Thursday, July 02, 2020

Watkinsville Mayor Attempts To Veto Budget, Proposes Cuts In EMS Services, Staff Salaries, Legal Services, Arts Funding

***Behavior At Odds With City Charter***

Watkinsville Mayor Bob Smith, on June 30, the final day of the last Fiscal Year, attempted to veto the nearly $2 million budget for the current fiscal year that had been passed in a 5 to 0 vote by the Council on June 17.

Smith sent out a press release on June 30 saying he was vetoing the budget because the Council “ignored” his request at the June 17 meeting to cut 12 percent from the budget and was instead using anticipated federal pandemic relief funds and the city's reserve funds to balance the budget.

State Adds Nearly 3,500 New COVID-19 Cases On Thursday, With 43 In Northeast Health District

***Hospitalizations Due To COVID-19 Increase Sharply***

Georgia recorded 3,472 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Thursday and is in completely new territory in terms of spread of the disease.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases is 2,373.4, up more than 250 cases from the record set on Wednesday.