Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016, April 01, 2009, Image 1

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Barrow journal., April 01, 2009, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextBarrow Journal www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over... Wednesday, April 1,2009 Vol. 1 No. 23 20 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY •A Night of Hope for Children page 1C •Another Cook of Barrow County page 1C •Bible literature course resurfaces for BOE page 2A •Couple arrested for underage drinking party page 2A Opinions: •Journalism icon dies slow death page 4A •Lawmakers have a shot at redemption page 4A •An afternoon at the palace page 5A Sports: •Diamond Cats post third region win page 1B •AHS track continues to improve page 1B •WB Speedway pre pares for new season page 3B Also Inside: •Classifieds page 6C •Church News page 5B •Letters to the Editor page 5A •Public Safety pages 6-7A •Obituaries pages 4-SC To subscribe, call today: 770-867-NEWS (6397). The Barrow Journal is delivered every Thursday. County unemployment at 11 % Rate is now twice amount from February 2008 figure Barrow County’s unemployment rate continued going up in February, hitting 11 percent. That is over twice the rate it was in February 2008 when it was 5.3 percent and a full point jump from January’s rate of 10 percent. According to the Georgia Department of Labor, 3,780 people were unemployed in Barrow County in February. Among the outer ring of counties around Atlanta, Barrow’s rate was the highest in the Northeast Georgia area. North of Barrow, only Franklin, Hart and Elbert counties had higher rates. The statewide unemployment rate for February was 9.4 percent. “The latest local unemployment rates reflect the severity of the on-going recession in Georgia,” said State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond. “In 87 of our state’s 159 counties, double-digit unemployment is a sobering reality. A ris ing tide of joblessness is spreading across our state.” Barrow County/State Unemployment Rates February 2009 State rate 9.4% Barrow County 11.0% Jackson County 10.3% Oconee County 6.0% Gwinnett County 8.5% Walton County 10.2% Hall County 8.9% Clarke County 7.2% Madison County 8.4% Banks County 7.4% Hero’s sendoff QUALITY TIME Soldiers and their families took advantage of every minute Monday morning before members of the Headquarters and Echo companies of the Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion of the 121st Infantry departed Winder for Mississippi for training. The soldiers will then deploy for duty in Afghanistan. Well wishers lined the streets in Winder and along the route to send the soldiers off. See story and more photos on page 8A. Photo by Jessica Brown In Winder... Revenues remain slow BY SUSAN NORMAN Despite Winder’s layoff of 28 employees two months ago, the city continues to wrestle with its finances due to the economic down turn and the resulting slowing of revenues. The layoffs were done to stem a monthly cash-flow imbalance of about $120,000 - or $1.4 million annually - that was forcing city officials to tap cash reserves month after month. But due to costs associated with the layoffs - severance pay, accrued vacation pay, unem ployment benefits and retirement benefits - the city has so far realized little savings, according to City Administrator Bob Beck. “That's why it was called a blueprint for the future,” he said of the cutback plan. Beck estimates it will be May before savings from the layoffs will show up on the city's financial bottom line. The savings should really show up in the 2010 budget, which begins July 1, he said. The Feb. 4 layoff of nearly 15 percent of the city’s workforce raised questions about the health of the city’s finances. In announc ing the layoffs. Beck said the city’s financial condition had “significantly worsened” due to lagging sales tax revenue and slowing water sales. He said this week that the financial situa tion had now “stabilized” and that the action had “stopped the bleeding” of city reserve funds. REVENUES LAG The bleeding may have stopped, but the city continues to face a possible budget shortfall this year. Beck said the city may have to use around $1 million of reserves to make up the difference. According to year-to-date financial data, the city continues to lag in revenues compared to its budget. Especially critical to Winder's financial health is the status of its utility sys tems. Profits from the sale of water, gas and other utilities are used to help fund general government operations. Last year, the city used $4.1 million in utility profits to supple ment the city’s general operating fund. Although revenues are running below bud get, Beck said the city is “healthy” and “not in financial distress.” He said there is money to pay the $20 million in fixed annual expen ditures and any shortfalls will be covered by utility profits and, if necessary, additional reserves. “Our revenues are not down so much that I can't cover my fixed operating costs,” Beck said. “And even though revenues are down, that doesn’t mean we’re going to lose money in the enterprise (utility) funds; it simply means that revenues are down, which means profits are down, but that doesn't mean we're destitute; it doesn’t mean profits in the funds won’t be great enough to cover the shortfall in the general fund.” continued on page 2A Chairman to stay 'hands on’ Yearwood responds to critics, says county is making progress BY SUSAN NORMAN Barrow County will continue to have hands-on management by its elected chairman and won’t go back to an adminis trative-manager system, board of commissioners chairman Danny Yearwood said this week. That view may not set well with critics of Yearwood’s three- month-old administration, some of whom have been very critical of his management style and the controversy that has led to the departure of multiple county department heads. But Yearwood defended his actions in an interview this week, saying he believes the county is making progress despite the relentless criticism he has gotten from anonymous posts on blog sites and from some published articles in the newspaper. “I don’t care what people say about me as long as it’s the truth,” Yearwood said of his critics. NOT A MANAGER SYSTEM Under the previous Garrison administration, Barrow County had informally moved away from a strong chairman govern ment in which the chairman ran the county’s day-to-day business to one where a hired administrator made most of the daily decisions. That administrator, Keith Lee, was the first to leave under the new administration that took office in January. Yearwood didn’t replace him and doesn’t plan to. “I don’t want anybody to run my business,” he said. “I was in business for 30 years and I didn’t hire anybody to run my businesses for me.” Barrow County’s government structure does create a strong chairman system. The county’s code of ordinances states that the BOC chairman, as CEO, has the “authority and responsi bility to implement the actions of the board and generally to supervise, direct, control, and provide for the administration of the affairs of Barrow County.” “People need to realize that Barrow County does not have a county-manager form of government,” he said. “It never has, and I hope and pray it never will. I think somebody needs to be looking and making sure of the checks and balances.” FOCUS ON FINANCE To a large extent, Yearwood’s short time in office has been focused on the impact of the recession on the county’s financ es. He says he just did what he’d done at his car and insurance businesses — checked every bill, questioned what he didn’t understand, held people accountable, and didn’t worry a whole lot about how people felt about what he was doing. continued on page 2A Barrow sees foreclosures jump for month of April Foreclosures in Barrow County jumped for the upcoming April sale date to a new monthly high. Barrow foreclosures hit 169 for April, up from 158 in March. The April 2009 numbers are 47 percent higher than one year ago when 115 foreclosures were slated in April 2008. The foreclosure growth in Barrow is an outcome of the housing and development downturn that has hit high-growth counties around metro areas especially hard. The area's high unemployment rate, now over 10 percent, has also added stress to the crisis. For the first four months of 2009, there have been 569 foreclosures in Barrow County, up 19 percent from 2008. BARROW COUNTY FORECLOSURES Month* 2009 2008 January 111 123 February 131 117 March 158 121 April 169 115 YTD Total 569 476 *(Month = Scde Date)