Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME CI — NUMBER XL
State’s
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is
the third part of a series about a vital
issue Chattooga County voters will
decide Nov. 4 — whether to retain the
present sole commissioner government
or go to a five-member board of com
missioners with a county manager.
This article features views and opi
nions expressed in recent years in
“Georgia County Government,” the of
ficial publication of the Georgia
Association County Commissioners. It
also discusses trends in county govern
mental organization in Georgia and
the nation).
Overall Taxes
Drop; County’s
Share Increases
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
Chattooga Countfi"s prO{Jer
ty owners may pay s 'fihtly ess
in total 1986 taxes than they
did in 1985, although the levy
for county purposes has in
creased. Tl);a.t hike has been off
set bf’ a cut in the county
school rate.
It also appears that this
year's taxes may not be due un
til early 1987, the third con
secutive time that the county’s
payment deadline has extend
ed into the next calendar year.
The total preliminary 1986
HEARING MONDAY NIGHT
City Told No On Annexation
A significant majority of |
more than 225 peop{e atten- |
ding a City of Summerville an- }
nexation hearing Monday |
night made clear tfiree things: '
they don’t want to be annexed, l
they want to keep city services
they already enjoy and they are ]
will)i,ng to pay more for those |
services. !
Summerville's Mayor and
City Council had cafled the
hearing to outline what they |
perceived the advantages to be |
FOR COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION
City Seeks $50,000 From Powell
The City of Summerville
will be expecting $50,000 from
Chattooga County Commis
sioner Harry Powell in 1987 to
help finance the cost of fire pro
tection to residents outside the
city.
That was one outcome of
Monday night's public hearing
and City Council meeting on
the issue of annexation. Mayor
Sewell Cash said during the
hearing that the city has a
SIOO,OOO operations budget for
its fire department but 60 per
cent of the calls come from out
side the city limits.
Commissioner Powell, in a
mid-summer letter to Summer
ville and various other city and
county agencies, said he had
been financing contributions to
their proirams with federal
revenue sharing funds. Since
that J)roiran) was then ex
pected to be killed in Congress,
the commissioner indicated at
the time that the county
wouldn’'t have any funds
available from that source after
this month.
SOME MONEY
The grogram apparently
will end this month and Mayor
Cash said Monday ni%flt tKat
Powell had told him that day
the county had received its
Bulldogs Win!
‘ --See Page 11-A
rate for unincorporated areas is
23.68 mills, .74 mills below the
1985 rate of 24.42 mills. This
year's preliminary rate for the
incorporated areas is 26 mills,
or .47 mills below last year’s
26.47-mill rate.
Hugh Don Hall, Chattooga
County tax commissioner, said
Tuesday that he had receivgd
an appeintment to, carry. the
county's 1986 tax digest a{nd
preliminary tax rates to the
Georgia Department of
Revenue next Wednesday, Oct.
22. The state has to approve
the county’s digest before tax
bills may be printed and
mailed.
see OVERALL, page 18-A
for residents within one mile of
the current city limits if they
agreed to be annexed into the
city. The hearing had been
moved from city hall to the
Summerville Recreation Center
gymnasium to accommodate
the anticipated crowd. Despite
wet, dreary weather, a large
number of residents showed up
for the session. It was
moderated by Mayor Sewell
Cash.
“Quite frankly, I don’t
final revenue sharing check and
he would attempt to give the ci
ty some money this month.
The county contributed
$20,000 to the city fire depart
ment last year, Cash said dur
ing the hearing. If the city
City Fathers ‘ldiots?’
Chattooga County Commissioner Harry Powell ap
parently doesn't intend to grant Summerville's demand
that the county pay one-half the cost of the city's fire pro
tection budget altiough 60 percent of the department’s
calls are answered outside tfie city.
“I shore did and I laughed,” the commissioner said
Tuesday when asked if he had heard of the City Council's
action Monday night.
“S---1"" Powell responded when asked if he had made a
decision on the matter. ‘‘The city can ask for the courthouse
if they want to. It don't matter with me. They're just a
damn bunch a idiots like the rest. So it don't matter with
me a'tall.”
Asked if that meant he wasn't going to grant the re
quest, the commissioner asked lougly, “Not going to do
what?!"
Grant the city's request for $50,000?
“Hell no!" he said. “Now you put that in your damn
paper if you want to. I don't give a damn! Just put it in
there! You're so nice at writing those little things on that!
Just kiss my ---...!"
e Summerville News
Counties Move Toward Board, Manager
ONLY 24 OF Georgia's 158 coun
ties now use the sole commissioner
form of government, although it was
once the most common form in the
state. The five-member board of com
missioners is used in 78 of the state's
counties today. In some cases, the
chairman of the commission is elected
countmide and serves as the day-to
dag' administrator of county affairs. In
other instances, the board members
serve parttime and employ a fulltime
professional manager to handle daily
administration under their direct
control.
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know whether the Council
wants to hold another one
(hearing) or not but I don't care
anything about it,” said Mayor
Cash at the end of the hearing
after those attending had in
dicated their opposition to
annexation.
