Governor Kemp signs 2023 budget at UNG

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FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. – Members of the state legislature, local governments, Governor Brian Kemp, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives David Ralston, and many others joined in celebration at the campus of the University of North Georgia today as the governor signed Georgia’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget.

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Speaker of Georgia’s House of Representatives, David Ralston speaks at the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Signing Ceremony at the University of North Georgia on May 12, 2022.

Called a “historic budget” by several speakers, the day saw specific highlights and history for Fannin County and North Georgia. Alongside restorations of austerities for teachers and over $218 million for a cost of living adjustment for full-time employees in the University System of Georgia, this budget holds $2.6 million in funding for Fannin County’s standalone library and $13 million in funding for an expansion of the Blue Ridge campus of the University of North Georgia. This combines with an additional $2 million in the amended Fiscal Year 2022 budget for a total of $15 million to expand the Blue Ridge campus.

These major projects coming specifically to Fannin will see gains along all of the counties along the Highway 515 corridor as the large majority of students who attend the University of North Georgia come from those counties according to Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Campus of UNG, Sandy Ott.

Speaker of the House, David Ralston stated that it was difficult to find support and funding for these projects. Though, he noted that it wasn’t a matter of a number of different projects, but of the amount the state is committing to support these projects. Ralston said he is happy with the work they did on including these in the budget and also for the opportunity to hold the signing ceremony in his home of Fannin stating, “I think it says a lot about Fannin County. It’s for the county, it has nothing to do with me. I just couldn’t be more proud. The whole state is here today. The whole state is looking at us today and it’s a good place to be.”

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The University of North Georgia’s Blue Ridge campus hosted Governor Brian Kemp and numerous members of the state legislature as he signed the Fiscal Year 2023 that committed $13 million to an expansion of the campus.

UNG President Bonita Jacobs also addressed how important this budget is for the University of North Georgia’s capabilities. The said the expansion project will allow better access. Jacobs noted that one capacity increase will be for more community events as she said, “I feel very strongly that the campus needs to be very tied into the community and very welcoming to the community. Right now we’re so tight for space. But we’ll have an auditorium, we’ll have an outdoor amphitheater that we can host or the city can come in and work with us and be available.”

Tied into the community has been a key phrase in the evolution of the University of North Georgia in Blue Ridge. With the groundbreaking ceremony of the current campus having only occurred in 2018 when Ralston helped secure $5.5 million for the new Blue Ridge Campus in the 2019 fiscal year budget. Now the state is committing to aid in the expansion of that same campus. Jacobs noted one of the areas that will be aided by the expansion includes medical courses. She stated, “We will be able to add more labs and expand our nursing program and to create much needed nurses for this regions.”

Governor Kemp also asserted the importance of education, health, and the care for citizens both physically and mentally as he spoke about the budget. Kemp stated, “This budget improves both the quality and access to education across the board. Between the amended budget I signed earlier and this one, we are investing more per K through 12 student than ever before in the history of our state.”

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Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan praised this year’s budget and the UNG campus as a step towards initiatives for Georgia leading the nation into it’s future.

Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor, Geoff Duncan also praised both the budget and the investments into education like the UNG expansion saying, “I am certainly, personally, grateful for the effort and focus in this year’s budget on a couple of those initiatives that we have worked hard on in the Senate over the last few years. One is, I want to chase this dream of being the technology capital of the east coast. Certainly, a facility like this allows us to take on that and educate the 21st century global economy right here.

Kemp said after the ceremony that he has pushed for ways to aid Georgians in fighting the inflation and economic stress of the current presidency. Kemp stated, “What we’ve done at the state level, in conjunction with the Speaker, the Lt. Governor, and the Legislature, is try to give Georgians the ability to fight through 40-year high Biden inflation that we’re seeing right now because of bad policies.” Kemp noted the additional tax return money, cutting the fuel tax, and waiving some limits on trucks to help with supply chain issues as just a few of those efforts.

Left to right, Governor Brian Kemp, Executive Director of UNG’s Blue Ridge Campus Sandy Ott, and First Lady of Georgia Marty Kemp celebrate the completion of the budget signing ceremony that UNG’s Blue Ridge campus hosted on May 12, 2022.

Alongside these statewide effects and reach of the signing ceremony for the Fiscal Year 2023 budget, the “historic day for Fannin County,” as Ralston called it, represents a commitment to the county for improving education at all levels, through the university expansion and support for the library in the city of Blue Ridge. Ralstion’s support for the expansion of the campus comes not only as a representative of the district in Georgia, but as an alumnus of the University of North Georgia.

