About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2020)
Save up to $159 COUPONS INSIDE Flowery Branch’s off pair of tennis titles at Atlanta City Open, sports, 12B eh t ettncs Weekend Edition - JUNE 27-28, 2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Police a big chunk of local budgets Advocates balk at protesters’ calls to defund departments BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Amid the chants nationally of “defund the police,” Hall County area law enforcement will remain, based on current spending levels, a major part of overall government spending. About $56.5 million is spent on Hall County law enforcement, more than one-fifth of overall bud gets in Gainesville, Hall County, Flowery Branch and Oakwood, according to budget records obtained by The Times. That’s a slight drop from last year, but the COVID-19 pandemic and its thinning of revenues can take the blame there. That anticipated revenue loss “likely factored into a larger gap between many of the (departmen tal) budget requests and the final budget recommendations,” Hall County spokeswoman Katie Crum ley said, noting the emphasis on cuts was “non-essential projects.” The push to defund — and even eliminate — police departments sprung out of protests over the ■ Please see DEFUND, 4A About this story With law enforcement in the spotlight following the death of George Floyd and others nationally, The Times is investigating myriad topics related to how local departments operate. Reporters have reviewed budget documents, federal databases, local and state policies and spoken with leaders in the departments, including the Hall County sheriff and city police chiefs, along with other sources. Articles will publish as The Times team is able to gather pertinent information to provide a full picture of our community’s public safety environment. Those with tips or questions about this coverage can reach out to news@gainesvilletimes.com. Those interested in commenting about these issues can submit a letter to the editor of 500 words or less to letters@gainesvilletimes.com for consideration for publication. Flowery Branch at a crossroads Jim Crow Road could face name change at council meeting BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Randy Crow recalls his grandfather, G.C. “Jim” Crow, Thursday, June 25, at Alberta Banks Park in Flowery Branch. G.C. Crow had a road in Flowery Branch named after him, Jim Crow Road. The road name may look like it has rac ist meaning, but its past suggests anything but. From Glennon C. “Jim” Crow’s helping Black and white neighbors alike in the early 1930s to the old Crow homeplace serving as a federal hospital during the Civil War, Jim Crow Road would seem the perfect name for the road connecting McEver Road to Lake Lanier. Instead, the road, which sits at a cross roads that’s a key entrance to Flowery Branch, has come under fire because of the name’s instant connection to segre gation-era Jim Crow laws that oppressed African Americans. Petitions have circulated for and against the road name, and Flowery Branch City Council is set to take up the issue at its meeting Thursday, July 2. Mayor Mike Miller is proposing changing the name of the city’s portion of the road to G.C. Crow Road. The stretch is short — just 400 feet between McEver and Radford roads — but the move is important, especially with the climate concerning racial equality, Miller said. “I’ve been reluctant to change it because I don’t want to erase the history of a man who was so good for our area,” Miller said in an interview this week. “However, in this day and time and this atmosphere, perception is reality. And the perception of anyone who doesn’t know the area or the story behind that road name, when they’re entering Flow ery Branch, at a major gateway for our city, they see that name. And the percep tion is the city is a racist city.” Before Miller’s push, a petition circu lated calling for the name change. More than 7,500 people have signed the peti tion, which also decries the road name’s racist implications. “The longstanding history of slavery and mistreatment of African Americans is being represented by this street name,” the pro-name change petition states. The petition seeking the name to remain the same call for those pushing the change to “stop the race baiting.” “Leave our town and our roads alone,” says the anti-name change petition, which had drawn about 580 names as of Friday, June 25. “This is not a racial issue. Edu cate yourself and stop trying to dishonor this man.” Stephanie Bennett, leading the effort to save the name, said, “As a citizen of Flowery Branch who was born and raised here, I find it disturbing that the city would consider renaming (the road) ■ Please see CROW, 6A Judge denies venue change in Dixon case BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Superior Court Judge Jason Deal denied the motion to change the trial venue for four men charged with murder in the death of Hall County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Nicolas Blane Dixon. London Clements, Hector Garcia-Solis, Brayan Omar Cruz and Eric Edgardo Velazquez have all pleaded not guilty. Deal said the defense had not met the burden of proof to “show that the set ting of this trial is inherently prejudicial.” ■ Please see DIXON, 6A Georgia seeks end to Florida’s water lawsuit BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Georgia is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to effectively end a longstanding “water wars” battle by denying Florida’s request for “an equitable apportioning of waters” in the basin containing Lake Lanier. “After more than six years of litigation, it is now clear that Florida’s case was built on rheto ric and not on facts,” Georgia’s lawyers stated in a document Friday, June 26. The filing is in response to Florida asking the court in April to reject a Dec. 11 report by a spe cial master who recommended that justices not grant Florida’s request for an equitable appor tioning of waters in the Apalachicola-Chatta- hoochee-Flint River Basin, or the ACF Basin. Among Florida’s objections is that U.S. Cir cuit Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr. found that Florida ■ Please see WATER, 6A DEATHS 2B Benny Allen, 80 John Beach III, 66 Reba Childers, 86 Ricky Church, 56 Hilda Corbett, 89 Manuel Cortes, 86 Bobby Dowby, 86 Gladston Franklin Jr., 75 Mary Green, 86 Thomas Hood, 74 Ronald Hopley Keo Kinarath, 77 Trudi McClain Bill McDougald, 69 Faye McLeroy, 91 Clara Minish, 85 Angelina Nasalga, 79 William Neely, 87 Odell Nix, 90 Nellie Ottman, 97 Jonathan Parris, 30 Myra Pierce, 83 Ricky Pruitt, Sr., 68 Maria Reyna, 68 Claudia Rodriguez, 43 Susan Roebuck Raymond Smith, 97 J.L. Temple, 82 Melissa Tullis, 53 Deborah White, 70 Dimple Wills, 93 Phillip Young, 35 0 40901 06825 9 CANCER CARE NEVER STOPS. Find your cancer specialist at nghs.com/cancer Northeast Georgia Medical Center
