Newspaper Page Text
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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 25. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Elections
prosecution is an example to
others who may contemplate
skirting the rules that protect
election integrity in Geor
gia.”
Pickens Election Supervi
sor Roberts said she is not
certain what specific ADA
violations they are alleged to
be in violation of.
“They haven’t told us
anything,” she said. “It’s got
something to do with this
building, but we’re not sure
what.”
The Pickens County Elec
tions Office, located on Pio
neer Road in Jasper, was
used for early voting during
the presidential election.
Early voting lines were very
long, with residents waiting
several hours at some points.
Eventually, a second early
voting location was added at
the Pickens Community
Center. This site was used as
the only early voting location
for the U.S. Senate runoff.
Despite Roberts not being
aware of the formal com
plaints lodged against her
and the local elections board,
during last year’s elections
voters complained about the
steep grade of the hill at the
elections office, an absence
of public restrooms, and too
few voting machines for the
large turnout.
Roberts suspects that the
high-number of voters who
turned out last year at the
Elections Office polling
place could have contributed
to the allegations, as she be
lieves voters likely filed
complaints with the state
against her and her office.
More voters at that polling
place would mean more peo
ple who would potentially
find problems.
“We’ve been in this build
ing since 2011 and have had
many investigators from the
state here and they haven’t
said anything to us all these
years so I was a little
shocked, but if enough peo
ple complain they would
look into it,” she said.
Roberts does not know
when they will hear results
of their case, but said if they
are ultimately found to be in
violation, voting would not
be allowed at that Pioneer
Road location in the future.
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Trees
colonists opposing King
George’s Stamp Act of 1765
requiring stamps on mort
gages, contracts, newspa
pers, court documents and
other papers.
Friday’s tree planting of
the three Overcup Oaks was
a remembrance of the Free
dom Trees but will be more
of “an educational project
paying tribute to the rich cul
tural heritage of America’s
trees and forests while high
lighting their critical envi
ronmental importance,” said
Karel, a retired educator and
horticulturist. The oaks one
day will reach a height of 60
feet and also have a spread of
60 feet.
Mary Turner, regent of
the local Sequoyah DAR
chapter, reminded the gather
ing of Sgt. William Jasper’s
(town namesake) heroism in
the war and noted General
Andrew Pickens (county
The Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution were joined by other patriots in the community including Mayor Steve Lawrence. The mayor
said, “These Liberty Trees compliment our veteran’s park and further expresses our patriotism. ” The Overcup Oaks are located in the back of the
park and will reach 60’in height and canopy.
name) defeat of the English, The Liberty Tree Envi- Chapter of the Sons of the July 4, 2026 in a commemo- group programs contact
supporting Cherokees who ronmental Education Pro- American Revolution. The ration of America’s 250th an- klkarel@outlook.
signed the Long Swamp gram is sponsored and patriot offsprings have set a niversary. For more
Treaty in the our area. funded by the Cherokee goal of planting 76 trees by information or school or
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County
from the contingency fund to
general fund to support those
positions with salary and
benefits.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil elaborated that one of
the positions, the public in
formation officer, has been
budgeted at a part-time rate
of $13,000 in the past but is
now a full-time position to be
funded at $24,700. This will
eventually be an expanded
role to take on duties cur
rently contracted out, and re
duce the county budget in
different areas.
The second position is
temporary and will be re
sponsible for reviewing and
updating county policies and
procedures, and will also
work with the planning and
development department to
clean up ordinances that have
not been updated since 1999.
Stancil reiterated that funding
for this position would end
when those duties are com
pleted. No one has been hired
at this point, but the county
expects to do so soon and
would like the project to be
completed by the end of the
year.
Commissioner Becky
Denney commented that the
$24,000 contingency balance
seemed low. Chief Finance
Officer Faye Harvey, who
noted that last’s year contin-
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wmilH mciVp
Supt.
The amount of that contract
buyout was not available be
fore press time.
Board members Sue Fin
ley, Steve Smith, and Aaron
Holland voted to terminate.
Board members Tucker
Green and Tommy Gartrell
were opposed to the motion,
originally made by Smith.
While those in favor made
no comment on the action,
Green called the move “reck
less” and not in the best inter
est of the school system or its
students. He said the termina
tion was the “effort to pro
mote the interest of a small
group of people who are try
ing to advance their agenda,
and I have unfortunately seen
that for a long time on this
board, and it is very disheart
ening and discouraging.”
Green added that rumors
about wrongdoing were inac
curate, and that “[Townsend]
has done nothing in violation
of his contract. He has done
nothing illegal, unethical,
anything. Hence his contract
will be honored completely
as it should be.”
New board member
Pickens Fire & EMS Chief Sloan Elrod was recognized for his service as one of the
“county’s most notable employees.” County officials said Elrod “demonstrates distin
guished and outstanding strengths and qualities as Pickens County Fire Chief... Mr.
Elrod’s length of service to Pickens County includes numerous worthwhile and lasting ac
complishments leading our emergency teams during crisis to assist the citizens of the
county. He serves Pickens County with a commitment to excellence, which includes his
many civic duties and participation. He has gone above and beyond to assist during the
COVID-19 pandemic and has been instrumental in administering vaccines to the public
at large. Pickens County is privileged to have a fire chief with such character and integrity
as Sloan T. Elrod. ”
Deputy Andrew Plemons was recognized as the sheriff’s
employee of the year for 2020. Plemons, center, is pictured
with (L-R) Sheriff’s Auxiliary President Charlie Vickers
Charlie Vickers and Sheriff Craig. Craig said Plemons
“steps out and steps up in a lot of different ways. He’s done
a lot of great things this year. ” Plemons has been with the
sheriff’s office since 2017.
gency balance was about
$200,000, discussed the issue
in a follow up email.
