Charter changes and reopening of City playground
City Council, Community, Downtown Blue Ridge, News January 1, 2021
Blue Ridge, Ga. – Citizens could see a change in the way the City of Blue Ridge is managed after the city council voted on charter changes that would allow for the hire of a City Manger.
According to council member Rhonda Haight, the move to a city manager or a full-time mayor has been discussed among councils for several years. Haight stated that when looking at projected growth of the city, citizens would benefit by “making sure someone is here full-time to answer questions”.
Many municipalities in the area have this form of government, council member Mike Panter cited the cities of Jasper and Cumming to name a few. Council members also pointed to an example in Fannin County of the County Chairman holding a full-time position to oversee day-to-day operations.
“The council still has control over everything, including the budget, hiring and firing of the city manager,” Haight explained of the proposed move, saying that the only difference would be that a City Manager would not be an elected official and would therefore be able to be held accountable for their job performance.
“We know there is a need for leadership,” Haight said, adding that while council members are currently overseeing departments, most members hold other full-time jobs giving them less time to keep track of everyday business.
“Our job is really to set policy,” Council member Nathan Fitts stated agreeing with Haight : “I think there needs to be some accountability to the public and this is the only way we’re ever really going to get there.”
Fitts added, “I think this form of government takes power out of people who want to be in the position for power. The mayor doesn’t have power then. It puts the workload on someone who is being paid to do it.”
Council voted in favor, with Mayor Donna Whitener and Council member Robbie Cornelius absent, to send a Resolution to the Georgia State Legislature requesting that the city be able to move to a City Manager form of government.
The Resolution would need to pass on state level before any charter changes can take effect.
If enacted, there would be a transition period of 1 year taking place in 2021, with the official City Manager style government going into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
The City Manager position would oversee and have executive power over all day-to-day activities including inner workings of all departments, tax collection, and grant availability.
CITY PLAYGROUND TO REOPEN
Council member Mike Panter going over his findings in a previous meeting regarding the city’s playground.
The City of Blue Ridge Street Department has been hard at work correcting the issue of drainage at the city’s playground.
With the corrections having been made, the council voted in favor of new padding and turf to be added and the playground be reopened to the public upon completion.
The issue of the drainage system was one that had previously halted some council members from moving forward with the new playground turf, concerned that there would be significant unforeseen expenses once corrections began to take place.
Panter, who wanted the playground corrected in a manner that would cut costs in the future, had been a strong proponent of moving to the padding and turf option rather than continuing with mulch.
“I do believe we have ample funding to do this at this point,” Haight said of moving forward with the project.
The company responsible for installing the padding and turf will have to do an initial inspection of the area and drainage system before their work would begin. The process is expected to begin as soon as next week.
Panter stated that he hopes the playground will be reopened by March 1, 2020, and could possibly be open sooner. Weather permitting and void of an unforeseen circumstance, once work has begun the process could be completed in as little as 3 weeks.
“It’s going to be done correctly. It’s going to be done right,” Panter said of moving forward with the padding and turf option.
The city has also received approximately $19,000 from a private donor for shades to be installed at the park. The city could have to spend an additional $5,000 in this area.
Moving forward with work on the playground, at a cost of $60,743.75, was voted unanimously in favor with Cornelius and Whitener absent.
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Haight announces intent to run for Mayor
City Council, Election, News December 4, 2020
Council member Rhonda Haight
Blue Ridge, Ga. – Rumors have already begun to circulate regarding who may or may not be running and for which seat they will seek in the 2021 Blue Ridge City Council / Mayor election.
One such rumor is that of current council member Rhonda Haight and her intent to seek the seat of Mayor in the upcoming election.
Haight confirmed with FetchYourNews that she does intend to qualify for the seat of Mayor next year.
Haight said that this is an option that she had contemplated for awhile, but recent city council meetings were what solidified her decision. Her hopes as Mayor would be to bring unity to the council so that city business could run more efficiently.
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Council votes to stagger elections
City Council, Downtown Blue Ridge, News December 2, 2020
Blue Ridge, Ga. – The Blue Ridge City Council made moves to bring about changes to the city charter which according to council member Rhonda Haight has not been updated since 1989.
