Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, July 8, 2021 | Volume 134 Number 12 | Jasper, Georgia | 24 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
Church St.
to close
temporarily
for film shoot
Signs on Church
Street alert motorists a
portion of the road will
be closed for certain
hours July 13-15.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A section of Highway
53 East will be closed for
portions of three days,
from July 13 through the
early morning hours of
July 15 while scenes for
Netflix series Pieces of
Her are filmed.
According to Pickens
Economic Development
Director Green Suttles,
the production company
will be filming primarily
at the Budget Inn motel
and the building directly
across the street that was
once home to the bar and
restaurant the Blue Rodeo,
but which has sat vacant
for over a decade.
“They wanted that bar
See Filming on 10A
New elections
board wastes
no time getting
to business
Stacey Godfrey has
been selected as the final
ist for the Pickens Elec
tions Supervisor. The
Pickens County Board of
Elections can officially
hire her in two weeks
after the required waiting
period.
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Within days of being
appointed, the new Pick
ens County Board of Elec
tions got down to
business. On July 1st, the
very first day their posi
tions became effective,
board members held their
first public meeting, first
executive session, and
named their choice for the
new elections supervisor.
At the evening public
meeting, Board Chair Josh
Tippens said that during
the executive session held
earlier that afternoon the
board selected Stacey
Godfrey as finalist for
elections supervisor. One
of five candidates who ap
plied for the position,
Godfrey was chosen to re
place former supervisor
Julianne Roberts who re
signed in April. There is a
required waiting period of
two weeks before Godfrey
can officially be hired, but
the new board is expected
to hire her at their next
meeting on July 15th.
Godfrey is a 2002
graduate of Pickens High
School and also attended
Kennesaw State Univer
sity and Chattahoochee
See Elections on 10A
Judge rules against
Impact Pickens' recall
Lies, bullying led to former Supt. Townsend’s removal, according
to testimony from school board members Smith and Holland
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Local advocacy group Impact Pick
ens did not get the news they hoped for
in court last week when a judge ruled
to dismiss their application to recall
two school board members for their
role in the termination of Dr. Rick
Townsend. The judge’s ruling will stop
the group’s efforts to recall those board
members unless they file an appeal.
The issue became public and con
tentious early this year when Townsend
was dismissed without cause in a 3-2
vote by the school board. The system
paid Townsend $420,000 to buyout his
contract. Impact Pickens formed in re
sponse to the actions of board members
Sue Finley, Steve Smith, and Aaron
Holland, who they alleged conspired to
have Townsend removed, displayed fis
cal maleficence by wasting taxpayer
money, and violated the open meetings
act.
Impact Pickens, headed by Steve
Lowe, began the process of having the
two of those three board members re
moved. That recall process, which in
cluded collecting signatures from
registered voters, was halted when
board members Steve Smith and Aaron
Holland filed a petition to have Impact
Pickens’ application for board member
removal reviewed by a judge.
Before visiting Judge Joe C. Bishop
handed out his order in Pickens court
on Wednesday, June 30, testimony
from Holland and Smith revealed that
despite the termination officially being
“no cause,” they had deep concerns
about Townsend and the way he han
dled an issue with a special education
student, as well as several other issues,
most of which they did not talk about
in court.
Holland and Smith testified that
Townsend grossly mismanaged the
special ed situation, then lied to the
board and bullied school employees to
cover his tracks. In separate testi
monies, both board members told the
court Townsend’s actions could have
opened the school system up to law
suits and cost the system millions in
legal fees if he was not let go, and that
the school board saved money in the
long run despite buying out his con
tract.
They also told the court the board
has saved around $100,000 this year by
not hiring a new assistant superintend
ent after Tony Young left that position
to take over for Townsend, and by not
filling another administrative position
after the employee retired.
The special ed incident involved a
2nd grade autistic student who hit a 4th
grade student at Harmony Elementary.
Smith and Holland said the federal
government mandates how issues with
special ed students are handled and that
Townsend did not act in accordance
with those rides. They also said he lied
to the board and told them he received
clearance from the schools’ special ed
ucation director and the Georgia De
partment of Education when he had
not, and later bullied the special ed di
rector to help cover his tracks. Smith
said the special education director filed
a complaint regarding Townsend’s ac
tions.
In a later interview, Smith and Hol
land told the Progress part of
Townsend’s response was to put the
2nd grader on a special education bus,
which they said was not appropriate
protocol, and asked the special educa
tion director to alter that student’s Indi
vidualized Education Plan (IEP)
without going through proper proce
dures. (IEP’s are legal documents that
outline how a school will meet individ
ual needs of students who have disabil
ities). The director refused to make
those changes, they said, then filed a
complaint with the school system.
“I did not feel like he was the kind
of leader we needed for Pickens
County,” Holland told the court. He
noted that he would make the same de
cision now to terminate Townsend as
superintendent.
Holland and Smith had other issues
with Townsend, including the virtual
platform Pearson that was purchased
for students who worked from home
during the last school year. In the later
See Ruling on 10A
Fourth
of July
ever in
Jasper
Looking back over the
July 4th weekend, Lions
Club member Leslie
Miller said it’s safe to say
this is the biggest Inde
pendence Day celebration
ever in Jasper - and
that’s saying something
as the Lions have been
the host since 1939.
“People were glad to
have something normal,
something like we used to
do things,” said Miller,
the club’s immediate past
president.
Miller said particu
larly this year, the idea of
a small town, American
celebration really drew
crowds.
Since the Lions offer
the parade, fireworks and
musical entertainment
for free, there are no
ticket sales for an official
count. But Miller said
based on the club’s esti
mation, it was the biggest
ever.
As of Monday, Miller
said she hadn’t heard of
any problems and it had
seemed like everything,
from the rides to the fire
works, went well.
“Maybe it was people
were so glad to be back,
but we think everything
just went great, ” she said.
Damon Howell / Photo
Max Caylor / Photo
Inside this Edition:
Moss boys
angle their way
to big fish at
high school
nationals and
world finals
Page 1B
Weekly Editorial
The case of the
cussing
cheerleader
Page 4A
Win our coloring
contest and get a
free ice cream!
Page 4B
King named NAM
Miss Georgia
Page 12B
Obituaries - 8A
• Douglas Hollifield
• Jimbo Rampley
• Nina Tucker
• Paul Corkill
• Roxie Goble
• Toni Kelley
Contact Us
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Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-2457
www.pickensprogress.com
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