With only five days of early voting remaining, traditionally Republican Oconee County is greatly outperforming traditionally Democratic Clarke County in ballots cast for the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election.
At the end of the day on Nov. 26, the final day of voting last week, 2,897 ballots had been cast in Oconee County, while only 567 had been cast in Clarke County.
The Oconee County Planning Commission, in a 4 to 3 vote, recommended to the Mayor and Town Council of Bishop that it deny a request that it rezone six acres on High Shoals Road next to the planned St. Aelred Catholic Church for use as a special events venue.
The Commission then, in a 5 to 2 vote, recommended to the Mayor and Town Council that it grant a variance to the property owner asking for the rezone for the event venue for a reduction in the buffer from 15 feet to zero feet between the event venue and St. Aelred Church.
If the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election is a turnout contest between traditionally Republican Oconee County and traditionally Democratic Clarke County, after six days of early voting, Oconee County is the hands down winner.
At the end of the first week of early voting on Saturday, 6.9 percent of the 27,045 eligible voters in the three Oconee County precincts in the 121st House District had cast a ballot.
Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley has been relentless in encouraging party members to vote in the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election.
At the party meeting on Monday, Hurley lamented the 41.2 and 41.8 percent of the vote that Democratic Public Service Commission candidates Alicia M. Johnson and Peter Hubbard respectively received in the county in the Nov. 4 election and said Republicans need to turn out to make sure a Democrat does not win on Dec. 9.
Mack “Dutch” Guest IV, running as a Republican in the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election, opted to have his 15-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son introduce him at the Monday night meeting of the Oconee County Republican Party.
“My dad is a really nice person who cares about everyone,” Sarah Beth, a freshman at Oconee County High School, said. “Voting for my dad would really help the future,” she added.
In the first day of advance voting for the Dec. 9 House District 121 Special Election, 212 Oconee County voters cast a ballot.
Only voters who live in the Central, South, and Dark Corner precincts of the county are eligible to vote, and the 212 voters casting a ballot on Monday compare with the 144 voters in those three precincts who cast a ballot on Oct. 14, the first day of early voting for the Nov. 4 election.
Full time equivalent (FTE) enrollment at Oconee County Schools dropped by 192 from October of 2024 to October of 2025, based on the official enrollment figures Oconee County Schools filed with the Georgia Department of Education.
From October of 2023 to October of 2024, FTEs had dropped by 61.
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration will have at least one new member when it meets in January.
The terms of Doug Hammond and Shami Jones expire at the end of the year, and Hammond, in a letter he sent to fellow board members, said he will not seek reappointment to the Board when his term ends.
A State Route 316 Planning Study released by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is recommending upgrades to four intersections of that roadway in Oconee County not currently scheduled for or undergoing reconstruction.
The study is recommending that the McNutt Creek Road intersection be converted to a right-in, right-out design, that the Mars Hill Road intersection be closed, that the SR Loop 10 intersection be massively upgraded, and that Julian Drive fly over SR 316.
The Oconee County Board of Education paused its regular meeting on Monday (Nov. 10) night to thank and honor Debra Harden, who stepped in as interim superintendent and then interim associate superintendent during the transition in school leadership.
New Superintendent Melissa Butler, in her first superintendent report to the Board, said that Harden will be leaving her current position effective Nov. 21. Butler said she “will forever be grateful for my time working alongside her.”
Oconee County voters who decide to cast a ballot in the Dec. 9 Special Election to fill the vacancy for Georgia House District 121 will have only two names to choose from, Democrat Eric Gisler and Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest IV.
Republican Steven Strickland, who had declared for the opening soon after Republican Marcus Wiedower announced he was stepping down on Oct. 28, decided not to qualify by the 1 p.m. deadline on Monday (Nov. 10).
When Oconee County Commission Chair John Daniell last week outlined spending proposals for a renewed Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), he noted the $24 million designated for Parks and Recreation would not include a gymnasium at the new Dawson Park.,
Phase 1 of the project, he said, which would be funded by the new SPLOST if voters approve it in May, would include 10 sports fields and nearby parking, road infrastructure, and be “pad ready for the gymnasium,” Daniell said.
Oconee County commissioners are projecting that renewal of the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) next May would result in $90 million in revenue and are planning to spend between $24 million and $30 million of that money for recreation and park facilities.
The plan is to dedicate another $13.3 million to retire two General Obligations Bonds, one from 2002 issued for construction of Oconee Veterans Park and the other from 2021 for construction of the new county Administrative Building.
Nearly two-third of Oconee County voters approved of renewal of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST) in Tuesday’s election, extending the 1 percent tax until 2031, or until it brings in $86.8 million in revenue.
While the margin of approval for renewal of the tax was substantial, it was the lowest in any of the seven ESPLOST referendums in the county, going back to the first referendum in 1997.
Oconee County Commissioners on Tuesday evening are scheduled to take action on two rezone requests designed to bring a third QuikTrip to Oconee County, the second with dedicated diesel truck pumps.
Property Owners Amir and Connie Tahamtan are asking the Board to rezone 3.3 acres pulled out from an 8.7 acre parcel on U.S. 78 (Monroe Highway) at Hog Mountain Road (SR 53) between Bethabara Baptist Church and Stripling’s from AG(Agricultural) to B-2 (Highway Business District).
Oconee County Schools has spent $72.4 million for projects covered by its current Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST VI), has made payments of $9.9 million against bonds sold to finance those projects, and has $14.4 million available in its ESPLOST VI account.
Spending of revenue from the tax continues for technology systemwide and for four projects: parking at Oconee County High School, paving at the system maintenance building, sports lighting at Oconee County High School, and classroom locks at North Oconee High School.
