311225312.html


This is a crock of B.S. Mr. Reed is a fine man and a veteran who served his country in time of war. I have known Mr. Reed for 40+ years. He never caused trouble to anyone. Granted he is a bit odd but he is also very smart. I can understand the possition Mr. Kidd was in and that he tryed to help this man in anyway he could. The officals in the City of Milledgeville did nothing for him. They should hang their head in shame on what they did to Mr. Reed. Our Mayor can bet the farm he will NOT be getting me or my family's vote come next election. In fact if he is opposed in the next election my wife and I are going to voleenter our time to help his opponent get elected.

Hello. Alexander Cain, the reporter who wrote today's story, here.

The Union-Recorder shares your frustrations in this matter. In a time where some of our veterans are being forced to find new homes as a result of state budgetary issues, and with Veteran's Day only a short period of time away, perhaps the timing on the burn could have been better.

However, I spoke with all parties involved with this issue. Yes it is tragic. Yes it "feels" wrong. But everything was done legally in this case. I spoke with the fire chief, I spoke with the property owner, I spoke with Jack Graham, City Marshal, in his representation with the City of Milledgeville and the Code Annex office. This situation was taken to court, papers were signed, papers were placed on site -- I personally know of nothing that was overlooked or not done legally in this case. As an example, Reed's car was not even towed until Thursday morning. Wilkinson Used Cars did the towing, but legally they had to place a 'private parking' sign on the property and wait 24 hours before that could be done. It was done, and it was done legally.

This is not an issue that you can blame on the city. Instead, in my opinion this is a line of tragic circumstances that came to a head Thursday. Mr. Kidd attempted on multiple occasions to offer assistance to Mr. Reed. I personally witnessed one of those instances on July 1st. Mr. Reed turned Mr. Kidd down at that time, and turned him down on other instances as well.

I spoke with Mr. Reed. Mr. Reed felt as if that was his home, yes, but I can also verify that Mr. Reed had not been staying inside the house. I went in the house in July. I have photographs that I took inside when I did. There was absolutely no place inside that house, save for a corner bedroom that had nothing on the floor and had been completely emptied out, where an individual could comfortably rest.

Mr. Reed stated to me Thursday that he was not concerned over comfort. Still, he also stated to me that he had been using his vehicle as a bed.

There was not much that could be done in this case. Mr. Reed , from my observations, and apparantly from the property owner's (Kidd) perspective, as well as the city's, is capable of making his own decisions. If he does not want help, there is not much that can be done short of forcibly removing him, and while that was considered as an option in this case, it was an option that many were not willing to take unless absolutely necessary. Mr. Reed complied with the fire officials in leaving the scene Thursday, but other than that there was no attempt to forcibly remove him.

Again, I acknowledge your frustrations. In speaking with Mr. Reed, I could not fully understand why he chose to do what he did. I suppose that with it appearing that his family members not taking a direct line of response, and with the circumstances surrounding his association with the property, that he could be considered having "fallen through the cracks," if anything else.

Though Mr. Reed's situation is unfortunate, one issue that was pointed out to Mr. Kidd -- and was pointed out to Mr. Reed by myself and others -- is that the community could indeed step up and assist. But Mr. Reed does not WANT that, and has turned it down. He informed me yesterday that he had been offered a hotel room (the person offered to pay for the room) and he turned that offer down. If he does not want to accept help, and if he is not a danger to himself or others, and if he is mentally aware of who he is and what the circumstances are, then there is very little to be done unless Mr. Reed agrees to it.

The Union-Recorder will be following Mr. Reed in the coming days and will welcome any feedback or suggestions from the public on how to help resolve this matter to a positive end. You may contact Mr. Kidd's office on South Wayne Street; or, if you happen to encounter Mr. Reed, who has a habit of walking into the downtown area, you may speak with him directly. I can tell you that he appears to be intelligent; what he says to you or if he is willing to speak to you is a matter only he can answer.

Alexander Cain
Staff Writer
The Union-Recorder

I literally cried as I read this story. Maybe everything was done right legally... but was it done ethically? Morally? What if this was a family member of yours? This absolutely breaks my heart. What goes around comes around. I hope that none of the people involved ever find themselves in a similar situation.

I, too, cried over this story this morning.

It breaks my heart that Mr. Reed's car (his bed) was burned while he watched. I understand that he is not open to 'rescue' from his situation, but my teen daughter and I would both like to be involved if there is something to be done. I thought about taking him a bag of cat food yesterday to feed his wanderering friends, but I'm not sure what to do.

