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Lost badge returned to police
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DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I JANUARY 30, 2019 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
City officials consider raises
Council wants to increase pay for councilmen, mayor one year after reducing mayors compensation
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
The Dawsonville city council
voted last week to tentatively
approve amendments to the city
charter that include a pay raise
for the council and mayor.
The council voted 3-1 Jan. 22
with council member Mark
French in opposition of increas
ing the council members’ pay
from $500 a month to $600 and
the mayor’s pay from $600 to
$1,000 a month.
The amendment also
includes an increase for
each city council meet
ing as well as other pre
approved meetings
other than the first regu
lar city council meeting
of the month from $100 French
to $150.
The raises would not go into
effect until after the next elec
tion cycle, meaning it will
affect those who are seated on
the council starting Jan.
1,2020.
French stated he was
against the increase in
compensation from the
first reading and said
during a Jan. 7 council
meeting that he would
not support increasing
the compensation of the
mayor and council members as
outlined in the proposed
amendments because he did not
think that the council’s duties
had increased to account for it.
“I would like to state my con
tinued opposition to any
increase for the mayor or any
member of the council,” French
said during the Jan. 22 meeting.
No one else commented
about the increases during the
meeting.
The mayor was compensated
$2,000 a month until December
2017, when the council voted
to reduce the compensation by
$1,400.
The change was made during
the next to last meeting of the
year when former city council
members Angie Smith and
Mike Sosebee remained on the
council. They were replaced
Jan. 1, 2018 by French and
Stephen Tolson.
Smith said before the vote
that the 2017 Municipal Wage
and Salary Survey conducted
by the Georgia Department of
See Pay 18A
Helping people feel included
Plan for growth,
development
approved by BOC
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County is moving closer to
being in compliance with the Georgia
Department of Community Affairs after
unanimously passing an amended compre
hensive plan and future land use map last
week.
The comprehensive plan is used by elect
ed officials as a guideline for future growth
and development. The plan must be updat
ed every five years and is a requirement to
maintain Certified Local Government
Status in Georgia, which makes the county
eligible for state grants and programs.
The board of commissioners failed to
adopt an updated plan in 2018, putting the
county out of compliance with the DCA.
At a public hearing for the plan on Jan.
10, members of the Long Range Planning
Committee commented that the process of
updating the plan had been rushed toward
the end of the year, and that they were
Photos by Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
Katelyn and Josie Nix and Blakely and Lucy Bell perform a dance routine to "I'm A Lady" on the Performing
Arts Center stage at the annual ConnectAbilityTalent Show Jan. 25.
See Plan 17A
Best of Dawson ends Sunday
Stars shine at 9th annual
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
For a shining moment
Friday night, everyone
was a star.
The ninth annual
ConnectAbility Talent
Show returned to the
Performing Arts Center in
Dawsonville and gave peo
ple of all ages and all abili
ties a chance to shine bright
and show the community
their talents Jan. 25.
“Our talent show is one
of our biggest events of
the year and it’s just a
time where we look for
ward to highlighting the
talents of everybody,”
ConnectAbility founder
Jacqueline Daniel said.
ConnectAbility is a
nonprofit organization
based in Dahlonega that
works with kids and
adults with disabilities
and their families to help
them feel included, val
ued and empowered in
their communities.
The annual show is one
of ConnectAbility’s big
gest events of the year with
hundreds of people coming
to cheer on local talent.
This year’s show once
again featured X Factor
finalist Rion Paige as co
host with Dahlonega’s
Tommy Pirone.
See Talent 18A
ConnectAbility talent show
Skilled ventriloquist Fiona McElliott takes the stage to tell
jokes at the ConnectAbility Talent Show Jan. 25.
Voting for the 2019 Best of Dawson
Readers’ Choice Awards is coming to an
end on Super Bowl Sunday.
The last moments are the most crucial
and your vote can make the difference for
many close categories. Don’t miss your
chance to cast your votes for who you
believe are the best of Dawson County.
Bragging rights, glory and honor await
all those who snag the coveted first place
position in their categories in the Dawson
County News’ Best of Dawson contest.
Thousands of votes have been cast, and
we want to hear from you. Now is your
chance to make your voice heard, letting
the community know the best businesses,
organizations, professionals and food
Dawson County has to offer.
The ballot can be accessed at www.daw-
sonnews.com and under the Best of Dawson
tab, or at http://www.bestofdawson.com.
Winners will be announced in a special
edition magazine that will insert into the
Dawson County News March 27.
From staff reports
o
9 0 9 9
Inside
Volume 4, Number 19
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
8B
Dear Abby
7B
Deaths
2A
Legals
8B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
No injuries
reported in
back-to-back
home fires
6A High school
senior brings
joy to animal
shelter
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