The Forsyth County news. (Cumming, Ga.) 19??-current, December 30, 2012, Page 3A, Image 3

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SUNDAY. DECEMBER 30.2012 Banker will stay on civil service board County employees keep rep By Alyssa LaRenzie alarenzie@forsythnews.com The temporary member of the Forsyth County Civil Service Board won the vote of employees to hold a four-year term as their representative. Tim Perry, a local banker, has been serving temporarily on the three member panel since September after longtime employee representative John Blanchard resigned in August. Perry was appointed by the civil service board's other two members to serve until an election could be completed. The board reviews appeals of disciplinary measures or firings of qualifying county employees. Perry’s appointment is expected to be ratified by county commissioners prior to the civil service board’s first meeting of the year, which is set for Jan. 10. Perry and Charles Laughinghouse, a former county commissioner, were nominated for the position. HOROSCOPES ARIES (March 21-April 19). When you get signs from the uni¬ verse not to do some¬ thing, but you really want to do it anyway, try to find the bigger person inside you and heed the signs. TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You need a way of organizing your time to get the most of these final days of the year. List-making will serve you well. Bonus: When you get it out of your head and onto the page, you'll sleep better, too. GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You will see through the artifi¬ cial aspects of the world. You'll realize that you do have time to do what you really want to do if you change your expectations and another person's as well. CANCER (June 22-July 22). You're in an innovative mood, drawn to what hasn't been done before. Also, you see a real need for new solutions. If any¬ one can crack the code and uncover the mys¬ tery, you can. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Anyone can make the easy, feel-good choice. But is that really the best one? Right now the comfortable choice is being offered out of a desire to control others. You don't want to be controlled. You'd rather do what's hard. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) . You'll gather sacred knowledge under the guidance of elders.This probably won't be a mystical process. Rather, it's simply that experienced people tell you what to do, and you do it. UBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) . Get organized in your own head. You're after something that you can't quite put your finger on. Does wanting more make you greedy or ungrateful? No, it makes you human. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). There's nothing magical about the way you’re going to create a certain out¬ come. You're going to get in there and do the 'I was pleased with the partici¬ pation level.' Charity Clark Civil service board clerk The weeklong election this month yielded 193 votes for Perry and 44 for Laughinghouse, board clerk Charity Clark said. “1 was pleased with the participation level,” Clark said. “The election ran smoothly, and we were able to remain in compli¬ ance with the new policy, which wasn’t significant¬ ly different than what we have done in the past, but the policy allowed for a clear and concise time frame and overall election process." County commissioners approved a revision to the civil service board’s elec¬ tion process in October to set discrete time periods for nominations and elec¬ tions. work. Figuratively speaking, the dirtier your hands get, they more successful you'll be. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You'll spend more time on things that really matter, fully aware of how those things often go mas¬ querading as mundane happenings. An attrac¬ tive someone points the way tonight. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You don't want more to do, but it has become obvious that a dynamic will not change unless you do something. You'll take responsibility for a situ¬ ation and be empow¬ ered by the move. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You may be worried about what's going to slip through the cracks as you try to accomplish everything you want and need to do by the end of the year. Accept that you can't do it all, and have a little fun. