Newspaper Page Text
6A Sunday, December 9, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
LOCA^POLITICS
In Hollywood of
Mississippi, voter
fraud like a movie
BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press
CANTON, Miss. - In
a town that calls itself the
Hollywood of Mississippi,
people say for years they’ve
been hearing tales of dirty
politics worthy of a movie
script, like campaigns buy
ing votes with cash or beer.
But it wasn’t until the past
few days when the former
police chief, a former fire
chief and some others were
arrested on voter fraud
charges that locals realized
just how deep the problems
might go.
“It’s always been kind of
fishy business dealing with
elections in Canton, Missis
sippi,” said 21-year-old resi
dent Laselven Harris, who
is African-American and
worked in the 2017 city cam
paign for a white Republican
who lost the race for mayor.
Six people were arrested
Thursday and one was
arrested Friday after a
grand jury indicted them on
a variety of election fraud
charges. They face accu
sations of bribing voters,
improperly helping people
fill out absentee ballots, vot
ing despite being convicted
of disqualifying felonies,
and voting even though they
lived outside the city or vot
ing district.
The indictments come at
a time that a disputed North
Carolina congressional
race is bringing attention to
alleged election misdeeds
nationwide.
Among those arrested
was Vicki McNeil, a former
Canton police chief who
now serves on the Board of
Aldermen. She faces four
counts of voter fraud. She
is alleged to have illegally
helped people cast absentee
ballots when she was run
ning for re-election. McNeil
declined comment to report
ers and was released on
$4,000 bail.
A former Canton fire
chief, Cary Johnson, was
arrested Friday. He is
accused of trying to influ
ence a voter by promising
beer, and of offering money
to two others to sway their
votes.
The heaviest charges are
against 38-year-old Courtney
Rainey, who is appointed to
the city school board and is
Canton’s director of human
and cultural needs. Rainey
was indicted on 10 counts
of voter fraud, two counts of
conspiring to commit voter
fraud, two counts of voting
by an unqualified person,
and one count of intimidat
ing a witness.
The indictments allege
Rainey paid four people for
their votes in cash and one
with a Walmart gift card.
A lawyer for Rainey didn’t
immediately respond to a
phone call and email seek
ing comment. Rainey is free
on $15,000 bail.
Canton has a population
of just under 13,000. About
70 percent of the city’s resi
dents are black and 24 per
cent are white. The mayor
and six of the seven aider-
men elected in 2017 are
black, the other alderman is
white.
Canton latched onto
the Hollywood nickname
because parts of “A Time
to Kill” and “O, Brother,
Where Art Thou?” were
filmed there.
EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS I Associated Press
Elaine Blair sells collard greens, mustard greens and turnip
greens out of the back of her pickup truck Friday, Dec. 7, in
Canton, Miss. Blair, who lost a 2015 election for a seat on the
Canton Board of Aldermen, says she was not surprised to
hear that seven people, including the person who defeated
her, are now facing voter fraud charges connected to the
2017 Canton city elections.
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Gainesville City Schools Teacher of the Year Amanda Studer works with Baihro Guttierrez, Tuesday, Nov. 27, at Mundy
Mill Academy as the third-graders read the book “Because of Winn-Dixie” at Mundy Mill Academy.
STUDER
■ Continued from 1A
Gainesville City Schools Teacher of the Year Amanda Studer prepares to read
with her third-graders at Mundy Mill Academy Tuesday, Nov. 27.
she could be a part of building some
thing from the ground up, she said.
And she serves on leadership teams,
such as the school governance council.
“I wanted to see behind the scenes,”
Studer said.
And behind the curtains she has
witnessed a team of dedicated teach
ers, staff and administrators — the
very people she credits for her own
successes.
“They’ve supported me, they’ve
motivated me, they’ve inspired me,”
Studer said. “It truly is an honor.”
Studer said she has been encour
aged to seek administrative roles, and
she knows there is a “bigger picture”
to public education, but she intends to
remain in her classroom at Mundy Mill.
“I just can’t give up my classroom,”
she said. “I can’t give up my kids.”
Studer said third grade is a challeng
ing stage for 8- and 9-year-old students,
a “big jump” developmentally
It’s when students take their first
Milestones tests, for example, an end-
of-grade assessment in English Lan
guage Arts and mathematics.
And it’s an age when students begin
to contextualize and apply what they’ve
learned in grades K-2, Studer said.
Moreover, at Mundy Mill, moving up
to third grade requires a physical tran
sition from one floor of the school build
ing where K-2 are located to the upper
level where grades 3-5 are stationed.
So, Studer said, she wears many hats
teaching this grade level.
She’s not just an educator, but some
times she plays the role of nurse, coun
selor, coach, cheerleader, referee or,
hold your breath, janitor.
“I could list 20 of them,” Studer said,
laughing.
But she won’t give it up because
she loves “sparking curiosity in their
brains.”
And she loves to be able to support
her students by building their confi
dence, their compassion, and teaching
them to persevere and not be scared of
making mistakes.
It’s in the details where Studer seems
to thrive.
“What I focus on most... is building
authentic relationships with students,”
as well as their families, she said.
It’s about developing trust.
And it’s about giving kids more than
just words to read and numbers to
compute.
