The Paper August 10 edition

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Recount requested in Probate race By LEANNE AKIN lakin@clickthepaper.com The results of the race for Jackson County Probate Judge were to be retabulated Wednesday morning at the request of the candidate separated by less than 1 percent from the second-place candidate. Tracy Brooks, who got 27.63 percent of the vote, has asked that the vote be recounted. Sherry Moore, who received 28.34 percent of the votes in the July 31 primary, was the top voter-getter with Donna Sikes getting 28.34 percent, to edge Brooks out by only .71 percent. Moore and Sikes are currently in the pri-

mary runoff which will be Tuesday, Aug. 21, and it is uncertain if the recount will change the outcome. However, Brooks said she owed it to her supporters to verify the results. In the four-person race for Probate Judge, the vote count was 3,502 for Moore, 3,110 for Sikes, 3,032 for Brooks and 1,326 for Donna Geiger. The margin of the vote between Sikes and Moore was only 78 votes. “I would like to thank all of my supporters for their help getting me to this point,” said Brooks. “With the count being so close, and with encouragement from several of my supporters to ask for a recount, I felt like this was something I had to do for myself and them. “However the recount turns out, I feel like I

fought a good clean fight,” said Brooks. Moore said she won’t attend the recount proceedings. “I was notified [Tuesday] morning of the recount in my election, and respect the right of the candidate who made this request,” said Moore. “I will not be present for the recount as I continue to work full-time while managing this campaign and will be working tomorrow. “I will be notified by phone once the recount is completed,” said Moore. Neither Donna Sikes nor Donna Geiger responded to requests for comment by presstime. According to Jackson County Election Su-

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pervisor Lori Wurtz, the recount was to begin at 8 a.m. in the Jackson County Administration Building. She expected the recount to take approximately five hours. Related to the runoff, Wurtz said Tuesday morning she has signed off on the ballots “I have only signed off on the ballots and will order them as soon as our ballot printer receives the file from the ballot builder. “We hope to be able to offer early voting for one week, but we do not know for sure,” said Wurtz, who is awaiting word from the printer with whom the ballot order will be placed. Also on the ballot for the runoff will be the Jackson County Sheriff’s race, a contest between Janis Mangum and Ramone Gilbert.

County, cities may mediate on LOST By LEANNE AKIN lakin@clickthepaper.com

LeAnne Akin The Paper

The first day of school for Jackson County School System on Monday found the lunchroom at West Jackson Intermediate School turning into a brief birthday celebration for Peri Foster, who was celebrating her eighth birthday. “Miss Lizzie” Simmons announced that Peri had a birthday and she invited everyone to join in singing Happy Birthday. Principal Diane Carr said, “So far, so good,” when lunchtime arrived. See more first-day and open house scenes on the Website at ClickThePaper.com

A Tuesday morning meeting was expected to bring an agreement between Jackson County and its municipalities on a new division of the Local Option Sales Tax. However, that agreement did not come that day, meaning nine days would remain before mediation would be the next step in the state-mandated process. The division of LOST dollars are re-evaluated every 10 years. The funds go to help local governments – county and city – help fund operations. Jefferson City Manager John Ward anticipated the matter would be resolved with the cities’ acceptance of the county’s offer to accept 58.6 percent with the cities’ splitting the remaining 41.4 percent in LOST collection. “The city negotiation team got together with the county negotiation team [Tuesday] to accept the county’s offer of a 58.6-percent split of LOST,” said Ward. “Upon notifying the county team that all cities were in agreement at 58.6 percent, the county team then pulled the offer and said that they did not think they could get support from the county commission at that split.” Ward said all the cities had been in agreement. “We now just need to finalize with the county team so that all jurisdictions can take the agreement back to their elected bodies for adoption.” Tuesday morning, a week after

the results of the July 31 primary were known, County Manager Kevin Poe said examination of the possibility that Jackson County would receive $3 million less in LOST over the 10-year collection period proved more than the county could accept. Poe said mediation could give the county the opportunity to present its case that a higher percentage for Jackson County is warranted. “We now have nine days before we must legally go to mediation,” said Ward, who said he expected another offer from the county negotiation team on Wednesday. Poe said he had to take a poll of commissioners to see how they would further negotiate. “We will have to decide how to proceed,” said Ward. Jackson County began the LOST talks on June 19 with a proposal to get 63.33 percent of the proceeds and leave 36.67 percent for the municipalities to divide. The cities, through consultant Phil Sutton, countered with a proposal to grant 53.2 percent to the county with the cities retaining 46.8 percent to split. The current distribution is based on a 2002 document that gives 62.33 percent to the county. That means the cities currently share 37.67 percent. Both sides have attempted to make their case in the midst of the change the distribution methods.

See LOST TALKS, page 2A

SAFE BANKS

Independence Bank is among the safest

Debbie Purvis The Paper

Independence Bank is welcoming new customers who are attracted by its fiscal soundness. By LEANNE AKIN lakin@clickthepaper.com

Debbie Purvis The Paper

Independence Bank President & CEO Terry C. Evans talks with Paul Jones. The bank is a member of the Braselton Community Improvement District and Evans serves on the board.

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Independence Bank, headquartered in Braselton, is among an elite few in the banking industry – ones considered among the safest in Georgia. Independence Bank is among the several area banks to be ranked among the “safest in America” in an article by the website Investing Answers and reported by MSN Money. The article says the 359 banks chosen from more than 7,300 banks were selected because they

Got a news tip? Call 706-658-2683 or e-mail editor@clickthepaper.com Want to advertise? Call 706-658-2683 or e-mail dpurvis@clickthepaper.com Delivery questions? Call 770-532-2222 or e-mail circulation@clickthepaper.com

“achieved a perfect Texas Ratio of 0.0.” “We are fortunate to be in this listing,” said Independence Bank President & CEO Terry C. Evans, who credits the bank’s recognition for being among the safest in the nation to “a lot of luck and a lot of hard work.” Evans said Independence Bank learned its inclusion on the short list of six Georgia banks when people began calling with congratulations and coming by to open up accounts.

See INDEPENDENCE, page 3A

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