“The contingency line
represents the difference be
tween total budgeted rev
enues and total budgeted
expenditures,” she said.
“This year the expenditure
budget increased more than
the growth in revenues, so
the contingency amount is
very low.”
She explained that the
contingency fund is typically
used for emergencies such as
storm cleanup, large equip-
Tommy Gartrell said he has
not had the chance to work
with Townsend, “but this de
cision has a huge impact fi
nancially on our schools. I
want to make clear that there
is a better use for our re
sources financially.”
No other board members
made comments.
In a press release follow
ing the meeting about the ter
mination, the board stated
Townsend was “dismissed
without cause to enable the
board to chart a new direction
for the school district.”
It continued, “The Board
wishes Dr. Townsend and his
family the best and thank him
for his leadership and com
mitment to the community.
Dr. Townsend would like to
thank the staff and commu
nity for their support during
these unique times and hopes
the students continue to grow
socially, emotionally, and ac
ademically in years to come.”
Following adjournment, a
member of the public, loudly
stated, “It’s going to be hard
to get another ESPLOST
passed. Keep wasting
money.”
Few other members of the
public were in attendance
Tuesday.
ment or building repairs/re
placement (HVAC systems
for example).
“If we receive unbudgeted
revenues, we can do a budget
amendment and increase the
contingency line,” she said.
Harvey added that she is
not aware of any recom
mended amount governments
have in contingency reserves.
“It is usually determined by
the particular county’s fund
ing needs,” she said.
Stancil said while he
would like for this amount to
be higher, he is not concerned
at this point as the county’s
fund balance - an altogether
different account of reserved
and unreserved assets - is
healthy. The recommended
fund balance is a quarter of a
year of operations, Stancil
said, “and we’re well above
and beyond that.” The com
mission chair added that the
county came in “consider
ably” under budget in 2020
in large part to the CARES
Act for COVID relief, and
they were able to roll re
sources into the fund balance.
He noted that they will
continue to review expendi
tures over the upcoming year
in hopes of cutting in some
areas to beef up the contin
gency balance.
County reinstates two
credit cards
Several months after the
county cancelled all county
issued credit cards amid sig
nificant controversy, com
missioners approved two
new cards that will be used in
very limited situations.
In June of last year, the
county abruptly cancelled
five credit cards that were is
sued to department heads and
the sheriff’s office. Problems
surfaced in January of 2020
with lunches that were
charged to those cards, and
later with former Pickens
Magistrate Judge Allen Wig-
ington who faces criminal
charges due to purchases he
made on the card issued to
him. At that time, the county
Deputy David Key was recognized as the Pickens Sher
iff’s December employee of the month. Key, center, is pic
tured with (L-R) Sheriff’s Auxiliary President Charlie
Vickers and Sheriff Donnie Craig. Key was chosen by his
peers by a wide margin for the monthly honor. Sheriff Craig
said the deputy is always willing to fill in in places he is
needed. “I thank you for your service and thank you for
what you do for us,” Craig said.
“We’ve learned over the
last year what we can do
through checks and purchase
orders without the use of a
card, but we’ve learned
where one is necessary or
needed for convenience, and
employees wouldn’t have to
seek out reimbursement for
every transaction,” Stancil
said.
He mentioned public
safety training as a key area
where the cards are needed.
The county and sheriff’s of
fice and their finance officers
“sat down to discuss prob
lems that we had previously
and ways that we can try to
make sure we correct those
problems,” Stancil said.
Now, instead of just the
individual the card is issued
to being required to sign the
card agreement that states
they understand all policies
and procedures, anyone who
uses the card must sign the
agreement. There are also ad-
Be wary of tech support scams
From Ga. Attorney
General’s Office
ATLANTA, GA - With
so many people relying on
the internet for teleworking
and online learning, scam
mers are doubling down on
tech support scams in an ef
fort to steal people’s per
sonal and financial
information.
Scammers may call their
victims posing as a represen
tative from Microsoft, Dell
or other tech support. In an
other version of the scam,
victims get a pop-up win
dow on their computer, say
ing that a virus has been
detected on their device and
instructs the person to call a
phone number right away to
unfreeze their computer and
have the virus removed.
In either scenario, once
consumers are on the phone
with the scammer, they are
instructed to provide the
phony tech support agent
with remote access to their
computer.
The scammer may ask for
payment to remove the
virus. Once the con artists
have access to your com
puter, they can retrieve user
names, passwords and other
personal information stored
on your computer and use it
to steal money from your ac
counts, make unauthorized
purchases or open new
credit accounts in your
name.
The Attorney General’s
Consumer Protection Divi
sion offers the following tips
to avoid scams like this:
Never click on pop-up
messages purporting to be
from technical support or
call the phone number listed
in a pop-up message.
If you get a pop-up mes
sage and your computer
freezes, simply shut down
your computer and restart it.
The message should go
away.
If you receive a call purport
ing to be from Microsoft or
other technical support, hang
up. It is a scam.
Never give remote con
trol of your computer to
someone who calls you out
of the blue or whose number
you got from a pop-up mes
sage.
For more information
about Tech Support Scams,
visit this site from our part
ners at the Federal Trade
Commission:
consumer.ftc.gov/articles/ho
w-spot-avoid-and-report-
tech-support-scams.