Editor, Here is the oath of office as it is stated in the 1923 charter of  Ludowici, Ga.:
“I do solemnly swear that I will well and truly demean myself as [whatever the position may be] of the City of Ludowici, during the term of office, and that I will faithfully enforce the laws and ordinances of said city to the best of my ability without, fear or favor and in all my actions as mayor (or alderman) act as I believe for the best interest of said city, and uphold the Constitution of the State of Georgia and the United States, so help me God.”
Demean means to be humble or lower oneself as a servant to the people.         
Regarding the “fear or favor” part: Fear — in the case of some elected officials — means you don’t want to put yourself in a position to be ridiculed, or it might mean you are afraid of retribution if you don’t go with the flow.
Favor means “I won’t make you pay your water bill, but remember me at the election.”
Favor apparently also can mean “If you vote to hire my relative, next time around, I’ll vote for something you want.” or “If you keep my secret, I’ll keep yours but if you mess up, I’ll drag out my little black book.”
Our city has a book of ordinances. This is one of the things I requested to see, along with financial documents. I have yet to receive the papers I requested because I was told the documents were not in existence at the time I asked for them.
However, I believe everything is computer-generated and the papers most definitely were ready — unless they were behind with their work.
I’m supposed to receive these papers by Oct. 25. I can’t wait to hear the next excuse. I’m sure they’ll tell me the book of ordinances is missing — they had a prisoner cleaning up for them and they don’t know where he or she put it.
I hope some of you are taking an interest in our city government. Things have been run this way so long it’s like everything is accepted and life goes on. There have been negative remarks made about me on the internet and the Coastal Courier’s “Sound off,” but I consider the source and I understand.  
One of the council members said, “If you don’t like the way we do things, run in the next election.”
They seem to be under the impression that I’m the only person who disagrees with them because I felt the need to speak out. The sad part of this is I have lost friends because I disagree with them and that’s why people want to stay anonymous in situations like these.
The next city election is in November and we need to consider an effort to get people with good ethics to run for office. The last time there was an election was the 20th century. Johnny Gordon ran an excellent race for mayor. He won at the polls but was overcome by absentee ballots (the fear and favor thing, which they take an oath not to do).
It’s the 21st century. Let’s decide what we want for our city — an ethical government that looks out for the good of the people and not themselves.