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Forum for BOC candidates Tuesday
Smart Growth
organizes event
By Alyssa LaRen/ie
alaremieStfoiSYthnews com
Smart Growth Forsyth County
inv lies residents to meet the can¬
didates during a forum Tuesday
Summit
on 400
is today
By Crystal Ledford
cledforcWWorsythnews com
There’s still time to attend a discus¬
sion on the future of Ga. 400
At 11:30 this morning in the 1-anier
Technical College Forsyth Conference
Center, the Cummmg-Forsyth County
Chamber of Commerce will hold the
2012 Georgia 400 Summit
The event is being held in conjunc¬
tion w ith the Daw son and Dahlonega
Lumpkin chambers, and business rep¬
resentatives and residents from all
tha*e counties are welcome to attend
Randal! Toussainl. vice president of
economic development at the local
chamber, said about 100 people have
pre-registered. Others w ill he accepted
at the door.
Toussainl said the meeting w ill pro¬
vide the chance for members of ail three
counties to leant more about the high¬
way and possible ways to improve it
"This is a tremendous opportunity
for our region to discuss Ga 400 and
the impact that it has upon our collec¬
tive communities," he said "There is
perhaps no greater corridor that has a
See 400 1 6A
If you go
•What: 2012 Georgia 400 Summit
•When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. today
•Where: LanierTecrinical College
Forsyth Conference Center, 7745
Majors Road
• Cost: $30 for members of the
Cumming-Forsyth County,
Dahlonega-Lumpkin or Dawson
County chambers of commerce; $35
for non-members
• For more information, visit
www.cummingforsythchamber.org.
Past Lanier Tech discuss of
By Lee Johnson
FCN regional staff
OAKWOOD — In 1975,
Lanier Technical College, then
known as Lanier Area
Vocational-Technical School,
served about 200 students in
two buildings
Then-President Ken Breeden,
who served from 1975-84.
remembers when then-Gov.
George Busbcc was slated to
come for the grand opening of
the school's third building, cur¬
rently housing the Quick Start
program
Breeden said they scraped $34
together from the budget and
bought refreshments and snacks
for the affair
"We spent a check for $34
90994"04001
*
night.
Candidates for county com¬
mission will field questions on
grow th, development and other
topics provided by the local
nonprofit
Those questions have been
given to the candidates ahead of
the event and arc also available
online, said Claudia Castro,
managing director
"It's important that we know
BUSINESS
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Autumn Verier For*yt h County News
Hiro Kimoto, owner of Handy Hero, fills up his work truck
Tuesday. As gas prices continue to drop, businesses are feel¬
ing the benefit. For more, see Business, 1B.
and bought drinks and punch
and cookies," Breedc said "You
could buy a lot for $34 in l ‘>75 "
They were audited the next
year and Breeden ended up writ
ing a personal chock to make up
the difference
Years later. Busbcc sent him a
$34 check, which now hangs in
Breeden's house, after Breeden
told that story while introducing
him during a dedication at
Gw innett Technical College
More than 30 years later.
Lanier Tech has grown to serve
more than 26,000 students,
spanning five campuses in the
north Georgia area, including
Forsyth County,
“It 's amazing to come bai k
it’s a big complex," Breeden
said “You could hardlv tell
Inside
Volume 101 Number si
©2012, hwiyih < • unity News
( ummin#. f worgu
who they are, what backgrounds
they have, what they bring to the
table and what their s iews are
on growth and development
because that is how Forsyth
came on tlte map,” Castro said,
adding that a commissioner’s
vision for the county will shape
the area past Ins or her time in
office.
Most questions will go to all
the candidates, she said, but
FI
V
*•
Lanier Tech was here back
then "
Breeden was joined Tuesday
morning bv his successors Joe
Hill (1984 2001). Mike Moye
(2002-10) and Russell Vandiver
(2010 present) on the Oakwood
campus for recognition during
the monthly board meeting
Abby 4A
Business IB
( Lssifieds 3B
I )eaths 2A
Horoscopes 2A
< rpinion 5A
Sports IB
sonre specific questions may be
asked only to those in one of the
districts.
Audience members will also
receive raffle tickeis. which will
give them a chance to pose their
ow n questions, Castro said.
I he commission posts for
Districts 2, 4 and 5 are up for
election this year.
All the candidates who quali¬
fied arc Republicans, which
] Lanier Tech's
past presidents,
i from left, Ken
, Breeden,Joe
\ Hill and Mike
I Moye, gather for
j a tationTuesday. special presen
Scott Rogeri FCN
regional staff
"It's important to understand
the history of how we got to
where we arc in setting the tone
for the future," said Vandiver,
who presented the former presi
dents w ith plaques
"A lot of things have hap
pened because of the ground
work that was laid in the '70s,
l\ Authors book
recounts
deadly fire
from 1971 .
means the commission races
likely will he decided in the July
31 primary.
Those who have said they will
attend the Smart Growth forum
include: Incumbent Brian Tam
and challenger Dennis Brown
for District 2; incumbent Patrick
Bell and challengers Cindy
Jones Mills and Bill Mulrooney
See FORUM 16A
Lawsuit
filed over
meeting
By Jennifer Seim
lsami®torsythn«ws com
Camming‘s mayor violated the state’s Open
Meetings Act three times during one night this
spring, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by
the Georgia Attorney General's Office.
In the sun. Attorney General Sam Glens cites
what he contends are three violations stemming
from an April 17 meeting during winch Mayor H,
Ford Gravitt told a Roswell woman she could not
record video of that night's city council meeting.
The woman, activist Nydia Tisdale, and her
video camera were removed from the meeting on
Graviti's orders, according to the suit.
She was also reportedly told (hat video record¬
ing was not permitted and later that she couldn’t
record the meeting on her cell phone.
Olcns asks Forsyth County Superior Court to
impose a $1,000 fine for the first violation and
$2,500 each for the second and third. Ht* also
asks the court to award attorney's fees and other
litigation costs.
Tisdale said she is pleased with Olens’ decision.
"1 think it will take the lawsuit to hold the city
accountable,” she said “From what I’ve read of
the responses from the City Attorney Dana Miles,
it appears they're trying to defend their actions
ami I find their actions indefeasible. I don't think
they would ever ;idmit any wrongdoing w ithout a
lawsuit"
The city has 30 days to respond Gravitt
deferred comment on the matter to the city’s
attorney. Miles, who did not return phone calls.
Lauren Kane, spokeswoman for the attorney
general, said the suit is tlx- first the office has pur¬
sued since the changes to the open meetings law
took effect
,
They allow for the state to seek civil penalties
against government officials found to have violat¬
ed the law
The suit comes. Kane said, after tlx- office had
been “try ing to negotiate with tlx- city attorney
and were* never able to come to a resolution."
See LAWSUIT 1 6A
'80s and '90s"
Currently, l.anici lech offers
38 academic programs and
plans to add more, especially
with the pending consolidation
ol ( i.unt'ss die State College and
North Georgia College A Stale
l Iniversity
"We re going to lx- doing a lot
of the things that traditionally
Gainesville State had done
because they're going to be
focused on four year and
advanced degrees," Vandiver
said "Which helps us and we
think out enrollment is going to
grow
Vandiver also said the
improved transferability of 27
select courses from technical
See COLLEGE 16A
:>b youth Roundup ol
sports.
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