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The second of a two-part series on joblessness
Experts speak on job market, offer advice to unemployed
What’s Inside
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This graph from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the unemploy
ment rate in Pickens County since 1990.
By Angela Reinhardt
You’re out of a job and have
been for months, possibly years.
You want to work and you’d like
to stay in Pickens, but where are
all the jobs?
Last week in the first of a
two-part series on joblessness,
we explored the emotional ef
fects of long-term unemploy
ment. This week we went
searching for solutions. We
spoke with local leaders and ex
perts about Pickens County’s job
landscape and asked them what
the best prospects are for job
seekers in the area. We spoke
with two economic developers,
two career counselors, and one
sole commissioner who gave us
the scoop on what’s in-demand,
what un-or-underemployed resi
dents should do to land a job, and
ways Pickens can strengthen its
job market.
But first a few statistics.
According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor, the jobless rate in Pick
ens County for May 2010 was
8.9 percent, down from its most
recent peak of 11.1 percent in
October 2009. But according to
the bureau’s tracking system, the
jobless rate in Pickens held
steady at around 3.5 percent for
over a decade from 1996 to early
2008, when unemployment num
bers began their steady climb.
The Georgia Department of
Labor has recently reported un
employment in the northwest re
gion of Georgia is seeing higher
unemployment rates, running at
an estimated 10.6 percent in July,
up from 10.5 percent in June.
Collapse of the
building industry
Many local jobs lost here
were in the construction sector,
which has more or less nose
dived.
One of the area’s seasoned
builders, who would like to re
main anonymous, said he is now
forced to drive to Meriwether
County for work through the
week, coming home only on
weekends to spend time with his
family.
“I can’t make a living here
anymore,” he said. “Nobody [in
the building industry] can.
There’s just nothing going up.
Used to, you couldn’t go any
where without seeing trucks
going here and there, and now
you don’t see anything at all. It
sucks.”
No doubt the loss of construc
tion jobs here can account for a
large portion of the area’s unem
ployment, which Sole Commis
sioner Rob Jones guesses may be
higher than published numbers.
“Yes, the biggest thing that’s
hurting is the building industry,”
Jones said. “A lot of people in the
construction business didn’t have
unemployment insurance, and a
lot of those numbers aren’t being
counted because of that.
“As the building slowed
down, it’s a snowball effect.
Building suppliers, truck drivers,
gravel haulers, people putting in
septic tanks, I could go on and
on, but those jobs haven’t been
absorbed. These builders are tak
ing on remodeling jobs they
wouldn’t have taken before just
to make ends meet until we get
over this—if we get over this.”
But the horizon looks grim for
construction work here. Jones
said there are now 400-450
empty homes in Pickens County
and 950 to 1,000 vacant lots that
are utility ready. He further
noted that building permits are
pekid compared to what they
were when construction was
booming in 2004, 2005, and
2006.
“We’ve noticed building per
mits have picked up a little,”
Jones said. “But granted, it’s not
a lot. It went from one to two to
maybe two to three per month.
And all those empty homes and
vacant lots, that’s a pretty good
sized inventory for a small
county, and until we can get that
inventory used up, people aren’t
going to look very strongly on
developing here.”
Our economic strengths
Despite the construction in
dustry going down in flames,
Chattahoochee Technical Col
lege Economic Developer
Jonathan Warner says Pickens’
other existing industries (Lexing
ton Precision and Royston man
ufacturing companies being the
two largest of these employers in
the area) have weathered the eco
nomic downturn surprisingly
well.
He says there are many com
panies here that have been well
managed and are in areas where
they have been able to grow. Fur
ther, he said that because these
local operations are well run,
when the broader company’s out-
of-town operations have faced a
shut down, some of the jobs dis
continued at those plants have
been transferred to Pickens.
“Pickens County is interesting
because we’re a rural commu
nity, but we’re not as rural as
Gilmer or Fannin,” Warner said.
“It seems that Atlanta is creeping
more towards the north. I think
Pickens, bordering Cherokee
Continued on Page 20A
Commissioner tentatively
sets tax rate
Pickens water safe for drinking
Notification of failed test alarmed users
Worley Crossroads water tank - It’s only primer - Pickens
County's water department received more than 200 calls questioning or ob
jecting to the aqua-green color of the county’s new water tank in the Worley
Crossroads area. Official word says the tank’s current hue is merely a primer
coat. It will be Dragon-green when finished.
Sheriff juggles to keep
jail below
maximum capacity
By Angela Reinhardt
Pickens County property
owners anxiously awaiting their
2010 tax bills can expect some
welcome news this year.
According to Pickens County
Finance Director Mechelle
Champion, the county’s pro
posed millage rate is holding
steady with no increase expected
over the 2009 rate.
“We look at the revenue and
expenditures year-to-date as well
as projections,” Champion said,
“and this year our projections for
sales tax were lower than what
we budgeted. Sales taxes are up
more than what we thought, and
because of that, we were able to
offset the [millage].”
Champion said the county’s
proposed millage rate is 6.26,
again, the same rate paid in
2009.
The county raised the millage
rate in 2009 from the 2008 rate
of 5.895.
Champion said, that because
the 2010 rate is the same as the
2009 rate, the county is not re
quired to hold a public hearing,
but the proposed rate will not be
finalized until a special called
meeting on September 16th.
“It will be a very short meet
ing,” Champion said. “The com
missioner will make it official
then.”
At his monthly meeting,
Commissioner Robert Jones also
noted the county is expecting to
cut department budgets for 2011
by two percent. He reminded at
tendees that in 2009 the county
offered no raises and further, that
it has slimmed down its staff by
Continued on Page 7A
By Dan Pool
The Pickens County water de
partment was required to notify
customers last week that two
water samples from its system
tested positive for coliform bac
teria, but at no time was the
water unsafe to drink.
