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VOLUME CVIII — NUMBER IV
Simmons Probe Ends
At Council Meeting
No Proof City Manager Disobeyed Order
By TOMMY TOLES
Editor
Summerville’s city mana
ger remained at his post this
week after the town’s council
decided to not pursue allega
tions that he had improperly
given a copy of the state’s
recall law to a local activist.
The council voted 4-1 to
drop the issue Monday night
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Staff Photos By Buddy Roberts
ACTIVIST SID PONDER (L) TELLS ABOUT RECALL IDEA
Councilman Earl Parris (3rd From Left) Alleged Target
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CITY MANAGER JOHN SIMMONS (R) EXPLAINS HIS ACTIONS
Council Votes 4-1 To Drop Probe Of Allegations
SSOO In City Money Still Missing
A total of SSOO has been
missing from a City of Sum
merville bank deposit since last
summer.
The Summerville News
elicited the information Mon
day night following a closed
meeting of the Summerville Ci
ty Council.
The panel went behind
doors to talk with Branch Con
nelly, citj attorney, about
‘“personnel matters.’
When the panel returned
and adjourned without taking
any action, the newspa%lask
ed Councilman Mike King if
the discussion involved money.
He confirmed that it did and
e
y or Yy council,
When ukog the nature of the
problem and the amount, he
referred The News to Mayor
Sewell Cash.
L . Summerville News
after a 54-minute investigative
hearing into the charges.
Councilman Earl ‘“Red”
Parris cast the dissenting vote.
Accordin%to Sid Ponder, Sum
merville, Parris was the target
of recall efforts encouragediy
John Simmons, the town’s ci
t{ manager. Simmons denied
the allegations.
By the vote, the council in
dicated that it could find no
gvidence lflx:t Simmons had
one anything wrong in givin
Ponder}; cogy of tie sgtlate’g
recall law.
CONFIRMED
Cash confirmed that SSOO
was still missing from bank
deposits in mid-1991.
The city and the bank have
probed the matter, along with
the city’'s auditor, Cash said.
But tl{e SSOO has still not
shown up, he confirmed.
The amount of the deposit
was confirmed by city
employees, he said, and the
bank bag was then locked
before being taken to a local
bank by a police officer. When
the money was counted by the
bank, he said, SSOO was miss
ing from the deposit listed by
the city.
It has never turned uP. the
mayor said. The reason it was
never discussed at an open
council meeting last year, he
added, was because “ovorg'-
body knew it."” Monday nlf t
was the first time that the
SUMMERVILLE, CHATTOOGA COUNTY, GEORGIA — THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1992
STATEMENT
In a written statement
delivered to Mayor Sewell Cash
on Jan. 29, Ponder had accus
ed Simmons of t;ryinfil to get
him to ‘help unseat Mr. Par
ris,” and that the city manager
“would greatly appreciate all
my help in this matter.”
Simmons told the council
Mondag night that he had
given Ponder a copy of the
recall law at Ponder’s request.
The city manafifrr said he had
also received three telephone
calls from citizens interested in
report of money missing from
a 1991 deßoslt has become
known publicly, he was told.
Cash said one location
where the money was counted
and verified at city hall was a
high-traffic area open to city
employees and the public. The
money is now counted and
talliea, in a back room, he
indicated.
BALANCE?
“Twenty years I've been
here, there's been $lO come up
short. Who can balance ever¥
day with a $5 million budget
It just doesn't hapmm. Most of
thgdtime it does,” Mayor Cash
said,
“‘Let's say the process was
short. I don't want to use the
word that it was ‘missing,’ "
Cash said. ‘‘Now, where we
fouled up in the goroeou of
tabulation or not, who can say?
Local Indictments
--See Page 6-A
© Copyright 1992 By Espy Publishing Co., Inc. — All Rights Reserved
recalling Parris, and made
known those calls to M:i/or
Cash and Councilman Ralph
Stanley.
Mayor Cash said he had
told Shanimmons at the time that
““city hall”” was not going to get
involved in any recall zlfgort. in
cluding gassing out informa
tion on the state’s recall laws.
Simmons said he did net
recall whether he tgave Ponder
the state law before or after
Maxor Cash’s order. Ponder
said he didn't know the exact
date when Simmons had given
him the information, but
thought it occurred the day
after Cash had warned
Simmons.
Councilman Mike King
moved that the issue be drop
ped by the council Monday
night and not pursued further.
Councilman Stanley offered a
second.
NO DATES
King said the panel didn’t
have any dates on which the
transaction was sufiposed to
have taken place. He recom
mended that Simmons have a
witness the next time he clos
ed his office door.
