INSIDE Spelling Bee winners recognized
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Volume 57, Number 14 • April 7, 2011
Goochland Interim Treasurer appointed Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
Goochland Circuit Court has appointed Pamela Cooke Johnson as Interim Treasurer of Goochland County. Johnson, 62, will assume the duties of former Goochland Treasurer Brenda S. Grubbs, who resigned Feb. 11 after being charged with embezzling county funds. Grubbs was arrested Feb. 2 after attempting to cash a $14,000 check at Wachovia Bank. A trial is expected later this year. Goochland supervisors asked the court to appoint an interim treasurer after Deputy Treasurer Cynthia Parker on Feb. 7 declined to perform the duties of Treasurer. Parker later resigned her job on Feb. 15. Johnson is a contractor for the Department of Justice assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration as a records examiner/analyst, where she has worked for nine years in the asset forfeiture program. Before coming to the DEA she worked for two years as a contractor assigned to the U.S. Marshalls Service in accounts reconciliation. She graduated with a B.S. degree in English from Radford University and taught English in Roanoke for six years. Goochland County Registrar Frances Ragland confirmed that Johnson has filed papers to run for the
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Johnson
Republican nomination for the treasurer’s position and that Tana Marie Hogue has filed papers to run as an independent. The filing deadline is Aug. 23. “We are anxious to begin working with the Interim Treasurer and very pleased to have her come on board,” said Goochland County Administrator Rebecca Dickson Thursday afternoon. “She has already indicated her desire to work as part of a team.” Dickson said she hoped the Interim Treasurer would be willing to consider new procedures to improve timeliness of reports from the Treasurer’s Office. “I believe very strongly that the voters and taxpayers of Goochland have a reasonable expectation that their elected officers will serve with efficiency and integrity,” said Johnson. “And that’s exactly what I will do.”
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Photo by Ken Odor
Goochland Education Parents Association Chairman Penny Palin speaks at last week’s public hearing on the budget, asking the board to flat fund the schools budget.
Education and TCSD concerns dominate budget public hearing Ken Odor jodor@goochlandgazette.com
The focus was on funding the school budget and concern over the future debt liability of the Tuckahoe Creek Service District (TCSD) at last Tuesday night’s public hearing on the county budget. Speakers who rose to address the proposed increases in the util-
ity and the ad valorem tax rates for the TCSD voiced apprehension over future costs to homeowners in the district. Jeff Wells, who lives in the TCSD, which he christened “the water ghetto,” likened the exercise of raising utility and ad valorem rates on the district to “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” The ad valorem rate for TCSD is
proposed to increase from 27 cents to 31 cents per $100 in FY2012. Future rate increases are envisioned to deal with the rising debt service, which Wells said would reach $4.7 million in 2018. “How do you think that the residents and businesses in the water ghetto can ever, ever pro-
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Verlander making successful transition to college
Redistricting plans discussed
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