The sentiment of the historic nature of the day for Fannin was echoed by many of the college’s representatives including Sandy Ott who said, “We are so thankful for Speaker Ralston’s support of this campus and University to allow us the opportunity to have this impact locally. Speaker Ralston is a tremendous supporter and his support is going to make a difference for students and their families in the community for years.”

Fannin County Announces new library in joint meeting

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FANNIN COUNTY, Ga. – A special called meeting that was held as a joint meeting between the Fannin County Board of Education (BOE) and the Fannin County Board of Commissioners (BOC) also saw special guest David Ralston, Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives to announce a new public library to be constructed.

An unprecedented time as both Speaker Ralston and County Attorney Lynn Doss called it, the joint meeting is the beginning of a major, multi-million dollar project for Fannin County.

The meeting proceeded as the Fannin BOE made a motion and approval to donate land to the Board of Commissioners for the sole purpose of constructing a new public library. The BOE has purchased property from the United States Forestry Service near Blue Ridge Dam in order to construct two new facilities for the school system. The BOE is currently constructing a staff development center there that will be the new home for staff working out of the building at 2290 East First Street.

Because of this, the property at 2290 East First Street, soon to be empty with the move, has been donated to the county for a new library. The property, adjacent to Fannin High School, will be 0.85 acres in total. Though the project was described as a standalone library, there are no current designs for the building. Both the BOE’s motion to donate and the BOC’s motion to accept the land came with unanimous approvals of the present members of these boards.

Speaker Ralston said that a standalone library has been on the community wish list for many years. He stated, “I want to commend both the Board of Education and the Commissioners for this arrangement which will now expedite this project. The project is a result of cooperative efforts between the Fannin County Board of Education, the Fannin County Commission, and the state of Georgia.”

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A special called meeting hosted the Fannin BOE, Fannin BOC, and Speaker of the House David Ralston on April 22, 2022, to approve land donation for a new standalone library.

Ralston noted that the general assembly’s budget is providing funding for part of the library project. The state’s commitment totals $2.6 million as Ralston stated, “The budget that we just passed this past session in the general assembly provided for an additional $1.3 million specified for this project. That goes with the $1.3 million that had been appropriated back two or three budget cycles ago.”

The county can begin planning but will not break ground or start construction until after the BOE faculty have moved to their new facility when construction is complete. Due to this, County Attorney Lynn Doss said there isn’t a start date for the project. She went on to add that the contract has a provision that if the property ever ceases to be a library, it will revert back to Board of Education ownership.

Ralston stated, “A library says a lot about a community. That’s why this has been important to me and I know its been important to many of you. Because when you go into a community and you see they have a nice library facility, that says volumes about where they put priorities on learning and education and all the things that we associate with a library. When this library is completed, it will say that Fannin County is proud of our past, our present, and our future.”

With the celebration of the donated land and the unofficial beginning of the county’s multi-million dollar library project, Ralston had one more note to say as he stated that good news will keep coming. Ralston said he would be returning to Fannin County in a few weeks for another meeting and announcement with another special guest.

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Criminal threats precede discussion of proposed Code of Civility

City Council, News
Blue Ridge, Georgia, Fannin County, Criminal Threat, Censure, Conduct, City Council, Post 1, Harold Herdon, Post 2, Rhonda Haight, Post 3, Mike Panter, Post 4, Robbie Cornelius, Post 5, Nathan Fitts, Mayor, Donna Whitener, Attorney, James Balli, David Syfan, Code of Civility, David Ralston, Speaker, House of Representatives

Blue Ridge, Ga. – As the Blue Ridge City Council discussed revising the Rules and Procedures of its meetings, conflict erupted over the newly proposed Code of Civility presented by Council Member Mike Panter.

During a very heated discussion, it was also revealed by Council Member Nathan Fitts that Panter had allegedly made criminal threats against him.

Panter read from a letter sent to council regarding the review of the City’s Charter and the recommendations that were being made based on a committee that had been formed for the review.

Along with the committee Panter said input had been taken from several sources including Donna Thompson, who runs a local governmental accountability group, current and previous council members, a local attorney, business owners and residents.

Blue Ridge, Georgia, Fannin County, Criminal Threat, Censure, Conduct, City Council, Post 1, Harold Herdon, Post 2, Rhonda Haight, Post 3, Mike Panter, Post 4, Robbie Cornelius, Post 5, Nathan Fitts, Mayor, Donna Whitener, Attorney, James Balli, David Syfan, Code of Civility, David Ralston, Speaker, House of Representatives

Blue Ridge, Georgia, Fannin County, Criminal Threat, Censure, Conduct, City Council, Post 1, Harold Herdon, Post 2, Rhonda Haight, Post 3, Mike Panter, Post 4, Robbie Cornelius, Post 5, Nathan Fitts, Mayor, Donna Whitener, Attorney, James Balli, David Syfan, Code of Civility, David Ralston, Speaker, House of Representatives

City of Blue Ridge proposed Code of Civility Policy

Panter did point out that prior to reading his letter to the council, the letter itself had already been leaked to the public.

