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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2010
Economic Story of the Year
Year in Review
Electronics firm brings 400 jobs to Jackson County
GOVERNOR SPEAKS
Governor Sonny Perdue spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony for Systemax’s new
facility. Photo by Angela Gary
BYANGELA GARY
GOVERNOR Sonny Perdue
joined with Systemax Inc.
and local officials in Jackson
County in October to cele
brate the grand opening of
the company’s new facility in
Jefferson.
Systemax, a Fortune 1000
company and one of the
nation’s leading electronics
retailers, opened a distribu
tion center. TigerDirect retail
store and business sales office
along 1-85 in Jefferson.
The company is investing
$15 million in the facility and
expecting to hire approximate
ly 400 full-time local-area
employees over the course of
the coming five years.
The impact of the project
led to it being named the
Economic Story of the Year
for 2010.
“We welcome Systemax to
Georgia,” Gov. Perdue said at
the grand opening. “The com
pany’s decision to come here
is a great win for job-seekers
in the region and will pro
vide a real boost to the local
economy.”
Systemax is a leading
retailer of brand name and
private label products, includ
ing personal computers, note
book computers, consumer
electronics, computer-related
accessories, technology sup
plies and industrial products.
The company is leasing a
459,000-square-foot multi
functional facility located on
40 acres in Jefferson.
“The new Georgia facil
ity is an integral component
of Systemax’s growth strat
egy for our North American
consumer and business cus
tomers,” said Richard Leeds,
chief executive officer of
Systemax Inc. “The facility’s
ideal location and talent pool
availability will allow us to
better serve the needs of our
growing customer base and
create a significant boost to
Georgia’s economy. Through
our TigerDirect store, we
look forward to providing
our vast selection of con
sumer technology products
to shoppers in the greater
Atlanta area.”
Crime Story of the Year
Two young children killed in murder-suicide
BY ANGELA GARY
A JACKSON County man killed two
young children before shooting him
self.
The shocking murder-suicide ruling in
early May in the death of Keith Jerome
Gresham, 36, and two 4-year-old chil
dren has been named the Crime Story of
the Year for 2010.
Gresham, who apparently shot him
self after killing the two children, was
found inside a vehicle in a secluded area
off of Old Woods Bridge Road, a dirt
road between Maysville and Jefferson.
Family members became concerned
after receiving text messages from
Gresham. Investigator David Cochran
with the Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office said family members went to Old
Woods Bridge Road because it’s an area
where Gresham went.
Gresham was found inside a vehicle
on the road and the two children were
outside the car.
Law enforcement officers believe the
shooting was the result of a domes
tic dispute between Gresham and the
mother of the children. Both children
had Gresham’s last name, but only the
youngest was his biological child.
“Apparently Keith Gresham and the
children’s mother were in an ongoing
domestic dispute,” Cochran said. “She
had filed a temporary protective order
against him with courts. He had been
angry over this. That is what we think is
the motive of this.”
Gresham’s former girlfriend — the
mother of both children — had sum
moned Commerce police to her Wesley
Way residence because of the nature of
the text messages after Gresham had
failed to appear for a probation revoca
tion hearing that morning.
Their mother said she’d let them go
with Gresham so he could see them
before he went to jail, according to the
Commerce incident report.
Education Story of the Year
School staff cut, unpaid furlough days implemented
BYANGELA GARY
CUTTING STAFF and man
dating unpaid furlough days
were among the measures
taken by local school systems
this past year to address budget
problems.
That area systems had to use
layoffs and furlough days to cut
spending is an unusual action
for school systems, which have
historically enjoyed revenue
growth.
For Jackson County, the
school budget cutting has also
had an economic impact as
schools are the largest employ
ers in Jackson County.
Because of that, the local
school system budget cuts
was the top education story of
2010.
In April, the Jackson County
Board of Education approved
a layoff plan that cut 44 teach
ing and non-teaching positions
from the district. And for many
remaining certified employees,
a two percent cut in local sup
plement pay was implemented.
Overall, the Reduction in Force
(RIF) plan is expected to save
the school system $1.9 million
in the 2011 fiscal year budget,
which started July 1.
While the board’s RIF plan
did reduce positions for some
programs — such as elemen
tary music and art, and middle
school band — it did not elim
inate any programs. Instead,
instruction of those programs
was shifted in the school sys
tem to other teachers.
The action was part of an
effort by the Jackson County
School System to get out of a
$908,500 hole in FY2009. In
FY2010, the system had gone
back into the black.
Some of the cuts include six
furlough days for employees,
reducing the local salary supple
ments for all certified personnel
by two percent, closing the dis
trict’s central registration office
on Hwy. 11 and reducing high
school athletic supplements. It
also includes reducing a few
clerical, secretarial and book
keeping positions, and reduc
ing the district’s instructional
technology department.
