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Vol. 24 No. 45 • Publication No. 1074-987 • Danielsville, Madison County, Georgia 30633 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers Inc. • 28 Pages, 2 Sections Plus Supplements COUNTY GOV’T ELECTIONS Auditors: County finances back on track Two new mayors elected Croya defeats Cross in Danielsville; McMickle tops Burroughs in Comer; Phillips wins in Hull; runoff set in Colbert council race; Peck to succeed Waggoner By Margie Richards margie@mainstreetnews.com Madison County government's finance committee received a sterling report Monday on the status of this year’s annual audit. Matt Miller, of the auditing firm Treadwell, Tamplin and Company, told the committee that this year’s audit is on time for the first time in a number of years, and that information received from the finance department to do the audits is “a sight better over the way things were done previously.” And he specifically praised finance director Kathy Clark for her work at cleaning up the reporting pro cess. Miller said his company’s findings included no sig nificant difficulties with the audit and that they had no problems receiving timely and correct information in order to do their work. “Consequently, we (auditors) were able to get in and out a little faster than in the past,” he told the committee. — See “Finances” on 2A David McMickle Mayor of Comer By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com T wo new mayors will lead Madison County municipalities after unseating incumbents by siz able margins in Tuesday night’s elections. Philip Croya beat 12-year incumbent Glenn Cross 92-46 for the Danielsville mayoral post. In Comer, David McMickle defeat ed Billy Burroughs 120-73, end ing Burroughs’ eight-year tenure there. Croya said he feels Danielsville is ready to move forward. “We’re excited, and we’re looking forward to work ing together and rebuilding Danielsville city,” Croya said. With 138 ballots, the Philip Croya Mayor of Danielsville Danielsville election had the second highest turnout of any of the local elections. Croya said he campaigned extensively. “Yeah, because I’ve seen every registered voter’s house except the ones I knew would vote for him (Cross),” Croya said. David McMickle, a political newcomer who served in the army for 20 years, wasn’t able to be reached for comment over his victory in the Comer election in which 193 people voted. Croya’s and McMickle’s terms begin in January. A third new mayor will also take over after the new year as Chris Peck will succeed long- — See “Election” on 2A DANIELSVILLE Mayoral race: Glenn Cross 46 Philip Croya 92 COMER Mayoral race: Billy Burroughs 73 David McMickle 120 HULL Council race: Paul Cook 6 Paige Phillips 23 COLBERT Council race: Ellyn Trinrud 31 Tim Wyatt 22 Reginald Hunter 20 *Trinrud and Wyatt will face each other in a runoff Dec. 1 CRIME DA yet to reach decision on further prosecutions in gov’t theft case By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Melinda Spence pled guilty to stealing money from the Madison County government, but she took the stand last week and testified that former county clerk and finance director Morris Fortson participated in the theft with her. Fortson vehemently denied Spence’s allega tion, saying he had abso lutely no part in stealing over $80,000 in public funds. He said he was unaware that his assis tant was taking money from the BOC office. Both testimonies came before Judge Thomas Hodges, who sentenced Spence to two years in jail, and Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Bob Lavender, who said this week that he has not reached a decision on whether he thinks Spence’s tes timony warrants action against Fortson. “I don’t discuss pend ing investigations,” said Lavender. “I don’t know at this point ... You know, just as a general rule, it would be unfair to Mr. Fortson and unfair to the state to make any comments along that line at this time.” Lavender said he has asked that a transcript of the hearing be prepared. “There are no charges at this time is about the best I can tell you,” said the district attorney. “I’m not in a position to make a definitive statement.” — See ‘"Theft” on 2A INSIDE Index: News — 1-3A 5A, 7A Opinions — 4-5A Crime — 6A Schools — 8A 15A Churches — 9A Obituaries — 10A Classifieds — 12-14A Socials — 16A Sports— 1-2B Legate— 3-12B Contact: Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Mail: PO. Box 658, Danielsville, GA, 30633 Web: MadisonJoumalTODAY. com Veterans’ Day events planned Comer Elementary School will recognize local veterans Nov. 11 at the school. Madison County veterans will also be among those recoginzed Satur day at a Veterans’ Appreciation Day in Winterville. — Page 7A On to Clarke Central The Madison County football team will close out the regular season Friday at Clarke Central. — Page 1B Fun and Games Kwannie Pope (left), 9, and Jacob Foster, 11, step back from the action and pose for a snapshot Oct. 29 at the Madison County Special Olympics at Hull-Sanford Elementary School. See Page 5A for more photos. Zach Mitcham/staff TAXES Property tax bills to arrive soon Homeowners can expect $240 increase thanks to state gov't decision By Zach Mitcham zach@mainstreetnews.com Property tax bills will arrive in mailboxes soon. County tax levying boards have already approved their tax rates. And BOC chair man Anthony Dove said Monday that the state has accepted the county’s 2009 digest. “The bills should be out in the next week or so,” he told commis sioners. Dove allowed that the arrival of tax bills in the mail is a “good thing and a bad thing,” point ing out that two tax bills in one year is hard — See "Taxes” on 2A HEALTH ECONOMY H1N1 shot still not available at Madison Co. Health Dept. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com The swine flu vaccination shot hasn’t arrived at the Madison County Health Department and there’s no definite date when it may. The Northeast Georgia Health District’s orders for the H1N1 injection have yet to be filled by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, causing a holdup and some discomfort district-wide. “That’s a really difficult ques tion to answer for us, and that’s a really frustrating answer for us,” said Steven Dumped of the Northeast Georgia Health District. Because of the delay on H1N1 shot orders, the restocking of area health departments with the sea sonal flu vaccine is also on hold. “We find ourselves backed up on both vaccines,” Dumped said, “and it makes us a little angry and at the same time, a little nervous.” The good news is that pads of the Atlanta area have staded to receive their first allocations of the H1N1 shot, which could mean that the area’s orders could be filled soon. But Dumped won’t speculate when Madison County or the rest of the district would receive the H1N1 shots until it’s definite. “I don’t want to tell anyone that we have shots, until the shots are in our hands,” he said. While the Madison County Health Depadment still awaits the H1N1 shot, the nasal spray form of the vaccine has been available there since early October. Still, not many people are tak ing the Madison County Health Depadment — or any of the oth ers — up on the offer. "Turnout has been a little bit low, lower than we expected for the 2-4-year-old bracket,” he said. That’s why the state granted permission to offer the nasal spray to anyone up to age 25, and those between 25-49 who have condi tions that may promote complica tions with the flu. Still, there’s resistance. The nasal spray seems to be “intimi dating” people, Dumped said, through fear that it might give them the flu. That’s impossible, he contend ed. "It is impossible because the vims that is present has been modified so that it cannot live inside the body,” Dumped said. There’s a chance that the public — See “Flu” on 2A Monthly foreclosures match record high Fifty Madison County properties are being adver tised in The Madison County Journal for the December foreclosure sale, matching a record monthly total set in August. In 2009,377 foreclosures have been advertised in The Madison County Journal. That's up from 260 fore closures advertised in 2008 and 150 advertised in both 2006 and 2007. While the foreclosure sales are advertised in the newspaper, not all homes will necessarily be sold through the foreclosure process. Mortgage hold ers could still settle with lenders before the property is sold at the courthouse steps.