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Improvement committee
votes to get going
Downtown Improvement and
bautification Committee
Bders voted this morning to
It going on the project.
[The committee reviewed an
lerall proposal and after
[ting to modify it in a few
pees, gave the architect,
Igineer and landscape people
? green light to draw com-
Lte plans and seek bids on
irts of the work.
[The committee asked City
pnager Roy Inman and his
[visors to return to the
[awing board and
Loposals to build medians on
jrts of East Solomon street.
Felton Rainwater, chairman
I the committee which has
en working at the job a year
Id a half, reviewed progress to
Is point.
He said the committee had
peived cash contributions of
8,000 from businesses, in-
I'iduals and organizations. He
|d another $38,000 had been
Idged.
Rainwater said that in order
I qualify for federal funds
lough Housing, Urban De
iopment (HUD) the commun-
I had to agree to spend half of
I total money on areas outside
Iwntown for improvement of
jkidential recreation.
frhe first phase of the
Engram is based on an
fcmated SIOO,OOO being avail
le. Half would be raised
(ally and half would be
Beral matching funds.
fro bring the initial projects to
Ihin the available money,
| y Manager Inman recom
|nded that medians on East
School registration
for new students
Ml students who have moved
o Griffin or Spalding County
-ing the summer and have
; registered for school should
so before the term begins on
g. 27.
lecondary schools will accept
»istrations tomorrow bet-
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Lt. Gov. Maddox rides again
DAHLONEGA, Ga.—Georgia Lt. Gov. Lester Maddox
proves that there are indeed other things easier than
falling off a horse... falling off a mule! Dressed in his bib
overalls and a straw cap with mule’s ears attached,
Solomon between Third and
Fourth streets be eliminated.
This would be a savings of some
SIO,OOO or more and bring the
program within financial reach.
The committee went along
with Inman’s suggestion.
The committee also approved
other parts of the plan but asked
that the median construction on
East Solomon be limited to
between Sixth and Fifth streets.
Originally they would have
extended from Sixth to Third.
By limited the median con
struction on East Solomon,
Inman estimated about SII,OOO
could be directed to other areas.
Rainwater strongly suggested
consideration be given to a
downtown fountain, probably at
Hill and Solomon, as a focal
point of the beautification pro
gram.
The committee was asked to
go back to the drawing boards
and see if this could be worked
out.
A smaller fountain is included
in the covered half block mall
on State street just off South
Hill.
The plan is for this to be an
attractive place so shoppers can
rest there or wait for others who
are shopping.
If a larger lighted fountain is
constructed downtown, then the
mall fountain might be
eliminated, it was suggested.
Rainwater said it was impor
tant for the committee to get
some work on the project going.
He said he thought if people
could have something tangible,
they would support the program
even more.
ween the hours of 1 and 3 p.m.
Students in grades 10 through 12
will register at Griffin High
School. Students in grade nine
will register at Spalding Junior
High Unit I. Students in grade
eight will register at Spalding
GRIFFIN
Vol. 101 No. 198
Inman pointed out that the
SIOO,OOO project was based on a
year’s timetable beginning July
1 this year.
He said that leaves only 10
months and 10 days.
Architect Gerald Bilbro and
engineer Alfred Bolton who are
working with landscape man
Newton Bell all agreed that it
would be nearly impossible to
say when some actual work
could begin.
Bilbro ventured a guess of 60
days but the three maintained
that they could not be definite.
Improvements to the park
near Spalding Junior High DI
(old Fairmont) will be part of
the residential recreation
improvement.
Inman said grading, con
struction of a fence and other
things there would figure in the
State told to redraw
Spalding district
ATLANTA (UPI)- The Jus
tice Department told the House
Reapportionment Committee
Monday to redraw four more
multimember districts because
the districts posed the threat of
diluting minority voting rights,
luting minority voting rights.
The committee had just finish
ed redrawing 15 other multi
member districts into single
member districts because of
Justice Department objections.
Thirteen multi - member dis-
Junior High Unit 11. Seventh
grade students will register at
Spalding Junior High Unit 111.
All elementary students may
register on Thursday from 10
a.m. until 2 p.m. at their
respective schools.
Maddox climbs aboard from the port side of a white mule
(with some help) and teeters off the starboard side
(again, with some help). The event was Mule Day at Gold
Hills of Dahlonega this past weekend. (UPI Photos)
Griffin, Ga., 30223, Tuesday, August 21, 1973
overall plan.
Additional improvements to
the new practice fields con
structed jointly by the city and
county off Airport road will
figure in the expenditure, In
man said.
The overall plan calls for
median construction on North
Hill from the railroad to
Nixon calls canceling
motorcade ‘ridiculous’
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.
(UPI) — President Nixon,
fuming over assassination
precautions that denied him the
cheering motorcade he awaited,
tricts have been left alone, but
there was growing belief that
they, too, may have to be re
drawn.
House Reapportionment Com
mittee Chairman Hines
Brantley, D-Metter, said the
development will more than
double the committee’s work.
He said he was still confident
the problems can be ironed out
so the matter can be passed
quickly by the 1974 General
Assembly.
Districts objected to Monday
including 13, 43, 67 and 123, and
they must be redrawn into single
member districts before the 1974
elections. A number of incum
bents already have been grouped
by earlier reorganization efforts,
and now even more incumbents
could be paired.
District 67 takes in Spalding
and portions of Coweta and
Fayette and involved John Car
lisle and Clayton Brown, Griffin
Democrats.
And District 123, in Berrien,
Cook and Tift counties, is rep
resented by Grover Patton of
Adel and Henry Bostick of Tif
ton.
