Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
Judge
continued from 1A
by his in-laws.
In response to the investigation into his proper
ty, Morgan’s attorney, Ken Lewis, sent a letter to
the Town of Bethlehem, objecting to the town’s
code enforcement activities and threatening legal
action against the council.
This led to a council member resigning out of
fear of being sued in a potentially costly lawsuit.
This paved the way for both Sharon Johnson and
Suzanne Morgan to qualify for the special elec
tion held to fill the vacant council seat.
Ahead of the council’s Oct. 3, 2022 meeting,
candidate Sharon Johnson arranged to be placed
on the meeting agenda.
During the meeting, she expressed her concerns
about the town’s selective enforcement of ordi
nances and questioned its overall operations. Later
that month, both Johnson and Morgan’s responses
to a candidate questionnaire were published in the
BNJ. Johnson’s responses led to subsequent legal
actions taken by the Morgans.
JUDGE’S ORDER
In defense of her statements, Johnson asserted
she was within her First Amendment rights as all
of her statements were within various privileged
contexts, including before the Bethlehem Town
Council, during an election campaign and to a lo
cal newspaper during the same campaign.
Judge Booth agreed, ruling that, “Sharon John
son’s statements were unquestionably in further
ance of her First Amendment rights to petition the
government, criticize the government and to run
for public office to effect change in said govern
ment.”
Furthermore, Judge Booth noted that both Scott
and Suzanne Morgan could be considered public
figures in their roles as both town council mem
bers and political candidates.
“Even if Suzanne Morgan were not a public
figure, the defendants’ statements were still priv
ileged under Georgia law, and the plaintiffs failed
to demonstrate that any statement was false and
made with actual malice,” he wrote. Additionally,
Judge Booth ruled that the plaintiffs
failed to provide evidence of special damages,
which are necessary for their slander claims to
hold.
Judge Booth also highlighted that it was Mor
gan who initially thrust the Johnsons into the pub
lic arena at a Town of Bethlehem Town Council
meeting on December 6, 2021, when he comment
ed on the record regarding code violations.
“Morgan invited a newspaper reporter to the
meeting and launched several complaints about
the Johnsons, propelling what was once a private
grievance into the public sphere where it remained
on numerous agenda items and became a point of
contention in a subsequent election campaign,” he
wrote.
“While the subject matter may have, at one
point, started as a private grievance, it was plain
tiffs and the Town of Bethlehem who propelled
the private grievance into the public arena, bring
ing the subject matter of this lawsuit within the
bounds of the anti-SLAPP statute.”
Notably, Scott Morgan’s council seat is up for
grabs in the upcoming Nov. 7 election. Morgan
has officially entered the race for reelection, fac
ing none other than Sharon Johnson as his chal-
Georgia lawmakers looking for better way
to resolve local service delivery disputes
By Dave Williams
Capitol Beat News Service
Ajoint legislative study
committee launched an
effort Monday to look for
ways to help Georgia cit
ies and counties divvy up
the services they provide
to local residents.
Under a law the Gen
eral Assembly passed in
1997, cities and counties
are authorized to nego
tiate service delivery
agreements that deter
mine how they will pro
vide services including
police and fire protection,
road construction, water
and sewer systems, and
garbage collection.
“For the most part,
the negotiation process
works well,” Jim Thorn
ton, director of govern
mental affairs for the
Georgia Municipal As
sociation (GMA), which
represents city govern
ments, told members of
the Joint Study Commit
tee on Service Delivery
Strategy. “[But] there
are points of conflict that
lead to litigation.”
“[Disputes] become
very protracted, very
nasty, and very expen
sive,” added Larry Ram
sey, general counsel for
the Association County
Commissioners of Geor
gia (ACCG).
Rusi Patel, general
counsel for the GMA,
said disputes between
cities and counties over
service delivery often in
volve claims of “double
taxation” by city resi
dents who pay taxes both
to their city governments
for city services and to
the counties where they
live for services that go
only to residents in un
incorporated portions of
their county.
Thornton said an in
efficient duplication of
services can occur when
cities and counties fail to
hash out service delivery
agreements, resulting in
both governments pro
viding the same services
in the same areas.
“What we lack right
now is a reasonable dis
pute resolution process
as an alternative to litiga
tion,” he said.
