Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Political Story of the Year
Local Democrats make a run,
but fall far short of success
Education Story of the Year
‘Remote learning’ has
become the norm
The presidential race
dominated political head
lines in 2020, setting the
overall agenda and tone for
the year. To say that the race
divided the nation would be
an understatement.
But locally, there was a
blip on the radar that went
against much of the grain in
local political circles.
Although Jackson Coun
ty has proven to be a Re
publican stronghold, local
Democrats made a chal
lenge in a few races, some
thing not seen in the county
for many years.
Local Democrats fielded
two candidates to run for
county commission seats
and put candidates in the
two state representative and
two senate races that affect
ed Jackson County.
Local Democratic Party
chairman Pete Fuller him
self made a bid for office
in 2020, running against in
cumbent Republican Tom
my Benton for state repre
sentative. He was defeated,
soundly, but the fact that he
ran at all was surprising.
Much of the local Dem
ocratic efforts are linked to
Fuller, who has worked to
rebuild the Democratic Par
ty’s local organization in
recent years.
But that effort faces a
formidable challenge. The
Jackson County Republi
can Party has been active
for over a decade and the
county is in one of the most
conservative regions of
the nation. While Georgia
overall voted Democratic
for president this year, that
was largely concentrated in
urban and suburban com
munities, not in rural areas
of the state where Repub
licans have a vice grip on
power.
Still. Democratic grass
roots efforts will be critical
if Georgia is to become a
major swing state in nation
al elections.
And who knows, de
mographic trends could
change Jackson County in
another generation. Neigh
boring Gwinnett County
was at one time one of the
state’s strongest Republi
can communities. Today,
it has moved Democratic
in both national and local
elections.
A lot of things happened in local educa
tion over the past year, including work on
the county’s new high school and Empow
er center and the beginning of plans by the
Jefferson City School System to expand its
middle school facility.
But the overriding issue in education
during 2020 has been the move to “remote
learning” as the Coronavirus shuttered tra
ditional in-person classes for much of the
year.
When the virus hit in March, local
schools had to quickly adapt. In-person
classes were stopped and schools sent stu
dents home and began doing online classes.
It was new territory for many local educa
tors. Although online classes aren’t new —
they’re common in some colleges and with
some specialized high school classes — the
wholesale conversion to online teaching
and learning was something new altogether,
especially with the lower grades.
The immediate challenge was to provide
the technology for students to be able to do
online classwork. While some local schools
had been accumulating computers for stu
dents to use, that wasn’t universal. In ad
dition. some students didn’t have sufficient
internet service at home to do school work.
Then there were other barriers to figure
out. While many parents were at home
during the spring economic shutdown, that
didn’t last. Who would provide childcare
and help once parents were back at work?
But academics were just part of the issue.
There were concerns about students’ so
cial and psychological well-being as well.
Special needs students often need personal
instruction and couldn’t do online classes.
And many students depend on school meals
as a main source of food each day.
Local school systems found a way to
navigate around some of those obstacles,
delivering food via school buses, setting up
wifi hotspots around the county, continuing
with most sports events and doing special,
remote events to keep students engaged.
All three local systems went back to
in-person classes in the fall, but some in
dividual schools were closed for a time as
the virus spread. The county school system
closed for the Christmas holidays early due
to the impact the virus was having on staff
ing.
With a vaccine now being distributed,
many hope that by next fall the virus will
no longer affect school schedules.
But in the meantime, questions remain
about the remainder of the current school
year and how remote learning might affect
students in the coming years. Many parents
have opposed remote classes, saying they
aren’t as good as in-person instruction. And
there is a question of how the remote learn
ing might affect college acceptance in the
coming years.
Longer term, there is some concern about
the psychological impact the virus disrup
tion has had on students during their for
mative years.
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
COUNTY OFFICIALS AT OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY
Jackson County officials took their oath of office at the Historic Jackson
County Courthouse. Shown (from left to right) are: Rob Johnson, Jackson
County Board of Education; Nicholas Primm, superior court judge; Sheriff
Janis Mangum; Joseph Booth, superior court judge; Sherry Moore, probate
court judge; Candace Taylor Heaton, tax commissioner; Jim Hix, board of
commissioners, district one and Chas Hardy, board of commissioners, dis
trict two. Not pictured are: Tom Crow, chairman, board of commissioners and
Keith Whitfield, coroner.
Economic Story of the Year
Virus has unexpected,
positive impact on county
Pendergrass council accepts
two gifts of land to the city
The Pendergrass City
Council unanimously
approved accepting two
pieces of property be
ing gifted to the city at a
meeting on Dec. 29.
The council approved
an ordinance to accept
.57 acres from Seed Part
ners LLC. The property is
located on the north side
of the bypass across from
the intersection of Glenn
Abby Lane.
The council also ap
proved accepting 1.25
acres from Geo Sam
Capital US LP. This prop
erty is located across the
property line from the
DR Horton Development
at the railroad hacks,
bounded by Gee St. and
the dead-end of Park St.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the
meeting, the council:
•tabled any action on
the proposed ordinance
to provide a contract for
the city administrator’s
position.
