Newspaper Page Text
Sports: IB
Soccer Leopards clinch
berth in area playoffs
News: 2A
V " i flu
Safety check in Baldwin
March 26,2008
The Banks County News
504^ Homer, Banks County, Georgia 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • mainstreetnews.com • 26 Pages, 3 Sections Plus Supplements • Vol. 39 No. 33
Williams gets
fine, probation
Former ADA charged
with misdemeanor
instead of felony
BY ANGELA GARY
The assistant district attorney pulled
into a scheme to take money from
Banks County pled guilty Tuesday to
misdemeanor charges of being party
to a crime.
Former ADA
Brett Williams
was fined $500
and given 12
months probation
and ordered to
complete 50 hours
of community
service on a mis
demeanor charge.
The action stems
from the theft case
made against for
mer Piedmont Judicial Circuit District
Attorney Tim Madison. Williams was
originally arrested on felony charges
of theft in connection with the case
against Madison. On Tuesday, the
felony charges against Williams were
dismissed.
Meanwhile, a hearing with
Madison’s wife, Linn Jones, on related
theft charges has been rescheduled to
April 18. Jones worked in the DA’s
office as well and faces charges related
to having falsified payroll documents.
She was on both the Banks County and
Jackson County payrolls.
WILLIAMS
The scheme with Madison and
Williams involved having Banks
County pay a full-time salary for
Williams, who was already being paid
a full-time salary as ADA by the state.
The Banks County salary was paid
to Williams, who then passed a por
tion of it on to Madison. Madison put
the money into a personal checking
account and used it for a variety of
things, including purchasing a $7,000
motorcycle.
At Tuesday’s hearing, David
McLaughlin of the Georgia Attorney
General’s Office spoke on Williams’
role in the case.
“If Mr. Williams didn’t know a
deception was being perpetuated on
Banks County, he surely should have
known,” he said.
Williams’ attorney, Nick Litito,
said his client was not working with
Madison to steal the funds.
continued on page 2A
f 7
WILLIAMS
News - 2-3A
•Pedestrian death ruled an
accident
— page 2A
•Development authority
holds closed meeting
— page 3A
Op/Ed
• ‘Trip home helps keep life
in perspective’
— page 4A
Other news
•Social News — pages 9-11A
•Public Safety — page 6A
•Legals — page 5B
• Church — page 8A
• Obituaries — page 7A
State review finds improved conditions
95 percent pass rate reported at Banks County fire department
BY ANGELA GARY
A state fire organization returned to Banks
County last week for a review of state require
ments being met and found that 95 percent of all
skills checked passed. This was not the case two
months ago, when the county only had a 39 percent
pass rate.
The Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training
Council, located in Forsyth, visited Banks County
Fire Services on Jan. 3 and again on March 18-20.
“On Jan. 3, all stations were in good order and
met the requirements for compliance,” according
to the written report from David Cummings of the
fire training council. “We also checked the train
ing records for the continued annual training and
core competency checkoffs and we noticed that
all records were incomplete. We could not locate
the records for the continued annual training and
the core competency check off books were not
completed. When we rode out to the stations, you
had nine personnel on duty that were state certified
to spot check on the core competencies. Of the
18 skills done, only seven were passed giving the
department a 39 percent pass rate.”
The council decided to conduct another site visit
March 18-20. The results from that follow up visit,
were as follows: “out of the 19 personnel on duty,
they performed a total of 57 checkoffs with three
failures.. .95 percent of all skills checked were
passed. The training records were in excellent order
with all recommendations met. I would like to con
gratulate you and your staff on a job well done.”
FIRST TRIP TO EGG HUNT
Thirteen-month-old Maren Hanson, Commerce, celebrates her first trip to the annual
Garrison egg hunt, riding in a wagon that her parents made for her. See more photos from
the 49th annual event in Homer on page 12A. Photo by Justin Poole
Five-member BOC proposal goes before state
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
If approval is received at the state level, Banks
County voters will have the opportunity to change the
form of county government when they go to the polls
this November.
