Newspaper Page Text
House candidates in final forum
ByToddThwIova
Staff Writer
Candidates who are seek¬
ing to be elected to the
Georgia House of
Representatives participated
last week in a forum spon¬
sored by the Cumming
Forsyth County Chamber of
Commerce.
Conducted at Cumming
City Hall, the event ends a
series of forums designed to
introduce residents to the 2005
candidates.
Incumbent Representatives
Tom Knox (R-Cumming) and
Jack Murphy (R-Cumming)
and hopefuls John Pickering
and Jonathan Flack gave
opening statements and
answered questions from
forum moderator Randy Scott.
Murphy and Knox current¬
ly are dud representatives for
District 14, which has two
seats. However, after state leg-
Back to school expo
for 17
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
There is just one month of
summer left for students in
Forsyth County before par¬
ents and children will be in
the back-to-school mode.
With the beginning of
school just a month away,
board members of the
Sawnee Cultural Arts Center
in Cumming thought the
community needed an event
to feature information for
activities surrounding school
needs.
The cultural arts center
will sponsor its first Back to
School Expo on Saturday,
July 17, from noon to 6 p.m.
Representatives from Forsyth
Cumming First UMC teaches
By Antonia Hertwig-Benson
Staff Writer
“The King will reply, ‘I
tell you the truth, whatever
you did for one of the least
of these brothers of mine,
you did for me.” — Matthew
25:40.
The act of volunteering
one’s self through service is
one of the many important
life lessons Cumming First
United Methodist Church is
trying to teach.
The church is introducing
the mission trip, “River of
Life,” from July 14-18 in
which youth as young as
grade six will volunteer
themselves throughout the
Cumming community.
The Methodist church
will host more than 100
adults and youth from eight
North Georgia churches.
“There will be about 120
youth who will spend the
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islators failed to agree on
redrawn district lines, judges
drew new districts and sepa¬
rated the incumbents’ district
into the 23rd and 24th dis¬
tricts.
Pickering, a founding
member of the South Forsyth
Homeowners Coalition, is
campaigning against Knox,
who was elected to the House
in 2000, for District 24.
In his opening statement,
Pickering spoke of his com¬
munity involvement, which
includes participation in dis¬
cussions with other residents
to help develop an updated
version of the county’s land
use map that’s used by
Forsyth County government
officials while determining
whether to approve rezoning
requests.
Pickering also said that, if
elected, he plans to work on
getting the funding to improve
county roadways, schools and
County Schools, Forsyth
County Park and Recreation
Department, and private pre
K programs, day care cen¬
ters, schools and school sup¬
ply retailers will be display¬
ing information and be on
hand to answer questions.
“Parents need this kind of
information in advance,” said
Paula Glover, Sawnee Center
executive director. “No one
has tried to do this before
and we saw the need for it.”
Basically, organizers have
tried to include anything a
child would need from pre¬
school age to middle school,
according to Glover.
“We will have 36
exhibitors which will include
at least two clothing stores,”
night in our gym,” said Chris
Woodall, youth director at
Cumming First United
Methodist,
The volunteers will enlist
three of their five days in
Cumming to community
service.
Woodall said the River of
Life mission trip enables the
volunteers to share Christ’s
love to people who either
can’t afford to repair their
own homes or to the elderly
who can’t do the work them
selves,
The youth will do mainly
exterior work on homes,
from yard work and roof
repairs to painting homes,
Thursday, Friday and
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General Arthntla Topic: Information
Whan:
Tuesday Tima: July 7:00pm 13, 2004
Attendance is free end refreshments will be served
Where:
Forsyth 2300 County Keith Recreation Bridge Road Center
Cumming, Georgia 30028
Contact:
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404-237-8771 OR 800-933-7023, EXT. 230
Wyeth has mode this forum svsllsble to your community.
obtain more greenspace areas
to protect the county’s natural
resources.