While it has been discussed in previous years, council members voted unanimously to begin the process of staggering elections for city council and mayor.
Currently all five city council seats, along with mayor, go up for election simultaneously after a four year term. This leaves the possibility of all seats being filled with newly elected officials at the same time. Council members agreed that not having an experienced member to guide newcomers is a vulnerability for the operations of the city.
“I can’t name another city who does it like we do,” Haight said of the city’s current election practices, “Even the county, they stagger their terms.”
While all changes to a city’s charter must be passed on the state level, council members voted in favor of sending a Resolution to the capital for consideration.
This resolution would stagger the terms of council and mayor in the following manner by dividing seats into two elections. One election would be for Mayor and council seats 2 and 4. Another election would be for council seats 1, 3 and 5. The elections would take place in off years of each other.
Council member Mike Panter also presented the idea of reducing the council size altogether: “Looking at where we are growing, with our budget, how our budget’s grown over the last five to 10 years and how projected growth is, I’m not sure that we shouldn’t go to three council members, a mayor and then a city manager.”
Panter cited the Fannin County Board of Commissioners (BOC) as an example, stating that the county budget is almost $5,000,000 more than the city budget and that the BOC is able to operate with two part time commissioners and a full time commission chair.
“I think that it would put more responsibility on the councilmen,” Panter said of switching to a three person council.
Council member Nathan Fitts said that he while he mostly agrees with Panter, he had spoken with a few citizens and had not found anyone in favor of the major change: “Citizens need input on that.”
“We have a hard enough time just meeting with five and that is an issue,” Haight shared her opinion on the reduced council and explained why she felt the change would not be good for the city.
Haight said there are many times where items need to be discussed between meetings and with the current five member council, council members can reach out to each other to talk about issues: “If you have only three you can’t do that because then you’re breaking the Sunshine Law”
The Georgia Sunshine Law states that members of a board (or council) cannot speak privately to one another if a quorum (majority vote) is present. With the five member council this means that three members would have to be present in the discussion to violate the Sunshine Law.
With a three member council, however, two members constitute a quorum meaning that members of a three person board may not speak on official matters outside a public meeting.
Haight feels that a better alternative would be to keep the five member council but move the city toward a City Manager style of government or compensate the seat of Mayor to a full time position.
“City manager government is the most prominent form of government according to GMA (Georgia Municipal Association),” Haight said of the suggestion, pointing out that a city manager would be trained to supervise departments and all working aspects of the city. This would free up council to vote on decisions without having to oversee individual departments.
Mayor Donna Whitener suggested a town hall meeting to get citizen input on these proposed changes.
Haight pointed out that 2021 would be an election year so the changes need to be “done quickly” adding, “That’s why I don’t even know if we have time for a town hall meeting. Even if we have a town hall meeting they don’t understand the inner workings like we do.”
Haight made a motion for the City Attorney James Balli to draft a Resolution for the City of Blue Ridge to move to a City Manager form of government but the motion failed with council members Robbie Cornelius, Harold Herndon and Mike Panter in opposition.
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Rally for equality held in downtown Blue Ridge
Community, Downtown Blue Ridge, News July 6, 2020
Blue Ridge, Ga. – Demonstrations are continuing to be held across the nation, by people wanting their voices to be heard on issues of equality. Organizers in Blue Ridge took a different approach as they hoped to be heard through the silence of art.
A fence was set up in the Blue Ridge City Park and adorned with original art pieces expressing discouragement about unequal treatment of individuals in our society and hope for unity to prevail. The Silent Rally for Respect, Peace, and an Equitable Future for All was the brainchild of Fannin County native Jessica Abernathy.
Abernathy had recently attended the rally that took place in Ellijay, Ga. and got inspiration for Blue Ridge’s event when she realized, “I wasn’t alone”. 
Having friends in a variety of communities, Abernathy was compelled to bring her message and the message of many others to Blue Ridge.
