About Barrow journal. (Winder, Ga.) 2008-2016 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
Barrow’s County’s only mid-week newspaper B * Wednesday, March 16, 2016 arrow It Journal m/m/m/ harrnwini irnal mm Rarrnw mh/’c I anal Oman 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: ii ;u7r!j £ 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.
