Entries by Susan Norman

Declining revenues, coupled with spending on capital projects, caused Auburn’s operating fund balance by the end of the last fiscal year to drop by 18 percent, according to audited numbers for FY2009. [Full Story »] 

Arguing that he “never” yells, Barrow County Chairman Danny Yearwood said Tuesday night that he would not take the “anger management” class that an outside attorney recommended following a three-month investigation into allegations of employment law violations.

In a brief exchange with a Barrow Journal reporter prior to the start of the regular meeting of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, Yearwood shook his head from side to side and smiled broadly when asked if he were going to take the class.

“I’m hard of hearing, but I never yell,” Yearwood said, explaining that he has about 90-percent hearing loss in one of his ears.

Since the chairman is elected, not hired, the county’s governing body cannot compel him to comply with the recommendation of Cartersville attorney David G. Archer. [Full Story »] 

A team of Atlanta Regional Commission consultants last week announced its final recommendations for improving the look and livability of central Winder.

The Livable Cities Initiative consultants made their Feb. 18 presentation at the Winder Community Center to about 35 city officials, business owners and residents.

The second public hearing for proposed streetscape improvements along Broad Street in downtown Winder will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Winder Community Center.
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A team of consultants Thursday night will present its final recommendations on how to transform central Winder. [Full Story »] 

The woman who is temporarily managing the county’s finances is not happy about the way the Barrow County Board of Commissioners has handled one of its recent political hot potatoes: her job.

The county’s internal auditor, Marilyn Golightly, believes she has been caught in the crossfire of a growing power struggle between the county board and its chairman. [Full Story »] 

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners at a called meeting Tuesday afternoon publicly reprimanded Chairman Danny Yearwood.

On a 4-2 vote, the board passed a resolution censuring the chairman for divulging in a Jan. 13 statement to the media some confidential information about ongoing legal matters.

The resolution also included a threat to take further action if Yearwood were to continue such actions.

Voting against the measure were commissioners Larry Joe Wilburn and Eva Elder, who were the only board members who commented on the measure before the vote.

Yearwood directed the meeting but did not comment on the resolution or on his Jan. 13 statement.

The Barrow County Board of Commissioners has called a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19, to discuss a controversial statement that Barrow County Chairman Danny Yearwood issued Jan. 13 to the media.

The 2 p.m. meeting, which is open to the public, is just some of the political, and possibly legal, fallout from the chairman’s statement.

Yearwood’s pre-emptive strike prior to the planned release of an internal investigation's findings later this month, along with the strong reactions of the commissioners and others, indicates how volatile the situation has become.

Friday, the Atlanta attorney representing some of the county employees in the discrimination dispute told the Barrow Journal that her firm is considering its legal options in the wake of Yearwood’s media statement.

“We believe it is full of inaccuracies and misstatements,” said Cheryl Legare, a race discrimination attorney with Buckley & Klein LLP. “We are looking at what our options are.”

And in a surprising political development Friday morning, the man who ran the county government’s day-to-day operations until Yearwood took over in early 2009 jumped smack into the middle of the controversy by issuing a detailed rebuttal of Yearwood’s media statement. [Full Story »] 

A Cartersville attorney will conduct Barrow County’s internal investigation into claims by HR Director Norma Jean Brown that someone in a position of power within the county government has violated county, state and federal employment statutes.

David G. Archer of Archer & Lovell, P.C. will be paid $250 per hour to “investigate allegations that employment policies and/or ordinances of Barrow County, and/or federal and/or state laws have been violated,” according to the Nov. 9 agreement that was distributed to area media by Bob Hohe, the county’s operations development manager.
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