I have given alot of thought about the situation with the cemetery,What I am angry about most is that the City Of LaFayette thought they had the right to come and steal from the citizens of LaFayette I am not a attonery but that doesn't seem leagal. I personally take care of my parents grave and I don't ask for help from the City because you do not get it. I have lived in the City for 50 years and have never seen anything like this before. I went back and read minutes of council meetings and the only thing I could find in refrence to the Cemetery was on October 12 meeting and here is what was discussed."CONCILMAN SWANSON MADE A MOTION TO PUT UP SIGNS IN THE CITY CEMETERY STATING THAT YOU MUST CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR ANIMALS. COUNCILMAN CRAIG SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION CARRIED 5-0. HE ALSO ASK RICHARD MOORE TO MONITOR OBJECTS AND OTHER ITEMS BEING PLACED ON OR NEAR GRAVES."

By placing these signs in the Cemetery it is clear to me that they pick and choose which rules to follow since on the back of the deed it clearly states no pets are allowed in the cemetery.

As for the flowers that were removed and discarded like common trash they will refund your money with a receipt out of city budget money tax payers money, so once again the citizens of LaFayette are having to pay for mistakes that we did not make. What I would like to see is the person who wrote the notice and gave it to city workers have to take responsibility for his own actions I think all of the familys deserve an apology from him as well he should loose his job or at the very least suspend him without pay that might cover some of the money that will have to be paid out for flowers. Our loved ones that we trusted and placed as their final resting place where we could go and be with them has been violated in the worst way and now that trust with the City is gone. I know I will remeber this and the pain and emotional stress this has cause me, when elections come around again as I think alot of people will. LaFayette needs some changes if people stay in office too long it is not good for the city we need new blood and new ideas someone that will not think too much about the golf course. That will actually take in consideration what the citizens of LaFayette want and need. Maybe all of us should start paying closer attention to the council meetings I know I will.

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THE MEETING ON DEC. 14 @ 7:30 EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE THERE NEW RULES AND REGULATIONS ARE GOING TO BE REVEALED.

Shirley Daniel

The cemetery scandal has awoken the sleeping giant. That giant my friend is the angry and disgusted citizens of La Fayette. I, like many others that I have spoken with, am ashamed for setting back and letting our city get into this sorry state of affairs. It is time we, as citizens of La Fayette, unite and take back our dear city. We have set by and let a few that we elected to represent us become our suppressers and dictate their will upon us. This must end now. We must remind the elected officials of our city that they work for us. The major problem that I see with the current state of affairs of our city is that we have let self-serving tyrants from other cities come to our city and in essence, take control of it. We currently have several of our top city positions occupied by outsiders and they were all brought here by our Mayor and City Council. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to be born and raised here to be a citizen but in my humble opinion, you must have a love for our city, have planted roots here and plan on staking your claim here. I consider outsiders as nothing more than leaches that are feeding off the blood of our citizens. They don’t really care about this town, they are just here to “feed” off of us and then leave and return home as soon as their positions are eliminated. The City Manager, Chief of Police and the Superintendent of Public Works/Cemetery are all leaches. They are all outsiders. That is why the city constantly battles with illogical issues like the Cemetery fiasco. They have migrated here and prey upon us daily. They dictate their will upon us and we just set by and take it. They are not truly embedded into our city and they show no true love for our city or its citizens. If you don’t believe me then simply relieve them of their “high paid” positions and see what they will do. They will leave and go back to their hometowns. They will not stay here and continue to support our fair city. This makes them outsiders and as said before, nothing more than leaches. What message do our city fathers send to the citizens of La Fayette when they bring in outsiders to govern us? Are we really so incompetent and ignorant that no one here is fit to lead or manage. Why do we have to bring someone into our city to be our City Manager? Why do we need a Police Chief who is not from our city? According to the city fathers, we don’t even have one local person who is fit to oversee trash collection or roadway repairs? This is pure insanity. In my opinion there are plenty of good, hardworking, and educated citizens that are very capable of filing these critical roles. We have qualified local citizens that are currently serving in much more critical and sensitive roles such as County Commissioner, Sheriff, and State and Superior Court Judges. But yet we can not even muster not one local candidate that is good enough to lead our city, police department or to oversee our cemetery and trash collection. This is an insult and a slap to the face of every citizen. Citizens of La Fayette, we must unite and voice our concerns to our city fathers. We must go to the council meetings and in a peaceful and orderly manor but remain stern and relentless in our attempt to pressure the council to reconsider all their mistakes and make amends. Our city is dying, the evidence is everywhere. Take the first step to save it by replacing the City Manager, Chief of Police and Public Works Director with good local men who truly care for our city.

