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The True Citizen, Wednesday, February 23, 2022 — Page 3
BURKE
COUNTY'S
FIVE-DAY
FORECAST
TODAY ■ THURSDAY ■ FRIDAY
Mostly Sunny Mostly Cloudy Mostly Sunny
40% Chance of Showers
SATURDAY
Sunny
1
SUNDAY
Mostly Cloudy
30% Chance of Showers
Forecast of the National Weather Service
Fostering voter turnout
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Board of Elections has
a new director with an impres
sive resume.
Beau Gunn, in his mid
thirties, assumed his newest
role Jan. 31. He comes to
Burke County after serving as
Deputy Director of Election
Services for the Secretary of
State’s Office.
He graduated from Georgia
Southern University with a
degree in political science, not
yet realizing his passion for
election-oriented work. He
began his career in Emanuel
County, serving as director in
his birthplace.
“I was fortunate enough to
find a job in elections,” he
said. “I really enjoy the held
since it is the most direct way
that citizens can have a say in
government of any level. It fit,
so when I landed in it, it grew
on me.”
While serving in Emanuel
County, he and his wife, Ra
chel, decided to try out “metro
living.” Cobb County em
ployed him first as absentee
supervisor, overseeing both in-
person and by-mail early vot
ing. He was then promoted to
Voting Registration Manager.
“Cobb County was widely
known, and still is, as one of
the gold standards in Georgia
elections,” he said and cred
ited Janine Eveler as the best
director in the state. Having
worked in Cobb County during
the heated 2020 election cycle,
Gunn believes that the contro
versial election brought more
awareness to a lot of people.
It also brought more account
ability to election employees.
“It has made people in the
general public realize, ‘hey,
we need to be more involved,
at least pay more attention to
the process,” he said, “which
I think has been extremely
important. The government
is at its best, when it is best
representing its people, and
the way that happens is when
people actually take part in the
process.”
COVID-19 also made an
impact on elections. The pan
demic opened up more oppor
tunities and presented greater
challenges for election officers.
It also shined a light on the
various ways that people can
vote, Gunn said. People who
had always voted in-person,
voted by mail-in ballot for the
first time.
While it was a tough deci
sion to move to the state-level
position with the Secretary of
State’s Office, Gunn says he
“wanted to see the elections
from a different side and be a
better helping hand to the state
as a whole.”
Returning to county-level
elections here enables Gunn
to move closer to family and to
give back to the type of com
munity that raised him, he said.
Gunn says the diversity of
his co-workers has exposed
him to varying perspectives.
He hopes to use some of that
experience to increase voter
participation locally. While
educating people on the vari
ous ways they can vote is an
important topic, he also intends
to focus on voter outreach and
familiarizing Burke Countians
with the newer Dominion vot
ing system.
“I would like to allow people
to demonstrate it,” he said. “I
hope to foster, in the best sense
possible, voter turnout and
voter engagement in Burke.”
Gunn will begin by present
ing a calendar, marking Board
of Election meetings for the
year, to be published on the de
partment’s website. The meet
ings will generally continue to
take place on the first Tuesday
of the month at 9 a.m.
“I am very happy to be here,”
he said. “I am from South
Georgia originally, so it’s good
to be back. We had a great ex
perience in the metro area, but
I am looking forward to being
part of this community and
increasing voter engagement
and turnout.”
BCPS earns Cognia System Accreditation
The Burke County Public
School System announced last
week they have earned system
accreditation by Cognia, a
nonprofit organization that
provides quality assurance for
schools, school districts and
education service providers.
Cognia, formerly Ad-
vancED, nationally recognizes
districts that meet rigorous
standards focused on produc
tive learning environments,
equitable resource allocation
that meet the needs of learn
ers and effective leadership.
Earning accreditation from the
Cognia Global Accreditation
Commission, means all Burke
County schools are accredited,
and that BCPS is recognized
across the nation as a school
system that meets certain stan
dards of quality and maintains
a commitment to continuous
improvement.
To earn accreditation from
Cognia, BCPS implemented
a continuous process of im
provement, and submitted to
internal and external review.
