Over the past month or so, I have had several calls with Mayor Kevin Brown, of Buena Vista, Georgia. We have discussed several concerns, and questions that I could not get answered from the Marion County Manager.

Some of those concerns were whether there was abuse and fraud of grants for road and water improvements. Admittedly, they came about because I made a complaint about fraud, waste, and abuse, because I had a misunderstanding of how the Marion County government works, and the county manager was not answering my questions via my emails and Open Records Requests.

Through those discussions with Mayor Brown, I learned there were many things that have been a point of dissension for many citizens in Marion County because we have not been enlightened to how our government was designated and what authority they have. I learned that there are two governments in Marion County: the city of Buena Vista and Marion County, and learning this makes a lot of things clear.

Mayor Brown, the city council, and other city government have authority over the city of Buena Vista only. They have no authority over the rest of the county. When he explained this to me and how the grants for any roadwork and water improvements that have been awarded were awarded to the city of Buena Vista and not Marion County, this assisted in quelling my concerns of misuse and fraud of those grants. I learned that the city of Buena Vista has its own water source and the County has its own wells.

As I was seeking how to assist the citizens in Marion County for improvements to their roads and water improvements, I realized that our County government has been severely defunct and delinquent. I do not attribute this to our commissioners, as I have discerned that our problems started in 2023, when the current county manager, Connie Harris, stepped in to the county manager role. Until then, we had never been deficient, late, or delinquent.

I have found that the county manager and her clerks have not been interested in transparency and I have been fighting what I believe to be abuse of power, misuse of funds, and fraud within our county. Our county financial status is ambiguous, but the only fault I find with the commissioners, has been blindly trusting this county manager had the best interest of the people in mind.

That being said, I had a wonderful conversation once more with Mayor Brown, this morning, who assisted me with some citizen concerns about Tyson Road and the run-off and impassibility for the transportation of our children to and from school safely. I was told by these citizens that there was some wrestle about whether the county or the city was responsible for the repair. Mayor Brown assured me there is no struggle.

The City of Buena Vista has taken responsibility of this repair and has applied for and LMIG grant through the Georgia Department of Transportation, and is awaiting the process to complete for approval and release of funds for the repair. He assured me that he shares in the citizens’ concerns that one more heavy rain could prove Tyson Rd permanently impassible, until it is repaired. He has also assured me that there is a Plan B in that event.

Plan B, he said, is for the the bus to pass through the parking lot of the old Tyson Plant, which is owned by the Gutierrez family. He indicated that he would seek their approval to pass through the parking lot and if they refused, he would consider invoking eminent domain as a possibility; however, he stated that he doesn’t believe this will be necessary and believes the Gutierrez family would be more than willing to acquiesce this request.

At the conclusion of our call, Mayor Brown expressed his invitation for citizens to attend the city and county meetings to address their concerns and ask their questions, and indicated that he approves of the Georgia Open Meetings Act. He stated that he invited public video and picture taking to document the meetings as well.

I can say that every conversation, every question, every attempt to converse with Mayor Brown has been unobstructed, kind, respectful, transparent, honest, and educational.

Therefore, it is my hope that we would reach out to our city officials and express our concerns or ask our questions and attend the meetings. Document them and share them with the community. We need more communication and transparency and Mayor Kevin Brown is a great example of that, in my opinion and experience since my residency in Marion County as of 2020.

If you have a concern or question, or a story, you would like me to follow up on, please contact me at Plumblyne Productions at 2293292179 or email me at plumblyneproductions@gmail.com.