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Nettes Historic Season, Page 10B
Thursday, March 11,2021 Volume 133 Number 47 Jasper, Georgia 22 pages in two sections Published Weekly
Morale at "all time low" at
Jasper Fire over pay issues
Raises "not fiscally
responsible" at this
time, say city officials
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
An entire shift of Jasper firefight
ers called in sick Saturday the week
after a tense situation over pay, and
discussion about a raise employees
believed they would receive but did
not. No one would confirm the mass
call-out was because employees
were disgruntled but an anonymous
source who works with the depart
ment said morale has never been
lower, and that firefighters feel un
dervalued and underpaid.
This was the first time an entire
shift has been known to call out.
County crews had to help cover Sat
urday, March 6.
City Manager
Brandon Douglas
said he wholeheart
edly supports public
service workers and
"doesn't disagree"
pay in that depart
ment and citywide
should be reviewed,
but that giving
raises during the un
certainty of a pandemic and other
budgetary issues "would not be wise
or fiscally responsible." He cited
loss of approximately $250,000 in
TAVT (Title Ad Valorem Tax) rev
enue in 2019 and the resulting mill-
age rate increase in 2020 to make up
for that loss. No city employees re
ceived a raise in the 2021 budget.
"I don't disagree that we need to
adjust pay but budget-wise we need
to be mindful," he said, noting that
"we didn't just say no," and that the
city is willing review pay as the year
progresses when
there is a better
sense of where
they are with the
budget.
Douglas said
since he was hired
in 2019, inade
quacy of city em
ployee pay has
been on his radar -
and that at that
time there wasn't even an employee
pay scale to go by. A pay scale has
since been adopted by council.
When asked about the promise of
raises to firefighters the city’s fi
nance officer, Beverly Ragland, said
it could have been expected because
of regular cost of living raises for
employees in the past, which didn’t
happen this year. But a firefighter
told the Progress that after the pay
scale was approved in the fall they
were told by a superior they would
receive a raise, "then it got pushed to
the winter, then March, then last
week we were told there wasn't the
money."
Firefighters argue their depart
ment is grossly underpaid and works
much longer hours than other em
ployees. Figures presented at a meet
ing between city officials and
members of the fire department
show that Jasper Fire makes the low
est of any public safety worker in the
county.
Under Jasper’s current pay scale,
which was approved in November
2020, entry-level firefighters start at
$11 an hour. Jasper's finance officer
said those entry-level employees
start at $11.67 an hour, not $11. The
same pay scale shows that police pa
trol officers make a minimum of $15
an hour to start, which is also a stick
ing point with some firefighters who
feel base pay should be similar.
The fire department currently has
12 non-salaried employees. Of
See Fire on 11A
Roadside trash on radar with Team Up to Clean Up’
Pickens Sheriff’s office inmate work detail crews, led by Deputy Joey Hancock, pick up trash along Yellow
Creek Road in Marble Hill.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
How many bags of garbage
would you guess inmate work detail
collected on a half-mile stretch of
Philadelphia Road? 10? 15?
Try 57 full-size bags.
Granted this road between High
way 515 and Talking Rock Highway
is considered one of the worst in the
county, but litter is so bad that com
missioners say it’s a top complaint
they receive. Now the county is part
nering with the Pickens Sheriff’s of
fice, Keep Pickens Beautiful, and the
community at large in a “Team Up
to Clean Up” initiative to address
roadside trash and encourage recy
cling.
As part of the effort, the Pickens
Sheriff’s office work detail program
is back as temps warm up. In addi
tion to Philadelphia Road that crew
picked up 89 bags on three miles of
Camp Road and were working
Thursday, March 4 to pick up trash
off Yellow Creek Road.
“That’s a huge issue,” Pickens
Sheriff Donnie Craig said at com
missioners’ March work session. He
thanked individuals who make an ef
fort to collect garbage on the road
sides themselves, but said residents
who would like to request areas that
need attention call 706-253-8902 or
email dcraig@pickensgasheriff.com.
