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o o 20 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, September 20, 2023 Statham welcomes fall at annual Sunflower Festival The City of Statham kicked off the fall season with its annual Sunflower Festival last weekend in downtown Statham, where town merchants and local food and craft vendors displayed handmade crafts, art exhibits and an tique and vintage items for sale. A bouncy house and face painting were enjoyed by local childen. Craft vendors like The Humble Gnome (pictured) line the streets of Statham each year to showcase their works of art. AIM students celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month Credit: AIM at CFIT Students in Mrs. Gosen’s class at the Arts and Innovation Magnet Program at the Center for Innovative Teaching kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month with a Frida Kahlo installation. “My homeroom kiddos researched Frida Kahlo and helped me create this Kahlo inspired bulletin board for our hallway to help kick start Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Gosen, who added that her students also learned how to make flowers and el papel picado. Off-duty Statham PD officer faces battery charges An off-duty officer with the Statham Police De partment was involved in an incident at the Auto Zone in Winder on Fri day, Sept. 15. On Monday, Sept. 18, the SPD received notification of a battery warrant issued against the officer after a criminal and internal affairs investiga tion. During the investigation, it was uncovered that the officer had violated sev eral policies, procedures, rules, and regulations set forth by both the SPD and the City of Statham. As a consequence, the officer’s employment with the SPD was promptly terminated. The incident is currently under the scrutiny of the Georgia Bureau of Inves tigation. Credit: City of Auburn Drive up view of Auburn’s new city hall Contention arises over street name at Auburn’s new city hall By Morgan Ervin morgan@barrownews j ournal. com The naming of a re cently constructed street that leads to the new Au burn Municipal Complex sparked unexpected con troversy after a council member’s rogue move that took many city lead ers and staff members by surprise. In April, the mayor and city council discussed the naming of the street that would serve as the address for the new city hall and police department with in the Auburn Municipal Complex. Following the discussion, the council MAILING LABEL '0 4879 14541 7 submitted three proposed names to the project man ager, who would then for ward them to Geograph ic Information Systems (GIS) authorities for final approval. The contenders were: Auburn Way, Daddy Bill Way and Hawthorne Way. Due to the presence of an existing Hawthorne Road in Auburn and con cerns about the suitability of “Daddy Bill” for use by emergency services, the county advised that 1 Auburn Way was the best choice and the proj ect manager subsequently registered the name with GIS. For several months, 1 Auburn Way became the city’s official address used on city documents, business cards and even customer water bills. What seemed like a straightforward and un problematic decision took an unexpected twist three months later when Coun- cilwoman Jamie Bradley learned the street was named 1 Auburn Way in stead of one of the other options she had suggest ed. Bradley responded promptly and unilater ally by contacting GIS authorities and changing the street’s name to Haw thorne Ave. in tribute to her family, who had sold the property to the city for the new municipal com plex. Councilwoman Peggy Langley, who is also relat ed to the Hawthorne fam ily, said the Hawthornes were promised they would be honored in some way upon the completion of the project, though she never specified what that something would be. The sudden change put City Administrator Michael Parks in a com promising position as he and staff had to hastily navigate the bureaucratic process of renaming an existing Hawthorne Road and manage the repercus sions of a decision made without the full council’s consensus or input. Making matters more problematic, Bradley’s timing was seemingly con tentious as her decision to rename the street occurred while Mayor Blechinger was hospitalized and un available to provide staff with guidance or offer her perspective on the matter. The absence of Blechinger rendered May or Pro Tempore Taylor Sisk unable to vote as the sitting mayor. As a result, the decision passed with out opposition during the city council’s July 6 busi ness meeting. “The message behind 1 Auburn Way really re flects what our local gov ernment is trying to con vey,” said Sisk. “Auburn is built one way and that’s the Auburn Way, which is communi ty-centered and uniquely ours.” Barrow County judge strikes Bethlehem councilman’s latest defamation suit against neighbors “Ifyou can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. ” By Morgan Ervin morgan@barrownews j ournal. com Following his defeat in a defamation law suit against the Barrow News-Journal in Jack- son County Superior Court earlier this year, a Bethlehem coun cilman faced another significant blow last week. This time, the blow came from Judge Joseph Booth in the Barrow County Superi or Court, who granted Sharon and Jerry John son’s motion to strike in response to a defa mation lawsuit brought against them by their neighbors, Scott and Susanne Morgan. Wittingly, in his or der issued Sept. 15, Judge Booth referred to comments previously made in a similar case, in which the judge re marked, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” BACKGROUND The origins of the lawsuit trace back to a contentious dispute involving Morgan’s allegations of code vi olations at the John sons’ property, which the Bethlehem Town Council determined to be baseless. In response to Morgan’s allegations against them, the John sons requested that the town investigate code compliance matters at the Morgan property, including an unpermit ted storage building and a camper being lived in See Judge, page 2A Shannon Hammond seeks office of Mayor in Winder Winder City Councilwoman Shannon Hammond is running for Mayor. Ham mond has lived in Winder since 1980 and was appointed to an at-large seat on the City Council in 2021. She recently retired from a 27-year career in public education, serving in various leader ship roles. She has previously served the Winder community in several ways, including serving as the Barrow Coun ty Campaign Chair for United Way of Northeast Georgia and Board President of the Tree House. Hammond states: “It will be critical ly important for Winder’s next Mayor to work collaboratively with the other municipalities in the county and with county leadership. We all need to work together in the best interest of taxpay ers. Growth and change are inevitable, but I am committed to managing devel opment so that only the best businesses and homes are built in the City. We are in the process of bringing more services in-house. We have recently hired a pro fessional engineer who will assist us with planning, design and construction issues, and infrastructure maintenance and improvements. Using employed staff instead of contractors to provide services allows the Council and Mayor to have more direct supervision over the services provided. I am so proud of the wide variety of activity types that have been offered as part of Winder’s TGIFF Winder Councilwoman Shannon Hammond (at-large) seeks office of Mayor. (Thank Goodness Its First Friday) and am excited for everyone to see what is scheduled for 2024.” Hammond also shares that if she is elected Mayor of Winder, one of her first goals will be for Winder to become a certified City of Civility by taking a pledge to govern with civility and cour tesy. “If you would like to join me in striv ing to make Winder a great place to live, work, and play where every voice is heard and respected, please vote for me on November 7,” stated Hammond.