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Barrow’s County’s only mid-week newspaper
B * Wednesday, March 16, 2016
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www.barrow journal, com
Barrow County’s Legal Organ
VOL. 8 NO. 21 24 PACES 2 SECTIONS, PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 50« COPY
Parks to challenge Graham
By Chris Bridges
Journal Editor
Barrow County will have a con
tested race for chairman in May.
District 5 commissioner Billy
Parks qualified to challenge
incumbent chairman Pat Graham
in the upcoming May 24 primary.
Graham, who is in her first term
as BOC chairman, was elected
chairman without opposition.
“I have served as a commis
sioner for almost 10 years,” Parks
said. “Mrs. Graham and I have
two different philosophies on
Barrow County government. I’ve
been opposed to privatization
and contracting out our different
May 24 primary
departments. I have done all I can
as a commissioner. The opportu
nity came up and I decided to run
for chairman. Either I’m right or
she’s right. We will let the voters
decide.”
Parks had to resign his seat on
the BOC but a special election for
District 5 will not be held until
November, Barrow County elec
tions supervisor Monica Franklin
said. Parks said it is his under
standing the BOC would appoint
someone to temporarily fill the
vacancy.
While some didn’t want Parks
to give up representing District
5, he said he didn’t want to wait
another four years to run for
chairman. In the end there were
just too many differences between
himself and the chairman not to
run, Parks said.
“We didn’t agree on the budget
and things went down to the wire
on that,” he said. “The whole
privatization issue got us off to a
bad start. It seems like we are on a
different page. It’s just best to let
the voters decide.”
With no Democrat qualify
ing, the winner of the May 24
Republican primary will be the
chairman.
See Election on Page 3A
Local Democrats field three
candidates for 2016 election
By Chris Bridges
Journal Editor
Currently, there are no
Democrats elected to local
office.
Three candidates are going
to try and change that in
November including Dwight
Acey, Brittany Mayweather
and Michael Pope.
Those three officially quali
fied last week to run for seats
on the board of commissioners
and the Barrow County School
System Board of Education.
Acey is running for the BOC
District 2 seat and will face the
winner of the Republican pri
mary between incumbent Ken
Shook and Bill Brown.
Mayweather will face
Republican incumbent Rickey
Bailey for the BOE District 6
seat.
See Democrats on Page 3A
Barrow
Briefs
Driver safety
course offered
The AARP Chapter #3735
of Winder will sponsor a one-
day driver safety course on
Thursday, March 24, from 9
a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Barrow
County Leisure Center at 175
2nd Street in Winder.
The cost for AARP mem
bers is $15 and $20 for
non-members.
To register for the class
or for more information on
the driver’s safety event,
contact Catherine Payne at
678-963-2282.
Inside:
Index:
Outstanding Students 3A
Church News 10A
Classifieds 8-9A
Legals 5-11B
Obituaries 11A
Opinion 4A
Op-Ed 5A
Pets of the Week 10A
Public Safety 6A, 12A
School News 7A
Sports 1-4B.12B
Contact Info:
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£ Pa
M—-
ON DISPLAY
v_
The City of Winder Fire Station #1 held an open house Sunday to show
citizens the look of the remodeled station. Ariel the Fire Dog (top) greeted
visitors who had a chance to see the department’s fire trucks (bottom)
and other equipment. See page 6A in today’s edition for more coverage.
Photos by Jessica Brown
UGA, NFL standout to coach at WBHS
Phone: 770-867-6397
Mail: 77 E. May Street,
Winder, Ga. 30680
Fax: 706-621-4115
‘Like us’ on Facebook
www.barrowjournal.com
Mailing
Label Below
BOSS BAILEY WITH
HEATH WEBB
By David Brock’
Contributing Sports Writer
On Tuesday night before a
packed booster club meeting,
Winder-Barrow High School
head football coach Heath Webb
announced former University of
Georgia and National Football
League standout Boss Bailey as
the latest addition to his staff.
“If you're a Georgia fan, you
know his name and you know
his face,” said Webb. "We’re
super happy to have Coach
Bailey on board.”
Bailey, a native of Folkston,
brings impressive credentials to
the WBHS program.
A three-year starter at Georgia
and member of the 2002 SEC
Championship team, he was a
first-team All-SEC linebacker
as well as a semifinalist for the
Butkus and Lombardi Awards
as a senior.
See Bailey on Page 3A
Public works director
BOC reverses
course over
dept, vacancy
By Cliris Bridges
Journal Editor
The Barrow County Board of
Commissioners is back to square one
in terms of hiring a new public works
director.
Commissioners had initially voted
to use an outside firm to provide
temporary help with the department
until a new full-time director could
be hired. That motion was reversed,
however, during a March 8 meeting
by a 5-2 vote.
BOC members Isaiah Berry,
Roger Wehunt, Billy Parks and Ben
Hendrix, along with chairman Pat
Graham, all voted to rescind the ear
lier motion with Ken Shook and Joe
Goodman opposed.
Berry, at a meeting in late February,
said there were some things which
didn't look good about the initial
decision, including the fact he had
requested to be on a committee con
cerning it. Berry's request was first
approved and then denied concerning
the committee. Interim county man
ager Jimmy Terrell said that was his
mistake as he did not know the com
mittee positions were all spoken for.
At the Feb. 8 meeting where the
original decision was overturned,
Shook said he wanted to discuss
the matter. However, the vote had
already been taken and it was against
procedure to then discuss the issue.
Graham said she paused for any
discussion and then moved forward
when hearing none. Shook said he
did not want to vote again, just to
discuss what the BOC was planning
to do moving forward as the position
of public works director was too
important to leave empty for several
more weeks.
See BOC on Page 3A
Auburn 'Eggcullunf Easier
FUN FOR ALL
Sophie, 4, and Ryleigh Moore, 2, enjoyed hunting
eggs during a beautiful day in Auburn’s park Saturday
afternoon. Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
BASKET
OF
EASTER
EGGS
Natalie
Stark, 4, was
all smiles
after hunting
eggs during
Auburn’s
Easter cel
ebration
Saturday.
See more
photos from
the event
on page
2A inside
today’s
edition.