City buys parking lot, but was the way the transaction took place legal?
Winder’s city government in mid July spent $21,000 to purchase a downtown parking lot, but did not officially disclose the deal to the public until a called meeting Tuesday night when the city council “ratified” the month-old purchase. The council made the decision to buy the lot during a closed session July 2, but took no public vote at that time. The real estate closing was 11 days later on July 13. David Hudson, legal counsel for the Georgia Press Association, said Monday that he disagrees with the city’s legal position. Under the wording of the law, he said, a public agency can vote privately to “order an appraisal” of real property, but any decision to actually purchase, dispose of, or lease property “would be subject to approval in a subsequent public vote.”
Hiring process stalled for county manager
Nine months after voters said they wanted to change Barrow County’s form of government, there still is no hiring committee or timetable in place to recruit the county manager who will be at the helm of the government’s day-to-day operations in January 2013. The county’s Human Resources Department advertised the position on May 3, and 48 people applied. But a selection committee has not been appointed to go through the applications of the 17 candidates who meet the qualifications for the job.
Delays smoothing out, BCSS leaders say
The first day of school for more than 12,600 Barrow County students on Aug. 13 produced the usual mix of colorful scenes, with parents snapping photos and waving goodbye to their children, teachers guiding students to their classrooms and young friends reuniting. But day one also resulted in transportation delays. The bulk of those related to elementary school students, with some children arriving home as late as 6 p.m. On Tuesday, school bus arrival and “all-clear” times improved officials said. “We reduced the amount of time students were delivered home today by 30 minutes,” superintendent Wanda Creel said, referencing the 5:30 p.m. all-clear notice to principals on Tuesday. “That’s pretty incredible… By the end of the week, I really do think we'll have most of the issues taken care of.”
Do we want schools to educate, or to just be babysitters?
THERE’S little argument that the Barrow County School System botched its handling of a proposal to cut its bus service to some 550 middle and high school students living close to their schools.
The larger issue in all of this, however, is not that just the school system screwed up, but rather than we as a society expect it to cater to our every whim.
In the Aug. 15 issue of the Barrow Journal....
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