diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1897120..8d4a089 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,15 +5,6 @@ All notable changes to WuttJamaican will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
-## v0.28.7 (2026-02-17)
-
-### Fix
-
-- add assocation proxies for `User.first_name` and `User.last_name`
-- add `get_value()` convenience function
-- comment out app_title in default wutta.conf for installer
-- add `app.today()` convenience method
-
 ## v0.28.6 (2026-01-04)
 
 ### Fix
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 1cd82a5..1c3f165 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "WuttJamaican"
-version = "0.28.7"
+version = "0.28.6"
 description = "Base package for Wutta Framework"
 readme = "README.md"
 authors = [{name = "Lance Edgar", email = "lance@wuttaproject.org"}]
diff --git a/src/wuttjamaican/app.py b/src/wuttjamaican/app.py
index 6314f9d..d8483b4 100644
--- a/src/wuttjamaican/app.py
+++ b/src/wuttjamaican/app.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ from webhelpers2.html import HTML
 
 from wuttjamaican.util import (
     get_timezone_by_name,
-    get_value,
     localtime,
     load_entry_points,
     load_object,
@@ -375,22 +374,6 @@ class AppHandler:  # pylint: disable=too-many-public-methods
             self.__dict__["enum"] = importlib.import_module(spec)
         return self.enum
 
-    def get_value(self, obj, key):
-        """
-        Convenience wrapper around
-        :func:`wuttjamaican.util.get_value()`.
-
-        :param obj: Arbitrary dict or object of any kind which would
-           have named attributes.
-
-        :param key: Key/name of the field to get.
-
-        :returns: Whatever value is found.  Or maybe an
-           ``AttributeError`` is raised if the object does not have
-           the key/attr set.
-        """
-        return get_value(obj, key)
-
     def load_object(self, spec):
         """
         Import and/or load and return the object designated by the
diff --git a/src/wuttjamaican/db/model/auth.py b/src/wuttjamaican/db/model/auth.py
index 9a5ab3b..59fc900 100644
--- a/src/wuttjamaican/db/model/auth.py
+++ b/src/wuttjamaican/db/model/auth.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ from sqlalchemy import orm
 from sqlalchemy.ext.associationproxy import association_proxy
 
 from wuttjamaican.db.util import uuid_column, uuid_fk_column
-from wuttjamaican.db.model.base import Base, Person
+from wuttjamaican.db.model.base import Base
 from wuttjamaican.util import make_utc
 
 
@@ -204,6 +204,8 @@ class User(Base):  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
     person_uuid = uuid_fk_column("person.uuid", nullable=True)
     person = orm.relationship(
         "Person",
+        # TODO: seems like this is not needed?
+        # uselist=False,
         back_populates="users",
         cascade_backrefs=False,
         doc="""
@@ -212,21 +214,6 @@ class User(Base):  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
         """,
     )
 
-    # TODO: these may or may not be good ideas?  i added them mostly
-    # for sake of testing association proxy behavior in wuttaweb, b/c
-    # i was lazy and didn't want to write proper fixtures.  so if
-    # they are a problem then doing that should fix it..
-    first_name = association_proxy(
-        "person",
-        "first_name",
-        creator=lambda n: Person(first_name=n, full_name=n),
-    )
-    last_name = association_proxy(
-        "person",
-        "last_name",
-        creator=lambda n: Person(last_name=n, full_name=n),
-    )
-
     active = sa.Column(
         sa.Boolean(),
         nullable=False,
diff --git a/src/wuttjamaican/db/util.py b/src/wuttjamaican/db/util.py
index d01917d..da4720f 100644
--- a/src/wuttjamaican/db/util.py
+++ b/src/wuttjamaican/db/util.py
@@ -56,8 +56,6 @@ class ModelBase:  # pylint: disable=empty-docstring
 
     def __iter__(self):
         # nb. we override this to allow for `dict(self)`
-        # nb. this does *not* include association proxy values;
-        # see also wuttjamaican.util.get_value()
         state = sa.inspect(self)
         fields = [attr.key for attr in state.attrs]
         return iter([(field, getattr(self, field)) for field in fields])
diff --git a/src/wuttjamaican/util.py b/src/wuttjamaican/util.py
index b1ef966..a129887 100644
--- a/src/wuttjamaican/util.py
+++ b/src/wuttjamaican/util.py
@@ -82,34 +82,6 @@ def get_class_hierarchy(klass, topfirst=True):
     return hierarchy
 
