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PAGE 2A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008 Election fees set for 2008 county races BY CHRIS BRIDGES Banks County voters will go to their respective voting polls this summer for another primary election with 11 county posts up for vote. Candidate qualifying for the General Primary Election will begin Monday, April 28, at 9 a.m. and continues through Friday, May 2, at noon. Candidate qualifying for the General/Non-Partisan Election will begin from June 23-27. Offices which can be contested in the primary election and the qualify ing fee for each is as follows: •sheriff, $1,616.40 •tax commissioner, $1,392.24 •clerk of superior court, $1,392.24 •probate judge, $1,392.24 •magistrate judge, $1,392,24 •coroner, $72 •county chairman, $1,080 •county surveyor, $25 •board of education, post 1, $64.50 •board of education, post 2, $60 •board of education, post 4, $60. The qualifying fee for each office is based on three percent of that office’s base salary. DA Bridgeman announces quarterly meeting District Attorney Rick Bridgeman will hold the first of a series of quarterly public meetings on Saturday, Feb. 16. He will meet with Jackson County citizens from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. at the Jefferson House Restaurant, 682 Athens Street in Jefferson. Bridgeman’s Barrow County meeting will be from 10:30 a.m. until 12 p.m. at the Winder Police Department training room, 94 N. Broad Street in Winder. Bridgeman will meet with Banks County citizens on from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Historic Banks County Courthouse in Homer. Citizens are invited to come and ask questions about the operations in the Piedmont Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office. Piedmont College to host open house Feb. 28 Students and their parents interested in learning about the Piedmont College Athens Campus are invited to an open house at the college from 6:30-8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 28. Located at 595 Prince Avenue, Piedmont’s Athens Campus now offers complete four-year degrees in a variety of career-oriented subjects, as well as graduate degree programs in education and business. The open house is an opportunity for undergraduate students to meet Piedmont faculty and learn about the new programs offered in Athens. Welcome and introductions will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Commons Hall, and tours will be given shortly after. The evening will end with a dessert reception in Rogers Hall. For more information call Piedmont College Undergraduate Admissions at 1-800-277-7020, or visit www.piedmont.edu. New director of staffing named for health system Nancy Barton has been named the new director of staffing for Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS). In the newly-created position, Barton is responsible for coordinat ing temporary staff and overseeing utilization of staffing resources and scheduling systems on a 24-hour basis. Barton has 35 years of nursing experience, coupled with 10 years of teaching experience at the col lege level. She has taught at sev eral universities, including Brenau University in Gainesville. Barton was previously employed at NGHS, working as director of nursing pro fessional practice before taking the position of director of administrative services at the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon. “I’ve really enjoyed coming back to work here,” Barton said. “It’s nice to come back after 12 years and still know people I work with. It is also apparent that there is so much Red Cross to offer babysitter’s course The East Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross is offering a babysitter’s training course on Saturday, March 1, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Center in Athens. The fee is $38 and is open to all 11-to-15 year olds. Participants in the course will learn how to respond to emergen cies and illnesses with first aid and other appropriate care, make deci sions under pressure, manage young children safely, identify common safety hazards and prevent injuries, and choose safe and age-appropriate games For more information, or to regis ter, contact the East Georgia Chapter at 706-353-1645. Planners approve lone request BY CHRIS BRIDGES The Banks County Planning Commission had a short agenda Tuesday night approving the only item brought before the members. A conditional use permit request for an additional poultry house on a farm owned by Joe and Cindy Tu of Yonah-Homer Road was unani mously approved by the commis sion. The land is a 27-acre tract of property which is used exclusively as a farm. Several friends of the Tu family spoke on their behalf as well as several employees. The Banks County Board of Commissioners will have final say on the request during its meeting next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The only other item on the Planning Commission’s Tuesday agenda was a conditional use request for a home inspection business from Bradford Leary but that item was requested to be tabled since he could not attend the meeting. opportunity and growth here.” Barton received her nursing diplo ma from Georgia Baptist Hospital School of Nursing in 1972. