Newspaper Page Text
o
O
24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Elections
Early
voting
opens
Monday
for Nov. 7
election
Early voting opens on
Monday for the Nov. 7
Municipal General Elec
tion.
Early voting dates and
times include:
•October 16-21, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•October 23-28, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
•Oct. 30-Nov. 3 from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All early voting will
be held at the Jackson
County Elections Office,
441 Gordon St., Jeffer
son.
Braselton and Com
merce satellite early vot
ing locations will not be
open for the municipal
elections.
Absentee ballot re
quests may be submitted
until Oct. 27. To access a
request form, visit https://
www.jacksoncountygov.
com/195/Current-Ele
ction-Information or vis
it the Jackson County
Elections Office.
An absentee ballot
dropbox will be available
at the county elections
office during early voting
hours. The dropbox will
close on Nov. 3 at 5 p.m.
(the closing of early
voting). Ballots may be
dropped off at the coun
ty elections office on
Election Day until 7 p.m.
Absentee ballots will not
be received at the polling
location on Election Day.
ON THE BALLOT
Candidates and other
items on the Nov. 7 bal
lots include:
BRASELTON
•District 1: Becky
Richardson, incumbent,
and Joshua Spearman
•District 3: Jim Joe-
decke Jr., incumbent, and
Tom Logan
COMMERCE
• City Council Ward 3:
Mark Fitzpatrick (incum
bent) and Alicia Vargas
• City Council Ward
5: Roshuanda Merritt,
Marty Vitug and Ronald
Silver
• A bond referendum to
See Election, page 2A
MAILING LABEL
Jefferson
Jefferson sets moratorium on large housing developments
The City of Jefferson has
imposed a 6-month mora
torium on annexations and
some rezonings for residen
tial development.
The council put the mor
atorium in place at its work
session meeting on Oct. 9.
The moratorium means
the city won’t accept appli
cations for zoning for the
following types of projects:
• Any annexation and re
lated zoning changes that
would be for housing de
velopments of eight units
or more;
• Any zoning applications
from within the city limits
that seek to rezone land for
PCD, MFR or R-3 projects.
All of those zoning codes
allow for multi-family or
high-density type develop
ments.
Applications that were in
process before Oct. 9 won’t
be affected by the morato
rium.
Mayor Jon Howell said
the moratorium is needed to
allow the city and the city
school system time to catch
up on infrastructure needs.
“We’re not shutting the
door forever, we’re just
cooling off for a while,”
Howell said.
The move comes amid
the council’s ongoing con
cerns about high-density
housing in the city and the
impact additional growth
might have on the school
system. The school system
has voiced opposition to
several recent residential
projects due to concerns
about how it will handle
additional students.
The city currently has
over 800 undeveloped
housing units, some of
which are in progress.
The moratorium also
ties into the city’s current
efforts to do its annual up
date to the town’s compre
hensive plan and land use
maps. A draft version of
the update has been dis
cussed by the council over
the past two months. The
updated version seeks to
have lower-density housing
in several areas, but some
members of the council
want to go further and limit
multi-family housing areas.
The council may vote on
the updated comprehensive
plan and associated maps at
its Oct. 30 meeting.
OTHER ACTION
In other action Oct. 9,
the council approved two
ordinances related to aban
doned vehicles left on city
See Jefferson, page 2A
Maysville
Maysville celebrates
Autumn Leaf Festival
%a r
fcc/WilsY m
Pi
fp
Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Maysville Public Library participated in the 56th annual Maysville Autumn
Leaf parade on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Philip Brown, superintendent of Jackson County School system, was this
year’s grand marshal of Maysville’s 56th annual Autumn Leaf parade.
Millie May, 3, was rocking her
“spooky vibes” dress at Tara’s
Pumpkin Patch at Maysville’s annual
Autumn Leaf Festival. See more Au
tumn Leaf photos on 12A.
A parade participant rocked back
and forth on his unique motorcycle
while waving to the crowd in Mays
ville’s Autumn Leaf parade. The gas
tank reads “Hardley Davidson.”
Jackson BOC
Three people want
county to change
voting system
Three people recently asked the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners to change the county’s voting
process.
Tiffany Flock, Jefferson, Patricia Moravek, Bra
selton, and Steve McReynolds, Commerce, all said they
don’t like the current voting system.
But there’s not much the BOC can do about those
complaints. The State of Georgia selects and dictates
what voting system is to be used by counties in the state.
Following the 2020 election, there were widespread
complaints from some on the far-right that voting sys
tems were rigged and the election “stolen” from Pres
ident Donald Tramp. Multiple recounts and investiga
tions turned up no evidence of widespread computer
problems or fraud in the state’s election.
An effort earlier this year by a citizen to have the
county’s voting machines declared invalid was tossed
out of court.
In other business, the BOC:
• discussed a proclamation to honor Georgia Military
Veterans’ Hall of Fame Day on Nov. 4.
• discussed a resolution urging the governor and Gen
eral Assembly to reform and improve the state’s mental
health services.
• learned that AKA Tree Service had the low bid for
tree grading services at the county’s transfer station.
• discussed the annual county airport capital improve
ment plan.
All four high
schools top state
average on grad rate
All four high schools across Jackson County topped
the state average on the graduation rate.
The Georgia Department of Education released the
2023 four-year cohort graduation rate this week.
East Jackson Comprehensive High School and
Jefferson High School topped the county, tying at a
96.3% graduation rate.
They’re followed by Jackson County High School
at 93.7%. Commerce High School had a 90% grad
uation rate.
All four schools are far above the state average of
84.4%. They were among 107 school districts to re
cord a 90% or above on the grad rate.
ABOUT GRAD
RATE CALCULATION
Georgia calculates a four-year adjusted cohort
graduation rate as required by federal law. This rate
is:
•The number of students who graduate in four
See Grad, page 2A
piggly wiggly
HOME OF THE SLUSHEES
n
1 ■
14 14 0
