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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 31.2020
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Exit Interview with Commissioner Rob Jones
Rob Jones with his family in 2019 at the note burning celebration at the Robert R
Jones Community Center — a building Jones didn’t know would be named for him and
“still has some reservations” about.
I can see Pickens moving to
a county manager to work
with the board of commis
sioners but only if it grows a
good bit, maybe closer to
100,000 population.
Looking at the big projects,
are you pleased with how
they turned out or were
there things you wish you
had done differently?
Very much pleased with
the admin building. We con
solidated operations that had
been housed in three old
buildings and remodeled that
building which should suit
our needs for another 35
years. There were people
who worried about us mov
ing the admin operations out
of downtown, but I think it’s
been okay.
The courthouse down
town, there is no parking.
The Sidebar [an adjacent
restaurant the county owned
at the time] wasn’t wide
enough to add a parking
garage and there was a right-
of-way issue with the rail
road. I wish we could have
moved off-site and donated
the old courthouse to the City
of Jasper for a city hall. I
think where the road depart
ment now sits would have
made a beautiful site and it
would have been next to the
jail.
But there were so many
people lining up against
moving the courthouse out of
downtown. A lot of business
owners said it would kill
downtown and now some of
these business owners have
moved closer to the fourlane.
This is something I wish
we had done differently, but
the public was never going to
support it. Even as sole com
missioner it wouldn’t have
been right for me to force it.
Other comments on proj
ects under your administra
tion:
• There are now water-
lines to all four comers of the
county. And there are plenty
of sources for us to purchase
water. In early 2022 we will
have our own source of water
at Grandview Lake that will
produce 330,000 gallons a
day. It’s still cheaper for us to
buy water than produce it,
but people believe a county
needs their own dedicated
source.
• The airport is starting to
see the light at the end of the
tunnel. This project had
started under Billy Newton
and has thus far floundered
with the associated commer
cial areas. “But in the next
two years, it will be in the
black like we have never seen
and it will attract new busi
nesses.”
• The recreation center. “I
didn’t know it was going to
be named for me and I still
have some reservations about
that.” But the county had
promised for 30 years to
build a recreation center for
the kids and it was time to do
it.
The SPLOST made it pos
sible and a lot of other things.
“It enables leaders to get in
frastructure done and the
public knows that it has to be
spent on what it is designed
for.”
• With the topography of
this county and how things
are spread out, I don’t think
sewage is a viable option, ex
cept for package plants for
certain areas.
And a reservoir? Never
happen.
It seemed while you
were in office that you at
tended every public event
anyone requested you at:
This is a seven-day-a
week job, I don’t care what
anyone says. I usually got to
the office somewhere be
tween 6:30 a.m. and 7:45
a.m. and very seldom did I go
home before 4:30 p.m. On
Sundays I would ride around
and check out conditions and
see how the projects were
moving ahead.
No joke, one of the
biggest things I did when I
first took office was set a pol
icy where we were going to
return all calls. I am proud
that I took very few calls at
home, even though I left my
number listed, as I took care
of calling people back before
I left work. You have got to
be available.
You have got to go to the
public events and talk to peo
ple to be sure you understand
what the public wants. Like
right now, I am not sure that
people here want any more
low income housing. People
may say we need it for the
workforce, but I think we are
already moving ahead as a re
tirement community and this
will produce good medical
facilities and good restau
rants and I think that is what
people want here.
You have been credited
with getting rid of the good
ol’ boy system of govern
ment here and bringing in
the first modern operation.
Accurate?
Maybe, but I didn’t set out
with any intention like that.
As a sole commissioner I
didn’t hire family and am not
related to anyone who
worked here. I diversified our
employees and passed an
anti-nepotism rule. When I
first took office in 2005
through about 2007 that was
n’t very popular, but there
were some departments
which had 35 employees and
I cut those to 20 and only
hired people who were qual
ified. We have come a long
ways and I have tried to raise
pay.