Chappell street, too.
Some traffic islands in
residential areas will be part of
the program too.
Rainwater stressed that the
SIOO,OOO project would be only
one phase of the total improve
ment program. He said long
range the community would be
grabbed Press Secretary Ron
Ziegler by the lapel Monday,
spun him around and shoved
him angrily.
“I don’t want the press with
me, you take care of it,” Nixon
snapped at the apparently
stunned Ziegler.
The incident took place in
New Orleans after the Secret
Service, saying it had word of
an assassination plot, urged
that the President not follow
the highly publicized motorcade
Thomaston
mill raises
announced
Employes of the Griffin
Division of Thomaston Mills
will get about a quarter of a
million dollars a year from pay
raises the company announced.
The home office in Thomaston
said the raises would be ef
fective between Sept. 9 and Nov.
15.
They will increase the
company payrolls by a million
and a quarter dollars a year.
Three Thomaston plants will
get about a million more per
year and the quarter of a
million will go to employes at
the Griffin division.
The raises will mean
Thomaston Mills payrolls will
exceed S2O-million annually for
the first time.
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Lt. Gov. Maddox, who has gained some measure of
renown for his ability to ride a bicycle backwards, proves
he can do the same on a mule.
Daily Since 1872
working for several years on the
plan.
He was optimistic about the
future of the downtown area.
Rainwater said that down
town Griffin was ahead of many
other communities in the state
in keeping its downtown area
vital.
route that had been planned.
Nixon took another route
although he had been looking
forward to a warm welcome
and friendly crowds to bolster
his public standing, battered by
Watergate.
Plot Announced
The Secret Service announced
the plot and the change of the
motorcade route prior to
Nixon’s arrival so the expected
crowds would not turn out and
then be disappointed when the
President did not pass.
When he arrived at the
Western White House in San
Clemente later in the day, his
personal secretary for many
years, Rose Mary Wood,
greeted him with: “I was
worried about you.”
“The whole thing was ridicu
lous,” the President was heard
to reply.
“They called me last night
and they canceled,” he said,
apparently referring to the
motorcade route.
“They’ll never cancel another
one,” he added.
The shoving incident took
place as Nixon was entering the
convention hall where he later
addressed the Veterans of
Foreign Wars.
Nixon noticed that Ziegler
was leading a pack of newsmen
in behind him. He grabbed
Ziegler’s lapel with one hand
and shoved the press se
cretary’s shoulder with the
other, spinning Ziegler about
face, and sending him to find
some other entrance for news
men.
(F)
First jail in Spalding County was
inspected and accepted on Feb. 7, 1853
and cost $2,769.91. The county used the
City Guard House until the jail was
ready.
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MARION, Ill.—Mayor Robert L. Butler looks up at the
city’s new $122,000 Tower Plaza erected on the town
square. Butler stated that, for the first time in the city’s
history, the council will not pass a tax levy ordinance.
(UPI)
Town drops
property tax
MARION, 111. (UPI) - The
government of this southern
Illinois town of 13,000 is making
man-bites-dog-type news. In
stead of raising its property
taxes it is dropping them
completely.
The City Council has resolved
simply not to pass a tax levy
ordinance this year, in effect
wiping out the city property
tax.
To Mayor Robert L. Butler,
the move seems only logical.
Since he came to office in 1964,
property taxes in Marion have
been cut in seven of the past
nine years.
Marion’s last property tax
rate is just 31 cents per SIOO
assessed valuation, or s3l on
assessments of SIO,OOO. In
Chicago, 300 miles to the north,
it runs about SBOO for every
SIO,OOO of assessed valuation,
but that helps support schools
and other services not financed
in Marion by city taxes.
It Hardly Suffered
Marion has hardly suffered
as it relinquished its property
taxes.
During these years, the city
built a $122,000 brick clock
tower in its downtown square
and a $130,000 fire station,
bought a $50,000 fire truck to
put in it, and installed $24,000
worth of public toilets.
Most of the time it paid cash
—including $200,000 for im
provements that tripled the
capacity of its city reservoir.
With all this, the city currently
enjoys a $250,000 surplus.
Butler’s cash down policy is
the same way he handles his
own finances.
“Never in my life have I ever
bought a car or a suit of clothes
or even my home on credit,”
the 46-year-old attorney said in
an interview. “I figured that if
I couldn’t afford to pay cash for
it, I didn’t need it.”
Back in 1964, he said, Marion
was SBO,OOO in the red and the
property tax on a home
assessed at SIO,OOO was sll2.
Effort Must be Made
“The City Council determined
that if the city could ever get
out of the red, an effort must
be made to reduce property
taxes,” Butler said. “It was a
direct result of that determina
tion that taxes were reduced
seven out of nine years.
“Each year, the council has
budgeted for expenditures less
than the amount of anticipated
revenue. We have adopted this
as away of being reasonably
sure sufficient funds would be
available to meet expenses in
case the revenue didn’t reach
the expected level. More often
than not, the revenue reached
or surpassed the anticipated
figure.”
Surpluses began building up.
Annexations were pushed to
broaden the city’s sales tax
base.
Now, Marion’s yearly income
includes $565,000 from the state
sales tax, $300,000 from Water
Department operations, $196,000
from federal revenue sharing,
$130,000 from Sewer Depart
ment operations, $76,000 from
the state income tax and just
$47,000 from the property tax.
Marion residents won’t be
getting off tax free. Aside from
state and federal taxes, there
will still be levies or county
government, schools and parks.
But the taxes will be lighter.
t lii/jr 1
“Too much money can
corrupt a man — and so can too
little.”