State Sen. Frank Ginn,
R-Danielsville, one of
the study committee’s
co-chairmen, said the
committee is looking for
a way to help steer that
process.
Former Georgia Attor
ney General Sam Olens,
also former chairman of
the Cobb County Com
mission, warned that time
is of the essence consid
ering a service delivery
dispute between Barrow
County and the city of
Winder the Georgia Su
preme Court is due to
take up next month.
Olens encouraged both
sides in the case to resolve
their differences before
the court issues a ruling.
Otherwise, he said, Geor
gia cities and counties
may end up with a court
decision that would apply
statewide, causing local
governments to “arch
their backs.”
“One-size-fits-all lan
guage in service delivery
agreements is generally
not good policy,” Olens
said.
Clint Mueller, direc
tor of governmental af
fairs for the ACCG, said
his organization and the
GMA have assembled
a committee to develop
recommendations for the
General Assembly.
“Under current law, a
lot of these disputes end
up in court and that gets
very costly,” he said.
“We’re trying to find
solutions to keep people
out of court.”
The study committee is
expected to hold at least
two additional hearings
this fall before delivering
its findings to the full leg-
Large Hoschton development on
Hwy. 53 approved unanimously
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A 1,000-plus home
development that was
largely opposed by res
idents at public hear
ings and prompted an
arbitration hearing with
Jackson County received
the green light from
Hoschton leaders.
The Hoschton City
Council voted 4-0 Mon
day (Sept. 18) to ap
prove an annexation and
planned unit develop
ment rezoning for Rock-
lyn Homes for 287 acres
zoned agricultural on
Hwy. 53 on the south side
of town near the large
Twin Lakes subdivision.
The project will in
clude 651 single-family
homes, 404 townhomes
and 24 acres of civic
space.
Groans were heard
from those attending
Monday’s meeting after
the council passed the
annexation and rezoning.
The project had drawn
considerable pushback
from residents during
two packed public hear
ings earlier this year.
Those who spoke against
the project feared the im
pact of the large develop
ment on the city’s infra
structure — particularly
water and sewer — and
on local law enforce
ment, schools, police,
fire service and traffic.
Rocklyn represen
tatives during public
hearings said that they
are in negotiations with
Jackson County school
leaders to sell the school
system property at a be-
low-market price for a
future school site.
City planner Jerry
Weitz, during public
hearings, had recom
mended denial of the
project.
Monday’s approval
came with 21 conditions,
which were not discussed
before the vote.
A late August arbitra
tion hearing between
Rocklyn and Jackson
County resulted in a con
dition requiring Rocklyn
to pay county impact
fees, in addition to city
impact fees, for each
building permit.
The Hoschton City
Council held public hear
ings over the annexation
and rezoning request in
May and June but took
no action at its June
voting session after the
county formally opposed
the annexation request,
leading to arbitration.
During public com
ment at Thursday’s
(Sept. 14) work session,
residents again expressed
concerns about the scope
of the project, its impact
on the city’s infrastruc
ture and they city’s resi
dential growth.
One resident asked that
the vote be postponed
until a permanent mayor
and full city council are
in place.
The council is operat
ing with four members,
including an acting may
or, James Lawson.
Considering
((TM*R) )) buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
HUGE AUCTION in Northeast GA!
Subscribe at BarrowNewsJournal.Com
Or mail in this coupon
Name
Delivery Address_
City
State
Check Enclosed $_
_ Email (for access to web site)_
Or charge to: □ Visa DMasterCard DAMXCard#
Billing Address (if different from delivery address)
City State_
Exp. Date_
Signature_
Phone
_Amt Charged_
Barrow News-Journal
$ 4 5/YEAR - 52 issues*
(55 and older is just $40/year)
Please mail to:
Subscriptions
Barrow News-Journal
P.O. Box 908
Jefferson, GA 30549
Taxes and USPS delivery is included in prices. Offer is good for new & existing customers. Please allow two weeks for processing.
Come out and
join us!
Live Public
Auction starts
at 10am!
Friday September 22 nd
Located at 123 Outlet Dr Commerce GA, 30529
Featuring Paving Equipment, Horizontal Grinders,
Late model Trucks, Trailers and so much more!