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SCOn ROGERS I The Times
New Hall County Fire Services Chief Chris Armstrong, who got his start in the Miami suburb of Miramar, Florida, was hired
after an 11 -month gap since former fire chief Jeff Hood’s resignation.
Incoming fire chief discusses how he’ll lead department
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
With little fanfare or ado, Chris
Armstrong arrived in Hall County in
late October just short of his fifth anni
versary of being fire chief in Littleton,
Colorado.
Saying he doesn’t enjoy people mak
ing “a fuss,” he left the decision up to
the county regarding an official swear
ing-in ceremony as the new Hall County
Fire Services fire chief.
“I appreciate people wanting to
know and using that as a platform to
really welcome me to the community,
but I don’t do this job for me. I do it for
the firefighters,” said Armstrong, who
had his official first day Oct. 29.
That mindset was also shared in
his interview for chief as the county
searched for a leader for the depart
ment for the third time in three years.
Armstrong was named as one of three
finalists in August for the position
vacated by former chief Jeff Hood on
Oct. 31,2017.
“I’m a big believer, and I said this
in my interview, that I’m not really a
fire chief: I’m a support services chief,
which means myself, as well as the
other chief officers, are here to sup
port our firefighters to make sure they
have the training, tools, equipment and
resources that they need to carry out
the mission,” he said.
The chief prior to Hood, David Kim-
brell, was relieved of command in
August 2014 following a training inci
dent that injured three firefighters
operating a ladder truck at the Allen
Creek Training Center.
Kimbrell was fired in October 2017
from his job as emergency manage
ment director after video surfaced of
him engaging in lewd sex acts while
fire chief.
“I think this is a great opportunity for
Hall County Fire, Hall County govern
ment and the Hall County community
as a whole to turn a new page, knowing
that there are things that happened in
the past but using that as a springboard
to launch forward positively rather
than dwelling in any kind of place of
darkness or negativity,” Hall County
spokeswoman Katie Crumley said.
Morale issues and questions about
leadership have been swirling for at
least the past couple of years.
In March 2016, a document of more
than 80 pages was delivered to assistant
county administrator Marty Nix signed
by “300,” detailing alleged ethical vio
lations in the department.
County officials said in previous
interviews with The Times that the
document was reviewed and handled
internally. Hall County Board of Com
missioners clerk Lisa Ritchie said
there were no records available to The
Times’ open records request regarding
documents created in the subsequent
investigation into the letter.
When asked by firefighters if he had
read the letter, Armstrong said he had
not and had no intention of doing so.
“I don’t know what’s fact and what’s
fiction. If there was an 80-page docu
ment with your name in it and you
didn’t know what was written about
you, you wouldn’t want somebody else
to read it not knowing if it was true or
not. I make my own opinions about peo
ple based on what I see and how they
interact with me, not based on a docu
ment that somebody might have had an
agenda and wrote,” he said.
Armstrong faced a somewhat similar
situation almost five years ago when he
took the helm in Littleton following the
■ Please see FIRE, 4A
T think this is a great opportunity for Hall County Fire, Hall County
government and the Hall County community as a whole to turn a new
page, knowing that there are things that happened in the past but using that
as a springboard to launch forward positively rather than dwelling in any
kind of place of darkness or negativity.’Katie Crumley, Hall County spokeswoman
UNG GAINESVILLE
Housing
industry
reacting
to growth
Developer seeks atmosphere
similar to other colleges
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Bill Stark is more than familiar with off-campus,
private student housing, as his son attends Clemson
University in South Carolina.
“It’s very, very popular, and they fill up very
quickly,” he said.
The South Hall developer is working to meet a
similar need at the University of North Georgia’s fast
growing Gainesville campus.
Grading has started on 18 cottages off Frontage
Road in Oakwood, near the Thurmon Tanner Park
way entrance to UNG.
“It’ll be a sidewalk community,” Stark said. “They
can walk out of the unit and walk straight to class. ”
Rapid growth at the UNG campus has helped drive
the housing market in South Hall, particularly Oak-
wood, which envelopes the school on Mundy Mill
Road and Thurmon Tanner Parkway.
Earlier this month, UNG reported a record 19,722
students — the state’s third largest percentage
increase, just behind increases at Middle Georgia
State University and Georgia Tech.
With 8,160 students, the Gainesville campus had the
highest enrollment of UNG’s five campuses for fall
■ Please see HOUSING, 5A
Hispanic population
growing at quick pace
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
Hispanic students are remaking the student body
at the University of North Georgia campus in Gaines
ville, a reflection of both the school’s growing enroll
ment and the impact
first- and second-gen
eration immigrants
are having locally.
“We know that that
Hispanic population
is going to increase
nationally, but par
ticularly in our area
of Georgia, and even
more particularly in
the area of Gaines
ville,” said Alyson Paul, associate vice president of
student affairs and dean of students for the Gainesville
campus.
Latino students
attending UNG,
Gainesville
Fall 2013:671
Fall 2014: 624
Fall 2015:632
Fall 2016:1,411
Fall 2017:1,608
Fall 2018:1,793
■ Please see HISPANIC, 5A
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