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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 www.starnewsgaonline.com m © LIKE US at facebook.com/ StarNewsGaOnline PINTEREST Sherry reynolds.StarNews FOLLOW US on TWITTER @starnewswga contact us at: suehorn.starnews@gmail.com waynereynolds.starnews@ gmail.com 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
