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Front - May 27 5/25/04 5:11 PM Page 1
Meet the Candidates
Forum For All Local Candidates: Thursday, June 3,7:00 p.m, Jerusalem Community Center! Pg. 14A
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MAY 27, 2004 VOLUME 117 NUMBER 3 JASPER, GEORGIA 30143 USPS 431-820 THREE SECTIONS 52 PAGES PLUS SUPPLEMENTS
Briefly. . .
Click It Or Ticket
The Pickens County Sher
iff’s Department and Jasper
Police join law enforcement
agencies across the state in the
kick off of a summer highway
safety program. There will be
zero tolerance for seatbelt vio
lations and officers are also
cracking down on reckless,
aggressive, fast and impaired
driving, all of which contribute
to Georgia’s high rate of high
way fatalities. Page 13A
It’ll Be Magic
The Vacation Reading Club
will get underway at the Pick
ens County Library on June 1
with a visit by magician Ken
Scott and his rabbit, Snowball.
There will be lots of audience
participation, music, comedy,
puppetry and surprises as the
six weeks of special program
ming and storytimes begin at
the library. Page 12A
Angels on Horseback
It has been shown that dis
abled individuals benefit in a
number of ways by connecting
with a horse. A local farm, 12
Stone Farm in Talking Rock,
will be hosting sessions called
“Angels on Horseback” for
handicapped residents. People
interested in participating or
volunteers are asked to contact
the farm. Page 13B
Early Deadline
The Progress will be closed
on Monday, May 31 in obser
vance of Memorial Day.
The deadline for advertise
ments and news items will be
Friday, May 28 at noon.
Have a safe holiday.
Weather
By WILLIAM D1LBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
77
60
.06
Wednesday
79
62
.00
Thursday
83
64
.00
Friday
85
65
.00
Saturday
80
65
.03
Sunday
83
63
.00
Monday
82
65
.00
Deaths
Barbara Eubanks
Imogene Gartrell
Nathan Shipley
Jane Chapman
Therman Parker
Larry Biddy
Kenneth Clark
Allie Jordan
Nettie Sutton
OBITUARIES ... .See Page 18B
Visit Us
On The Web
www.pickensprogress .com
The Progress is
printed in part on
recycled newsprint
and is recyclable
School Board seeking new member
to fill west end seat
By Christie Pool
HELP WANTED: Pickens School Board
seeks new board member to fill term through
2006. Apply by letter at board office.
After losing one of its members when she
moved out of her district, the Pickens County
Board of Education decided Thursday to look for
a replacement by being sure the absence is well
noted and then seeing who submits a letter ask
ing for the job.
Letters will be accepted through June 18 and
then the board will appoint a replacement to fill
the term of Joan Locke who recently relocated
and moved out of her Post 3 west end district,
thereby vacating her seat. The term will run
through December of 2006.
Locke has said she will run for the board seat
in her new district, Post 1, which includes the
city limits of Jasper. The seat is currently held by
incumbent Shirley Whitaker, who is seeking
reelection. Both are running as Republicans.
At Thursday night’s called meeting, members
discussed ways of making sure the public is
involved in the process since they are usually the
ones deciding, via an election, who would fill the
post. According to Board Attorney Phil Lan
drum III, there are several ways a board can
appoint a new member.
“Some boards decide to handle it like a job
interview and some have people write an essay
or go through some other interview process,” he
said. “Some boards just take nominations from
the district whose seat needs filling.”
Landrum said there is no set precedent for
appointing a new board member but advised the
board to seek input from the public it serves.
“You want to have some sort of input from the
public because they usually have the opportunity
to decide who their board members are,” he said.
“You should make everyone aware that the seat
is available.”
The board will take letters of statement/pur
pose from all interested candidates from the west
end district for the next three weeks and will then
appoint someone from the candidate pool.
“This is an important position - the school
board is the largest employer in the county and
has a (multi) million dollar budget,” said Board
Member Mark Mitton. “It carries a lot of respon
sibility.”
Letters of interest should be mailed to: Pick
ens County Board of education, C/O Tony
Young, Chairman, 159 Stegall Drive, Jasper, Ga.
30143.
Celebration - Following Saturday’s graduation ceremony at Pickens High School where more than 200 students took part in the com
mencement, graduates celebrate by sending an array of caps into the air. English Teacher Michelle Richards, who began her teaching
career when the 2004 graduates entered high school, was the featured faculty speaker. Valedictorian Ginger Caylor and Salutatorian
Jensi Gise both reflected on their classes past accomplishments and future goals as part of their addresses. See page 16Afor a list of the
graduates and their photo.
Mayor
unveils
new road
plans
Plans call for
multiple lanes
on Highway 53
through Jasper
and a series of
one way streets
By Michael Moore
Jasper Mayor John Weaver
unveiled both short- and long-term
plans to alleviate downtown traffic
flow in the coming years, as the
guest speaker at Wednesday’s
Rotary Club meeting.
The mayor said while growth is
increasing in Jasper, city officials
are working so they get the kind of
growth that is acceptable to both
current residents as well as those
looking to live or work here in the
near future.
“We are dealing with growth that
is unpreparable as far as our abili
ties to handle growth in Jasper,”
said the mayor.
He mentioned as an example a
developer who recently wanted to
put 60 homes on a 60-acre tract and
get annexed into the city.
Weaver said once the developer
bought the property at $35,000 per
acre and then had water and sewer
put in, it would cost over $50,000
per acre just to prepare it for build
ing houses.
“At $35,000 a lot, undeveloped,
we are picking and choosing our
community,” said Weaver, adding
that no one in eight years has want
ed to build a trailer park in Jasper.
