City of Athens v. AMWA Public Forum

By Michael V. Hannigan

Saturday night, the Lake Athens Property Owners Association organized a public forum between the City of Athens and the Athens Municipal Water Authority (AMWA) regarding the current controversy and upcoming election.

If you have no idea what that sentence means, you should probably start reading here. 

The two-hour forum was held at the First Baptist Church of Athens ROC and drew a crowd of about 200. The event was moderated by FBC pastor Kyle Henderson.

AMWA was represented by general manager Wylie Pirkle while the City of Athens was represented by City Councilman Aubrey Jones.

Like most events of this type, the forum included short openings and conclusions from both sides, and questions from the audience.

This forum, however, also featured questions from each side directed toward the other. Each side received its questions before the event and had an opportunity to prepare answers.

The challenge for a journalist covering an event like this is in trying to distill two hours of discussion and the answers to maybe 25 questions into a 500-word article. So, considering the importance of the issue, we didn’t try. Instead, we recorded the forum and have uploaded it like a podcast. We invite you to listen on your computer or your phone and draw your own conclusions.

If you have trouble playing the embeded audio above, you can go directly to the podcast site here.

There are some changes in volume through the recording because of equipment difficulties Saturday night. This is a raw recording taken from the audience.

In the coming weeks, as we draw closer to a vote on the future of AMWA, I am sure there will be plenty more on this issue, but I don’t know how many more times the two sides will be as open as they were Saturday night. Please listen to the forum.

((More background on this story can be found here.))

Participants in the forum included Wylie Pirkle for AMWA (left) and Aubrey Jones for the City (right). FBC Athens pastor Kyle Henderson was the moderator (center). Todd Garrett, president of the Lake Athens Property Owners Association, which organized the forum, stands in the background.
Participants in the forum included Wylie Pirkle for AMWA (left) and Aubrey Jones for the City (right). FBC Athens pastor Kyle Henderson was the moderator (center). Todd Garrett, president of the Lake Athens Property Owners Association, which organized the forum, stands in the background.

3 thoughts on “City of Athens v. AMWA Public Forum”

  1. Without taking two hours to listen to podcast, would be interested in 500 words or less on YOUR TAKEAWAY from the event. Points scored or made? No winner or loser? Share your opinion.

    1. Judge: I thought both Wylie Pirkle and Aubrey Jones did a very good job of outlining their respective positions …. But I don’t think there was a whole lot of new information …. I think if you went into the forum leaning one way or the other, you didn’t hear anything to change your mind ….. I think if you went into the forum with it a tossup, you walked out with it still a tossup. ……. There is very little of substance I could write from Saturday night that I haven’t already written elsewhere.

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