I have two plots at the cemetery and both of my parents are buried there. What happened is appalling. They should fire the city manager.

I wish everyone in Walker County would get as upset about our property tax hike as they have about this cemetery fiasco. My property taxes have gone up $300 or more this year. They tried to say I had 2 new out buildings on my property. I have the same buildings on my property that I have had for the past 10 years and they were here, guess what, 2 years ago when they assessed my property. The man who came out to assess my property was rude and condescending, when I tried to explain that these buildings, a shed and a porch, have been here for 10 years. I am tired of the disrespect public officials, and county employees, have for the people who pay their salaries.

What has happened to fairness and integrity. These days it is all about how much money they can steal from you.

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.

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.

Please make sure that people know that there will be another council meeting on this in mid-December (I think the 14th) but that you must get your name on the docket at least one week in advance if you want to speak. I have only seen this mentioned on the LaFayette Underground blog so far and those affected have a right to know it is coming up.

Thanks!

IF YOU REALLY STOP AND TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE IN RULE IN THE CITY AND COUNTY, THEY HAVE AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE SAME ONES, AND TALK ABOUT KEEPING UP THE GRAVES THAT IS THEIR JOB TO PUT DIRT ON THE GRAVES TOO, NY GRANDMOTHER AND GRANDFATHER IS BURIED THERE TOO AND THERE STONE IS BEGIN KNOCKED OVER EVERYTIME THEY MOW, THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR US OR OUR BELOVED DEAD, THAT MEANT SO MUCH TO US, BUT I BET IF YOU LOOK AT THEIRS PEOPLES SITE IT IS ALL INTACK, THE COUNTY IS THE SAME WAY THEY TALK TO YOU LIKE YOU OWE THEY, IT EVEN HAD A PERSON FROM THE COUNTY TELL ME, THEY WOULD DO WHAT THEY WANTED NO MATTER WHAT, BUT KEEP GOING EVERYONE AND WE WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PROBLEM,

@kmm77

Don't be stupid? Who is implying violence? It's a bad time when someone talks about their Constitutional liberties and someone else thinks they mean violence. If I want to "address the council" I will walk up to them and ask them. They're not gods nor better than anyone. Like I said, they work for us as our representatives.

Don't be stupid.. That's laughable.

There will be another meeting December 14th at the Superior Court. (Metal detectors there, so don't be stupid) Anyone wishing to address the council will have to be put on the agenda at least a week before the meeting.

OK people, let me let you in on a little secret the "officials" won't tell you. They work for us. They are our representatives. That means that if enough people get together and demand change or reprimands, then they have to obey. That little set of rules they are reading from says whatever we want it to say. As of right now, it says what is written, but with a little effort from the ones it affects, it can change to better suit all of you. But that would involve all of you to go outside, to collect petitions, to protest, and to put your actual reputations on the line. Are you willing to do so? Why don't you guys stop taking all this BS laying down? The citizens of a government has supreme power over its government, use it!

The council admits it made a mistake so their answer is .Go and replace your own flowers and bring a receipt and you will get reimbursed.Then your tax dollars will pay for the city to pay you for the flowers you had to buy again.They should not have been removed in the first place.We need a new Mayor and a new City Council and then we need to open up some positions in all the city utility departments.We could have had a new Mayor this year, but not enough people got out and voted.Maybe next time people in town will finally be ready to make a change.