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Forrest Hills Resort get-away
January 2, 2008
January 2,
The Banks County News
504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 16 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 21
Hart to seek
re-election
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Gene Hart had been tossing around
the idea of whether to run for re-elec
tion as Board of Commission chairman
for some time.
After a final dis
cussion with his
wife, Thelma, Hart
decided recently he
would seek a sec
ond term as chair
man and made that
announcement offi
cial. Hart, who will
run once again on
the Republican ticket, said there are
many important issues facing Banks
County right now and he would like
to continue to help move the county
forward.
“There is just so much going on
in the county right now and I believe
things are going in the right direction,”
the chairman said. “I would like to con
tinue to be a part of it. I enjoy the work
associated with being in this office and
the interaction with the people of the
county.”
If elected to a second term, Hart said
he would concentrate on industrial
growth for the county.
“Banks Crossing is really growing,”
he said. “I want to see that continue.
We need to have some roadwork done
in that area. I want to promote some of
that growth to be on the Banks County
side.”
Hart said it will be important for
developers and land owners to work
together to help push proper growth
for the county to meet industrial needs
and he said he wouldn’t mind seeing
the county purchase land to help attract
new businesses.
“We have to be able to offer some
thing to new businesses,” the chairman
said.
The positive steps the county has
taken during the last four years has
been a combined effort of all commis
sioners, Hart said.
During Hart’s leadership, Banks
County citizens have approved a new
administrative building and renova
tions to the current courthouse. The
projects are being paid for through a
Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax, which was approved through a
local referendum.
The primary election for chairman
will be in July.
HART
— Newsmaker of the Year —
“I am overwhelmed every day. You have to have God by your side...There are days that I cry because I can’t solve that Mom’s problem
of needing rent money or seeing that Dad come in who just lost his job. Each day is different. I do it to help those children and families
— not to get a pat on the back." — Robin Trotter, director of Banks County’s Family Connection and Generous Hearts
Planners to hear
poultry operation
request Thursday
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Members of the Banks County
Planning Commission will once again
look at a request from Country Charms
Egg Company at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan.
3, concerning the opening of a large-
scale egg laying plant.
Representatives of the Gainesville-
based poultry company appeared
before the Banks County Planning
Commission in early December
requesting approval for a new opera
tion in the area of Browns Bridge Road
and Duncan Road. After listening to an
hour of discussion from company offi
cials and concerned citizens, the plan
ning commission tabled the request
until its next meeting to have time to go
over additional submitted information.
An overflow crowd filled the Banks
County courtroom earlier this month
as citizens turned out to voice their
continued on page 7A
— Political Story of the Year —
A fall from grace: District attorney now faces charges
It was a long way to fall.
After serving nearly a quarter-century as the district
attorney for the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, which covers
Jackson, Banks and Barrow counties, DA Tim Madison
found himself facing criminal charges during 2007.
It was a wrenching and painful development for the
judicial circuit and for this particular DA’s seat. Forty-
years ago, prosecutor Floyd Hoard was murdered by a
local organized crime gang he had been investigating.
REPORTS TO JAIL
Former district attorney Tim Madison (right)
and his wife, Linn Jones, turned themselves
in to the Banks County Jail in August after
being indicted the day before. They are
shown in the jail parking lot with attorney
Ed Tolley. Photo by Allen Luton
That event cast a long shadow and those who followed
him as district attorney would always hear the echo of
Hoard’s martyrdom.
So for Madison, the judicial system’s top prosecutor,
to taint that office over allegations of wrongdoing was
especially difficult to fathom. It reverberates still across
the three-county circuit.
The story of Madison’s resignation and his subsequent
criminal indictment on theft charges, along with the
indictments of his wife and a former assistant district
attorney, was the Political Story of the Year for 2007.
Working from a tip, MainStreet Newspapers began
looking into Madison’s handling of public funds in early
2007. Using Georgia’s Open Records Law and talking
with a number of sources, the staff uncovered informa
tion that raised serious questions about how Madison
continued on page 7A
Robin Trotter's generous heart connects families
HELPING OTHERS
Robin Trotter helps many people in Banks County through her work as head of Generous Hearts
and Family Connection. She is shown (to the left) at the recent holiday program coordinated by
Generous Hearts. She is also shown speaking about the Family Connection program at a Banks
County Chamber of Commerce meeting.
— Newsmakers of past years —
2006 Gene Hart, BOC chairman
2005 Doug Cheek, Homer mayor
2004 Rep. Jeanette Jamieson
2003 Chris Erwin, superintendent
2002 Jack Banks, IDA
2001 Bonnie Johnson, CVB
2000 Charles Chapman, sheriff
1999 Mark Reed, Baldwin mayor
1998 Gary Freeman and Danny Maxwell, BOC
1997 Bo Garrison and Dock Sisk, BOE chairman and superintendent
1996 Milton Patterson, BOC
BY ANGELA GARY
Sometimes the Newsmaker of the
Year is obvious. It is someone whose
name was in the headlines throughout
the year. It could be someone who has
been a controversial figure or someone
who seeks attention.
Other times the Newsmaker of the
Year is someone whose name you might
not see in the headlines week after week.
It is someone who prefers to work out
side of the spotlight. It is someone who
works tirelessly behind the scenes to
make sure the county they call home is
a better place.
One Banks County lady, a graduate of
the local high school who still calls the
county she loves home, works behind
the scenes to make sure children who
don’t have school supplies have what
they need for the school year. She leads
the effort to make sure needy children
get presents during the Christmas sea
son. She helps those without jobs look
for work. She leads those who want to
further their education in the right path.
The list goes on and on as to how she
helps people throughout Banks County.
Robin Trotter, who leads Generous
Hearts and Family Connection, helps
those in the community who many
ignore or don’t worry about it. Robin
has shed many a tear and spent count
less hours helping people who might
otherwise not get a helping hand.
It is interesting to note that Generous
Hearts and Family Connection are the
names of the two organizations she
leads. Robin Trotter has a most generous
heart that is overflowing with love for
people she doesn’t even know. Her work
connects families and enables them to
flourish.
Because of the work Robin Trotter
does behind the scenes throughout our
community she has been named as the
Newsmaker of the Year for 2007.
“It’s in my heart to take care of the
kids and families,” Trotter said during an
interview about the Family Connection
program earlier this year.
Pat Westmoreland, a former board
of commissioner who has worked with
Robin through Generous Hearts, spoke
of her work at a dinner held earlier this
year.
“She has a passion for the people of
Banks County — the young and the
elderly,” he said. “She has a personality
that will fit in with the people to get the
job done.”
Westmoreland said the Generous
Hearts program would have ended years
ago without Robin’s work.
“She is the reason Generous Hearts
is as successful as it has been,” he said.
“It’s been a privilege to work with her.
I don’t have much work to do because
Robin does all the work.”
Trotter has been with the Family
Connection program for more than
seven years. Children’s education and
child abuse and neglect are the focus of
the program. Trotter said that “making
sure children’s needs are taken care of”
has always been the focus of the Family
Connection program.
“It always seems to work out,” Trotter
said earlier this year of the problems
she encounters. “It may not solve the
problem, but it helps the problem. We
don’t have the resources here in Banks
County to solve all of our problems.”
In addition to these programs, Trotter
said she deals with various other needs
of children and families each day.
“I am overwhelmed every day,” she
said. “You have to have God by your
side.. .There are days that I cry because
I can’t solve that Mom’s problem of
needing rent money or seeing that Dad
come in who just lost his job. Each day
is different.”
Trotter said her heart leads her to pro
viding service.
“I do it to help those children and
families — not to get a pat on the back,”
she said.