Larry Coleman, director of
utilities for Pickens County, said,
under Georgia EPD rules, all
water departments must submit
regular samples of water, and if
they have two samples test posi
tive for contaminant in the same
month, they must notify cus
tomers.
But Coleman was quick to
add that the coliform contami
nant was not a disease-causing
bacteria and never posed a threat
to anyone drinking the water.
Coleman said if any water
system were ever found with
contamination that does present
a health risk, officials are re
quired to call all customers, no
tifying them to boil water before
consuming it or to take whatever
measures might be needed, but
that was not the case here.
In simple terms, coliform is
an indicator there could be con
tamination, but in this case, there
wasn’t anything further. Cole
man said this was not fecal col
iform or any disease-causing
bacteria.
There are any number of vari
ables that could have caused the
two samples to test positive for
the contaminant, he said.
Since the second positive test
result, workers have flushed the
water line where the sample was
drawn and have very carefully
taken a third sample, which met
all standards.
The positive test reading
could have resulted from a sam
pling error or even from dust in
the sampling bottle, Coleman
said.
“There were a whole bunch of
things that could lead to the pos
itive samples,” he said. “But
there was nothing harmful in the
water.”
Even with the positive test for
coliform, chlorine in the water
system kept everything safe.
Coleman said the water de
partment received more than
1,500 phone calls from cus
tomers who saw the notifications
and wanted more information.
Sole commissioner backers
to meet Thursday night
Forward Pickens, an advocacy group for a sole commissioner
form of government in Pickens County, will hold its first public
meeting Thursday, September 2. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. at
the Jerusalem Community Center on Jerusalem Church Road.
At this November’s general election, Pickens voters will choose
whether to continue a sole commissioner form of government or to
move to a multi-person commission.
Joe Kelly, a spokesman for Forward Pickens, said, “We are an
informal group who believe that Pickens County is best served and
should stay with the sole commissioner.”
Anyone with questions for Forward Pickens may contact Clayton
Preble at chpreble@gmail.com or by telephone at 770-845-7461.
Sheriff plans extra patrols
for Labor Day weekend
Beginning Friday afternoon through Monday, Pickens County
Sheriff Donnie Craig has ordered extra patrols on area roads, with
deputies on the lookout for drivers under the influence of alcohol or
drugs.
According to Captain Frank Reynolds, drivers this Labor Day
weekend will see as many as 10 extra deputies on patrol.
“In addition to looking for DUIs, we’ll be concentrating on en
forcing some of the new laws passed in July,” Reynolds said.
Those laws include: No texting while driving; No one under the
age of 18 using a cell phone while driving; Riders in pickup trucks
are now required to use seatbelts.
“We’ve issued warnings for people not wearing seatbelts in
pickup trucks, and we’ve stopped a lot of people, but this weekend
we’ll be issuing tickets for that and other traffic violations,” he said.
Reynolds said the Sheriff’s Office would also be increasing its
approach to traffic enforcement, especially in school zones.
School Board to hold millage
steady at 15.97 for next year
By Dan Pool
Members of the Pickens
County School Board approved
a tentative tax rate of 15.97 mills
for this year, the same as what
collected last year.
With the tax digest (the total
amoimt of taxable property in the
county) valued lower this year
due to closed businesses and a
declining real estate market, and
with more state cuts to education
funding, the board might have
been expected to raise the mill-
age.
But, according to County
School Superintendent Mike
Ballew, school finances were
helped when a large amount of
back taxes were paid in July and
August, generating enough rev
enue to make up for most of the
projected shortfall next year.
This year, using the same
millage, the board will collect,
$22,962,371 in local taxes, down
1.83 percent from the amount
they collected last year using the
same tax rate.
Ballew began the meeting
saying there was “good news and
bad news.” He went on to de
scribe how late property taxes
collected in July and August had
made up for the missing
$429,000 in projected revenue
resulting from the lower digest.
After the meeting, Amy
Burgess, financial director for
the school system, explained that
$700,000 in back taxes from pre-
Continued on Page 7A
Crowded field vying for
Nelson Council spots
Three candidates are running
for one council seat and two for
a second seat in a special
election in Nelson September
21. The Progress sat down
with all five contenders who
seek to fill the unexpired terms
of two former council members
who died in recent months.
See interviews on Page 15A.
Horse put down after
stepping through floor
of moving trailer
Jasper Fire crews called on
large animal rescue specialists
last week after a horse being
transported on Highway 515
put its leg through the floor of a
moving trailer. But the animal
had to be put down, following
the advice of a vet among
responders to the scene.
Page 13A.
Skateboard Vandals
Investigators seek a pair of
young males who broke into
Jasper Elementary, doing
some theft and vandalism and
skating down the hallways of
the empty school. Page 7A
PHS Dragons win
opener 27-14
PHS started the football sea
son with a solid home win over
Dawson County Friday. This
week they travel to Fannin
County. See a complete
schedule, news from the game,
and the Gridiron Gazette in the
B Section this week.
PAR looking for
fetching pets
Pickens
Animal
Rescue is
looking for
a few
more
glamorous
pets to fill
out the
ranks of
their an
nual pet
beauty
contest,
an important fundraiser for the
non-profit group. For details
and a bio of aspiring beauty
queen, Pearl the Pug, see
page 2A.
Deaths
Annie Vincent
Pamela Willes
Grover Anderson
Glenn Cheshire
Jason Angel
Billy Rollins
Ruby Duckett
Brenda Parker
Irene Goble
OBITUARIES, Page 14A
Weather
By WILLIAM DILBECK
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
89
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Wednesday
84
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Thursday
84
67
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Friday
86
68
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Saturday
84
70
.00
Sunday
82
69
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Monday
82
64
.00
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