LumpkinSunshine.com

Chairman John Raber began the first Public Hearing on the budget with a failed attempt to keep people from speaking out.  He announced, “I will arrange for you to be the one to stand in front of an employee and tell him why he is losing his job if any of you think county jobs need to be eliminated.”  Before the meeting was over two hours later, several residents not only volunteered to take him up on it; they accused him of trying to intimidate them. Continue reading »

The Lumpkin County Homeowners Association (LCHA) will meet on Tuesday, October 27 at 6:00 PM in the meeting room of United Community Bank located on Morrison Moore Parkway across from the Post Office. Continue reading »

Commissioners graciously accepted the Blackburn Park petition at the beginning of their Wednesday evening meeting.

It seems that the official county form for petitions adopted in July by unanimous vote of the board was merely a recommendation and not a requirement.  Quotes from Commissioners in The Dahlonega Nugget article on October 14 continue to verify that they did not agree on what they voted for.

It seems that they do now agree to accept petitions as required by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.   Chairman Raber was quoted as saying,  …All we did was ask that people follow a form so petitions could be legitimized. Yet, the commissioners blindly approved a document that provides for $1,000 fines and imprisonment of up to five years. Continue reading »

Petition protest: Group to challenge BOC policy
[By Sharon Hall. Originally published in The Dahlonega Nugget Wednesday, September 30, 2009]

Lumpkin County Homeowners Association members plan to put the county’s new rules concerning petitions to the test at the next regular meeting of the board of commissioners Wednesday, Oct. 14. They voted last week to present a petition that does not conform to the new rules, opposing the harvesting of hardwood trees from the Blackburn Park property. Continue reading »

Incorrect information was provided in The Dahlonega Nugget on August 19.  An individual was quoted as saying that the petition effort to save Blackburn Park was over:

The group also expressed frustration toward the local government as well. Several attendees said they found fault with recent actions by the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners to deny a petition protesting the logging of Blackburn Park under the suspicion that it was fraudulent.

“We worked hard and got 1,400 names in four days on that petition but yet nobody has seen it,” said one woman.

“So it’s over,” replied Hoynes. “I mean it’s just all over.”

It is easy to appreciate the frustration these folks feel in response to the commissioners’ vote on petition requirements. However, the Blackburn Park petition is being compiled by members of the Lumpkin County Homeowners Association (LCHA), not persons quoted in the newspaper. Continue reading »