Lets not automatically assume that the mayor or anyone else elected had anything to do with this. Apparently they knew nothing about it and are now having to try to fix what was done by someone who works for the city. I agree what was done was not right and I have several family members buried there and flowers were taken from their graves too. But letting our anger out on people who had nothing to do with the decision to take the flowers is not the right thing to do. We are asking the mayor to do what is right, so shouldn't we do the same? We should find out who ordered this done and that person should be the one that we have a problem with, not the ones who appear to be having to deal with it after it has already happened.

obviously whoever is responsible for this mistake did not learn anything from the marsh crematory....in this area you DO NOT mess with anybody's loved ones body or their grave!!!!!!

according to news channel 9's coverage of this story..the mayor states this was a "mistake"...where was richard moore when this "mistake" was made? he is supposedly over the city public works department.....was it really a "mistake" or did the workers do exactly what he wanted done????......perhaps if he has cost the city tax payers money for reimbursement over the "mistake" the city doesn't need him as an employee.....and surely the tax payers don't need him as an employee......

Hi all,

The Messenger is working on a story about the situation at the cemetery. If you've been affected by it and would like to comment for publication, please contact Josh O'Bryant at the Messenger. Our number is 706-638-1850.

Thanks,

Becky McDaniel

If the rules state that flowers are permitted on the graves and someone removes those flowers then that is theft of personal property.....perhaps the police chief needs to become involved to ascertain if any laws were broken and if so arrest should be made....i cannot believe that if i go to the cemetary and remove flowers from a cemetary plot that i do not own, nor were they flowers that i purchased i am pretty sure i would be arrested for theft....

This just proves the point even more that LaFayette sucks.There are graves of children in the City Cemetery whose parents have left little toys and tokens on their graves.Will the city make this people get permits for them as well.If they do they are as heartless as they are stupid.Next time there is an election get out and vote and get some changes done.This town needs new leadership and a new direction.I have family in that Cemetery please respect their resting places.

I had recently contacted the city,because I am new business that specializes in cemetery and lawn care.

I had seen the condition of the cemetery and wanted to offer a sevice to keep the cemetery in good condition for all of our loved ones,who are in this cemetery.

I have family with a mom and dad in this cemetery who live hundreds of miles away and cannot visit the gravesite on a regular basis,so they have to rely on someone else to keep it looking good.

We would love the opportunity to keep this and any other resting place a beauty to visit and feel at peace when we need that quiet time with our loved ones.

Please visit us and feel free to contact us for more details.

www.northgeorgiacm.webs.com

esuddeth@yahoo.com

I would be happy if they would just fix all the head stones that are laying down in the dirt. . .

You have got to be kidding me. We pay for these plots to be able to provide a final resting place for our loved ones. Therefore that plot of land belongs to loved one and their family. What right does the city have to tell me what I can and can not put on that grave plot. If I want a bench I should be able to have a bench without the okay of the city. My family paid for that piece of land.

Secondly, why are they all of a sudden now deceiding to clean it up. Mow the lawn. Pick up the limbs. Fill in any uneven ground. That's what your suppose to do. Leave my flowers alone. I don't care if they are faded, falling off, or nothing but pieces of wire. Leave my flowers alone. I will make the decision if they need to be thrown away. Some family members don't live close enough to their loved ones to be able to put fresh flowers or flower arrangements every week. I would hate to know that my children brought me flowers and have someone else decide that they are old and throw them away. They may have reasons they can't come every week.

Of course you will repay people for their loss but that doesn't make it right. You were wrong.

This was a heartless act from a city council that didn't care what they did. They got their re-election. They don't need to plactate the public any more. I hope these decision makers aren't spooked very easily because they may be haunted by those loved ones in that cemetery. I know I would if I was one of those people.