{"id":1810,"date":"2011-07-01T16:44:56","date_gmt":"2011-07-01T20:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/mayor-fretti-ethics-hearing-cont-with-taylor-harris-and-flumerfelt.html"},"modified":"2013-06-06T12:12:30","modified_gmt":"2013-06-06T16:12:30","slug":"mayor-fretti-ethics-hearing-cont-with-taylor-harris-and-flumerfelt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/mayor-fretti-ethics-hearing-cont-with-taylor-harris-and-flumerfelt.html","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bostongbr#p\/u\/20\/IDSLHQXs5jg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/IDSLHQXs5jg\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nWe saw\r\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2011\/06\/mayor-fretti-ethics-hearing.html\">part 1<\/a>,\r\nand now here are the rest of the videos\r\nGeorge Boston Rhynes sent of the Valdosta City Council&#8217;s\r\nethics hearing of 22 June 2011 about Mayor Fretti&#8217;s travel expenses.\r\nThere was assorted legal wrangling, plus appearances by\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"#Taylor\">Roy Taylor<\/a>\r\n<li><a href=\"#Harris\">VDT Editor Kay Harris<\/a>\r\n<li><a href=\"#Flumerfelt\">Former VDT Reporter Matt Flumerfelt<\/a>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nGeorge&#8217;s comments are quoted below.\r\n-jsq\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bostongbr#p\/u\/20\/IDSLHQXs5jg\">\r\nPart 1 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IDSLHQXs5jg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 1 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_hJ-AE6AD7w\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/_hJ-AE6AD7w\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a name=\"Payton\"><\/a>\r\nAlvin Payton, Jr. asked quite a few questions.\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_hJ-AE6AD7w\">\r\nPart 2 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_hJ-AE6AD7w\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 2 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q9Of0_ZuoXk\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/Q9Of0_ZuoXk\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a name=\"Taylor\"><\/a>Roy Taylor testified.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nRegardless of what some may say about Mr. Roy Taylor he is no push over\r\nand keeps his mind focused on the point.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q9Of0_ZuoXk\">\r\nPart 3 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q9Of0_ZuoXk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 3 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fWbskOID7_c\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/fWbskOID7_c\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nRoy Taylor continued to testify.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nMr. Taylor stands and seaks from the heart and we must commend him for taking a strong stand against Valdosta City Hall for what he believes in.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fWbskOID7_c\">\r\nPart 4 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fWbskOID7_c\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 4 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Pvw46MfwhR0\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i1.ytimg.com\/vi\/Pvw46MfwhR0\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Pvw46MfwhR0\">\r\nPart 5 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pvw46MfwhR0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 5 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w05rPG3br3Q\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i4.ytimg.com\/vi\/w05rPG3br3Q\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<blockquote>\r\nI am extremely sorry for posting so much of this public meeting on this\r\nsite. However, I do believe the American people are often without truth,\r\nand complete coverage of what goes on in their community. Therefore, it\r\nis imperative that you get this truth and pass it along to your family\r\nmembers, children, and others.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=w05rPG3br3Q\">\r\nPart 6 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w05rPG3br3Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 6 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B-jopW_AKQk\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/B-jopW_AKQk\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a name=\"Harris\"><\/a>\r\nVDT Editor Kay Harris testified.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nSearching for the truth in a web of questions and Valdosta Daily\r\nTimes Editor Kay Harris stands strong for what she believes in and\r\nI must commend her! She was extremely impressive and made her point\r\nextremely clear! I stood with her 100% and I saw nothing but extreme\r\nprofessionalism. Thank you for doing what we all should expect from a\r\nFREE PRESS Editor. Again, keep up the great work and happy you were in\r\nthe mix! G.B.R.