As for non-personnel costs,
new textbooks were not fund
ed and instructional supplies
will be trimmed by more than
$420,000. Supplies, materials
and travel costs for middle and
high school band and chorus
programs were also dramati
cally cut, along with funds for
other administration and main
tenance equipment and sup
plies.
JEFFERSON
As for the Jefferson School
System, the board of education
cut all elementary and middle
school Spanish teaching posi
tions as part of a reduction
in force program. Also as part
of the plan, one elementary
school counselor position and
one kindergarten teaching posi
tion were cut.
Among those changes
are: Not replacing an empty
assistant principal position at
Jefferson High School; combin
ing the principal’s position for
Jefferson Academy (3-5) and
Jefferson Elementary School
(Pre-K through 2); and combin
ing some job functions for the
assistant principal’s position at
the middle school.
The reduction in force plan
aims to lessen the impact from
the reduction in state funding
of $913,500 it experienced
between FY2009 and FY2010.
The system is also expecting a
further reduction in state fund
ing of $118,650 for FY 2011.
The BOE also approved up
to 10 furlough days as part of
a larger plan to cut costs in the
system.
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A look back at the top
headlines from 2010
JANUARY
•Jackson County leaders continue to receive requests from
property owners who want a building permit for property
located in subdivisions that don’t meet county regulations.
•Jefferson city manager John Ward ‘asked the city council to
allow him to live outside the town limits.
•Long-time Jefferson business owner Owen Webb died. For
more than 40 years, Webb operated Owen’s Snack Shack.
•Two new council members. Chuck Wheeler and Bobby
Crawford were sworn in to serve on the Nicholson City
Council.
•A re-opening celebration was held at the Crawford W. Long
Musem, which had been closed during a renovation project.
•Recent actions by Maysville council member Rebecca
McNeely led to a citizen calling for her resignation at a council
meeting. Mcneely did not resign or address the concerns.
•A proposal to issue building permits on a case-by-case
basis in county subdivisions that are out of code compliance
was tabled.
•Renovations continued on the historic courthouse in
Jefferson.
•Dawn Brock was named the Jackson County Teacher of
the Year.
•A new council member, Kathy Dubose, was sworn in to
serve on the Jefferson City Council.
•Rep. Tommy Benton said he didn’t support the governor’s
proposed “pay for performance” plan for educators based on
student test results.
•The Hoschton Police Department shut down and the county
sheriff’s office took over patrols in the West Jackson town.
•The 26th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
Birthday Celebration was held.
•Ricky Walker was sworn in as a new member of the Arcade
City Council.
•Bill Orr was sworn in as the new mayor of Braselton and
Peggy Slappey was sworn in as a new council member.
•A rezoning request from Jefferson United Methodist Church
to expand was put on hold until it could be determined whether
council member Kathy DuBose can vote on the matter. DuBose
and her husband retained a lawyer before she took office to
speak on their behalf in opposition to the zoning change,
•The Jackson County School System agreed to use three
planning days for its state-mandated furlough days.
•The Georgia Supreme Court upheld a death penalty sen
tence for Donnie Lance, a Jackson County man convicted 10
years ago for murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
•Parents of students at West Jackson Primary School spoke
at the county board of education meeting on their concerns
about the condition of the old school gym.
FEBRUARY
•Community Bank & Trust was taken over by state and fed
eral bank regulators and sold to SCBT, a South Carolina bank.
A former bank official alleged that the action was the result of
fraud and bad loans.
•The Nicholson City Council continued to operate on last
year’s budget as the council again postponed approving the
new budget.
•Two local men, Lance Corporal John Quinton Helms of
the United States Marines and Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin
Scott Nichols of the United States Navy, assisted in the relief
efforts in Haiti.
•The board of commissioners agreed that subdivisions that
don’t meet the county regulations will be reviewed on a case-
by-case basis with staff making recommendations on how to
get each development in compliance.
•Jeff Perry was named as chairman of the Jackson County
Planning Commission.
•Dwain Smith announced that he would seek re-election to
the county board of commissioners.
•David Cuddy was named as the Jefferson School System
Teacher of the Year.
•The Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority took
action to undo the 2007 approval by Pendergrass mayor Monk
Tolbert of the 300-lot Pendergrass Depot Subdivision.
•A rash of thefts from vehicles in Jefferson led police chief
Joe Wirthman to encourage residents to keep their cars locked,
even when parked at their homes.
•The county board of education continued to decrease its
budget with money for technology, supplies, assessment mate
rials and salaries cut.
•A heavy snowfall covered the county with schools and many
businesses closed, as well as 152 wrecks being reported.
•Henry Lee Stringer was sentenced to life in prison after
pleading guilty to murdering four people, including his two
children.
continued on page 8A
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