When a parent told the Oconee County Library Board of Trustees earlier this month that he didn’t want his child to see the book, A Child’s Introduction to Pride, on display on a shelf at the Oconee County Library, he acknowledged a problem.
He said he didn’t know who opened the book so its cover was on display next to other books with only their spines showing on the library shelf.
As the Oconee County Democratic Party meeting got underway on Thursday, Party Chair Harold Thompson told those gathered that what was about to take place was a candidate forum, not a debate.
Most of those who came to the front of the room one-by-one are running unopposed in the May 21 Democratic Party Primary, and, in one case, the person they want to debate won’t be decided until the May 21 Republican Primary.
Oconee County Commission Chair John Daniell on Tuesday evening started yet another Town Hall Meeting with a review of the efforts he and fellow commissioners have made to increase the county’s homestead exemptions and expand property tax relief for seniors.
Those efforts will increase the size of the homestead exemption from $2,000 to $5,000 in 2025 and to $10,000 in 2035, add an additional $10,000 exemption for those 75 years old and older, and freeze property tax assessments automatically for those 65 years old and older.
Joyce Reifsteck asked the Oconee County Board of Education on Monday night to indicate when and how it made the decision to seek legislation that will strip her of the position of Chair of the Board if she is elected to that position in November.
Reifsteck pointed out that she qualified to run in the Republican Primary for the open Post 1 on the Board of Education–a Post that is labeled as Board Chair–on Friday, March 8.
Oconee County Commissioners are holding their second Town Hall Meeting of the year at 6 p.m. on April 16, with the initial focus once again on the 10 items on the ballot on May 21 that will increase homestead exemptions and automate the freezing of property tax assessments for those 65 and older.
Commission Chair John Daniell has been using Town Hall meetings to explain the initiative going back to March of last year, and he opened the Town Hall Meeting in January with a summary of the changes that will take place if voters approve all 10 items on the ballot.
The Oconee County Board of Education has scheduled a called special session starting at 4 p.m. on Monday that is being labeled a budget workshop.
Superintendent Jason Branch announced the special session in his report to the Board at its work session on Monday
The Conservatives of Northeast Georgia didn’t invite the incumbents to participate in their candidate forum last week, and even though none of the incumbents physically was in the room, their presence was much in evidence.
All of the speakers at the forum are challenging incumbents, and the speakers criticized the Board of Commissioners, the Board of Education, the Clerk of Superior Court, and the three incumbent legislators representing the county in the General Assembly in Atlanta.