After the hearing and
following the monthly éouncil
meeting, the panel voted to
seek $50,000 from the county
for fire protection services (see
related stories).
| doesn't have an agreement
with the county by December.
Cash will recommend to the
Council that the fire depart
ment not respond to calls out
side the city limits.
Following the hearing and
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1986
24 HAVE SOLE COMMISSIONERS
If approved by Chattooga Coun
ty's voters on Nov. 4, the legislation
setting up a five-member board and
county manager would not become ef
fective until t’ie November, 1988 elec
tions and the board wouldn’t assume
office until after the current commis
sioner's term ends on Dec. 31, 1988.
Each member of the board would
receive S2OO per month in salary, or a
total of $12,000 per year for all five
members. The current sole commis
sioner makes*s3l.sß2 per year.
*
THE LEGISLATION also pro
Staff Photo by Earl McConnell
SGT. JERRY DAVENPORT (ON LADDER) FINDS VICTIM
Bill Blackwell (White Shirt), Dep. Ken Parker Look On
Shopping Center
--See Page 10-A
It also appeared that the
Council may d%cide to develop
fees or surcharges for current
city services to be charged to
county residents by the end of
this year, effective for 1987,
although no decision was made
on those issues Monday night.
City officials ham{ed out
small maps and information
about city utility charges and
taxes to people walking into
the hearing. A large map of the
current city limits and the pro
after most business on the
Council agenda had been con
cluded Monday night, Mayor
Cash suggested that the fire
department be placed under
the water department and
when calls are answered out
side the city limits to citizens
who have city services that a
charge be tacked onto the
water bill for fire services.
““Maybe the county com
missioner will give us enough
money so we won't have to do
anything,” Cash said twice
durin the session. If
sometfiing isn't worked out by
December, he said, he would
recommend a city policy to
establish charges for fire
services.
$50,000
Councilman Phil Cavin said
he felt the issue should be
resolved insofar as the city's
position is concerned that
night. Cavin then moved that
the city tell the county that it
should pay 40 percent of the
fire department’'s operations
budget, or some $40,000, and
it would continue to respond to
calls anywhere in the county.
Councilman Edward Bush said
he felt the county should bear
at least half the cost of the
see CITY SEEKS, page 14-A
vides that the board must hire a pro
fessional administrator at a salary to
be determined by the board. The
avem%e salary in Georgia is $35,000
annually. Typically, according to the
Association County Commissioners
magazine, the annual salary for an ad
ministrator in a county the size of
Chattooga County is roughly $20,000.
However, the board would have
authority to set the salary of the
manager.
The legislation, which was featured
in full in the Sept. 11 edition of The
News, also provides for procedures
posed extension was posted on
the recreation center wall.
| Mayor Cash opened the
| hearing by saying a city of
' 10,000 population would com
' mand more respect from state
and federal autgorities insofar
| as grants and transportation,
. for example, than a town of
| 4,500.
| LOWER RATES
* He also said annexation
| would provide new residents
| with lower insurance rates than
| they would enjoy if the city
| removed all fire protection out
| side the city limits. The fire
| department’s annual budget is
| SIOO,OOO, he said, and 60 per
| cent of its calls are outside the
| city.
The recreation department
has a $300,000 budget, he said,
' and most of the participants
| are from outside the city, the
| mayor continued. In the past,
| the county has been providing
the city with $12,000 annually
for recreation but awarded
| $25,000 last year. If those
' funds are eliminated, Cash
| said, the city can't afford to
. finance the programs 100
| percent.
; ‘‘Again, this is not what we
| want to do but it seems like we
| will be forced to do it,” said
| Cash in discussing possible
| fees or surcharges.
|
THREE WAYS
j Annexation may be ac
| complished in three ways, the
| mayor told the crowd:
legislative act, direct annexa
| tion by the city of contiguous
| property where annexation is
| sought by the property owners,
| and by vote of 60 percent of the
| property owners in a particular
| area. Legislation is the
: simglest. he said.
i hattooga County Rep.
| Johnny Crawford and Sen.
| Waymon ‘‘Sonny” Hu%lgins
i were both present at the hear
ing. After those present had
made their views known, Cash
said he doubted Crawford or
Huggins would be asked by the
city to introduce legislation an
nexing more property into the
see CITY TOLD, page 9-A
whereby the board may remove a
manager from office. It also provides
rrotection to a manager for a political
y motivated removal, giving him
three months salary from the time a
preliminary resolution dismissing him
1s adopted by the board. It also gives
him a right to a public hearing on any
effort to remove him from o?fice.
A count{ manager, under the Chat
tooga lefis ation, would perform the
day-to-day administrative tasks
associated with operating the county.
However, he woull()iebe unfier the direct
control of the board of commissioners,
Residence Fire
Near Gore Kills
Two Youngsters
Investigation is continuin,
this week into a tragic weekenfi
fire at Gore that took the life
of a_ 16-year-old Chattooga
County High School junior and
a 3-year-old who was only six
days away from his fourth
birthday.