School systems in good stand
ing can maintain their accredi
tation for a five-year term.
“Cognia System Accredi
tation is a rigorous process
that focuses the entire school
system and its community on
the primary goal of preparing
lifelong learners in engag
ing environments where all
students can flourish. Burke
County Public Schools is to be
commended for demonstrating
that it has met high standards,
is making progress on key
indicators that impact student
learning,” Dr. Mark A. Elgart,
president and CEO of Cognia,
stated.
Cognia is the parent orga
nization of the North Cen
tral Association Commission
on Accreditation and School
Improvement (NCA CASI),
Northwest Accreditation
Commission (NWAC) and
the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools Council
on Accreditation and School
Improvement (SACS CASI).
WHAT’S NEXT?
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Thursday, March 3
Burke County Retired Educators Association will meet at 3
p.m. at Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church on West
Seventh Street. Members are required to wear a mask.
Rural Stress Survey
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Call today and
ask about our
Promotions!
201 Ward Street Waynesboro, GA 308BO
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
Monitoring Requirements Not Met for Sardis Water System
Our water system violated a drinking waier requirement Even though this was not an
emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we
are doing to correct Ihese situations.
*We are required to monitor your dunking wafer for specific contaminants on a regular
basis Results of regular monitonng are an i/ttficafor Of whether Or not our drinking water
meets health standards During the compliance penod of 11/1/2021 to 11/30/2021, we
did not complete all monitonng or testing for Total Coliform and therefore cannot be
sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time *
What should I da?
There is nothing you need to do at this time.
What is being done?
Samples are now being sent to the EPD laboratories directly for analysis on a
regularand compliant schedule.
For more information, please contact Eric Kelsey at (706) 553-1039 or at 753 Ellison
Bridge Road, Sardis, GA 30456
*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water,
especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people
in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting
this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or maid
This nolice is being sent to you by Sardis
State Water System ID#: GA0330002
Date distributed
CROSSWORD
^ ■"FreeDailyCrosswords.com
9 ACROSS
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41)
Scattered
Washington's veep
Hardly an angel
Religious maxims
Plant with two seed leaves
Romanian currency
Film featuring dark humor
Circle segment
Electric fish
Dream period, for short
Org. in "The Bourne Identity"
Fix deeply and firmly
Cut of meat
Longtime Chinese Chairman
Muslim VIP
Earns after taxes
Feel pain, perhaps
Papas' partners
Create an obstruction, in a
way
Is on the go
Heavy, inert gas
43) Taunting remark
44) "Life of Riley" character
Digger
46) "Three's Company" landlord
48) Little piggie, for one
49) Film (bleak movie)
51) Investment firm T. Price
52) Malcolm's sitcom dad
53) Smoothed feathers
56) Puts in a whole new light
58) Grazing locale
59) Animal that beats its chest
60) Patch of lawn
61) Chang's twin
62) Like some jackets or belts
68) Paese cheese
69) Bar, legally
70) "101 Dalmatians" Dalmatian
71) Full-grown sheep
72) Sordidly unpleasant
73) Hidden obstacles
OIL CARTEL
23rd February
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DOWN
1) Clerical robe
2) Capitol fig.
3) Khan's title
4) Kitchen gadget
5) Get in one's sights
6) "Much About Nothing"
7) Kind of wit or view
8) Like lemon juice
9) In step with the times
10) Left clueless
11) Hammer and anvil users
12) High flier's home
13) Gold coin of old
18) Crescendo
23) Insect stage
24) Water-loving nymph
25) Colorful bird of prey?
26) Finger-pointer
28) Large male deer
31) Mount Vernon, for one
35) Deep sleep
37) Sub in WWII
38) Prepares to eat an orange
40) gin fizz
42) Chimney dirt
45) Article lengths, in printing
47) Earns back
50) Calm state
53) Annapolis freshman
54) Keep the subscription
55) Mississippi formation
57) Annex
63) Champagne title
64) Gather intelligence
65) Criminologist's clue, for short
66) Chick-to-be
67) Two in Mexico
ANSWERS ON 8