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nFrom\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x1110911724\/Fretti-hearing-Why-we-object\">\r\nthe VDT&#8217;s editorial account of this meeting:<\/a>\r\n<blockquote>\r\nIn an attempt to deflect attention from Mayor John Fretti&#8217;s alleged\r\nmisdeeds at the city&#8217;s ethics committee hearing Tuesday, Fretti&#8217;s attorney\r\nMike Bennett tried to discredit the Valdosta Daily Times by stating that\r\nreporters had received money from Roy Taylor to dig up dirt on the Mayor.\r\n<p>\r\nBennett questioned Taylor first, who denied the allegation, before\r\nstating that he was calling a former Times reporter and the reporter\r\ncovering the meeting to testify.\r\n<p>\r\nTimes Editor Kay Harris objected, as the newspaper was not given advance\r\nnotice and had no time to obtain legal counsel. She stated that the\r\nreporter currently working for the Times could not testify under the\r\ncircumstances and she questioned what evidence the former reporter could\r\nadd, as he left the Times nearly a year prior to the publication of the\r\nTimes series on government travel expenses in September 2010.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B-jopW_AKQk\">\r\nPart 7 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B-jopW_AKQk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 7 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eYqK8sz_ISc\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;\"   src=\"http:\/\/i2.ytimg.com\/vi\/eYqK8sz_ISc\/default.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<a name=\"Flumerfelt\"><\/a>\r\nMatt Flumerfelt, former VDT reporter, testified.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nAttorney Bennett was unable to use the former Valdosta Daily\r\nTimes Employee against Mr. Taylor and it was handled well by\r\nMr. Taylor. Moreover, it was spelled out by Mr. Taylor&#8217;s attorney that\r\nthe general public has little confidence in local governmental bodies\r\nand credibility needs to return to our governmental agencies and that\r\nthis action could help contribute to the process. We the people are the\r\nblessed ones for having a citizens to stand up to elected officials that\r\nseems to care little to nothing about local voters.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nFrom\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x1110911724\/Fretti-hearing-Why-we-object\">\r\nthe VDT&#8217;s editorial account of this meeting:<\/a>\r\n<blockquote>\r\nBennett was allowed to move forward by the panel and call the former\r\nemployee as a witness, who testified truthfully, providing no information\r\nto back Bennett\u2019s claim that anyone at the Times had taken money from\r\nTaylor to investigate Fretti or the city.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eYqK8sz_ISc\">\r\nPart 8 of 8:<\/a>\r\n<p align=\"center\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"480\" height=\"390\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eYqK8sz_ISc\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<small>\r\nMayor Fretti Ethics Hearing cont. with Taylor, Harris, and Flumerfelt Part 8 of 8:\r\n<br>\r\nMayor Fretti&#8217;s Expenses,\r\n<br>\r\nEthics Hearing, Valdosta City Council (LCC),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 June 2011.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.\r\n<\/small>\r\n<p>\r\nAfter all this,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/valdostadailytimes.com\/opinion\/x1110911724\/Fretti-hearing-Why-we-object\">\r\naccording to the VDT:<\/a>\r\n<blockquote>\r\nThe committee found that there is sufficient evidence to proceed with\r\nthe ethics complaint, and Fretti also still faces the possibility of\r\ncharges as a result of the GBI\u2019s investigation. Bennett\u2019s antics\r\nto distract the committee from the real issue did not work. If the\r\nultimate intention was to scare and intimidate the Times or any other\r\nlocal news outlet from covering issues that might cast elected officials\r\nor government employees in a bad light, it didn\u2019t work. Neither did\r\nthe attempt to discredit the Times. Shame on those who tried.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n-jsq\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We saw part 1, and now here are the rest of the videos George Boston Rhynes sent of the Valdosta City Council&#8217;s ethics hearing of 22 June 2011 about Mayor Fretti&#8217;s travel expenses. There was assorted legal wrangling, plus appearances by Roy Taylor VDT Editor Kay Harris Former VDT Reporter Matt Flumerfelt George&#8217;s comments are [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[70,2,54,4188],"tags":[4176,4175,407,8701,135,8702,91,12,7,3609,4174,2371,6,8726],"class_list":["post-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics","category-government","category-valdosta-city-council","category-vcc-22-june-2011","tag-22-june-2011","tag-ethics-hearing","tag-george-boston-rhynes","tag-georgia","tag-kay-harris","tag-lake","tag-lcc","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-matt-flumerfelt","tag-mayor-frettis-expenses","tag-roy-taylor","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-tc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3897,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}