Knox referred to former
legislation and other accom
plishments during his two
terms in the House includ
ing co-sponsoring legislation
to prevent the construction of
former Gov. Roy Barnes’ pro
posed Northern Arc and
authoring a voter-approved
bill that prevents increases on
property values from being
applied to the county’s share
of a homeowner’s tax bill.
When asked how they plan
to help the county progress,
Knox and Pickering said
transportation funding is need
ed.
In addition, Pickering said
he will seek input from con¬
stituents to address their
needs. He said he hopes to
improve the county’s infra
structure to attract businesses
and balance the tax digest
said Glover.
Admission to the show is
free and several door prizes
will be awarded.
“Ballet and jazz dancers '
from the Sawnee School of
Ballet will also give an exhi¬
bition performance,” said
Glover.
There also will be other
entertainment for children
such as a giant moon walk,
complete with a climbing
wall and slide.
A children’s fashion show
will feature the latest styles
in student clothing.
For more information or
to register your business for
a booth, contact Paula Glover
at (770) 889-4977 or visit
www.sawneecenter.org.
Saturday are workdays,”
Woodall said, and added that
there will be a fellowship
service on Sunday.
During the evening the
youth will come together for
worship and various speak
ers.
The “River of Life” effort
began in Georgia 13 years
ago at Lincolnton United
Methodist Church with 45
members from four church
es.
This year the ministry has
grown to 13 community
service events throughout the
summer with approximately
1,500 volunteers from more
than 70 churches.
providing relief to prevent
homeowners’ property taxes
from increasing.
Knox said the state needs
to change the way the state
finances education so that
more local dollars are kept
within the county,
When questioned how they
plan to address the state budget,
Pickering responded that he
believes sales taxes provide bet
ter revenue opportunities when
the economy is robust. He said
education fund distribution
needs to be changed so that
Forsyth County gets a larger
share due to the rapid growth
the county is experiencing,
“I’ll fight to make sure we
get a fair distribution,” said
Pickering,
Knox said the state needs
to change the budgeting
process and, instead of auto
matically granting a program a
set amount of money, ensure
there is a continued need for
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Photo/Submitted
Local woman donates time
Meredith Jolly of Cumming scrapes paint from a garage recently in Madisonville,
Ky., during a World Changers home rehab project. Jolly, a member of First
Baptist Church and a student at Forsyth Central High School, was among more
than 600 student volunteers and leaders participating in World Changers, a min¬
istry of the North American Mission Board in Atlanta. An estimated 25,000 stu¬
dents and their leaders will work on substandard housing in more than 90 cities
this summer.
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - WMiwaday, July 7,2004
the program.
“We only control ... about
20 percent of the budget,” said
Knox. “We’ve got plenty of
money. We need to get right
about how we spend it.”
Voters will choose Knox or
Pickering in the July 20
Republican primary election.
However, the race between
Murphy and Flack will not be
decided until the Nov. 2 gen¬
eral election. Flack is running
as a Democrat.
Flack, in his opening state¬
ment, said he intends to
address three areas if elected
— public safety, obtaining
greenspace and education.
He said the state must
remain committed to reducing
class sizes and that the trust
fund to obtain greenspace
must be strengthened.
Murphy said he has seen
the county change during the
20 years he has been a resi¬
dent and referred to Flack as a
- PAGE 3A
newcomer. *
Flack said, though he has
been a Forsyth County resi¬
dent for three years, the coun¬
ty has many who have lived
here a similar amount of time.
When asked how they
intend to improve chunty
roadways, Murphy said the
roads leading to Ga. 400 need
to be improved. He said he
favors Gov. Sonny Perdue’s
‘last-forward” program that
loans anticipated future dol¬
lars so the Department of
Transportation can update
county roadways quicker.
Flack agreed the funding
needs to be moved forward to
address the road improve¬
ments now rather than later.
Flack said the House, cur¬
rently with a majority of
Democrats, may continue to be
controlled by the Democrats —
suggesting his party affiliation
would put him in a better posi¬
tion to help Forsyth County.