Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
July 6, 2011
Say NO to new school taxes!!!
rank: 23
How can we as citizens stand
by our "leader" Jim Ham when
he makes statements like" He
ain't worth listening to!" about
one of his own citizens? Re
plays on Forsyth Cable every
day. Take a look! rank: 15
Dr. Hickman is a great guy but
where is the money coming
from that will fund his "new"
position. They keep taking
away from the classroom and
giving to the Board office,
rank: 10
HIGH Falls needs a Zip Code
change. I am tired of the con
fusion having a Jackson ad
dress causes when you actu
ally live in Monroe County,
rank: 10
Jeff Davis (honorable)? Judge.
Now you are guilty of DUI and
step down from a part time
judgeship but not your real of
fice. Not cool DUDE You need
to do the right thing and step
down. I vote to bring back
Judge Wilder who loves this
county and its people, rank: 10
Of course people at the board
office make more money, it's
called a hierarchy! rank: 9
BEWARE MC COMS'RS! The
EYES of the VENT are upon
you-each and every day!
rank: 8
Do you ever get the feeling
there's one of those vacuum
tubes leading from the MC Tax
Collector's office directly to
certain personal bank ac
counts in town. Kinda like di
rect deposit rank: 8
New positions at the BOE
board office, new taxes to be
gathered, the KING is in con
trol and we all are gonna pay!
rank: 8
Union or not the BOE, Princi
pals and a lot of teachers say
they want parents involved but
their actions prove otherwise. I
would like to see indepth cov
erage of school board meet
ings covered in the Reporter,
rank: 7
TO the BOE and Citizens of
MC: There is a definite need
for concern when yet another
person is leaving the Central
Office. PLEASE START ASK
ING QUESTIONS!! PS. When
folks at the top aren't happy
(its kinda like momma) NO
BODY is HAPPY!! Rank: 7
Marriage, abortion, gay; feder
al, state and local government
have no say. It is between the
individual and God. rank: 6
That location for the new gov
ernment apartments has
some other positives. It's be
tween the liquor store and the
funeral home. Who says this
ain't good for Forsyth? rank: 6
YOU didn't inherit anything. It
was your choice to move here.
I'm sure you left your previous
hometown because you
weren't happy there either.
Some IDIOTS you just can't
make happy, rank: 6
If you want honest and digni
fied leaders for the good of
Monroe County, the BU-
FOONS HAVE GOT TO GO!!
rank: 5
@ Teacher Union, Case
Closed: How nice of you to be
so condescending when you
are wrong. PAGE was formed
as an alternative to teacher
unionism in 1975. It is a "non
union" association and you
pay MEMBERSHIP dues.
Look it up, it is right there on
their website, rank: 4
County wide elections are the
way to go for the future of
Monroe County, it's voters,
and it's taxpayers!! Borrowing
from the big O, its time for
CHANGE!!! rank: 4
^Reporter
City may get sued over sidewalk injuries
BY RICHARD DUMAS
The city of Forsyth may
face a lawsuit after the
city's insurance provider
declined to pay an injury
claim filed by a Forsyth citi
zen who fell on a city side
walk.
Dean Clements fell on the
city sidewalk in front of his
East Main Street home on
March 24 causing injuries
to his arm and both knees.
Clements said his medical
bills cost about $250, so he
requested the city of
Forsyth pay them because
he said he had been asking
the city to repair the
uneven sidewalk for more
than three months prior to
his fall.
Clements said city clerk
Janice Hall told him she
would file Clements' claim
with Selective Insurance
Company of America, the
city's provider.
Clements then received a
May 23 letter from
Selective Insurance inform
ing him that the company
had denied his claim.
A portion of the claim
denial read: "Since you had
full knowledge of the side
walk, you were on notice of
the potential hazards that
it posed. Your knowledge of
the sidewalk condition was
even greater than that of
the city. In addition, you
further stated that you did
not know why you did not
see the concrete jutting up
since you knew it was
there. This appears to indi
cate you were not looking
where you were going when
you stepped up."
The letter continued,
"Although it is regrettable
that you suffered an injury,
it does appear you bear
responsibility for your own
fall."
Now, Clements said he
still wants the city to pay
the bills from his fall.
Clements told the Reporter
Wednesday
about Clements' fall.
Hall also said a Public
Works committee meeting
was scheduled for last week
the morning after her con
versation with Dodd?
However, Hall said the
crew had already gotten the
Dean Clements of Forsyth says he’ll sue if the city doesn’t pay
the medical bills for a fall he had on this uneven sidewalk in
front of his home.
the only
bill he
wants paid
is the ini
tial $250
doctor bill.
However, a
letter from
Clements
to the city
mentions
the $250
bill, but
also makes reference to a
$90 pharmacy bill, a $150
x-ray bill and a $150 x-ray
reading fee. It also men
tions that the situation is
"ongoing."
Hall said city workers
went out to pour a new
sidewalk in front of
Clements' home very soon
after the city was contacted
Everybody's been
nice, but the side
walk hasn't been
fixed, and my bill
hasn't been paid.
- Dean Clements of
Forsyth, on his fall on
the city sidewalk
to talk about the situation
with Clements and his
mother Betty. However,
Hall said the meeting was
canceled after Betty
Clements said her son was
ill and would not be able to
attend. Hall said she told
her the meeting would be
rescheduled when Dean
Clements was feeling bet
ter, but she said
Wednesday Clements has
not contacted her since.