“We’ll try to get those roads on
the list,” he said.
In a social media post the sher
iff’s office said they will get those
work detail crews out as time and
weather permit, but that “work detail
also helps our office with many other
See Cleanup on 11A
‘Irrational’ online harassment or ‘snippy’ partisan bickering?
Libel suit here
revolves around
Capitol riot allegations
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
One side claims they have been
defamed and subject to “irrational,”
unending harassment on Facebook.
The other says Georgians have the
right to be “snippy” in political ban
ter online.
For anyone who looks at local
Facebook groups, the names will be
familiar, Bill, Thelma and Katie
Cagle are the plaintiffs and Rayven
Goolsby, who goes by Rayven
Michele on Facebook, is the defen
dant in a case now in Pickens Supe
rior Court.
The story went national when The
Washington Post over the weekend
referred to them as a prominent fam
ily versus a grocery store clerk.
There is no argument that
Goolsby posted what she posted on
Facebook. The question the court
will rule on is whether her comments
were legitimate, political bickering
or libel. (According to Merriam-
Webster, libel is “a written or oral
defamatory statement or representa
tion that conveys an unjustly unfa
vorable impression.” “A statement or
representation published without just
cause and tending to expose another
to public contempt; defamation of a
person by written or representational
means; the publication of blasphe
mous, treasonable, seditious or ob
scene writings or pictures.” )
The posts have been deleted,
along with public Facebook ac
counts of the Cagles. But screen-
shots in the court filings show what
was posted by Rayven Michele as
follows:
• “I thought Kate Cagle [was] on
the planning committee, I hope she
doesn’t plan to make a career out of
planning riots.”
• And that Thelma, “Didn’t you
attend the insurrection? I am pretty
sure you did.”
• That Bill, while the chair of the
planning commission, made “homo-
phobic” comments and was a
“loser.”
In their suit, the Cagles, through
attorney David McDonald of a Jef
ferson, Ga. law firm, stated, “In the
recent past, plaintiffs, individually
and collectively, have inadvertently
and unintentionally, perturbed defen
dant in a way that has made plaintiffs
the object of defendant’s irrational,
repeated and unending harassment
See Lawsuit on 11A
Body cams now standard equipment for deputies
The new body cams are clearly visible on all Pickens deputies and
may help de-escalate situations when people realize they are being filmed.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
All 24 uniform patrol Pickens
sheriff deputies are now equipped
with body cameras that automati
cally activate for any police action,
according to an announcement from
the sheriff last week.
In an interview Friday, Sheriff
Donnie Craig said, “They are really
going to be helpful. We are living in
a time in this country where people
expect law enforcement officers to
have body cameras.”
Craig said the cameras will make
it plain what happens on calls
whether it’s a heated scene where
stories of witnesses might change
later or handling a complaint of a
rude deputy.
“If we have a complaint, the first
thing we will do is check the video,”
he said.
Sheriff patrol cars were already
equipped with dash cams and a few
officers have used their own body
cams. Several years ago, video
caught by an officer’s personal sys
tem was central in laying out the
events of a deadly Christmas Eve
shooting, which made it clear offi
cers’ actions were justified.
The new Watchguard system now
in use here syncs between a body
cam, a dash cam and a camera cov
ering the back seat of an officer’s
car, where prisoners are transported.
A complete set up for all three cam
eras and software runs around
$6,500. Patrol cars already had cam
eras, so they are only adding the
See Cams on 11A
Planning
Commission
holds busy,
heated meeting
Page 3A
Editorial - 4A
Even if 60,000
people want
kittens, there
are never
enough homes
Time
tefs
'Savm
Sunday
at 2 a.m.
Books
The greatest
book on the
The Beatles
ever written?
Page 9A
Obituaries - 10A
• Betty Wilson
• Bill Wells
• Clarence Phillips
• J.J. Girard
• Jerry Hawkins Jr.
• Mary Ann Clayton
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