Branch Connelly, city at
torney, was asked his views on
the legal aspects of the case.
“I certainly would not want
to present it to a jury,” Connel
ly said of Ponder’s allegations.
Councilman Parris said he
wasn’t worried about a recall
gftition since one couldn’t be
iled until 180 days after he
assumed office. He said it was
clear to him that Simmons had
disobeyed Ma{or Cash’s order
not to get involved in any recall
effort. Parris said Simmons
should be given a reprimand.
Councifian King said he
would not amend his motion.
When the vote was taken,
Councilmen King, Stanley,
Bush and Pollard agreed to
drop the charges. Councilman
Parris voted against ending the
issue Monday night.
NO PROBLEM
‘“Based upon getting the in
formation, tggregseno problem
as far as I am concerned,”
Mayor Cash said prior to the
vote. “Just don’t do it any
more.”’
Referring to the allegations,
Mayor Cash said “...Not
knowing when this was exact
ly given, after I told Mr. Sim
mons, as “Red” has related to
make it afterward, but not
knowing it actual factual, it
would be very difficult for me
to hand down something I'm
not sure of.”
Continuing, the mayor said,
“...It’s hard for me to com
grehend anybody would sit
own and...make a fiction
see SIMMONS PROBE, page 8-A
But we were SSOO short of our
payroll. Let’'s say it was a
$50,500 deposit, when it got
down to the bank, it didn’t cor
respond with the money that
was there. It was SSOO
short ...”
“Negotiations” with the
bank are still gomg on over the
$500,” Cash said. “ . . . We say
it ain't short, the& say it is
short. Here it is. We done all
the checks, we done all the re
counts, everything. It's SSOO
short.”
The city's auditors are
aw:rebo{ thl;a situation, Cash
said, but “‘they just can’t put
their finger onydrhere it's a%u.' ;
LARGEST AMOUNT
Cash said the SSOO is the
largest amount that has turn
ed up short from the city’'s cof
fers. There was a ohat’.'nc of
sOO 8500 IN CITY, page 8-A
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Staff Photo By Earl McConnell
SUMMERVILLE TEEN IS CHATTOOGA COUNTY'S FIRST 1992 TRAFFIC FATALITY
Five Passengers Injured In Saturday Night Accident
Teen First Traffic Death Of 1992
Five Injured When Car Strikes Pole On Gore-Subligna Road
| A Summerville teen became
; Chattooga County's first traf
fic fatality of 1992 Saturday
“wheri his car struck a utility
Eole on the Gore-Subligna
oad.
Robert Lee Luallen Jr., 16,
kC.llfi'de Street, Summerville, was
illed and five passengers were
injured in the accident. They
Election Costs To Rise?
May Depend On Fate Of Five-Member Board
This is the second in a
series of articles about the pro
.posal to change Chattooga
Count&’s government struc
ture. Voters will cast ballots
March 3 on whether to change
from the current sole commis
sioner form of government to a
five-member board. Additional
parts of the series will explore
the advantages and disadvan
tages of both types of
government.
. ke
It may cost more than three
times as much to hold an elec
tion for a five-member board of
commissioners as it does for a
sole commissioner, according
to Chattooga County’s election
superintendent.
Jon Payne said the addi
tional expense would be due to
the five proposed commis
sioner districts not correspon
ding to all existing voting
precinct lines.
One alternative would be to
reduce the number of precincts
from 13 to five to correspond
with the new commissioner
districts — if the five-member
board is a{)proved March 3.
Payne is reluctant to use that
approach because he fears it
would reduce the turnout of
voters in future elections.
HIGHER COSTS
Based on cost fifiures from
gast elections in the countfi,
ayne estimated that each full
scale election under a five
member board format would
cost “a minimum’’ of $24,000
to $28,000. Past election costs
in the county have ranged bet
ween SB,OOO and $9,000 each,
Payne said.
That would mean the July
glrimary. a runoff, the
ovember general election, and
runoff if needed, could cost the
county between $96,000 and
$112,000, he indicated. If the
five-member board issue is not
adopted, he said, the total cost
this J'ear to hold elections
would be about $45,000.
The figures do not include
the cost ofllhe March 3 referen
dum on the five-member board
combined with the presidential
mhmco gflmary Payne said
cost of that election will be
SB,OOO to $9,000.
were treated at the Floyd
Medical Center (FMC). Trooper
D. R. Wilson, Georgia State
Patrol Post 38, Rome, in
vestigated the accident.
Luallen's 1985 Chevrolet
Monte Carlo had left the road
for 347 feet, struck a utility
pole, and traveled 80 feet more,
Wilson’s report said. The car
The reason for the addi
tional estimated costs, he said,
is because several different
ballots must be prepared and
election day manpower increas
ed to accommodate differences
in the commissioner districts
and the precinct lines.