Then, Tuesday, Betty
Clements said she
approached city council
man Mike Dodd, who is
chairman of the Public
Works Committee, about
the situation. She said
Dodd told her the city
would not pay the bill
and that the Clements'
would have to resolve the
issue through litigation.
Clements said she asked
Dodd if things would
have been handled the
same way if someone had
fallen at Forsyth City
Hall, and he
responded
that someone
falling at City
Hall would be
a "different
circum
stance."
By
Wednesday
morning,
inmate crews
with instruc
tion from city
workers had returned to
the front of Dean Clements
house to finish repairing
the area around the newly
poured sidewalk by filling
in damaged area with dirt.
Betty Clements won
dered aloud if the city did
not think her son's fall was
a major issue, then why
did the city crews show up
assignment the previous
week, and that the timing
of their arrival was purely
coincidental.
Hall added that she does
not know if Dean Clements
had complained to the city
prior to his fall about the
state of the sidewalk in
front of his home. She said
it is possible that he did,
SAVE A PET
ANNOUNCEMENT!
but that she was not per
sonally aware of it.
Neither Dean nor Betty
Clements had any com
plaint about the way
they have been treated
by city officials until
Betty Clements' conver
sation with Dodd last
week. They said they
simply want the situation
resolved, and do not want
it to have to be handled
legally if necessary.
In fact, Betty Clements
said she had been reluc
tant to contact the
Reporter about the inci
dent because city officials
told her they wanted the
situation worked out
"behind the scenes."
But Dean Clements
said the situation should
have been resolved by
now.
"Everybody's been nice,
but the sidewalk hasn't
been fixed, and my bill
hasn't been paid," he said.
Betty Clements said she
wants the sidewalk
repaired all the way down
East Main Street, on which
her family owns three
homes. She said there are
several disabled persons in
her neighborhood who can
not ride their scooters or
wheelchairs up and down
the damaged sidewalk.
Dean Clements said he can
not always get around with
out riding either.
Hall said there are four
members of the city's road
department who are out on
extended disability leave, so
the city has not gotten as
many road repairs done as
it would like in recent
months.
Hall said the city needs to
find out the exact cost of
Clements' medical bills
before determining how the
city should handle the situ
ation going forward. She
said the city would like to
avoid a lawsuit with one of
its citizens if possible.
Dodd said the city has not
made any determination
how it will handle the situ
ation at this point. He said
the city needs to find out
how much money Clements
is actually asking the city
to pay. He added the city
had a responsibility to let
its insurance provider to
make a ruling before any
thing could be done any
way.
Hall and Dodd each said
the Public Works
Committee will likely meet
soon to further discuss the
situation.
Fund Raiser
Pioneers to build
"Shelter" one rock
at a time.
ROCK SALE!
Hand-painted rocks by Pat Mock will be sold
at Monroe County Bank Forsyth branch.
Friday, July 8,10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
478-994-3882
saveapetinc@aol.com
f SAPDogs
Not ready to adopt? Still want to help?
DONATIONS: P.O.Box 933, Forsyth, GA 31029
Saving lives since 1998.
Henry’s of
J Shop with (jipsjor
Bolingbroke ah occasions!
SEMI-ANNUAL SALE
25% OFF
Visit us at: henrysoftjolingbroke.com
MON - SAT: 10 AM - 5 PM
478-992-9878
6009 U.S. 41 S. • Bolingbroke
I-75N, Exit 175 • 1-475, Exit 15.
Hospital sees first
profit in 3 months
BY WILL DAVIS
Monroe County Hospital
posted a profit in May, the
first month in the black
since February as the
facility netted $15,678.
"It was a strong month
overall," said hospital
CEO Kay Floyd, who pre
sented the new figures to
the Monroe County
Hospital Authority on
Tuesday. "We had our best
utilization numbers across
the line."
Floyd said it helped that
the hospital's operating
room is swinging back
into action, performing 20
surgeries during the
month after filling a long
vacancy by hiring new
surgical director
Shawnelle Lupton.
While the hospital
enjoyed the May results,
Floyd said June has been
slower, in part because so
many doctors go on vaca
tion. The hospital has
posted $593,000 in losses
for the fiscal year that
ends in September.
In other hospital news
from Tuesday's meeting:
• The hospital agreed to
hire a new physician
recruiting firm to help it
lure new doctors to town.
The hospital authority
authorized Floyd to exe
cute a contract with the
firm. Floyd said they had
spent months courting a
family physician who just
finished her residency but
that they were outbid by
Atlanta area practices.
• Monroe County resi
dents will have great
access to surgeons locally
after two of the hospital's
regular surgeons, Dr.
Robert Parel and Dr.
Benjie Christie, teamed
up in a new surgical prac
tice owned by the Medical
Center in Macon.
As a result, Floyd said
Forsyth will have a sur
geon in town two days per
week instead of one.
Floyd said podiatrist Dr.
Mark Henson is seeing
patients one day per week
as well, which together
should help the hospital
build its surgical unit
back up.
CGTC is better
because it's more
affordable which
means I can
graduate with
little or
no debt.
Register for Fall Semester July 22
Classes begin August 23
CENTRAL GEORGIA
TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Monroe County Center
(478) 992-2717 | www.centralgatech.edu