State senator Nancy Schaefer is introducing legis
lation to the senate which would give Banks County
voters the choice of going from a three-member board
of commissioner to a five-member board. If approved
in the senate, the bill would then need to be approved
by the house before being placed on the ballot.
Once approved at the state level, the binding refer-
continued on page 2A
Maysville to jump police
dept. fine income 50%
Maysville Budget
Income
City Court Fines
LOST
Property Taxes
Other
General Govt.
2007
$100,000
$254,000
$84,000
$148,163
2008
$150,000
$255,000
$78,800
$151,337
TOTAL INCOME
$586,163
$635,137
Expenses
Public Safety
$266,900
$309,800
General Govt.
$190,700
$211,700
Planning
$5,000
$4,000
Library
$57,300
$52,300
DDA
$5,000
$2,500
Public Works
$43,000
$36,700
Fire-Intergovernmental $18,200
$18,100
$586,200 $635,137
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
With little discussion,
the Maysville City Council
approved a 2008 budget that
is eight percent higher than
2007 during a called meet
ing Monday night. The new
budget calls for a 50 per
cent jump in city police fine
income, which suggests the
department will be stopping
and fining more motorists
during the year.
The budget calls for
municipal court fines to go
from $100,000 in 2007 to
$150,000 in 2008, a 50 per
cent increase.
The budget also calls
for a 14 percent drop in the
town’s tax rate on its Jackson
County residents and a slight
increase in the Banks County
rate. The 2008 Jackson
County rate was set at 2.728
mills, down from 3.194 mills
last year. The 2008 Banks
County rate was set at .81
mills, up from .71 mills in
2007. Together, city property
TOTAL EXPENSES
tax income is expected to
decline by 6 percent.
A third public hearing was
held on the city budget prior
to Monday’s called meeting.
No citizens were in atten
dance.
Councilmember Lynn
Villyard inquired about
obtaining additional funds
for the library, but mayor
Jerry Baker said no addi
tional money was available.
The library budget is cut in
the 2008 budget.
EXPENSES
On the expense side, the
city cut most departments’
spending, except for general
government and the police
continued on page 2A
Maysville to vote on Dollar General
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
The Maysville City Council could decide
at its upcoming April 7 meeting on a request
from Dollar General to build a store on the
Jackson County side of the city.
The Maysville Planning Commission
voted 2-1 earlier this month to approve
Dollar General’s plans for a store off Hwy.
98 and Newton Drive across from the Golden
Pantry. The area is currently a vacant lot.
The Maysville City Council was going
to vote on the matter at its regular meeting
earlier this month, but city attorney Gary
Freeman said it first had to be presented to
them by the city’s newly established plan
ning and zoning commission.
Freeman also advised city officials that it
always is best to abide by the planning and
zoning rules, otherwise, everyone making
a request would have to be granted a vari
ance.
The issue is expected to be discussed at
the regular April 7 council meeting, sched
uled for 7 p.m. in the city library.
Rec. dept.
plans parade
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
Another rite of spring will arrive in
Banks County Saturday.
The Banks County Parks and
Recreation Department will host
its annual opening day ceremonies,
including a parade beginning at 10 a.m.
at Banks County Elementary School.
Recreation director Philip Cronic said
this week the parade will conclude at
the first recreation field on Thompson
Street.
Following the parade, an opening
day ceremony will be held where the
teams will be introduced along with
the season’s ceremonial first pitch,
Cronic said.
The Banks County Parks and
Recreation Department will have 34
continued on page 2A
OPENING PERFORMANCE FOR FINE ARTS NIGHT
The chorus classes from all the Banks County schools performed an opening piece to an overflowing auditorium at the Banks
County Fine Arts Night on Thursday. See page 8B for more photos from the evening. Photo by Justin Poole