I will watch the Union-Recorder for updates to this man's case.

The one thing that sticks in my mind about this whole mess is... I understand Mr. Reed quit paying rent app.4 months ago. I can see why Mr. Kidd would stop upkeep on that house if Mr. Reed wasn't paying but come on people, anyone with a grain of common sence knows that the house DID NOT run down to the shape it was in in just 4 months. Where was code enforcement, the Mayor, City councle ect while Mr. Reed was paying Mr. Kidd rent? If any one of us owned rental property any where else in the city and our renters continued to pay for a house that ran down that bad we would be in BIG trouble from everybody in this city's government. I realize that Mr. Kidd did try to find Mr. Reed anouther place to live and that was good of him. I admit I don't know the exact law on this subject but I sure feel something fishey went on here.

My wife and I discussed this matter at length yesterday and I hope none of the people we can vote for next election think they will get our votes. In fact anyone running against our so called mayor, city councle member from that section of town ect. will have our full support and help in anyway we can to help get the present officals OUT OF OFFICE.

I think our city officals really showed their true feelings concerning our veterans on this deal.

Any one here knows that there are a lot more run down, abandoned houses in Milledgeville that needed to go before this one espacilly sence on old man was living there.

I just wish that Mr. Kidd's dad, Sen. Culver Kidd was still alive. I bet the outcome would have been a whole lot different!!! He fully supported our veterans unlike our present city officals.

Oh, and by the way. I hope that Mr. Kidd can sleep good at night now. He got Mr. Reed out, got the old house down at taxpayers expense which they covered up as a so called "training session." And, Becham's got a free old car and the city officals got rid of an eye sore. Now all thats left is an Old veteran left homless. I wonder how good you feel this morning. But, knowing these people like I now do they probbly feel like they made a great accomplishment!!

Anything I can do to help a voice be heard... count me in. This really bothers me that people can do this to another human...
And what about the cats they removed? Put to sleep? Probably..

A few things:

First, as I stated, not to sound uncaring or unkind, but a good amount of this lays at the heart of Mr. Reed. He has refused assistance, he has told me directly that he has refused assistance, and it is unlikely that with his previous behavior that he will accept it in the future.

I personally believe he SHOULD accept it. It would be within his best interest. But not much can be done until he is willing to relocate voluntarily. I am also afraid that this could come down to a matter of him being forcibly removed by law enforcement. None of the parties involved wants that to happen. Mr. Kidd stated it was an OPTION *if* Mr. Reed stayed on the property...and from indications I have received, that is what Mr. Reed is doing.

Mr. Reed's car was not burned. The house was burned. Mr. Reed's car is at Wilkinson Autos, to my knowledge.

As for the house itself. I was in there. I saw what was there. It was not habitable. I have the photos to prove that. In the eight years that I have been in Milledgeville and Baldwin County, I have witnessed some difficult living conditions. Inside that home was by far one of the worst I had seen.

For the situation on how this happened over time. Mr. Kidd purchased the property two years ago as part of a greater purchase of land. He informed me in July that if he had known that anyone was in the house, he would not have allowed himself to have that land lot as part of the purchase. He further stated that had he known of the condition of the home at the time that he would have possibly gone further in his assessment of the situation; meaning anything from what happened last week to anything in between. I can not speak for Mr. Kidd -- he will be speaking for himself later this week, we hope --- however I can tell you that from what he told me that he was unaware of how bad things had become over the years with that site.

I do not know as to the extent of the knowledge of city officials while Mr. Reed was paying Mr. Kidd rent. Perhaps that is a question that I will ask Mr. Kidd when I next speak with him as you raise a good point with that question.

For now Mr. Reed, from my personal observations, has no intention of moving from the area at this time. He is concerned over the cats that remain and is looking after their welfare as best he can; meaning, he is feeding them when the opportunity arises.

I do not know the status of any captured animals by Baldwin County Animal Control that may or may not have been removed from the site. All I know is I was informed by the Chief of the Fire Department that BCAC had been on site and had removed animals. However given the experience and knowledge I have from them I do not see immediately putting an animal to sleep as part of their daily routines. BCAC does what it can to find homes for animals, though with only two individuals and limited space that can be difficult. However that is another topic altogether.

You have got to be kidding me!!

