About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 2020)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Tuesday, June 16, 2020 3A MEETINGS ■ Continued from 1A The city kept meetings open to the public dur ing the pandemic if they wanted to attend in person or comment. Declining live viewer- ship for the meeting videos showed demand was slip ping, Lackey said, and the live stream required extra time and resources. But as the city plans website upgrades, remote participa tion or viewing options are still an option for the future, he said. Hall County has been live streaming its meet ings on the home page of the county website and has used the GoToMeeting soft ware to allow community members to participate. Viewers can indicate in the program that they would like to comment on an item or during a public hearing. If they do not have inter net access or would prefer to use the phone, they can call a designated number before the meeting item, then be included live in the meeting for commissioners to hear their input over the phone. Brian Stewart, the coun ty’s digital media special ist, said when planning how to adapt meetings during the pandemic, staff asked, “How can we, to the best of our ability, allow the public to participate in every way that they normally could, as if we they were in person, but do that from home?” Meetings had previously been closed to the public for in-person attendance, but now, people have the option to participate from home or go to the Hall County Gov ernment Center, where the meeting room has been set up for social distancing. Stewart said live stream ing has sometimes required additional staffing. While the county has not hired more people for the online meetings, county Manage ment Information Systems employees have been helping. “It takes a bit more man power in the back room to run the meetings. Ordi narily, when we were just recording video, it was just me back there,” Stewart said. “But now, if it’s a bus ier meeting there could be a crew of five or six people back there.” County spokeswoman Katie Crumley said that while officials have not decided how long the live streams will continue, mak ing them more permanent is an option. “While things may not look exactly as they have the past few months, there are some things we are very interested in maintain ing if possible, and the live stream certainly is one of those,” Crumley said. Flowery Branch has also been using GoToMeeting and will return to in-per- son meetings June 18. City Clerk Vickie Short said the program allowed people to view what they would see on the screen at in-person meeting, as well as provide input. “It’s pretty much the same, with the exception of us just not being there together,” Short said. Lula has been holding meetings over Zoom, pub licizing log-in information and providing an email address for people to sub mit questions or comments. “What we’ve been doing works pretty well for us. That much we’re very appreciative of,” City Man ager Dennis Bergin said. The technology has also been useful for schedul ing meetings by providing more flexibility because people can participate from anywhere, Bergin said. The City Council and staff members will be able to use it for committee meetings moving forward, he said. Videoconferencing has also proven helpful for larger meetings, including a district Georgia Munici pal Association meeting that saw higher attendance from people who may not have been able to travel before, Bergin said. Clermont Mayor James Nix said Clermont Town Council’s meeting place, the Clermont Chatta hoochee Center, provides enough space for social distancing, so Clermont has not had to switch to virtual meetings. Free COVID-19 testing, food distribution today in Gainesville Free drive-thru COVID-19 testing and food distribution will be available at St. John Baptist Church in Gaines ville Tuesday, June 16. The event has been organized by the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Sunshine Seniors, a local min istry that does community service proj ects. It will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday. People can call 770-531-5600 to make an appointment for testing. St. John Baptist Church is located at 757 E.E. Butler Parkway. Megan Reed STUDENTS ■ Continued from 1A Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Top, above: The Black Students of Gainesville gather with other protesters in downtown Gainesville Monday, June 15, to protest police brutality and stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. ‘When people of goodwill come together, stand together and demand change together, the world becomes a better and more equitable place for all.’Anne Skleder, president, Brenau University “The biggest thing right now is edu cating and making sure that everyone is educating themselves,” he said. “But also that we’re educating others in environments like this, in ways that everyone can get involved.” Charlene Hendricks, a master’s student at Brenau, said the Black Students of Gainesville had already been fighting against inequality at the school in February before campuses were closed down to slow the spread of COVID-19. Hendricks said that black students did not feel included at Brenau, and that the school did not adequately rep resent black people in courses such as film studies, where the majority of movies shown were made by primarily white directors and actors. Alexus Cooper, a senior at Brenau, said the school was severely lacking in events celebrating black history and culture. “We’re demanding more events that cater to the black community in gen eral,” she said. “They’re not often like that. And more diverse training for fac ulty so that we don’t have to continue to feel marginalized in the way we do during this time as students. ” Brenau president Anne Skleder, who spoke at the event, said she was greatly moved by the actions of her students, and stood firmly behind them in their fight against racism. “When people of goodwill come together, stand together and demand change together, the world becomes a better and more equitable place for all,” she said. “Please also know of my personal and professional resolve for Brenau University to be part of a hope ful path forward.” The protest organized by Brenau students came on the same day as a virtual town hall put on by the Uni versity of North Georgia in which a panel of UNG public safety employ ees addressed questions submitted by students regarding things such as the police hiring process as well as police training in racial bias and de-escalation. UNG public safety director Justin Gaines said during the event that he felt it important for all police depart ments to address these issues head on in order to make any progress forward. “In these times, we have an oppor tunity to unify together through mutual understanding and discussion on how we can make our lives better together,” he said. Cooper said she is pleased to see universities leading the way in start ing conversations on racism and even happier to see the support garnered for the Black Students of Gainesville from fellow students of all races. But one of the most promising aspects of Monday’s protest in Coo per’s eyes is the participation she saw from people not enrolled at a college in Gainesville. Cooper said the com munity itself still has a racism prob lem, and that problem cannot start to go away until everyone comes together to address it. “It’s not just within Brenau Univer sity that we have felt this,” she said. “There have been times when we’ve experienced racism at the grocery store. It has to be a thing within our community and our area that you can’t continue to do this. We have to stand together and treat people with respect. ” JOIN OUR TEAM! GREAT BENEFITS, COMPETETIVE PAY, JOB STABILITY! DIRECT HIRE- FULL TIME $14.00 - $18.00 PER HOUR + BENEFITS Apply Online: www.kubota-kma.com Or In Person: 8:00 AM- 2:30 PM Mon- Friday 2715 Ramsey Road Gainesville, GA 30501 1001 McClure Industrial Drive Jefferson, GA 30549 KUBOTA is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer Northeast Georgia Diagnostic Clinic Welcomes New Endocrinologist We are pleased to welcome Dr. Esther Lee to the Department of Endocrinology. Dr. Lee earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA and her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, VA. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA; and her Fellowship in Endocrinology at Tufts Medical Center at Boston, MA. Prior to joining the Diagnostic Clinic, Dr. Lee worked at Emory Clinic in Atlanta. Dr. Lee is Board Certified in Endocrinology and Internal Medicine. She is a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and The Endocrine Society. Dr. Lee is now accepting new patients. To schedule an appointment, please call 770-536-9864. 1240 Jesse Jewell Pkwy, SE • Ste 500 • Gainesville, GA Highpoint Medical Center 1270 Friendship Rd • Ste 100 • Braselton, GA www.ngdc.com • 770-536-9864 Dr. Esther Lee