FOUR BALLOTS
For example, he said, at
least four different ballots
would have to be prepared for
the Summerville precinct.
That’s because all or parts of
four of the commissioner
districts would be contained
within the Summerville box.
‘‘Ballots would have to be
ordered in too great quantity
(more than necessary) per
ballot style to ensure that there
were sufficient quantities for
each style,” Payne said. “At
this time, I have no way of
knowing how many voters
would show up from each
CEA Shuts Off Newspaper
Refuses To Enter School Bell Contest
A committee of the Chat
tooga Education Association
(CEA) decided last December
against entering any submis
sions by The Summerville
News in the annual state
School Bell Awards
com’lpetition.
hat decision came a month
before The News submitted
potential entries to the CEA.
It also appeared that entry
reciuirements for the School
Bell Awards were tightened
last year as a direct reaction
against The News having won
many of the top weekly awards
during thg&ast several years.
Gail Beck, president of the
CEA, confirmed that the
awards committee of the local
organization met last
December to discuss the
School Bell competition, The
five-member panel decided at
that time to not consider any
entries submitted by The
News, Mrs, Beck said.
Former Mayor Dies
--See Page 2-A
overturned several times
before coming to rest on its
top. 4 :
Luallen’s body was found
57 feet from the vehicle.
Injured in the accident were
Lacy Cornett, 14, LaFayette;
Jeremy Brown, 15, Trion;
Kelsie Mullins, 16, LaFayette;
Paul Brice, 15, Trion; and
district in each precinct for
each party..."
He went on, ‘‘Personnel
would at a minimum be doubl
ed or tripled, and that is a
minimum to make sure that
the right people in a precinct
with multiple districts got the
right ballot.”
In many cases, Payne said,
voters on opposite sides of a
road would vote for candidates
in different commissioner
districts. It will be difficult to
determine exactly where each
voter resides in relation to
precinct lines and commis
sioner district lines, he said.
RESIDENCE
The main problem is that all
voters in the county would not
vote for all five commissioners,
Payne said. For example,
voters in most of the City of
Summerville — except for a
small corner in southwest Sum-
The School Bell Awards
honors are handed out annual
ly lE' the Georgia Association
of Educators %AE) to daily
and weekly newspapers, and
radio and television stations
for their efforts to inform
citizens about educational
issues.
The 1992 newspaper
categories include year-round
coverafe. editorial series, news
series, feature articles, and con
tinuous su%)lement. Awards
presented this year will be for
articles published in calendar
year 1991.
Janet Martin, a Trion
teacher who Mrs. Beck said
chaired the awards committee,
;fread Monday afternoon with
rs. Beck that t(l‘::dpmd had
deliberately excluded the news
paper from the competition.
“NEGATIVISM”
Mrs. Beck indicated Fw
that the decision was
STILL
ONLY
2 50
Debra Combs, 15, LaFayette.
They were transported to FMC
by the Chattooga Emergency
Service.
Funeral services for
Luallen, a student at Chat
tooga High School, were held
Tuesday. The state patrol said
Wednesday that no other
see TEEN, page 12-A
merville — will vote in a single
commissioner race, rather than
voting for all five commis
sioners.
Since the vote must be by
commissioner districts rather
than county-wide, the issue is
co?lf)licated. he added. Even
tually, he hoped that the cards
of individuar voters would be
color coded so it would be
easier to determine in which
commissioner district they
would cast ballots. ‘“That is go
ing to be a serious difficulty,”
he said.
Initially, however, it might
be necessary to post a large
county map with the commis
sioner districts outlined in each
precinct so individual voters
and pollworkers can determine
where a voter lives before he is
iven ballots, Payne indicated.
%‘hat is, if the March 3 referen
dum approves a five-member
see ELECTION COSTS, page 7-A
because of what she termed the
newspaper's ‘‘negativism”’
toward education, and because
it had on occasion taken
editorial positions different
from those of the GAE, parent
group of the CEA.
Local officials of the CEA
met with GAE officials in
Atlanta this Past year, Mrs.
Beck said, ‘“and looked at
items from The Summerville
News.” One of those “items”
was an uncs:fined editorial opi
nion that called for the federal
government to approve tuition
allow parents to take a credit
on their federal income tax to
send their children to any
school of their choice.
Tuition tax credits would
‘““destroy” the public school
lyotmu. Beck contended.
“w mr
that (tas Creditanit wondan's
make sense to give you an
see CEA SHUTS, page 12:A