“I’m teaching them how to be a
human being,” Studer said.
ZAMORA
■ Continued from 1A
He describes his parents
as typical of the immigrant
working class. His father
was a manager for a com
pany that bagged mulch and
soil, and Zamora’s mother
worked for some time in the
local poultry plants.
Becoming an educa
tor was an opportunity for
Zamora to return the favors.
“I was going to take full
advantage of the American
Dream,” he said, adding
that teaching allows him
to match his passion for
education, coaching soccer
and being a role model for
youth.
Zamora said his own
experience as an immigrant
in a once-foreign land, try
ing to learn a new language
and customs, is something
he is happy to share with his
students.
Johnson High has a
large Hispanic student
demographic, and many
of Zamora’s own pupils
share similar backgrounds
and upbringings. He wants
them to become a genera
tion of leaders in the local
community.
“I use that as motiva
tion for them to see that it’s
possible ... so they can see
themselves in me,” he said.
“If I was able to do it, they
can do it.”
Zamora also sponsors the
Latino Knights of Service at
Johnson High, an extracur
ricular club that engages in
service projects through
out the community, such
as litter patrols with Keep
Hall Beautiful, visits to the
elderly at the Senior Life
Center in Gainesville, and
assistance to the Humane
Society of Northeast
Georgia.
Zamora said he was
shocked and surprised
when Superintendent Will
Schofield visited him before
Thanksgiving to announce
the news that he’d be
named teacher of the year
for the entire school system.
“It was a special moment
to see him walk into my
classroom,” he added.
But, just as he did when
he handed his diploma or
bachelor’s degree to his
parents to thank them for
their support and devotion,
Zamora looks to his students
in appreciation.
“The impact that students
have had on me is really
what keeps me going,” he
said. “It’s more valuable
than any award. That’s
really where the payoff is
forme.”
HOUSING
■ Continued from 1A
residential development
zoning classification is
intended to provide oppor
tunities for a more flexible
placement, arrangement
and orientation of residen
tial structures,” says the
report.
The project’s applicant,
Ponderosa Farms LLC, is
seeking to rezone the prop
erty from an agricultural-
resident category to planned
residential development,
which allows flexibility in
the way homes are laid out.
In the report, planning
staff recommends approval
of the project with condi
tions, including that the min
imum lot size is 4,400 square
feet, or about one-tenth of an
acre.
The report also shows a
comparison of development
standards of the proposed
subdivision to other subdivi
sions within a 1-mile radius.
At 2.3 units per acre, Pon
derosa Farms is far denser
than its neighbors. The next
densest development is Pine
Vale Estates, with 1.41 units
per acre.
Plus, Skelton said, “there’s
about 30 acres in this 121-
acre tract that’s unusable.”
“If you take out the unus
able portion of the land,
you’re going to have a much
higher density,” he added.
Brian Rochester of Roch
ester and Associates, a
Gainesville civil engineering
firm representing the appli
cant, said last week he was
trying to meet with some of
opponents “to see where we
can find areas where we can
work together to alleviate
some of their concerns but
still allow my client to exer-
Hall County
Commission
What: rezoning to allow
279-home subdivision
at LJ Martin Drive and
Ponderosa Farm Road.
When: 6 p.m. Thursday,
Dec. 13
Where: Flail County
Government Center,
2875 Browns Bridge
Road, Gainesville
cise his right to develop this
property.”
“We’re trying to find
something that’s a win-win
for everybody involved,” he
said.
Concerns would include
density and traffic issues,
Rochester said.
Doug Magnus, who owns
the property, said some
of the criticism about the
project has turned into per
sonal attacks, leaving him
“heartbroken.”
“I’m not doing this for
me,” the South Hall native
said of the project, which
he believes will add value
to the landscape. “I’m
doing this for the entire
community.”
Skelton said he’s also
concerned about traffic
impacts.
“You can project 900 cars
additionally on LJ Mar
tin and Ponderosa (Farm
Road), overlaying what
we have now,” he said.
“What we’re advocating is
...we need at least a second
entrance to basically cut the
subdivision into two halves. ”
The project map shows
one entrance off Ponderosa.
Bottom line, Skelton
said, is “we’re not against
progress. (The developer)
can do whatever he wants
with his property, as long
as it doesn’t impinge on the
values of the adjacent com
munity’s houses. As it’s pro
posed now, it does.
“We would just like to try
to work out concessions that
would enhance the commu
nity, not tear it down.”
The project goes before
the county commission
with a recommenda
tion for approval from
the Hall County Planning
Commission.
Some residents criticized
the planning board mem
bers after the Nov. 5 vote,
and a marshal asked the
crowd to clear the room.
“For us to keep taking our
land and making it (planned
residential developments) is
a misuse of what we have in
the south end,” Gina Pilcher
said at the meeting. “We
need to start to slow that
growth to the point where
we can maintain some of
our ruralness.”
Bradley Dunckel of
Rochester, speaking at the
meeting, said the houses
would likely be priced in
the mid- to high-$200,000s.
The neighborhood could be
either age-restricted or a
traditional subdivision.
JEFF GILL I The Times
Residents are mobilizing against a developer’s plans to build a 279-home subdivision on this
121-acre site off Ponderosa Farm Road in South Hall.
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