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CARROLL COUNTY, CL
StarNews
CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA'S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED LOCALLY OPERATED NEWSPAPER
NEWS REPORTING / NEWS RECAP / NEWS ANALYSIS
JANUARY 2020 • VOLUME 26 NUMBER 1
www.starnewsgaonline.com
StarNews monthly traditional print publication /StarNews Online daily local news
Carrollton City Council begins new year
with expected and unexpected changes
New mayor Betty Cason and new Ward 4 council member Bob Uglum sworn in
Ward 1 council member Gerald Byrd unexpectedly resigns
by Sue Horn
The City of Carrollton began the new year 2020 with
expected and unexpected changes. A new mayor and
new council member, as expected, were in attendance at
the Monday, January 6th regular meeting.
Absent was long time Ward 1 council mem
ber Gerald Bryd who announced his resig
nation from the council on social media
(Facebook) hours after the meeting had
ended.
Former Carroll County probate judge
Betty Cason and retired business man Bob
Uglum were sworn in to office Thursday, January 2,
2020 ahead of the Monday, January 6th meeting. Cason
become the newest mayor of the county’s largest
See NEW MAYOR CARROLLTON page 7
Update on Southwire’s
company-wide cyber
attack December 9th
Operations “back to normal”
by Sue Horn
Southwire Company experienced a
company-wide cyber attack on December
9th. Their response was immediate with a
self-quarantine shutting down the entire
network. Within 24 hours, Southwire was
operational, and the company began work
ing closely with a “cyber partner” to investi-
See SOUTHWIRE page 7
Betty Cason, accompanied by her husband Don
Mckenzie, is sworn in as Carrollton’s newest mayor by
Judge Lee Smith January 2, 2020. Photo by Sue Horn
2019
The YEAR in
REVIEW
Carroll County’s top news
stories for the past year
beginning on page 10
Commission chair admonishes
commissioners for questioning
finances during work session
Chairman Morgan says questions should have been
asked outside of work session: “Not in a meeting like this”
by Sue Horn
The Carroll County Board of
Commissioners work session
held Thursday, January 2, 2020,
became contentious following
questions and comments by
District 5 and 2 Commissioners
Ernie Reynolds and Clint
Chance about the county’s
finances, resulting in Chairman
Michelle Morgan admonishing
them for asking those questions
in a public meeting. District 3
Commissioner Tommy Lee
immediately followed with the
question to Morgan as to what
was the purpose of a work ses
sion if not to discuss finances or
any other issues on the agenda?
The 4:00 p.m. work session
was held in the superior court
room, top floor of the historic
courthouse located at the comer
Commissioner Tommy
Lee stated, “I thought a
work session’s purpose was
to discuss finances or any
issue on the agenda? I
mean, we are presented a
financial and if we have
issues with it, I thought we
were supposed to discuss it
at a work session.”
of Newnan and Dixie streets,
Carrollton, in preparation for the
Tuesday, January 7th, 7:00 p.m.
regular meeting. In attendance
were Board Chair Michelle
Morgan and all district commis
sioners: District 1 Montrell
McLendon, District 2 Clint
Chance, District 3 Tommy Lee,
See TRANSPARENCY page 2
Fundraiser set for Villa Rica’s
public library: “After-Hours Trivia”
Saturday, January 18th 2 pm-5 pm: $10 ticket
by Prissi Sullivan
Friends of the New Villa Rica
Public Library (FONVRPL)
will be hosting an After-Hours
Trivia on January 18, 2020 from
2 pm until 5 pm at Villa Rica
Public Library, 869 Dallas
Highway. Since the purpose is
to raise funds for the library,
there will be a charge of $10 per
person to play; however,
refreshments will be served,
door prizes will be given, and
awards will go to the winners.
Tickets must be purchased in
advance from the Villa Rica
library or a member of Friends.
All funds from this event will
go to the FONVRPL to fund
programs, evens, and special
projects at the library.
John Sandrene, president of
FONVRPL, works closely with
See FUNDRAISER page 9
DON’T MISS AN ISSUE!
READ DIGITAL MONTHLY
i S S U U PRINT EDITIONS on
County schools system’s current/ongoing SPLOST projects
$6M in projects left in the current SPLOST; voters will decide yes or no on SPLOST #6 this November
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by Prissi Sullivan
Carroll County voters have given their
stamp of approval on five SPLOSTs (Sp
ecial Local Option Sales Taxes) since 1998,
when the first was passed. Another SPLOST
request - number six - will be on this year’s
ballot for Carroll County voters to approve
or not.
SPLOST is a one cent additional tax on
sales in Carroll County; it helps ease the tax
burden of property owners in paying for
‘brick and mortar’ projects. The last one was
passed in 2015—with collections beginning
in 2018. The collected monies are kept in
individual accounts.
For the county schools system, there are
$6 million worth of projects left in the cur
rent SPLOST.
“All of these should be completed by the
end of the 2021 school year,” stated Terry
Jones, Assistant Superintendent of
Administrative and Support Services.
At the November 2019 board of educa
tion work session, SPLOST projects were
discussed. Four classrooms at Ithica
Elementary School, several renovations at
Bowdon Elementary, and canopy projects at
Central Middle School and Mount Zion
Middle School are all completed. The Ithica
project was an $816,870 expenditure, com
pletely covered by SPLOST.
Bowdon Elementary included renova
tions for the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation,
and Air Conditioning) and roof and interior
renovations. The budget for Bowdon was
$1,112,265: $716,210 from SPLOST and
$522,495 from state funds.
The canopy projects, which included can
opy installation, windows, gutters, and
downspouts, at Central and Mt. Zion came
in at a cost of $478,814; $103,902 from
state funding and $374,912 from SPLOST.
Several other projects are underway and
have a tentative completion date. Central
Middle School will be gaining a six-class
room addition to be completed in the fall of
2020. Scheduled for completion in the sum-
See SPLOST #6 NOVEMBER page 27