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing. In 1992, Barton received her certifi cation in Total Quality Management at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Barton lives in Gainesville and has a daughter in the area who is also a nurse. Barton is a grandmother of four. Baldwin... continued from page 1A The suit states that according to the two voting machines used in the election, Ayers won by one vote. Ayers represented himself in the suit and he called several witnesses to testify on his behalf. He told Judge Stone that he had trouble voting for himself in the election because the lever on the voting machine he was using would not stay down when posi tioned by his name on the ballot. A total of 183 people voted by machine in the November election. Holcomb received 88 machine votes and Ayers received 89. Six people chose not to vote by machine. At the start of the hearing, Ayers told the judge that two of his witnesses, Jeff and Lynn Murray, told him that they would not be coming to testify because they had been told by Baldwin City Attorney David Syfan that they didn’t have to attend. The Murrays reside in Banks County not Habersham County. Ayers said in his opening statement that the Nov. 6 election was compromised and his hope was for the court to grant a new election. Ayers also questioned the training received by Kyle to hold the election superintendents job. Kyle said she had 15 hours of training and Ayers said the secretary of state’s office has only 12 hours recorded for Kyle. Ayers also questioned why Holcomb had continued to attend the January meetings and vote on items before the council. Syfan said the city’s charter allows Holcomb to vote in her council member position until the election is cleared. Ayers also alleged at the hearing on Tuesday that Holcomb was seen in city hall during the two weeks prior to the election. Ayers said this was in violation to the law that says no candidate can be in the voting area while any votes are being cast. When Kyle was questioned on the witness stand about going out to the home of a registered voter, she stated that she did go out to one house and take the voter an absentee ballot application and ballot. Kyle said the voter called and asked her to come to her home on Oct. 29 to allow her to vote an absentee ballot due to the fact that she was sick and going to have surgery on Oct. 30. Kyle stated she called the registrars office in Habersham County and was told this was allowable. Ayers said when he contacted Kyle about this matter she said, “I am the election superintendent and I went to those places by myself.” When questioned, Kyle said she went to the elector’s house alone. Ayers called Amber Allen to the stand to testify about articles that appeared in The Northeast Georgian news paper concerning the election. Ayers questioned Allen, a reporter for the newspaper, about three articles that appeared in the paper. Ayers questioned Allen about an incorrect date that appeared in one of the articles. The date in the article on Nov. 13 stated that Kyle went to the home of the voter on Nov. 6 and the correct date should have been Oct. 29. Allen said this was her fault, she made an error and a correction was run in the paper. Ayers also questioned Allen, who up until recently covered the Baldwin City Council meetings for The Northeast Georgian, about observing Holcomb at the council meeting on Jan. 14. Allen stated she did see Holcomb at this meeting. Ayers asked Allen, “At the re-count, did you hear what Mr. (Ray) Clark, voting machine custodian, said about the machine?” Allen replied, “The machines are 25 to 30 years old. They are working properly at this time.” After testimony from several other witnesses including city employees Betty Harper and Betty Craig, Mayor Reed, Ayers’ step-daughter Debbie Tench and Ayer’s wife, Polly Ayers, the judge ruled Ayers had not shown an irregularity that would change the election outcome. Judge Stone said, “There are obviously deep feelings in this close election as in any close election. I don’t have a basis to set aside this election.” Call 367-5233 to subscribe to The Banks County News today! „ i) Hall County Schools Character • Competency • Rigor m FOR All Gainesville, Georgia Teacher Recruitment Fair Saturday, February 23, 2008 9:00 a.m. -1:30 P.M. Gainesville Civic Center 830 Green Street Gainesville, Georgia 2008-09 Salary Range * *Subject to Action by the Georgia General Assembly and Hall County Board of Education A A MEDfiTj U.S.News $37,366 — $80,382 U. S. News and World Report 19? School Matters “America’s Best High Schools Johnson High - North Hall High - West Hall High Applicants Should Complete an On-Line Application in Advance! Administrators Will Be Interviewing Applicants For All Positions! Interviews are reserved for applicants with professional certification or those who anticipate professional certification by the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year. Individuals pursuing alternative certification are invited to attend and obtain information relative to provisional certification. COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS PROGRAM INCLUDING MEDICAL AND DENTAL COVERAGE, LIFE INSURANCE, VISION, CANCER, DISABILITY, AND LONG-TERM CARE Directions from Atlanta Travel I-85 North. Take I-985 North to Gainesville. Go to Exit 22. Turn left onto Highway 129 North. Remain on Highway 129 North through Gainesville. The Civic Center is located on the right. ENJOY LIFE ON LAKE LANIER — ONLY MINUTES FROM ATLANTA! Questions: 770-534-1080 Web-Site: www.hallco.org E-Mail: personnel@hallco.org