FORT VALLEY, Ga. — For more than 20 years, councilman Jimmy Barnes has walked into city hall preparing for city council meetings, but on Wednesday, he found himself across the street at the Peach County courthouse for a bond hearing.
Two days after being charged with aggravated assault and terroristic threats, longtime councilman Jimmy Barnes remains in a Peach County jail.
"Disappointment in his actions as a long time city councilman. As a resident of this city as long as I've been alive, he should know better," says Randy Goss, chairman of the Peach County Democratic Party.
On July 3, an incident report from the Peach County Sheriff's Office says Barnes allegedly threatened to shoot a woman and called her a racial slur at the Highway 49 Food Mart.
Goss says it was a topic of discussion at their meeting this week.
"Some of the ideas was asking him for a resignation. Some people wanted to wait until the investigation is fully developed and conclude, which is fair, for the most part."
Goss says their 11 board members plan to vote on the matter soon.
"As far as his actions and attitude, he should be fully held accountable for that," he says.
For now, Goss says other community leaders need to make sure they don't make the same mistake.
"It should be a talking point for other elected officials that you can't act like this in public, whether you're in Fort Valley, whether you're in Warner Robins, or Macon."
Barnes is also an alum of Fort Valley State University and was most recently re-elected in 2019.
Barnes's current term is up in 2023.