“Being that we have a big art community here, this seemed like the best way to do it,” Abernathy spoke of the unique approach to the Blue Ridge rally and pointed out that this form of expression alleviates the concerns surrounding the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic allowing people to social distance.
Also in place, was an area for visitors to write their thoughts on the current events that are taking place in our nation and around the world. Everyone was invited to share their opinions via pen and paper. These messages will be sealed in a time capsule until 2030.
According to Abernathy, local historian Kathy Thompson came up with the idea for the time capsule and will be overseeing its placement, to be determined, until 2030: “It’s to seal this moment in time. It seems like a very impactful moment.”
Some showed up to support differing views than those portrayed on the rally’s art wall.
Citizen, Larry Henderson, sat nearby with signs of his own wanting to show his support for two groups, one that he feels is being unjustly criticized, the other he feels is being overlooked all together.
“I try to show my support every day. I’m a retired police officer and the police departments are getting a really bad wrap right now,” Henderson said while sitting by his Back the Blue sign, “I agree there are some bad police officers, but there’s a whole lot of good ones. We shouldn’t condemn an entire profession based on a couple of bad people.”
Henderson also displayed a sign reading “Unborn Lives Matter” and this is a belief that he holds very dear.
“Everybody’s been talking about Black Lives Matter. Yes they do. They certainly do. Brown lives matter, White lives matter, Asian lives matter, all lives matter,” Henderson spoke on the issue that he says he prays about a lot, “But what’s more important to me, and there’s not much I can do but be vocal about it, is that unborn lives matter.”
Henderson says that he wasn’t present to counter protest but rather to show support of issues meaningful to him: “I am here as a citizen enjoying a day in the park, drinking my water and I’ve got a couple of signs saying how I feel.”
Abernathy, the event’s organizer said that Henderson and others “not necessarily sharing her views” had been respectful of her demonstration and that she had met no real opposition from the community while organizing and holding the event.
“Love your neighbor,” Abernathy shared the message that she hopes the event will bring awareness to, “Be empathetic to the situation at hand. We just want peace for everybody. We don’t want anyone to have to be afraid.”
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Rumors of Rebel name change untrue
Community, News, Rebel's Corner June 24, 2020
Blue Ridge, Ga. – Rumors of a Rebels name change have taken social media by storm and those involved in the school system say that right now, it is nothing more than rumors.
With the current political climate, the Fannin County Rebels have once again been thrust into the community spotlight due to the school’s mascot.
Some on Facebook vow that the name has already been secretly changed to the Fannin County Raiders and that new uniforms have been the works, while others are simply joining the debate on whether there should be a change at all.
Head coach of the Gilmer County Bobcats, Kevin Saunders, chimed in via Twitter.
While not mentioning the rival Fannin Rebels specifically, Saunders did share in part: “Once again I hope schools decide to remove very explicit racial traditions. High school and Colleges, examples would be Dixie, Nickname Rebel or reb and the Confederate Flag. Some schools are but there is no need for this to be carrying on in this day and time”.
Fannin County school officials say that there have been no meetings for the purpose of changing the school’s mascot.
“I am a board member and there have been no meetings concerning a name change,” Fannin County School Board Member Mike Cole posted to Facebook, adding, “All you are seeing is what we called “rumor control” in the Marine Corps. None of this is factual.”
Cole also pointed out that a name change usually goes through the School Governance Team (SGT) and not the board.
Assistant Superintendent Robert Ensley spoke with FYN and confirmed Cole’s remarks. Like Cole, Ensley said that there have been no meetings regarding the Rebel name. Ensley also stated that a change in name would need to be addressed to the high school SGT.
Ensley stated that in order for there to be a change to the mascot it must first be brought before the SGT and then options would be given to be voted on. Student, faculty, and guardian input would all be considered if such a change were requested.
“There have been no agenda items to date for either the board or the SGT that have mentioned a change in the name,” Ensley said adding that all meetings are public and agendas are available to the public.
The next SGT meeting will take place on Wednesday, July 15 at 4:15 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Those who are in favor of or opposed to a change in the Rebel mascot are encouraged to contact the SGT.
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