WITHIN THE WATER, 5A
Lead contamination causes political fallout in Flint
END OF AN ERA Longtime swim coaches nearing retirement • Sports, 1B
Gwinnett Daily Post THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
75 cents ©2016 SCNI
Vol. 46, No. 74
Redistricting faces conflict of interest issue By Keith Farner
keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com
An issue of conflict of interest raised in recent weeks toward Robert McClure will come to a head on Thursday night when the Gwinnett County Board of Education is expected to vote on redistricting plans. At issue is whether the
23.78 acres McClure owns — and has put up for sale — at 1446 Oleander Drive S.W. Robert in Lilburn McClure is considered a conflict of interest when McClure, a school board member and Lilburn
resident, is asked to vote on redistricting plans for the 2016-17 school year that could affect 6,800 students from 31 existing schools and seven clusters. A public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the regular board meeting at 7 p.m., when the school board is expected to vote on the redistricting plans. By late Wednesday afternoon,
a contract renewal for CEO/ Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks was not listed on the meeting’s agenda. Wilbanks’ contract is typically renewed in January, but district spokeswoman Sloan Roach said the item could be added to the agenda up to the meeting time and the delay could involve paperwork with attorneys. Wilbanks, who turned 73
in July, told the Daily Post in September that he would tell the school board he is open to a new contract and is “too young to retire.” The conflict of interest issue was raised at a public meeting two weeks ago when a resident said plans for redistricting should stop until the perceived conflict of interest involving McClure is addressed. The
comment came near the end of a meeting where more than 20 speakers shared their thoughts, almost all with criticisms, on proposed redistricting plans that affect Duluth, Lanier, Meadowcreek, Mill Creek, Mountain View, Norcross and Parkview clusters. McClure this week
See CONFLICT, Page 7A
County PD gets social on Twitter By Joshua Sharpe joshua.sharpe@gwinnettdailypost.com
Atlanta Regional Commission Chairman Kerry Armstrong greets the Gwinnett Chamber as he begins his annual State of the Region Address to the business group at its 1818 Club in Duluth on Wednesday. (Staff Photo: Curt Yeomans)
Leaps and bounds Gwinnett expected to be largest county in region by 2040 By Curt Yeomans
as early as a 2025-2030 window. curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com The ARC’s website, www.atlantaregional.com, shows Gwinnett and FulGwinnett County is expected to surpass ton are expected to be neck and neck Fulton County to become the most popuin terms of population in the future as lous county in metro Atlanta by 2040 if Gwinnett catches up to, and eventually population growth follows current foresurpasses, its southern neighbor. Fulton casts, according to the Atlanta Regional is expected to get to the 1 million Commission. people mark first, by 2020, but The projection was part of ARC board both counties are expected to be Chairman Kerry Armstrong’s State of the past that mark by 2030. Region Address, which he delivered to the “The growth is exciting, and as Gwinnett Chamber at the 1818 Club in Du- (Armstrong) said, it brings with luth on Wednesday. The county is currently it challenges to the leadership estimated to have about 860,000 residents, that’s in positions now to make and that number is expected to continue sure that we’ve set the growing and surpass the 1 million people plate for that high of a mark in the future. population,” Gwinnett “Gwinnett plays a pivotal role in everyCounty Administrator thing this region does,” said Armstrong, Glenn Stephens said. whose ARC board district includes part of Beyond 2030, the Gwinnett. regional commission’s Armstrong’s speech largely wove a large- data projects Gwinnett to scale picture of what is going on, and what have 1.235 million residents will happen, across the main 10-county in 2040, compared to 1.23 million Atlanta Regional Commission area, while in Fulton. Collectively, the region is sprinkling in some Gwinnett examples. expected to have about 8 million people, In addition to Gwinnett, the ARC area or more, by that point. It currently has 4.36 includes Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, million residents. Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Henry and RockIf the forecast for Gwinnett’s growth dale counties. come true, it would be a major shift, at least The board chairman said the region had from a psychological standpoint, for the the fourth largest job growth in the nation most populous county to be a traditional in the past year, with nearly 80,000 jobs suburb instead of the county where Atlanta created. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is located. has been dropping and is now around 5.2 It’s just a sign of where the region is percent. going, however, as the gaps between and “Job growth means more people coming the suburbs fill in, residents live longer and here, and according to our estimates, the younger people stay in the area, Armstrong region added 60,000 people in the last year, said after his speech. the largest growth since 2008,” Armstrong “It’s just a growing region,” he said. “But said. I think what you’re beginning to see with Although Armstrong was looking out as that growth is that, rather than in the old far as 2040 when he talked about populadays, where you just keep going out farther tion growth, the ARC estimates the point and farther and farther, the growth is kind where Gwinnett surpasses Fulton as the of happening here in the defined region. … region’s most populous county could come It’s kind of a densifying thing.”
This map shows the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission area. (Special Photo)
With a new Twitter account, Gwinnett police are joining law enforcement agencies around the country — and county — on social media. The move comes after several years of resistance to the idea from county leadership while police departments in Snellville, Norcross, Duluth and Lilburn, as well as Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Barrow and other nearby counties, staked out their corners of Facebook and Twitter. According to a national study, 78 percent of a sampling of 600 agencies in 46 states were using social media in 2014 to alert the public of crime issues. The study organization, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, noted that social media was similarly popular for community outreach, crime prevention messages and sending emergency information. With no fanfare, Gwinnett police took to Twitter (@GwinnettPd) on Dec. 31, in concert with a Facebook page for the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter. The police department is over animal control. Joe Sorenson, county communications director, said the new accounts are serving as a trial run for Gwinnett departments on social media and others might follow.
See TWITTER, Page 7A
Duluth man sentenced in bribery case By Joshua Sharpe joshua.sharpe@gwinnettdailypost.com
Gwinnett’s forecasted growth is not lost on local officials. Stephens said Gwinnett officials take the forecasts into consideration when preparing longterm infrastructure plans for water, land use and quality of life. “It really doesn’t change much for us because we already are having to plan out to that horizon of 2040 and 2050, for our population and our water and sewer, to make sure the infrastructure is available,” he said. Although the ARC is made up of 10 counties, the transportation area it looks at is even larger, encompassing 20 counties, including Barrow, Forsyth, Hall and Walton counties.
A Duluth man is headed to federal prison for bribing a DeKalb County official, U.S. Attorney John Horn announced Wednesday. Ismail Sirdah, 53, was sentenced to six months for paying $3,500 to zoning board of appeals member Jeremy “Jerry” Clark to get a vote for a variance for Sirdah’s late-night pool hall, Lulu Billiards. Sirdah, who was seeking permission to operate the Tucker pool hall as a nightclub and have a dance floor, will also be subject to two years of supervised release and a $10,000 fine. Clark, 43, of Lithonia was sentenced to nine months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $3,500 fine. “Public officials who may be tempted by money and graft remember: we remain committed to investigating and prosecuting acts of corruption regardless of who commits them or where they are,” Horn said in a news release. Both defendants pleaded guilty last year. Sirdah was the owner and CEO of 2841 Investments, Inc., which did business as LuLu Billiards. According to ismailsirdah.com, which purports to be his website, Sirdah is a “down-to-earth dedicated family man who loves reading as well as watching professional soccer games.”
See ADDRESS, Page 7A
See BRIBE, Page 7A
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