Newspaper Page Text
4A
Complaints dismissed
against board of ethics
By Alyssa LaRepzie While he didn’t foresee any further
alaren/ietWorsythnows com action on this issue, Sweeney said he
would continue to watch the ethics
A judge has dismissed complaints hoard closely.
against the members of the Forsyth Sweeney also said he didn’t envision
County Board of Ethics that contended many more complaints being filed, due
they had violated the rules of their gov¬ to changes county commissioners have
erning ordinance made to the ethics ordinance.
Visiting Senior Judge Robert Struble As a result of the changes, people can
ruled that the board’s meetings in ques- he penalized for complaints deemed a
tion “were proper, fair, and not m viola “wrongful use” of the axle.
lion of any ethical standards.’’ Another change, made in September,
Terence Sweeney lodged the com¬ allows for officials or employees to he
plaints against the panel’s live members reimbursed for attorney 's fees if com¬
and one alternate on I\*c 16. plaints are dismissed.
Sweeney contended the members vio¬ County Attorney Ken Jarrard said
lated the rules of the ethics board ortli- Friday that the dismissal ol this com
nance by holding meetings at unauthor¬ plaint would allow ethics board mem¬
ized days, times and places in 2011. bers to request reimbursement for attor¬
Struble heard the complaints in late ney's expenses up to $10,000. if they
April, since the ethics board members hired personal counsel,
could not hear the allegations against In this case, it was not clear at the
themselves and requested guidance from hearing whether ethics board members
the court. had retained counsel.
Both local judges, Jeffrey Bagley and Following the hearing, both the ethics
David Dickinson, recused themselves hoard's attorney and Sweeney were
from the matter. asked to tile briefs.
In a decision dated Monday. Struble In his brief, Sweeney raised the issue
wrote: "There is no evidence that the of attorney’s fees incurred by the county
board of ethics either established a for this complaint and another one he
meeting date, time or place with any filed in 2011
intent to harm, prejudice or benefit any¬ He noted Kith issues involved govern¬
one, or that such action . . benefitted or ment not following its own rules, and
harmed any citizen of Forsyth County." the expenses totaled about $25,000
Sweeney said Friday that his com¬ II the citizens have to continue to
plaint was not based on the Georgia pay to keep their own government in
Open Meetings Act, as Struble’s deci¬ line and not get reimbursed it will never
sion referenced. work,” he said
"My complaint was based on them Struble did not address that issue
not follow ing their own rules," he said since it was not raised in the hearing.
FROM 1A
Year
And every donation
helps. Buursema said.
“People feel when you
make a donation that it
has to be something big,
but wc see on many levels
the difference that 50
cents or $5 can make." she
said. “All that adds up to
make a huge difference in
the life of a child."
The lives of many chil¬
dren have been touched by
the opening of the local
site.
Cole said the facility,
which offers a wide range
of services, has had more
than 50.000 visits since it
debuted. That’s about
double what leaders pro
jected.
"Even in the sub-spe
cialty areas, most of those
physicians anticipated
being here one to two
days a month and they've
increased to three or four
days a month because
there has been such a
great outpouring of people
using our facility." she
said.
In the facility’s immedi¬
ate care and sports medi
cine areas. Cole said staff¬
ing has doubled.
“In sports medicine we
started with one therapist,
we’ve doubled it to two
and we're looking at hir¬
ing a third,” she said.
“We’re going to have to
do a little physical rear¬
rangement to make room
for a third.
That's pretty phenome¬
nal for your first birthday
that you're already having
to sec if you can take out
some offices to create
more space for patients.”
Dcirdre Stewart, the
facility’s lead physician,
agreed the site has experi¬
enced some “growing
pains,” but said most of
those have been resolved
“We've grown and
added people and accom¬
modated that," she said,
noting that despite the
challenges parents have
been appreciative.
“It's right here in this
community, it’s close and
people love it,” she said.
"We're brand new and we
still have people that arc
completely wowed by
how great it looks "
C'assic Mills, mother of
Kendall. 2. and Ashton, 9
months, said she's glad
(he facility is available to
her family.
