Animal Shelter, Cemetery = Bad Week For The City

Last week was a bad week for City of Hazlehurst officials as a pair of actions caused an uproar that continues this week. The uproar developed around the Hazlehurst Animal Shelter and the City Cemetery on the Lumber City Highway.
Earlier, officials with the Georgia Department of Agriculture inspected the Hazlehurst Animal Shelter and ordered that it be shut down until repairs to the structure could be completed.
Unable to house animals, Mayor John Ramay made the decision to transfer the dogs to the City of Thomasville which, along with Milledgeville, is one of two designated partner municipalities that assist one another with animal shelter needs such as overcrowding and temporary shutdowns.
But, apparently, none of the Hazlehurst City Council members were notified that the dogs had been moved. And the local volunteers who assist the city with the care of the animals in the shelter were also unaware that the dogs were being moved.
By Monday of last week, the uproar caused by the failure to notify animal shelter volunteers was at a crescendo.
Mayor Ramay contacted the Ledger Monday and said that Ward 3 Council member Chris Jones had asked that a meeting be set up with the city council and the animal shelter volunteers. Ramay did not call the meeting and expressed doubt that Jones had followed the City Charter which requires that a meeting can be called by any two council members in writing only if a third council member agrees [The mayor is empowered to call a meeting on his/her own].
Mayor Ramay informed the Ledger that the meeting would be held Tuesday afternoon but he would not attend because he had a doctor’s appointment scheduled.
When the meeting began, a large group of volunteers was in attendance along with Jones, Mayor Pro-Tem Dywane Johnson and Ward 2 Council Member Elizabeth Oliver who was attending by phone.
Jones announced that the meeting was merely for informational purposes and no votes would be taken. He updated the volunteers on the whereabouts of the dogs and shared the plans for making the necessary repairs/improvements to the shelter so it could be reopened. Jones was sympathetic with the volunteers’ concerns and assured them the situation would be remedied as quickly as possible, but he did not give a timeline of when the shelter would be reopened because of so many unknowns with the project.
For the next half hour or so the volunteers asked questions and expressed their dissatisfaction with how the matter had unfolded — particularly the fact there was no communication between the city and the volunteers.
While the three council members were also unaware of Mayor Ramay’s actions, they quietly listened to the complaints and assured them the matter would be appropriately addressed.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: By Tuesday (yesterday) morning work was already underway at the animal shelter. A roofing company representative was onsite and much of the fencing had already been removed, apparently so new fencing could be installed.]
While the uproar from the animal shelter situation was substantial, it pales in comparison to the uproar that erupted later in the week. That’s when a crew of workers went to the city cemetery on the Lumber City Hwy. to “clean up.” But the cleanup included removing everything from the grave sites other than flowers. That included personal memorializing items placed on the graves by the families and loved ones of the persons buried at the cemetery.
As was the case with the animal shelter, council members and other city officials were blindsided by the work.
Facebook erupted with dozens of angry posts, primarily from family members.
City Clerk Vernice Thompson offered her and the council’s apologies on Facebook, saying they were not aware such a cleanup was done until after the fact.
As of this week, the person(s) who ordered the removal of the personal items from the graves has/have not been identified.