He said that the entire state of
Georgia is growing at a similar rate
due to the emergence of Atlanta as a
major city, and no elected official
will be able to stop the growth.
Jasper is now an upscale com
munity that has an increasing
amount of talent, Weaver said.
Continued on page 3A
Board allows some students
who didn’t fulfill all requirements
to participate in graduation
By Christie Pool
Suspending a policy for one year
to accommodate a handful of stu
dents, the Pickens County Board of
Education last week approved a
motion which allowed some stu
dents to participate in Saturday’s
Graduation ceremony who had not
completed all the requirements.
Four members of the public
appealed to the board to overturn a
policy enacted in 2001 which says,
beginning with the class of 2004,
students will not be allowed to par
ticipate in graduation ceremonies
unless all requirements for gradua
tion have been met.
According to administra
tors, the policy would have
prevented around 10 students
from participating in gradua
tion either because they had
not passed all five parts of the
state’s graduation test or
because required course work
was not completed. The stu
dents are eligible to retake the
state-mandated graduation test
until they pass and can attend
summer school to complete course-
work, but the policy would have
prevented students from being rec
ognized at last Saturday’s ceremo
ny.
“I was a sixth-grade teacher for
17 years and this graduating class
was the last group of sixth-graders I
taught (before retiring),” said Patri
cia Wigington. “There are so many
who had not passed the (state) test
and the counselor told me many
were honor roll students. I called
the Gilmer County superintendent
who said they had quite a few stu
dents in the same situation and they
always allowed their students who
had received their (course work)
units to participate in the graduation
ceremony and not receive their
diploma (at that time).”
Wigington went on to say that by
not allowing the students to gradu
ate with their classmates of 12 years
it would leave a negative impres
sion on the children.
“It is said that it’s better to give
than to receive and I’m asking
tonight that you be the givers and
allow these students to graduate,”
she said.
Others agreed with Wigington.
“These kids out here have
worked hard,” said Joe Wigington.
“I know you’ve made decisions and
are trying to stand by that, but these
kids can go back as often as needed
to (complete the requirements). Let
our kids walk and then review this
decision again. It’s got a whole
bunch of people stirred up.”
Speaking on behalf of high
school officials, PHS Principal
Lloyd Shaddix reported his office
worked diligently to make sure stu
dents were aware of the require
ments and the consequences for not
meeting them.
“Beginning with the class of
2004 we started in their junior year
(when they take the graduation test)
and did individual contracts with all
the students that they sign making
them aware of what was needed to
participate in graduation,” Shaddix
said. “There was not a senior who
did not know what they needed to
do in order to go to graduation cere
monies and we worked with them
to meet those requirements.”
Shaddix said for any senior who
has not passed all parts of the state
graduation test by the third test,
they had an option to leave elective
classes and attend study ses
sions during school. Teachers,
Shaddix said, were made to
give up their planning period
in order to provide tutoring
for the study sessions. Tutor
ing was also available, he
said, for two weeks during the
summer.
The policy was approved
by a former board whose only
member currently serving on
the board of education is
Shirley Whitaker. At Thursday
night’s meeting, Whitaker, who
voted in favor of it three years ago,
said she never understood nor
agreed with the policy.
“I never fully agreed with that,”
she said. “It was not fully explained
to me then — I’m sorry I’m a part of
this.”
Whitaker’s remarks came after
Chairman Tony Young read the
minutes from the two meetings in
which the policy was discussed and
approved in 2001. According to the
minutes, the policy was discussed
Continued on page 3A
The graduation test
policy waiver is
in effect for
the 2004 class only
Mural is a sign,
says Jasper downtown
development authority
Owner may appeal for bigger space
By Michael Moore
The Jasper Downtown Devel
opment Authority met Friday for
the first time in at least five years
to consider a property owner’s
request to have a mural painted
on the outside wall of his building
near the intersection of Highway
53 and Burnt Mountain Road.
Mayor John Weaver said the
question before the authority was
whether or not to treat the wall
and requested mural as a sign,
placing it under the requirements
of the city’s sign ordinance at the
risk of “treading on freedom of
speech.”
If it is not treated as a sign, he
said the city would have no abili
ty to restrict the content of murals
in the future.
An artist’s sketch of the
planned mural shows that it will
be a tribute to the Trail of Tears,
in which many Pickens County
natives were forced off their land
in the middle of the nineteenth
century to make room for white
settlers.
Authority members all agreed
that the sketch appeared “tasteful”
and would probably not negative
ly impact the appearance of
downtown or be offensive. One
member said the artist who would
paint the scene is a professional
who has done other commercial
work locally.
The bigger concern, however,
was how approval of this mural
would affect future requests by
property owners to paint designs,
advertisements, or murals on their
walls.
“If we just call it a paint job,
that’s going to turn them loose on
the town,” said Weaver.
He said if the mural is treated
as a sign, that would allow the
city to restrict what goes up now
and in the future.
The mayor also said the
request is to paint a surface that is
“about twice as big” as the 200
square feet the sign ordinance
would allow. However, they could
go before the city’s zoning board
of appeals to request a variance
for a bigger sign.
He said the proposed mural fits
the definition of a sign as spelled
out in the ordinance. “Once he
starts drawing characters, it’s a
sign,” said the mayor, even
though it does not appear to be
advertising or endorsing anything.
Authority member Dan Pool
asked about the possibility of put
ting the request before the city
council, after initially stating that
property owners should be able to
do what they want to their build
ings.
“On a case by case basis, the
council could screen out murals
that are highly objectionable,”
said Pool, noting that such deci
sions should go straight to the
elected body.
The mayor said going to the
council would open up the city to
lawsuits from other property own-
Continued on page 3A