"Obviously living up in
Gumming it’s been very
convenient to have some¬
thing right here because
before we had to drive
down to Mansell [Road in
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS | forsythiwws com
At a glance
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Forsyth is
at 410 Peachtree Pkwy. For more information,
call (404) 785-3100 or visit www.choa.org.
Alpharetta],’’ Mills said,
“We love having it here ’
Most of the facility's
staff seems to enjoy it as
well
Nurse F. I z b i c t a
Kowalczyk, a native of
Poland who's lived in the
U.S. for 23 years, said she
enjoys helping both the
young patterns and their
families
"I've been a pediatric
nurse for over 20 years
and that's what I’ve
always wanted to do, to
help little munchktns
come and get better." she
said “The parents are
wonderful too
"Like yesterday, we
helped a lady with her lit
tie boy who was very, very
sick and she was just so
thankful ... she was like,
'You must be a great
mommy because you take
care of him just like l
w ould take care of him.’"
Stewart echoed those
sentiments.
"f or me. I like [working
here) because you're lak-
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Northside ;ajor Hospital expansion announces oi our a \
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complex information requirements f manual Applications: • M it rosy stems Analyst (» })
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Equal Opportunity hmptovti
Budget for 2013
coming into view
Finance committee
reviewing numbers
By Alyssa LaRenzie
alarenzieifttorsythnews com
The big picture for Forsyth
County’s 2013 budget began to
come together Friday during a
finance committee meeting.
I In* preliminary total anticipates
a little more than $90 million in
revenue for the county’s general
fund, said David Gruen, finance
director.
The final tax digest is expected to
be complete June 8. and the prelimi
nary budget will be presented to
commissioners (our days later.
County commissioners must
approve the millage rate by July 31,
and the 2013 budget must be adopt
ed by year's end.
Estimates for 2013 show property
tax collections declining by less
than 1 percent. An anticipated
increase in sales tax revenue likely
will offset that. Gruen said.
And an expected increase of about
$2.4 million in the local insurance
premium tax based on 10-year U.S.
Census numbers will add to the
county's revenue compared to last
year.
The preliminary expenses total for
same service levels and required
costs is about $178,000 higher,
though some other costs likely will
add to that total.
“That's our starting point." Gruen
said. "It’s close.
He noted that the expected addition
of a state approved third Superior
Court judge could cause an increase
of up to $ I million, but the committee
worked during the meeting to lower
that projection to about $725,000.
The committee, which includes
Commissioners Patrick Bell and
Brian Tam. also made recommenda
t«ons on requests for capital items or
new budget items that would add to
the expense
Of several requests. Bell said the
commission couldn't fund them "in
SUNDAY. JUNE 3,2012
this economic climate.” Some addi¬
tions made the cut, but most were
denied or returned so staff could
further gauge their necessity.
New ideas for funding through
lease options, outsourcing of servic¬
es or paying for expenses in the cur¬
rent year budget were raised for sev¬
eral requests.
Overall, the bottom line of $90
million shows a drop from last
year’s approved $92.4 million, but
some changes in accounting make a
direct comparison difficult,
One major difference is moving
internal service charges out of
department budgets and into the
general fund.
That results in a drop for the indi¬
vidual budgets, but an increase to
the main fund, Gruen said,
Also, adding a separate grant fund
out of the general account lowers
the amount by about $1.1 million,
he said,
The preliminary requests amount
to about $3.6 million in increases
for same service levels and required
expenses in the county, the largest
of which is about $1.7 million more
for health care costs.
That’s due to rising health care
costs, mandates from the federal
government and more claims from
employees, said Pat Carson, person
nel services director.
The county is working to institute
a wellness program to help curb
those costs and may also consider
increasing employee contributions,
depending on the outcome of the
U.S. Superior Court’s ruling on the
federal health care overhaul, Carson
said.
Still, that number is unlikely to be
reduced by much in 2013, she said.
The second big increase to coun
ty expenses, Gruen said, is the
return to a 5 percent increase to
employee 401 (k) plans from 3 per¬
cent. a measure set to sunset at the
end of 2012.
For comparison, Gruen said each
1 percent increase to employees’
cost-of-living adjustment adds about
$400,000 to the general fund, versus
about $685,000 for each 1 percent
increase to the 401(k) match.