Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Volume 133 Number 16
Jasper, Georgia
26 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
"Rampant mismanagement"
in tax office, say commissioners
The MIA tax
commissioner
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
While
preparing sto
ries on the
political dis
crimination
allegations in
the tax office,
one fact be
came clear - Darrin
Tax Com- Satterfield
missioner
Darrin Satterfield, in the last
year of his four-year term, was
rarely in the office.
At no time „ ....
See MIA on 13A
Wigington
bond hearing
cancelled
after he
surrenders
his firearms
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
A hearing to revoke former
magistrate judge Allen Wiging
ton’s bond was cancelled after the
attorney general’s office said he
came into compliance with his
bond conditions. Wigington has
been out on bond since his January
arrest for financial crimes in his of
fice.
The hearing was scheduled for
Thursday, July 30 at the Pickens
County Courthouse.
The original motion to revoke
the bond was made by the Office
of the Attorney General after the
GBI executed a search warrant at
Wigington’s home and “found sev
eral guns belonging to the defen
dant located within the defendant’s
house and car,” according to the
motion filed on July 13.
Conditions of Wigington’s bond
prohibit him from possessing any
weapons, and prohibit him from
residing in a residence where
weapons are located.
“The defendant acknowledged
and consented to these bond con
ditions when he signed the bond
order on January 29, 2020,” the
motion continues.
GBI agents, assisted by Pickens
Sheriff Chief Deputy Jeff Hall, ex
ecuted the search warrant on May
21, 2020 at Wigington’s home. In
addition to discovering the
firearms, agents seized numerous
items they allege were illegally
purchased on Amazon with a
county credit card issued to the for
mer judge.
When asked about the cancelled
hearing, Assistant Attorney Gen
eral Sandra J. Bailey stated in an e-
mail, “Mr. Wigington hired an
attorney. She provided me with in
formation that Mr. Wigington is
now in compliance with his bond
conditions.”
The motion to withdraw the
bond, filed by Bailey on Thursday,
July 30, states, Wigington “has re
moved all the weapons from his
residence. The defendant surren
dered the weapons to his mother...
Wigington is keeping the weapons
at her residence...It appears as
though the defendant is currently
in compliance with all the condi
tions of his bond. The defendant
has secured counsel and at this
time, the State does not feel it is
necessary to move to revoke the
defendant’s bond.”
The decision to withdraw the
motion came from the state attor
ney general’s office, not from local
law enforcement or from the local
district attorney’s office.
Wiging- See Wigington on 13A
Staff reports
Following an executive session
meeting Thursday, the Pickens
County Board of Commissioners
issued a press release, but took no
action regarding political discrim
ination complaints filed by two
employees of the tax commis
sioner’s office.
The closed meeting with Chair
Rob Jones, and commissioners
Becky Denney and Jerry Barnes
for personnel issues was expected
to focus on a 500-page report pre
pared by an outside attorney who
specializes in labor issues. The
cost of the report was not available
at press time.
None of the commissioners
made any comments prior to going
into executive session.
In previous stories on the com
plaints, County Attorney Phil Lan
drum explained that while the
board of commissioners is respon
sible for personnel for all offices,
they lack any authority to require
anything in the office of an elected
official, such as Tax Commissioner
Darrin Satterfield.
Repeated attempts to contact
Tax Commissioner Satterfield for
his side of this rift in county gov
ernment have been unsuccessful.
The complete press release ap
pears below. Note: the “I” in the
statement is from Commission
Chair Rob Jones, writing on behalf
of the three member board, accord
ing to the county clerk.
PRESS RELEASE 7/30/20
As you are aware through prior
media coverage, multiple com
plaints have been made by employ
ees within the Tax Commissioner s
office. In response to this, the
Board of Commissioners retained
an outside attorney who special
izes in labor and employment mat
ters to investigate and analyze the
situation in that office and to re
port back with her findings and
recommendations. We have re
ceived this neutral attorney’s re
port, and she has identified
multiple areas of concern. Based
on these concerns, she has made a
number of specific recommenda
tions for that office.
While the report itself consti
tutes privileged material that can
not be made public, having
reviewed all 500 pages of the at
torney s findings and exhibits, I
can say that we are extremely dis
appointed with the rampant mis
management in the Tax
Commissioner’s office. We are
deeply concerned about the em-
Teachers go animated
in virtual classrooms
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good MormriG
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Pickens Board of Education Facebook/ Photo
The above is from Harmony Elementary teacher Whitney Dickinson-Heath’s virtual Bitmoji classroom.
The school board posted this on their Facebook page and wrote, “This is one of the many examples of a virtual
classroom designed by our Pickens County teachers. ”
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Drawing a cartoon of a teacher
usually gets a student in trouble,
but this year teachers are “draw
ing” cartoons of themselves to use
in virtual Bitmoji classrooms.
These Bitmoji classrooms are
part of the new “It’s Learning” dig
ital platform that will be used in
the Pickens school system this
year. They are becoming popular
with educators who are posting
their virtual creations on social
media. Teachers create avatars of
themselves and decorate their vir
tual class with furniture, rugs,
posters, and other features. Stu
dents are able to click on books, on
the whiteboard, or on other areas to
retrieve assignments. They are in
tended to make online learning
more exciting, interactive, and vi
sually stimulating for students.
“I did it! I am proud of myself,”
wrote Harmony teacher Whitney
Dickinson-Heath. “I may be one of
the oldest teachers in the building,
but I still got it!,” she said.
Dickinson-Heath said from the
slides she has created, students can
access her math, science, and so
cial studies classrooms where she
has links to resources for both stu
dents and parents.
“I also linked slides together, so
students can navigate to challenge
math problems, word problems of
the day, and math centers, along
with science See Virtual on 13A
Open containers on tap
for downtown Jasper
This map, presented to Jasper council at their August meeting, shows
the area originally proposed where open containers would be allowed.
In their first of two votes to allow for open containers in the city’s central
business district, council expanded this area. See article for details about
what areas were included in that expansion.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Jasper City Council moved to
wards legalizing open containers
in a designated downtown area
with approval of the first reading
of an amendment to their alcohol
ordinance.
The amendment will not be fi
nalized until council approves a
second reading at next month’s
meeting.
“This would allow you to visit
a restaurant or brewery, get a drink
while you’re waiting for a seat or
window shopping,” Jasper City
Manager Brandon Douglas said at
the August 3 meeting, “and just
kind of create that vibe in down
town that’s alive and thriving.”
City Attorney David Syfan de
fined an open container as a clear,
plastic cup a patron would receive
from a restaurant or brewery. If ap
proved, people would be able to
walk around outside in the desig
nated area See Bottoms up on 13A
ployees, and we are deeply
concerned about the office s
ability to serve the residents
of Pickens County.
Unfortunately, given the
Tax Commissioner s status as
a duly elected official, the
Board of Commissioners has
no control over him or his su
pervisors; however, we will
be forwarding the independ
ent attorney’s recommenda
tions to the Tax
Commissioner in hopes that
he and his managing staff
will take See BOC on 13A
School
Superintendent
discusses
delayed school
Start Page 8A
Health
Latest COVID-19
numbers from
Pickens
Page 7B
VOTE
Sample ballots for
August 11th
runoff Page 11A
Sports
Coronavirus puts
PHS athletes on
pause
Page 1B
Obituaries - 10A
• Buford Smith
• David Hall
• Norma Ray
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