Sheriff Gary McConnell
identified victims of the early
Saturday morning fire as An
drea Dionne Shropshire, 16,
daughter of William Shrop
shire, LaFayette, and Evelyn
Jeneal Farmer Shropshire,
Summerville; and Carlo La-
Juan Etchison, 3, son of Mr.
and Mrs. Ricardo ‘‘Ricky”
Farmer, Summerville Rte. 1.
Foul play is not suspected
in the fire on Packer Road, said
the sheriff. Cause of the blaze
has not yet been determined.
Firemen said it may have
started in the kitchen area.
The Summerville Fire
Department received a call
about the fire at 1:21 a.m.
Saturday. Before the blaze had
been extinguished, both Sum
merville fire trucks, its tanker
truck, the Subligna Volunteer
Fire Department tanker truck
and its mini-truck had respond
ed to the scene. Summerville's
firemen returned to the station
at 3:32 a.m. Saturday.
The victims were found in
side the brick house, which was
destroyed by the blaze. Fire
had engulfed the residence
when firemen arrived.
Firemen said both
youngsters were found
together in a bedroom of the
house.
One person reportedly
escape the blazing in?erno but
firemen could not provide
details.
The fire is being in
vestigated by the sheriff’s of
fice and the State Fire Mar
shal's Office.
Miss Shropshire was a
junior at Chattooga Count
High and a member of Oak Hflv.l
Baptist Church, where she
sang in the young adult choir.
She also sang with a family
group, ‘‘The Farmer Gran.”
POWELL ON AUDIT PROPOSALS
‘D-== Other Officials’
| Chattooga County Commis
| sioner Harry Powell this week
refused to let the public know
| whether he plans to carry out
any of the recommendations
| for his office handed down by
| the county's auditors.
. Finney and Moore, Rome
| accountants, handed down 11
| recommendations for Powell’s
| office in the comprehensive
| 1985 audit turned over to the
| county last week. It also
| featured recommendations for
| the offices of tax commis
| sioner, probate g‘udge, clerk of
i court and sheriff.
! REFUSED
Each of those officials com
mented last week on those pro
posals and their remarks were
Coverage Inaccurate?
--See Page 13-4
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N
4
LaJUAN ETCHISON
Education Board
Pay Shows Hike
By KAY ABBOTT
Staff Writer
The Chattooga County
Board of Education is outpac
ing itself in called meetings
this year over 1985, action
which costs the county’s tax
gayers $250 per meeting if all
ive members are present.
Board members aren't paid
a flat monthly salary. Instead,
they now receive SSO per
meeting, whether it is a mon
thly or called session. Ap
parently, there is no limit to
the number of meetings which
may be called.
Prior to April, 1985, board
members were paid S2O each
per meeting. That month, the
featured in last week's edition
of The News. Powell, however,
has refused to discuss the
recommendations for his office.
See audit on Pages
2,3, 4 and 5-B
The sole commissioner said
he had studied .the audit ‘‘a
dozen times'’ and felt it was “‘a
prettX good audit.” But when
asked for his views on the pro
posals for his office, Powell
said, “Just don’t even bother
me. I've told you enough,
mister, I'll give you no more
news as long as you and me
both live. We're done. Com-
which would establish policies and pro
cedures for the manager and set the
limits of his authority in addition to
that set out in the legislation itself.
The board would have the same
powers as the current sole commis
sioner form of government.
50w
THE THREE commissioners from
the Trion, Summerville and Lyerly-
Gore-Subligna districts would take of
fice on Jan. 1, 1989 and serve for four
years. The two commissioners elected
from the Pennville and Menlo
see STATE’S COUNTIES, page §-A
B
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“DEDI” SHROPSHIRE
board's pay increased to SSO
per mem%er for each meeting,
by legislative act.
The board held 12 monthli;
meetings last year, along wit
17 called meetings, for a total
of 29. If all members were pre
sent at each meeting, the total
cost would have heen $5,700, or
an average of $1,140 per board
member.
So far this year, with two
months to go, the board has
held 10 monthly meetings and
19 called sessions, for a total of
29 — tying the number for all
of 1985. Tfie total 1986 cost so
far if all members were present
for all 29 meetings would be
$5,250, or $1,450 per meeting
per board member.
In 1980, the board met 32
see EDUCATION, page 14-A
pletely. If I've got any news,
I'll give it somewhere else. Just
don’t bother me. Please.”
“DAMN OFFICIALS"
Told that the other officials
had discussed the recommen
dations for their offices, Powell
retorted, ‘‘lt don't matter
about the recommendations
with the other officials. Damn
the other officials and you too!
I don't want to get started here
again this morning because I
have told you that I ain't a
gonna give you no more news.”
The commissioner was con
tacted at his office around
11:30 a.m. Tuesday. After a
visitor left his office, Powell
was asked about the audit
see '‘D--, page 14-A
PRICE 20c¢