Something’s Amiss In Prosecuting Roger Jackson

By Dave Oedel

Roger Jackson, a renowned Central High graduate, NFL defensive back for six seasons, and an NFL scout for many years after, was arrested on May 26, 2015 in Macon, Georgia for battery in the spanking with a belt of an eight-year-old girl on April 22, 2015. The girl had been referred to Jackson’s after-school East Macon Main Street program, MOYO, the Motivating Youth Foundation that Jackson leads.

Sources suggest that the girl had behavioral problems at school and home, was expelled from school, and was then referred by the school to Jackson for discipline … Continue Reading

Lester Miller Resists the Microaggression Posse

By Dave Oedel

Bibb County Board of Education member Lester Miller has incurred the ire of a local microaggression posse calling itself the “Concerned Clergy of Middle Georgia.” That group issued a flier last week complaining, first and foremost, that Miller shouldn’t be calling minority business owners “horses.”

During a BOE subcommittee meeting on May 21, 2015 about minority participation in BOE contracting, Miller used an idiomatic saying, “You can take a take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” Miller was referring to the difficulties that the BOE has experienced in finding qualified local minority firms to bid on BOE contracts.

The “Concerned Clergy” posse took offense at Miller’s use of the phrase, as if Miller’s usage was, in itself, an affront to minority business owners. The flier bristled, “Minority Business Owners . . . Are not horses.”

By using the phrase about not being able to make horses drink, Miller was … Continue Reading

Remaking Romain Dallemand: Villain or Victim?

By Dave Oedel

One of the most riveting Middle Georgia news stories of 2015 has been former Bibb Schools Superintendent Romain Dallemand’s attempt to recast his role in the Bibb schools financial scandal. After Dallemand’s severance from employment with Bibb County’s Board of Education in 2013, Dallemand apparently disappeared to Haiti as if he were on the lam, avoiding legal service and requests for comment about his conduct when he worked for Bibb County’s Board of Education. Now in 2015, though, Dallemand has surprised some by … Continue Reading

The Significance of the Atlanta Schools Cheating Scandal for Bibb County

By Dave Oedel

When eight Atlanta public school administrators and teachers on April 14, 2015 were sentenced to stiff jail sentences ranging from one to seven years, the contrast with Bibb County’s own public schools scandal involving former Bibb school superintendent Romain Dallemand was notable. Dallemand and his cronies have not yet been charged despite millions of dollars apparently being wasted on useless electronics and an outrageous real estate deal involving the Promise Center.

The suggestion of shadiness or outright self-dealing in the Macon case seems palpable, and is widely rumored, yet no prosecution has been mounted. Mauldin & Jenkins, the accounting firm that audited the system under Dallemand’s short period of leadership, found more than $50 million in irregular expenses under Dallemand during his two years as superintendent. … Continue Reading