By Johnna Pinholster
VALDOSTA — The City of Valdosta will assemble a Community Task Force on Violence.
The City Council approved the task force at Thursday’s regular meeting.
City Manager Larry Hanson began outlining the goals of the task force this week in an effort to analyze and address the recent increase of violent crime in the community.
The goal of the task force is to begin discussing the impact of violent crime on the community and providing alternatives to violence and proposing solutions to the community.
The work of the task force will be broken down into sub-committees, who will represent all aspects of the community, who in turn will report their findings to the task force leadership, Hanson said.
The task force is to complete their work and present their findings within 90 days of their commencement, he said.
City staff will provide research outlets, meeting places and other services to the task force, Hanson said. Two council members will serve as at-large members of the task force.
Before leaving to attend a vigil at Hudson Dockett for the teenager slain on Sunday, Councilman James Wright, District 1, requested to serve on the task force. “Its time for us to set aside our differences and come together on a united front to solve this problem,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Willie T. Head, District 2, cautioned the city manager that in making appointments to the task force people are assigned because they want to help, not to elevate their position.
He also requested that representatives from Ora Lee West and Hudson Dockett be members of the task force.
“They will provide insight for many of us that don’t live there,” he said.
Robert Yost, District 6, said the task force is a good idea but that it should not hinder the council in making the decisions they need to make in regards to the issues at hand.
“I hope they understand we are not going to wait on them,” Yost said.
The council should be willing to shut businesses down who cannot control the crowds they attract, he said, even if it makes people unhappy.
Tim Carroll, District 5, said the task force is exactly what the council needs to do.
After the task force was approved, both Wright and Carroll were approved to serve on the task force as at-large members.
The task force already has some members but will consist of students from multiple schools and districts, public safety officials, parents and families, social service agencies, pastors and educational professors.
Other at-large members will include a county commissioner, a member of the Valdosta State University faculty, a chamber of commerce representative and a representative from South Georgia Medical Center.
In other news:
Mayor John Fretti requested that city attorney George Talley look into exactly what can be discussed in executive session. Typically the items up for discussion in the closed meeting center around real estate, personnel and litigation, he said.
Fretti said it seemed silly to discuss items like the purchase of an undercover police patrol vehicle or security measures at City Hall in a public meeting.
