LumpkinSunshine.com

As  Sheriff Jarrard entered the room for the February 17 Commission Meeting, Chairman Raber greeted him with, “Just what did you have to do to get that article in The Dahlonega Nugget?”  Jarrard replied, “I just answered Sharon’s questions.”

Raber was clearly envious.  The editorial had described what a  great job the sheriff had done.

When jail expenditures came up on the Agenda, Jarrard was allowed to make his case repeating what had been stated in great detail during each of the last several Commission Work Sessions.  This time he was able to point out that he had returned some $450,000 to the County General Fund from his 2009 Budget.  The income had been generated by housing prisoners from other counties. Continue reading »

Once again, leaving many in the audience unsure about what they had voted to do, Lumpkin County Commissioners denied dog park proponents the right to proceed with plans for their dog park.

Chairman John Raber began the discussion saying, “Regardless of what comes out, you have been professional.”  He continued relating that during visitation at the funeral home someone had yelled out at him, “Y’all had better not allow that dog park!”

After allowing dog park supporters to state what they  wanted, Raber offered dog park opponent, Clinton Crane, an opportunity to question dog park supporters.  Crane asked, “Y’all gonna build a fence if we give you a piece of property?  Y’all gonna take care of all the upkeep, so forth?  No extra work for the Park & Rec?  Who has liability?  My thing is, right now the county has not given a piece of land to a non-profit.”

This public display during a Regular Commission Meeting was unprecedented since Raber became chairman.  During all previous Regular Monthly Commission meetings, Raber has been very careful to allow only commissioners to ask questions during meetings. Continue reading »

GEFA loan bill sneaks out of Senate committee
by Tom Crawford on 2/16/2010

Gov. Sonny Perdue’s aides are taking a back-door approach to getting legislative approval of his proposal to raise cash for the budget by selling off loans made by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA).

Language that would authorize GEFA to turn over its loan proceeds to the state treasury was quietly added to a House bill (HB 244) that was originally introduced last year to make a routine change to the authority’s name. Continue reading »