Later Council Member Rhonda Haight would question this remark asking Panter, “Do you have a problem with the public knowing what we are doing?”

Panter pointed out that as far as the Rules and Procedures of council meetings, previous City Attorney David Syfan had drafted an ordinance that would still be in compliance with the City Charter. 

In an effort to save tax dollars Panter suggested that the city vote on the adoption of this particular ordinance instead of paying more attorney fees to have new ordinances written: “I think we should readopt this ordinance which was done away with by previous council.” 

“It (vote to adopt ordinance) was moved a few months later because evidently the council didn’t like what he came up with and they just threw it away,” Panter explained of the ordinance drafted by Syfan and why it was not already put in place.

“I’m totally great with that ordinance that David wrote,” Haight said, adding, “I thought it was wonderful. He did a great job.”

Haight did have concerns over the Code of Civility section Panter was presenting and expressed these concerns.

According to the Code of Civility section, a council member would be asked to resign or a vote could take place for the elected official’s removal after receiving two censures.

This section of the Code of Civility came directly on the heels of a censure of Council Member Nathan Fitts. Earlier in the same meeting, Panter had brought forth a censure against Fitts for “continuous inappropriate conduct”.

Haight felt this particular item in the Code of Civility would be in violation of the City’s Charter since evidentiary hearings would need to take place for a censure vote and no evidentiary hearing was given to Fitts previously that night.

Panter replied to Haight,  “Our charter says that we have the right to remove an elected official.”

“For wrongdoing,” Fitts retorted to Panter’s comment.  “The only person that has violated state and local law is you and Ms. Whitener.”

Incivility ensued as Mayor Donna Whitener questioned Fitts over his accusations against her. After a brief period of numerous calls to and points of order, discussion continued over the proposed code.

Haight pointed out that the Code of Civility was also attempting to limit the council’s transparency. 

The Code states of council that:

“There should be no public statements, letters to the editor or on social media or with an organization, advertisements, emails, texts or announcements regarding official city business without Council approval.”

“As a public official I have every right to tell the public what we are doing. I have every right to post on social media what we are doing,” Haight spoke to Panter, “I will never vote on this as it is.” 

Council Member Fitts agreed with Haight that the Code of Civility needs attempts to limit the transparency of local government and needs further review.

Fitts also pointed out the hypocrisy of Panter in not only introducing the Code of Civility but also for the censure that Panter brought forth earlier in the evening. 

“You made a criminal threat to me and Ms. Haight this week and said that you were going to drag me out of the council meeting by the hair and beat me up,” Fitts made public the alleged threat by fellow Council Member Panter. “You need to practice what you preach.”

Blue Ridge, Georgia, Fannin County, Criminal Threat, Censure, Conduct, City Council, Post 1, Harold Herdon, Post 2, Rhonda Haight, Post 3, Mike Panter, Post 4, Robbie Cornelius, Post 5, Nathan Fitts, Mayor, Donna Whitener, Attorney, James Balli, David Syfan, Code of Civility, David Ralston, Speaker, House of Representatives

Former Blue Ridge City Attorney R David Syfan

Fitts and Haight have both personally sought legal advice from former Blue Ridge City Attorney David Syfan regarding any proposed new ordinances. Both Fitts and Haight are personally paying Syfan for his help.

“This will not be charged to the city,” Haight made clear her and Fitts personal financial responsibility to Syfan.

Current City Attorney James Balli, according to Haight is not trained in municipal law, where Syfan is.

Panter, who is the newest elected official to the council, questioned why Syfan was let go in the first place.

Leading both Haight and Fitts to agree that Balli was hired solely on the recommendation of Mayor Whitener.

Fitts went into further detail with Haight backing up his recollection of events. 

Fitts stated of the reason for Balli’s hire, “She (Whitener) said that because Speaker Ralston was from Blue Ridge and that Mr. Balli was his pick. She said that Blue Ridge would get stuff that we would not get otherwise and that’s why she asked us to choose Mr. Balli.”

Whitener replied that Fitts and Haight’s claims were “more misinformation” and that council had a chance to vote no.

The Rules and Procedures Ordinance along with the Code of Civility will be discussed and reworked before vote will be taken on its adoption.

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