The story of your life
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Vol. 150, No. 24
$1
150 YEARS OF SERVING NEWTON COUNTY
THE COVINGTON C N
Happy Father’s Day!
NEWS
Loganville Christian Academy www.lcalions.com 770-554-9888 Voted Best in Walton County
150 YEARS OF SERVING NEWTON COUNTY
City retirees can be rehired with benefits
THE COVINGTON
NEWS
C N
BRYAN FAZIO
bfazio@covnews.com
Elections for the position of Covington mayor and three of the city’s council seats may not be until November, but the first political salvo was fired at Monday night’s council meeting, some five months before the Nov. 3 election day. Councilmen Keith Dalton and Chris Smith made first and seconds, respectively, for a motion to remove a part of the city’s Defined Benefit Plan that could have a direct effect on the 2015 municipal elections. Dalton moved to strike Provision 5.15, Section A, making it so a retired city employee would not have his or her retirement benefits suspended if they were to be rehired or elected to come back with the city. Prior to Monday’s vote, which passed Dalton’s motion 3-2, a retired employee could not be paid by the city if rehired or elected while earning retirement benefits. Dalton, who serves on the city’s pension committee, said the provision was a rule that was enacted in the 1970’s and was called “archaic” by one of the members of the committee. “If you worked here and started drawing retirement it puts a restriction on you that you couldn’t run for city council and be treated like anybody else would,” Dalton said. Councilwoman Ocie Franklin then requested a discussion before it was passed, stating “This was something that was sprung on a lot of us who did not know or understand. I want everyone to have an opinion and know what they would think.” There were many opinions on the controversial matter, including that of Mayor Ronnie Johnston, who referenced his experience of running a company in the private sector and dealing with paying out retirement plans and pensions. “I do think it is our responsibility as a
u See RETIREES, 8A
What’s next for Newton landfill? MERIS LUTZ mlutz@covnews.com
Commissioner John Douglas said it was time to "cut the cord" with Green Hill P3 and explore a "good, local solution" to the county's solid waste problems during Tuesday night's Board of Commissioners meeting. The county had been in talks to lease the landfill to Green Hill as part of a wider settlement with the East Georgia Land & Development Company until public backlash against the prospect of a private, regional landfill forced the board to reconsider. Douglas said that since the deal has been "clarified," he would like to take the Green Hill proposal off the table and requested that it be placed on the next agenda for an up or down vote. "Since that clarification, the citizens raised objections for a number of reasons," he said. "We were told that the Yellow River would be endangered, that the residents of the area could not stand a mountain of trash in their backyards, that the city of Porterdale would be adversely affected...all these concerns were right on target." "After long thought, listening to citizens, and examining the issues, I decided not to support keeping Green Hill P3 for consideration," he said, provoking a round of applause from the audience. "I believe it is time to cut the cord with them and move on to a good, local solution to our landfill," he continued. "I think it's time for our citizens to know where we
u See LANDFILL, 9A
The Covington News looks at recent issues customers have had with the Mr. Transmission on Hwy. 278. Darrell Everidge / The Covington News
Shifty Business Angry customers say Mr. Transmission took their money and left them in a lurch MERIS LUTZ mlutz@covnews.com
The stories seem to follow a pattern. The customer drops off a vehicle at Mr. Transmission on Highway 278. Owner Linda Aguebor is friendly and solicitous, offering to work within their budget and steering them towards title loans to pay for repair if they can’t afford it. Sometimes, several hundred dollars are paid up front. Then weeks go by, sometimes months. Aguebor insists that she just needs a few more days, another week. She blames her manager, Robert Pace. Then she demands more money. An argument ensues; sometimes the vehicle disappears, sometimes it’s grudgingly handed over with greasy boxes of parts that have been ripped out. Aguebor and her businesses, Mr. Transmission and Sweet Hill Automotive, have been sued by at least 10 different individuals and businesses over the past three years. The Covington Mr. Transmission was given an F by the Better Business Bureau, and online reviews are grim. But people continue to take their cars there, trusting in the Mr. Transmission national brand. In April, Aguebor was arrested for theft by deception in a case filed by Shawanda Eubanks, who lost her job and her home after Aguebor refused to hand over her vehicle until she paid more than $3,000 for work that Eubanks claims she never authorized. “They took everything out of my car, the engine, everything,” said Eubanks, who was travelling from her home in Aiken, South Carolina, to Atlanta when her car broke down on I-20. “She said ‘it’s in my shop, I can do whatever I want to…because you
