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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Abrams ends bid for governor
Democrat plans lawsuit, cites gross mismanagement’ of bitterly fought election
BY BILL BARROW
AND KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Democrat Stacey
Abrams ended 10 days of post
election drama in Georgia’s closely
watched and even more closely
contested race for governor Fri
day, acknowledging Republican
Brian Kemp as the victor while
defiantly refusing to concede to
the man she blamed for “gross mis
management” of a bitterly
fought election.
The speech Abrams
delivered at her campaign
headquarters Friday eve
ning marked the close of
the 44-year-old attorney
and former lawmaker’s
unsuccessful attempt to
make history as America’s
first black woman governor. Since
Election Day her campaign fought
on, insisting efforts to suppress
turnout had left thousands
of ballots uncounted that
otherwise could erode
Kemp’s lead and force a
runoff election.
Kemp, the 55-year-old
businessman who oversaw
the election as Georgia’s
secretary of state, will
keep the governor’s office
in GOP hands as the state’s third
Republican governor since Recon
struction. He responded to Abrams
ending her campaign by calling for
unity and praising his opponent’s
“passion, hard work, and commit
ment to public service.”
The kind words came just days
after Kemp’s campaign spokes
man derided Abrams’ efforts to
have contested ballots counted as
a “disgrace to democracy.”
Abrams made no such retreat
from her criticisms of Kemp, say
ing she refused “to say nice things
and accept my fate.” Instead, she
announced plans to file a federal
lawsuit to challenge the way Geor
gia’s elections are run. She accused
Kemp of using the secretary of
state’s office to aggressively purge
the rolls of inactive voters, enforce
an “exact match” policy for check
ing voters’ identities that left thou
sands of registrations in limbo and
other measures to tile the outcome
in his favor.
■ Please see ABRAMS, 6A
Abrams
Main focus: Retail development
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
The city of Gainesville wants to establish a TAD covering the city’s west side, focusing on several blighted shopping centers.
Gainesville looks to establish tax district for its west side
Family loses
home to fire,
cause unknown
A family of six lost their home to an early
morning blaze on Friday in the 1100 block of
Hancock Avenue south of downtown Gaines
ville. There were no injuries in the incident.
Fire broke out at the 1,500-square-foot home
around 3 a.m. Friday, according to Hall County
Fire Services spokesman Capt. Zachary Brack
ett. Not quite half of the house was aflame when
firefighters arrived, and they were able to beat
back the flames from inside the home.
The home has heavy fire damage and can’t
be inhabited, according to Brackett. The Amer
ican Red Cross is assisting the family, none of
whom were injured in the fire.
A cause for the fire has not yet been deter
mined. The Gainesville Fire Department
assisted in the firefighting.
Compiled from a
Hall County Fire Services press release.
SCOn ROGERS I The Times
A fire at a Hancock Avenue home in Gainesville
Friday has displaced a family of six.
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Gainesville wants to build
on the development spurred
by its Midtown Tax Allocation
District by establishing a new
TAD, this time on the city’s
west side, with the hopes of
bringing more retail options
to the city’s vacant or blighted
shopping centers.
The City Council will vote
to establish the Westside TAD
and approve a redevelopment
plan for the area at Tuesday’s
meeting. A public hearing will
about the redevelopment plan
will take place.
The move will abolish the
city’s current TAD serving the
Lakeshore Mall property, but
the mall will still be eligible
for the Westside TAD funds.
Several shopping centers or
vacant lots are encompassed
in the 344-acre district, which
would stretch behind Lake-
shore Mall along Shallowford
Road, then continue to include
several parcels along Browns
Bridge Road, Atlanta High
way and Pearl Nix Parkway.
Retail development is the
focus of the effort, city offi
cials said.
“We really want to focus
this TAD on some retail areas
and retail development,”
Assistant City Manager Angela
Sheppard said. “... One of the
great things is to think about
bringing our retail back into
town where we have existing
Westside Plaza shopping center is one of the areas for which the city of Gainesville wants to
establish a tax allocation district. Gainesville officials want a TAD covering the city’s west side,
focusing on blighted shopping centers. Officials want to encourage retail development.
Gainesville City
Council
When: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday,
Nov. 20
Where: Public Safety
Complex, 701
Queen City Parkway
infrastructure, reduce some
of the sprawl, spread out some
of the traffic so everybody is
not trying to go on the same
stretch of road to do their
shopping.”
The creation of the West-
side TAD could increase the
redevelopment area’s taxable
value from $133.3 million
to $483.5 million, according
to the redevelopment plan.
That would bring in about $3.4
million in new property tax
receipts annually, support
ing TAD funding for up to $53
million. The area represented
about 3 percent of Gaines
ville’s tax digest in 2018.
According to the redevelop
ment plan, of the 136 buildings
in the focus area, only 20 have
been built since 1978. Lake-
shore Mall, which the plan
identifies as being a center-
piece of the proposed TAD,
has declined from a tax value
of $28.9 million in 2017 to $7.1
million in 2018.
Gainesville’s Midtown TAD,
which includes the downtown
square, has helped fund sev
eral projects, including an
expansion to the Main Street
parking deck, Carroll Daniel
Construction’s new headquar
ters and the Parkside on the
■ Please see TAD, 6A
Men get 4 years
in million-dollar
sweepstakes scam
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
One man from Buford and another man from
Costa Rica were sentenced to four years in fed
eral prison in a sweepstakes scam netting more
than $3.5 million, according to court documents
and officials.
Rodolfo Orozco Aguilar, 44, of Costa Rica, and
Daniel Sibaja, 28, of Buford, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Their co-defendants — Elpelice Figueroa
Rosales, 62, and Silvia Sanchez Valverde, 47,
both of Buford — also pleaded guilty to one
count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, but
sentencing has not yet taken place
A fifth co-defendant yet to be sentenced,
Priscilla Sibaja, 21, of Buford, pleaded guilty
to one count of conspiracy to commit money
laundering.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, doz
ens of victims were called between February
2016 and September 2017 and told they had won
a sweepstakes or lottery.
“The victims were told that they could receive
their sweepstakes winnings after they paid vari
ous expenses, such as taxes and fees. The vic
tims were directed to pay the expenses to vari
ous companies controlled by the defendants,
such as J.G. Services, RF Financial Services, and
Master Builders. The victims would then mail
payments via personal and cashier’s checks to
addresses that were linked to mailboxes rented
by the defendants,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office
wrote in a previous news release.
■ Please see SCAM, 6A
INSIDE
WEATHER 2A
DEATHS 7A
0 *40901
06835 8
Advice
5B
Bridge
5B
Business
3B
Calendar
2A
Classified
7B
Comics
6B
Life 4B
Lottery 2A
Opinion 5A
Our Region 6A
Sports 1B
TV/puzzles 5B
High Low
DP 62 40
Lake Lanier level: 1,071.55 feet
Full pool 1,071. Up 0.09 feet in 24 hours
Emma Abercombie, 65
Ann Bowen, 100
Ralph Burwell, 89
Mary Clark, 69
Elizabeth Harrington, 105
Susan McClendon, 67
Jane Alvarez, 63
Mary Benefield, 73
Pearl Ives, 78
Brett Jackson, 56
Stephanie Moore, 36
Joanne Sawyer, 70
Gladys Wane, 87