You state that Mr. Kidd didn't know Mr. Reed was living there? That he didn't know the house was in that shape? Is he blind and braindead? Mr. Reed spent a lot of time each day sitting in his yard and Mr. Kidd's office is right next door to it. He had to see both Mr. Reed and the house. And, to top that off he collected rent money from him up untill 4 months ago. Sir you are getting the wool pulled over your eyes big time. I just request that you do a thorough investigation before you close out this story. My family owns a house further up north jefferson and I went with my uncle to the code enforcement office several months back to get a permit to do some improvements and I heard with my own ears the person there tell my uncle to make sure the improvements were up to code if he planned to rent it out again. Thats why I made the point about something being fishy with this deal from the city officals.

If you would like to call me to discuss my comments in person my number is 457-0199. I am retired army and am at home all day every day. My name is James T. Grimes

It's sad that he refuses assistance... I don't know if it's pride.. or perhaps something happened to him that we will never know or understand... but i can't help but feel that when someone is won't accept help.. you do what you can... and allowing him to stay there.. so long as he wasn't IN the house.. in my opinion shouldn't have been such a big deal... after all, it wasn't a big deal for eight years. It wasn't a big deal when someone was getting a lousy $200 out of him... kinda over priced if you ask me.
You mentioned if he stayed there, he could be forcibly removed. I understand the laws. But again... there's a line between morals and ethics... and laws. What's to become of this property? I bet... nothing. So what's the harm of him staying there? Nothing.
Who has he hurt? Who will he hurt by staying in a tent on some land? Who did he hurt by sleeping in a car? So.. the yard was junked up... I've seen worse.
You say you've not seen any houses that are in that bad of shape.. that might be true. But once you pass that point of unlivable conditions... it doesn't matter how unlivable it is... it's still unlivable.. so one is just as bad as the other.

Thats exactly my point nja2000us!! Our so called city officals have NO morals or ethics period!! I also don't think they followed the law by letting a person collect rent money on unlivable property. I may get into big trouble for what I have said but I really don't care. It is time that the common citizens stood up to our so called city government. This crap has gone on in our city for many years. I have lived here all my 57 years of life and have seen it over and over again. Finally this time it got some press coverage. I hope the Union Recorder will dig all the way to the bottom of it instead of stopping with just a few people talked to.

There may be nothing we can do now for Mr. Reed but maby we can stop it from happening to the next elderly person or veteran. And, you can bet if they get away with this one there will be others to follow.I fully beleave in the law and try my very best to obey each and every one of them but lets enforce them on everyone and not let a few get away with disobeying the laws just because of who they are and who they know.

I do not beleave for one second that Mr. kidd did not know Mr. Reed was living on that property and how bad a shape the house was in before he bought it. And to top that off he has had his office right next door for many month's now. Something underhanded went on here and anyone with a single working brain cell should be able to see it!! I am not nearly the brighest bulb in the box and I can see thru the smoke that is being put up so I feel sure that those of you out there that are a whole lot smarter than I am can see thru it too.

I guess I better quit posting my opinion on this subject before they come lock me up for the things I have said. Thank you all for listening to me and I hope you all have a good and safe day!!

quote:

Originally posted by Milledgeville resident:
Mr. Reed's car was not burned. The house was burned. Mr. Reed's car is at Wilkinson Autos, to my knowledge.

Thank you for the clarification. The way I read the article, I thought it said, "The car was towed off the property and set ablaze." I don't have the paper anymore, but I am glad to know it wasn't burned; that seemed like overkill.

Well I see that the Union Recorder has more than likely dropped interest in this story. I wonder who in our city government finally got to them?

I was just thinking that...
and i was also wondering why the city officials don't speak up for themselves on this matter. I'm sure they've read this board.. or heard about it

They don't speak up because they just do not care. All they really care about is GC&SU and their student's. They could care less about the other citizens in Milledgeville and never have. Like I have said before I am 57 byrs old and have lived here in Milledgeville all my life. Right now we have the least careing city government we have ever had in my entire lifetime. They ALL need to go and I will don everything I can possibly do to help their oponent's get elected in the next election. I will campaign for their opposition 24/7. at my own expense. Whatever I can do for their opposition I will do.

i was trying to find on the union recorder site the article in todays paper about how mr. reed was arrested.
Funny.. Mr. Kidd wants to put a women's shelter on the property. what a kind heart he has... yet somehow he can't let a man sleep in a tent in the yard... what's wrong with this picture