I do believe in having re
ceptionists. People are some
times surprised, but I believe
it puts a personal face on
government. People who see
you when you walk in,
maybe that’s old-fashioned.
Other things you would like
the people to know?
I want it known that I
never talked to anyone from
Chick-fil-A. I never ran them
off or talked to them at all.
Maybe if they came to scout
locations they only dealt with
the city, but I got blamed for
running them off.
I am very proud that we
have built up a $10 million
fund balance that we can
draw from and have no major
debt. We borrowed to pay for
the recycling center and pub
lic works building (both
completed in 2020), but recy
cling will pay for itself. And
the enterprise funds will pay
for water. The only debt is for
the public works center and
that will be paid off fairly
soon.
Things that you didn’t
get done that you wish you
had?
I have plans in the cabinet
for expanded park facilities at
Roper Park. I was hoping to
build another park or expand
the one we have. I think we
need another one that is cen
tral, not add them to east and
west sides, the numbers just
don’t work out there and it
creates a maintenance prob
lem.
We could have figured out
how to fund a big renovation
at Roper Park but we
couldn’t do it without shut
ting the current park down
for two years while we
plowed it up and started over
and I just couldn’t see doing
that. Maybe that was a detri
ment but I couldn’t see leav
ing kids without any park for
two years.
How have you lasted this
many terms? No other
commissioner in the mod
ern era has, and most have
been defeated after a single
term.
Honestly I don’t know. I
stay amazed. They say you
make one-third of the people
mad every term. I have four
terms so everyone should
have been mad at me a long
time ago. Maybe it was my
personality or the way I did
my job. I always tried to be
above board. There were no
roads or waterline to my rel
ative’s properties.
I have no regrets. I have
had people scream at me and
I always tried to get to the
bottom of the problem. I
treated everyone the same
and tried to make govern
ment as simple as possible.
Final thoughts?
It’s all good. You don’t
know what is going to hap
pen when this is thrust upon
you. But I have really en
joyed it and I know Pickens
County is in a whole lot bet
ter shape that we were in
when I took office and with
one of the lowest tax rates in
north Georgia. It’s time to go
to the house.
I want to thank the great
county staff I have worked
with and the county attorney
for their support over the past
16 years.
Your future?
I have plenty to do around
the house and with [my rela
tives’] farm next door. I still
have a valid electricians li
cense and we may take a big
western trip [in an RV].
Longest serving?
It turns out that Jones isn’t
the longest serving commis
sioner in county history.
Mortimer Long served first
as the county ordinary from
1916-1921 and then when the
title changed became the
Commissioner of Roads and
Revenue from 1921 to 1936.
Grady Jones [No relation to
Rob Jones] served as com
missioner from 1936 to 1952.
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Key accomplishments
under Rob Jones
administration 2004-2020
In September of 2013, Jones, as the commission
chair, speaks at the reopening of the county court
house.
2004-2005 - Oversaw completion of Jail/Sheriff head
quarters
2005 - Administration Building with enhanced 911 op
eration center opens
2008 - Acquired first county-owned paving equipment
2009 - #5 Fire Station Grandview opened as full-service
with paid personnel
2010 - Purchased Fire Station #11, Upper Salem Church
Road
2011 Construction of Bethany/Salem Fire Station #8
2012 - Massive courthouse remodelling, expansion
2012 Community Recreation Center in Roper Park com
pleted
2014 Tate Depot remodeled/re located
2016 Revamped Emergency Operations Center
2017 - Additional computer equipment added to 911 cen
ter to improve service
2018 - Agreement with Dawson County to provide Fire
Station #10 on Monument Road
2018 - Added equipment at road department to improve
response to winter weather events
2019 - 19 new t-hangars added at the airport
2019 - Constructed Fire Station 12 at Carlan Road
2020 - New Tate Fire Station constructed on Worley
Crossroads
2020 - Constructed 1,500 square feet, state of the art,
Public Works road and water facility
2020 - Purchased and relocated County Recycling Facil
ity
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