Newspaper Page Text
Barrow 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)
