Bubba Bonds letter

The Newton Record

NEWTON October 18, 2006 12:21 pm

— To the Editor
I am responding to the letters of Mr. Charles Gibbs published in The Union Appeal and Meridian Star. I will no longer allow Mr. Gibbs to use me as an excuse for the sorry conditions of the roads in Newton County District 4.
Mr. Gibbs and some other “anonymous” source has caused the State Audit Department to investigate my actions as supervisor for more than two years. I have suffered in silence as I heard many rumors, but never was confronted with the actual allegations made against me. The slanderous letter written by Mr. Gibbs was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, and after I read it I called the State Audit Department and asked them to come meet with me and my attorney. In just a few hours, they understood that the allegations, regarding Red Hat Road and Tanglewood Road were false, and I received an apology for their failure to give me an opportunity to explain the situation earlier.
All of the misunderstandings arose from expenditure of FEMA funds awarded to the County after the floods of 2003.
The Audit Department had been led to believe by “someone” that Red Hat Road is a private road. It is not a private road – people live on the road – and there are numerous landowners who have a right to access their property from that road. It was maintained while I was in office from the Beat 4 road funds just as all other public roads were maintained.
The work authorized by FEMA on Tanglewood Road was performed and that can be verified by numerous witnesses. In fact, some of the materials placed on the road with FEMA funds were still visible and I showed them to the Audit Department investigators.
Mr. Gibbs complains about spending over $60,000 of County money to repair Tanglewood Road. He may have done so, but it would not have been to repair any work that was authorized by FEMA, as I had completed that while I was in office. In fact, he knows that, as he and one of his friends followed me and my crew around for months after the election taking pictures of everything we did.
I have had enough.
Sincerely,
L.M. Bonds, Jr.
Newton