About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2024)
Man accused of assaulting pregnant girlfriend gets sentenced to probation, inside, 3a Honestly Local Gwinnett transit plan includes airport ride service By JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com An airport connection for Hall County residents? It's possible through a Gwinnett County tran sit plan that could be on the ballot in Gwinnett this fall. The Gwinnett Board of Com missioners voted this week to approve a “notice of intent" to call for a referendum, which would ask voters to decide whether they want the county to levy a 1-cent sales tax for transit. “As outlined in Georgia law, this action is required before the board can officially call for a tran sit referendum to be placed on the ballot in November," a Gwinnett press release states. A countywide transit plan, approved by commissioners in September, calls for an airport ride service from the Park and Ride lot off Buford Drive and Interstate 985 in Buford, or Exit 4. Airport Ride routes would “provide limited stops and all-day service to the airport," according to the plan, which adds that the service would operate every day. Costs for riders aren't men tioned in the plan. Gwinnett's fixed-route service, Ride Gwinnett, now can take commuters to Atlanta destina tions, including MARTA stops, where they can go to Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The transit plan calls for the air port service to start in 2027. Gwinnett's plan also lists as “aspirational” a regional connec tion to Hall County. “Regional connectors would potentially operate seven days per week every 30 minutes to connect Gwinnett to regional activity cen ters,” the plan states. Other specifics aren't stated, except that officials “do not have funding identified at this time.” Phillippa Lewis Moss, who oversees Hall Area Transit, lauded Gwinnett's plan, saying, “There's See Transit 13A Local attorney disbarred after complaints made by clients BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com And that spells ‘winner’ Photos by Scott Rogers The Times Gainesville Middle School West student Alex Nguyen poses for photos Friday, Jan. 19, after winning the Gainesville City Schools spelling bee at the school board office on Oak Street. Alex Nguyen, a sixth grader at Gaines ville Middle School West, spelled “pipette” to win the 2024 Gainesville City Schools spelling bee Friday, Jan. 19. A pipette is “a slender pipe or tube into which small amounts of liquids are taken up by suction, as for measuring,” according to Webster's New World Col lege Dictionary. A young man of few words, Alex said it “feels good” to clench first place in this year's spelling bee, especially after get ting fourth and third place in the previous two years. He said he practiced spelling for about 15 minutes each day and had encoun tered “pipette” before. The runner-up was Helena Hoang of Centennial Arts Academy. She mis spelled the word “shoal” in the final round. “Stressful” was the word Helena used when asked what it felt like to win second place. She said she often practiced spell ing before and after jiu-jitsu practice. Alex will represent the district Feb. 24 at the Georgia Association of Educators regional competition, and Helena will serve as an alternate. Paloma Ixcoy Santay approaches the microphone. Here are the other students who com peted and the words they misspelled or misdefined during the vocabulary round: • Salvador Lopez Sanchez, New Hol land Leadership Academy — graduate (vocabulary) • Sarah Stevens, Mundy Mill Arts Academy — insolent Sarah Stevens looks back at the audi ence. • Paloma Ixcoy Santay, Gainesville Exploration Academy — dynasty • Maggie Martin, Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy — propitious • Adyson Stephens, Gainesville Mid dle School East — pervading • Felipe Aguirre Ceja, Fair Street International Academy — engulf A Gainesville attorney was disbarred after the Georgia Supreme Court found that he had aban doned clients and failed to keep them up to date on their cases, according to court documents. The Jan. 17 opinion disbarring Dale Perry had the approval of all of the justices except Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua, who wrote a dissenting opinion saying she would have imposed “discipline short of disbarment.” In a statement to The Times, Perry said he intends to file a motion to reconsider the disbarment, hoping the justices con sider the mitigating circumstances. Perry's case involved three matters with former clients, according to the Georgia Supreme Court. Perry, who was admitted to the bar in January 1981, was previously suspended in 2003. According to the Supreme Court's sum mary of the cases, Perry represented a man in a July 2020 divorce but failed to keep him up to date on the case or respond to his inquiries. Similarly, Perry was accused of failing to consult with his client for a year in another divorce case from August 2020. In August 2021, Perry took on another divorce case, where he received a $6,000 retainer, according to the Supreme Court. “Perry stopped communicating with the client and did not respond to the client's numerous attempts to contact him,” the justices wrote. “In October 2021, the cli ent was able to meet with Perry to execute an affidavit, but he did not hear from Perry after that meeting.” An arbitration panel awarded the client $6,000 “finding that Perry abandoned the client and that the client received no value from Perry's legal services,” according to the Georgia Supreme Court opinion. The money was refunded in December 2022. “The client believes that he suffered injury because Perry's lack of attention resulted in him receiving a less favorable division of assets in the divorce,” accord ing to the Supreme Court's opinion. The Georgia Supreme Court said Perry did not file his response to the report and a special master's recommendation that he be disbarred within the 30-day dead line. Perry did, however, fde a response in August before the case was docketed. In a footnote, the Georgia Supreme Court said it did not consider his response because it was not fded in time. The response filed by Perry stated he has battled depression all of his adult life, compounded by other health problems as well as the loss of his father in May 2021. “I went into what, for lack of a better See Perry 14A * Perry Gainesville middle schooler wins city schools spelling bee By BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Buford Com Maze looking at other options if attraction has to move BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Rodney Miller said he'd love to see the Buford Corn Maze in South Hall “continue another 30 years,” but he's weighing options in the wake of an expiring lease and an annexation request into Buford by the property owner. “If we can't work out some thing in the next two years, then we'll probably get really seri ous about trying to buy some thing else (closeby),” he said of his lease, which expires in 2027. “And I think there are other pos sibilities around there.” The agricultural attraction's future is unclear, as property owner Chris Watford has applied for annexation into Buford with an eye toward eventual industrial development. On Jan. 9, the Buford Plan ning Commission recommended approval of Watford's request to the Buford Board of Com missioners. On Jan. 11, the Hall County Board of Commission ers approved an objection to the annexation request. Watford said Friday, Jan. 19, he has withdrawn the annexation application and resubmitted with a request “to retain the agricul tural zoning for the time being.” His 31 acres at 4470 Bennett Road is just off Friendship Road/ Ga. 347 and Hog Mountain Road, not far from Interstate 985 's Exit 8. The area between the corn maze and 1-985 is growing, including the development of Friendship Distribution Center and a QuikTrip that opened last year off Friendship Road. Last year, the Buford Board of Commissioners approved Seefried Industrial Properties' request to annex nearly 50 acres off Bennett Road for two ware house/distribution facilities. “There's been a lot of interest over the years in that parcel from commercial and industrial users,” Watford told The Times on Jan. 4. See Maze 13A