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). People think it's not easy to be relentlessly positive, but when you truly feel blessed, it's not hard at all. Someone in your environment will be irresistibly attracted to your positivity. If you would like to write to Holiday Mathis, please go to www.creators.com and click on "Write the Author" on the Holiday Mathis page, or you may send her a postcard in the mail. To find out more about Holiday Mathis and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page atwww.creators.com. Nifty, Nifty, 50 Look Who’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY Daphne Rice . T~g Hearing this Wednesday last for ethics By Atyssa LaRanzie 8larenzi8@forsythnows.com The outgoing Forsyth County Board of Ethics could meet for the final time Wednesday. County commissioners last month approved an overhaul of the five-member appointed resi¬ dent board in favor of a pool of out-of-county attorneys. The new panel will assemble only if a complaint or request for an advisory opinion is filed, and the members will include three randomly selected attorneys from a list of nine to 15 that have been pre-qualified. The intent of the commission¬ er-initiated changes is to remove any potential or perceived con¬ flicts by bringing in a disinterest¬ ed group to hear the evidence in an ethics issue. Any future complaints will fall under the new rules. However, a pending complaint filed Oct. 19 will be the final task of the outgo¬ ing group. ve ri/on SHARE MORE OF THE THINGS YOU LOVE WITH A VERIZON SMARTPHONE. Show off your new hobbies with Pinterest and shareable data on America’s Largest 4G LTE Network. ' Unlimited TALK iHAREEverything Plan sm Unlimited TEXT J Shareable DATA on up to 10 devices an f PUN* r ■ f m ^interest m # ttfuU- *** G 9? M2Jsl 00:24:28 a * If AMitf fact IfctttNnAm & 4’ Atv't/f ;petd 5 7SrWh Vi CifmtsbmM IS7 ft idfii ^ I .1 1 ' mm A - *1) s? rout A Si! • ■■ ■ e 1 I-jp im ill 111 m: ! m | if? !» SI I . ill . kM Ms . Intuition"* by LG Spectrum"* 2 by LG ft Android™ smartphone with Break free with M tablet productivity wireless charging i 54999 ■ $149.99 2-yt.prke $S0 mai-ln rebut debit cert). $09,99 2-yt, price-$50 matl-ln rebate debt! card. - Ul AD phones require a new 2-yr. activation. While supplies last. GET MORT 4G ITT COVERAGE THAN Al I OTHER NETWORKS COMBINf 0 1.800.256.4646 • VERIZ0NWIRELE5S.C0M/H0LIDAY • VZW.COM/ST0REL0CAT0R 4j« tu>|t|>n fuaeiijia Im/Um 1 IIm Ia tic IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Subject to Cust. Agmt, Celling Plan, rebate form & credit approval. Up to $350 early termination fee/line. Unlimited calling for tfii 1 live calls between individuals, Offers (coverage, varying by sve, not available everywhere, see vzw.com. Limited-time offer. Restocking fee may apply. Rebate debit ca . . to 6 wks & expires in 12 months. LTE Is a tradematk of ETSI. 46 LTE Is available In more than 400 markets In the U.S. Intuition and Spectrum are trademarks of LG Elect.t ©2012 Verizon Wireless. i W* — forsythncws.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS The ethics board will assemble at 10 a.m. Wednesday for an investigatory review on the com¬ plaint William Dunn lodged against Michael Mahoney, an assistant district attorney in Forsyth County. The review is intended “to determine whether specific sub¬ stantiated evidence from a credit¬ able source exists to support a reasonable belief’ of an ethics violation, according to the code. The board can either dismiss the complaint or grant a hearing following the review. Dunn’s complaint addresses a plea deal reached Oct. 4 in a Forsyth County Superior Court case. In that matter, Charles McElroy Turner of Lumpkin County had been indicted on two counts of impersonating a police officer and two counts of false imprisonment. He pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct and received 24 months of probation, community service and a $1,000 1 3A fine, in addition to other condi¬ tions. In his ethics complaint, Dunn contends "political pressure” on the district attorney’s office led to the plea with reduced charges. He also maintains he was not properly notified about the matter in Forsyth County Superior Court. The response to the complaint, filed Nov. 15 by District Attorney Penny Penn, states that the coun¬ ty ethics board is “not the appro¬ priate place" to hear the issue since Mahoney is a state constitu¬ tional officer rather than a county employee. Penn continued that the plea deal is “the exercise of prosecuto¬ rial discretion.” The alleged lack of notifica¬ tion, she writes, is not an issue covered by the county’s code of ethics. Dunn followed up Nov. 15 by submitting additional records from the case file and e-mails regarding the plea deal.