 
-def get_value(obj, key):
-    """
-    Convenience function to retrive a value by name from the given
-    object.  This will first try to assume the object is a dict but
-    will fallback to using ``getattr()`` on it.
-
-    :param obj: Arbitrary dict or object of any kind which would have
-       named attributes.
-
-    :param key: Key/name of the field to get.
-
-    :returns: Whatever value is found.  Or maybe an ``AttributeError``
-       is raised if the object does not have the key/attr set.
-    """
-    # nb. we try dict access first, since wutta data model objects
-    # should all support that anyway, so it's 2 birds 1 stone.
-    try:
-        return obj[key]
-
-    except (KeyError, TypeError):
-        # nb. key error means the object supports key lookup (i.e. is
-        # dict-like) but did not have that key set.  which is actually
-        # an expected scenario for association proxy fields, but for
-        # those a getattr() should still work; see also
-        # wuttjamaican.db.util.ModelBase
-        return getattr(obj, key)
-
-
 def load_entry_points(group, ignore_errors=False):
     """
     Load a set of ``setuptools``-style entry points.
diff --git a/tests/test_app.py b/tests/test_app.py
index 78a8862..1070e28 100644
--- a/tests/test_app.py
+++ b/tests/test_app.py
@@ -48,32 +48,6 @@ class TestAppHandler(FileTestCase):
     def test_get_enum(self):
         self.assertIs(self.app.get_enum(), wuttjamaican.enum)
 
-    def test_get_value(self):
-
-        class Object:
-            def __init__(self, **kw):
-                self.__dict__.update(kw)
-
-        class Dict(dict):
-            pass
-
-        # dict object
-        obj = {"foo": "bar"}
-        self.assertEqual(self.app.get_value(obj, "foo"), "bar")
-
-        # object w/ attrs
-        obj = Object(foo="bar")
-        self.assertEqual(self.app.get_value(obj, "foo"), "bar")
-
-        # dict-like w/ attrs
-        obj = Dict({"foo": "bar"})
-        obj.baz = "yyy"
-        self.assertEqual(self.app.get_value(obj, "baz"), "yyy")
-
-        # missing attr
-        obj = Object(foo="bar")
-        self.assertRaises(AttributeError, self.app.get_value, obj, "baz")
-
     def test_load_object(self):
 
         # just confirm the method works on a basic level; the
diff --git a/tests/test_util.py b/tests/test_util.py
index ddf220e..31b0527 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.py
+++ b/tests/test_util.py
@@ -41,35 +41,6 @@ class TestGetClassHierarchy(TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(classes, [C, B, A])
 
 
-class TestGetValue(TestCase):
-
-    def test_basic(self):
-
-        class Object:
-            def __init__(self, **kw):
-                self.__dict__.update(kw)
-
-        class Dict(dict):
-            pass
-
-        # dict object
-        obj = {"foo": "bar"}
-        self.assertEqual(mod.get_value(obj, "foo"), "bar")
-
-        # object w/ attrs
-        obj = Object(foo="bar")
-        self.assertEqual(mod.get_value(obj, "foo"), "bar")
-
-        # dict-like w/ attrs
-        obj = Dict({"foo": "bar"})
-        obj.baz = "yyy"
-        self.assertEqual(mod.get_value(obj, "baz"), "yyy")
-
-        # missing attr
-        obj = Object(foo="bar")
-        self.assertRaises(AttributeError, mod.get_value, obj, "baz")
-
-
 class TestLoadEntryPoints(TestCase):
 
     def test_empty(self):