gave me your birthday’.” When Eubanks could no longer afford rent in Aiken, she had to send her daughter to live with her mother so that the girl wouldn’t have to change schools. Now, Eubanks lives in Atlanta with her brother as she continues to fight the case. “Given the fact that I lost my job and my home, I couldn’t even give you an estimate [of damages],” she said. “She has turned my world upside down and inside out.” Aguebor would eventually remove Eubanks’ car from Mr. Transmission and declare it abandoned in Gwinnett County. Eubanks said that when her brother called Aguebor pretending to be in the market for a used car, Aguebor offered to sell him Eubanks’. “I really wanted my car back, but now I’m really scared to get it back,” Eubanks said. “What if she’s done something so that my car will never work again?” The District Attorney’s office said the case is with victims’ services and that the DA has not yet decided whether to pursue it. It would hardly be the first time Aguebor has found herself in trouble with the law. In 2013, she was charged with theft by deception and perjury, but the DA moved to dismiss the case “nolle prosse” after a settlement was reached with the plaintiffs. Furquan Stafford, who, along with his wife, Sheila, filed those criminal charges, said two years later, the family is still struggling to recover. Without a vehicle to take their daughter to school, the Staffords were forced to place her with Sheila Stafford’s mother, who was not able to provide the same level of supervision, Furquan Stafford said. “She has not been on the right path since,” Stafford said of the girl.
“As a man, to tell my wife that we don’t have a car, to work hard to save up money and then to go through all this, it was just traumatizing,” Stafford said, struggling to hold back tears. “The impact that she [Aguebor] is having on people’s lives goes beyond dollars and cents.” Just a year earlier, in 2012, AAMCO Transmission, Inc. terminated a franchise agreement with Aguebor after a company investigation into her Athens branch discovered that she was engaging in “fraudulent and deceptive practices,” according to court documents. These practices included using “junkyard” units in supposedly rebuilt transmissions, engines and torque converters; representing to customers that work was performed when it was not; and representing to customers that parts were replaced that were not. When she continued to operate under the AAMCO name, the company sued her. The two parties settled and Aguebor vacated the property. Around this time, she established a local franchise of Mr. Transmission in Covington. Allison Woodard, who won a civil suit against Aguebor over a year ago, called her experience with Mr. Transmission “horrific.” “[My car] was supposed to be ready in three days, but she would say ‘oh, a little more time’ and it never got ready,” recalled Woodard. Over the next month, Woodard kept calling about her car. “I had to call the Sheriff just to get them to release my car,” she said. “They threw parts everywhere, and didn’t even give me
u See TRANSMISSION, 9A
Publisher retires from The News STAFF REPORTS news@covnews.com
T. Pat Cavanaugh, publisher of The Covington News, The Rockdale News, and their respective digital products, has announced his retirement from The Cavanaugh News Company. A veteran of 50 years in the newspaper business, Cavanaugh started as a delivery person while in his teens and worked his way up the career ladder. He has served as publisher of multiple publications in various locations, and at one time owned his own newspaper.
He came to The Covington News as general manager in 2008 and subsequently was promoted to publisher. The Rockdale News started publication in 2011 and Cavanaugh has been its only publisher. Cavanaugh also has overseen the expansion of digital efforts and online sites for both publications, as well as the introduction of various new print products. Cavanaugh helped guide The Covington News through the economic downturn the community saw in 2008 and the pending arrival of Baxter. “We thank Pat Cavanaugh for all his efforts with both The Covington News and The Rockdale News,” said Morris Multimedia Regional Manager Charles Hill Morris. “We wish him the best of
luck, and know he will have success in his future endeavors.” Cavanaugh has also been extremely involved in the communities of both Newton and Rockdale counties. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Covington and the Rockdale Rotary Club, served on Covington’s Main Street Board, was Rockdale County’s Chamber of Commerce President for 2014-15, been a board member of the Barksdale Boys and Girls Club and served on the Rockdale County Superintendent’s Advisory Council. No new publisher has been named for The News. Editor Bryan Fazio will continue to represent the newspaper in the community pending the naming of a publisher.
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