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CARROLL COUNTY, GEORGIA'S ONLY LOCALLY OWNED / LOCALLY OPERATED NEWSPAPER
EASTER Mess
Thoughts on the meaning of Easter from area pastors
beginning on page 9
| NEWS REPORTING / NEWS RECAP / NEWS ANALYSIS
StarNews monthly traditional print publication /StarNews Online daily local news \
APRIL 10, 2022 • VOLUME 28 NUMBER 4
www.starnewsgaonline.com
Longtime Magistrate
Judge A1 Johnson dies
Longtime Chief
Magistrate Judge of
Carroll County Alton
Parker Johnson died
March 26, 2022. He was
57 years old.
Judge Johnson was
appointed to fill the
unexpired tenn of retir
ing Carroll County
Chief Magistrate Judge
Johnson Richard Smith in 1998.
Johnson was then elected and re-elected for
six consecutive terms, most recently in
2020. He was never opposed. Judge
JUDGE ALTON P. JOHNSON page 29
May 24th Primary set with active races for two county
commission seats and one county school board seat
No competition for State Senators Mike Dugan and Matt Brass;
State Representatives J Collins and Tyler Paul Smith each to face a Democrat in November
by Wayne J. Reynolds and Sue Horn
On May 24th, citizens will have the oppor
tunity to go to the polls to begin selecting can
didates, not only statewide, but also on the
local level in Carroll County. Contested local
races include two seats on the Carroll County
Board of Commissioners (BOC) and one seat
on Carroll County Board of Education (BOE).
Several local seats were unopposed when
the week long qualifying period closed at noon
on March 7th: Incumbents Sandra Morris,
BOE District 2, and Bryant Turner, BOE
District 7 had no opposition. Carroll County
Commission District 2 incumbent Commis
sioner Clint Chance was unopposed as well.
Commission District 4 incumbent Steve
Fuller is facing opposition from political new
comer Will Godbee. There are four candidates
for the Commission District 6 seat (Incumbent
George Chambers is not seeking reelection):
Vicki Anderson, Danny Bailey, Ken
Huddleston, and Debbie Neal.
Three qualified for Carroll County School
Board District 5 (Incumbent Donald Nixon is
not seeking reelection): Bill Kecskes, Curtis
Stepps, and Tom Sizemore.
Villa Rica mayor continues campaign to promote tax
allocation district (TAD) citing managed growth
City is asking county school board and county commission to agree to forego collecting their shares of
the new tax revenue for a period of years, perhaps ten, to give city time to fully repay bond (2024-2033)
% ify I b y Sue Horn
'W ^ K On Monday morning, March 28th, the City of
a !/ t I Villa Rica Mayor Gil McDougal gave an hour long
I citv of vil H presentation on the city’s proposed Tax Allocation
I east viLLAijflf S district ", ‘ fy H District (TAD) to area merchants, at Uncorked on
Main, downtown Villa Rica. Approximately 45
>.•% •_ *«■*. ) ■ citizens - merchants and others - were in atten
dance, with some voicing favor and some voicing
opposition.
Mayor McDougal opened with, “Our primary
goal this morning is to answer any confusion or
runors you may have heard [about the TAD], . . .
this is not a new project. . . we have been working
on developing a TAD for about a year now... This
TAD was in the making before the development. .
before Jeff Fuqua was looking to build a grocery
store.”
Through a TAD, governmental partnerships are
pennitted to front the bond to pay for the extra
infrastructure associated with large development.
Repayment of the bond is paid for by the additional
tax revenue that comes from the tax allocation dis
trict; in this case, the new property taxes and com-
See VILLA RICA TAD page 15
Shown above is Villa Rica Mayor Gil McDougal at the March 28th TAD
presentation for area merchants. About 45 people attended. Photo by Sue Horn
On the state level, State Senators Mike
Dugan and Matt Brass were unopposed. State
Representatives J Collins District 71 and Tyler
Paul Smith District 72 will each face a
Democrat opponent in November. Collins is
challenged by Democrat candidate Afoma
Eguh Okafor of Villa Rica. Smith is challenged
by Democrat Pat Rliudy of Carrollton.
See CANDIDATES page 6
Commission told
of cost increases,
despite very low
claims/ losses
J. Smith Lanier Insurance Company to
raise prices after giving board “good
news” on a”good year for the county”
by Sue Horn
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners
board held a day and a half retreat on Tuesday
and Wednesday, March 28 and 29, that con
cluded after 13 packed hours of group discus
sion and presentations.
See HIGHER INSURANCE page 14
“Tanner United With
Ukraine” fund to support
Doctors Without Borders
New fund to address well-being of people
living on the front lines of the conflict
from press release
Tanner Health Systems has launched a new
fund: “Tanner United With Ukraine,” to support
the Emergency Relief Fund of Doctors Without
Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The
fund addresses the mental, emotional and physi-
See TANNER with UKRAINE page 16
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Be accessible...Listen...Serve the Citizens!
A partnership with the citizens of the district, we must work together.
*Help maintain our agricultural roots
& farmland with smart growth.
The county is growing because people like what we have
here & we cannot lose that.
•Pro employee... they are the best asset we have!
We must take care of them to stop the turnover rate & loss of
experience in all county departments.
DIST 6 COMMISSIONER
d bai 93@g