•received notice that
CSX Transportation is in
creasing the annual rent
al fee by three percent.
The rental rate will go up
from $1,775 to $1,828.25
- effective February 1,
2021 through January 31,
2022. City administrator
Roy Russell said the city
is considering moving the
depot building to a differ
ent location - depending
on the cost to move and
if a new location can be
found.
•Russell reminded ev
eryone that Hwy. 332
will be closed beginning
on Monday, January 4,
2021 due to the replace
ment of the two bridges.
The timetable for the clo
sure is six months, more
or less.
The Coronavirus has been
a terrible tragedy. Over 60
people locally have died
from the virus, over 330,000
nationally and perhaps mil
lions have died around the
world.
So it’s a unexpected result
that the virus has actually
had a positive impact on the
Jackson County economy.
The county doesn’t de
pend very much on tourism
or entertainment for its eco
nomic lifeblood, so the de
cline of those economic sec
tors from the virus has been
minimal in Jackson.
But the inability to trav
el, to eat out and to do the
“normal” activities of life
has kept a lot of money at
home this year. Instead of
a vacation, a lot of people
spent that money to do re
modeling projects.
The result of all that con
strained activity has been to
concentrate spending more
locally. The result has been
record highs in the amount
of sales tax funds local gov
ernments get from all that
spending. That has been
a surprise to government
officials who feared a dra
matic economic decline last
spring.
But the longer-term eco
nomic impact may be in
an explosion of additional
distribution centers in the
county. The virus has shown
just how important online
shopping has become and
the need for distribution and
logistics to meet that de
mand.
For the most part, local
distribution center jobs have
been steady and growing
during the virus providing
some stability during an un
stable time.
And it’s generated a lot
of interest by companies
looking to locate additional
distribution facilities in the
county.
County economic devel
opment director John Scott
said last May that the dis
ruptions in the supply chains
from the virus showed the
need for additional ware
house space, something that
Jackson County has seen
boom in recent years.
“There’s about to be a
huge run on all warehouse
space,” he said of Jackson
County’s available build
ings.
Jacksons County had seen
an uptick in economic activ
ity as businesses continue to
look at the community for
expansion throughout the
year. Some of that is tied
to the SK Battery facility in
Commerce, but some of it is
also tied to Jackson Coun
ty’s geographic location
along 1-85.
FIRE SAFETY POSTER CONTEST WINNERS
Jefferson Academy students named winners of
the 2020 Fire Safety Poster Contest are pictured.
Shown are: (from back row) Principal Christopher
Whitworth, Ms. Jean Connor, Ms. Lori Gunter, Of
ficer Lawrence Deese, Seth Crowder, Mady O’Mara
and Taylor Lambrechts. (Not pictured: Kylie Marri
ott and Ayana Bradshaw). Jefferson Academy stu
dents in Ms. Lori Gunter’s and Ms. Jean Connor’s
fourth grade classes were named winners of the
2020 Fire Safety Poster Contest sponsored by the
Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Com
missioner. The students will have their artwork pub
lished in the 2021 Georgia Sprinkler Association
calendar. The students were recognized at the De
cember Board of Education meeting by Lawrence
Deese, who is the Section Officer of the Fire Pre
vention Bureau and the Community Risk Reduction
Coordinator for the Jefferson Fire Department.
Town of Braselton
2020 Schedule of Receipts and Expenditures of Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax
Project
Jackson County (2009)
Roads, streets and bridges
Parks & Recreation
Jackson County (2017)
Multipurpose Civic Center
with Parking Deck
Gwinnett County (2009)
Roads, streets and bridges
Gwinnett County (2014)
Water & Sewer
Transportation
Gwinnett County (2017)
Roads, streets and bridges
Hall County (2015)
Streets, Sidewalks, Stormwater
Hall County (2019)
Roads, streets and bridges
Parks & Recreation
Barrow County (2012)
Roads, streets and bridges
Parks & Recreation
Barrow County (2018)
Parks & Recreation
Original
Current
Expenditures
Estimated
Estimated
Prior to
Cost
Cost
FY 2020
FY 2020
Total
563,345
658,737
658,724
658,724
563,345
658,737
627,691
-
627,691
1,126,690
1,317,474
1,286,415
-
1,286,415
1,365,300
1,365,300
237.626
584.388
822.014
1,230,899
1,322,484
1,239,015
83,469
1,322,484
1.168.163
1.365.120
982.044
350.557
1,332.601
389,388
344,363
80,636
263,727
344,363
1,557,551
1,709,483
1,062,680
614,284
1,676,964
3,500,000
3,500,000
81
69,759
69,840
1,270,589
979,204
610,139
162,134
772,273
1,187,395
1,187,395
-
-
-
-
2,374,789
233,688
211,905
209,901
2,004
211,905
233,688
211,905
68
9,000
9,068
467,376
423,810
59,523
11,004
220,973
770.216
770.216
83
83
$ 13.959.176
$ 11.683.737
$ 4.772.919
$ 1.525.121
$ 6.448.486