CorinthHills.org

Thursday, December 11, 2008 is proving to be a very important day in Gwinnett County.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing regarding the 2009 budget on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 7:00 pm, at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Complex.

The 2009 proposal includes a $43 million shortfall in the county’s primary operating fund, the general fund, a gap that could be closed only by cutting millions of dollars in spending, raising taxes or depleting the county’s shrinking rainy day fund. The county already expects to spend $45 million from that fund this year to cover increased expenses and costs for its new baseball stadium.

For more on the Gwinnett budget crisis scroll down this page or search CorinthHills.org

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Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) - The Gwinnett County Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its proposed “IE2 Partnership Contract for Improving Student Achievement” with the Georgia Board of Education. The IE2 (Investing in Educational Excellence) contract would allow the school system to receive flexibility for its schools from specified state statutes and/or rules in exchange for greater accountability for student achievement. The hearing will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room at Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Instructional Support Center, 437 Old Peachtree Road, NW, Suwanee, GA.

Click here to view details of the IE2 plan from the GCPS website…

One Response To “Go To Meetin’ Time”

1. CorinthHills.org Says:
   December 11th, 2008 at 9:35 AM

   By D. AILEEN DODD
   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

   Wednesday, December 10, 2008

   Gwinnett County School officials will go before the public Thursday to discuss the district’s plan to raise student performance by opting out of state mandates some school officials believe restrict their ability to significantly elevate standardized test scores.

   Officials expect a packed hall of parents and teachers at the district headquarters in Suwanee as well as scrutiny from afar, from interested state lawmakers studying the proposal.

   Click here for the full story…

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By Camie Young
Senior Writer
Gwinnett Daily Post

YOUNG HARRIS - A day after focusing possible cuts to county government, a commissioner said Tuesday revenues should be explored.

During a government planning session, Commissioner Kevin Kenerly set a goal of “revenue balancing,” asking officials to analyze the millage rate and water and sewer rates as they struggle to balance the budget.

Kenerly - who left the retreat early because of a family medical emergency, asking County Administrator Jock Connell to announce his three initiatives - was not available for comment.

But Chairman Charles Bannister asked his staff to work on a proposal to impose a local option sales tax to take the place of some property tax revenues, an idea debated during his 2008 re-election campaign.

As far as Commissioner Mike Beaudreau is concerned, a tax increase isn’t an option, although he said a tax rollback that has become common place during the last decade may not happen this year.

With a proposed budget calling for spending $43 million out of the county’s reserve fund, the county’s financial situation is a top priority for 2009, commissioners said during a goal-setting session Tuesday at the end of the annual three-day planning retreat.

“I’m mainly concerned in this next year with finances, and surviving for our citizens. We have to survive so they can,” said Commissioner-elect Shirley Fanning-Lasseter, who plans to submit a goal list after she is sworn in in January.

After discussions Monday about the possibility of cutting millions of dollars worth of services and special events, the commissioners’ list of new initiatives could call for even more costs.

Beaudreau said he wanted the county to consider doubling the 29 new police officers proposed in the 2009 budget, as well as considering building an indoor aquatic center, possibly in conjunction with Georgia Gwinnett College.

While Bannister asked staff to study a light-rail transit option along the Norfolk-Southern train route from Norcross to Sugar Hill, Beaudreau asked that officials revamp the Gwinnett Transit bus system, trading some local routes for business-friendly commuter options.

Commissioner Bert Nasuti said business ventures should be paramount in the slowing economic environment, and he offered solutions to Gwinnett’s declining neighborhoods such as the continued pursuit of a rental housing ordinance, stiffer overcrowding laws and a process to work with banks to make sure foreclosed properties aren’t abandoned.

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By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer
Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - Two locally owned garbage haulers had their day in court Wednesday to challenge the legality of the county’s new solid waste plan. And the only thing decided by the end of that day was that the haulers, county officials and Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful would all be returning to court Friday at 1:30 p.m.

“We’re asking for this preliminary injunction in order to keep the status quo in place,” said the hauler’s attorney, former Gov. Roy Barnes. “We believe the citizens of Gwinnett can look after their own business better than the government, especially as it pertains to garbage.”

With the new waste plan set to take effect Jan 1, haulers Sanitation Solutions and Southern Sanitation were in Judge Michael Clark’s Superior Court courtroom seeking the injunction, which would in effect keep them operating in the county as they currently are once their contracts expire at year’s end. According to the Gwinnett County Quarter Three Solid Waste Franchise report, Southern Sanitation services 4,805 residences and Sanitation Solutions has 375. Both will service zero in unincorporated Gwinnett when the new plan takes effect.

According to Barnes, before the court were two issues. The first concerned whether Gwinnett County had the legal ability to delegate legislative authority to the nonprofit, private corporation Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to administer the county’s solid waste program. The second issue dealt with whether the request for proposal process conducted by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to award the service contracts was completed fairly and competitively.

At one point during the argument concerning legislative authority, attorney Frank Jenkins, representing the county, said, “The county has the right to choose whomever it wants to administer the program.”

The plaintiffs took issue with this mentality. Barnes’ contention was, how can a private corporation like Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful have the authority to administer fines and fees related to the county’s solid waste ordinance?

By the testimony delivered, it was determined that under the ordinance, the Sheriff could technically deputize employees of Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, which would then give those employees the authority to act as the “garbage police” for the county. Under the new ordinance, the “garbage police” could then potentially levy $500 fines on residents who weren’t in compliance with the law.

“Your argument of consequences is falling on deaf ears,” Clark said. “But if what you did is illegal, I will stop it.”

When the arguments commenced over what the plaintiffs said was an unfair request for proposal process, owner Buddy Johnson of Southern Sanitation reiterated his statements made previously in this newspaper. He questioned the county’s service zones changing during the bid process from eight to six and also called into question the $2 million performance bond required of his company to compete. He also said obtaining reviewed financial statements in such a short time was too costly for a small business owner like himself.

“I knew they needed to level the playing field or it would be tough for a small business to operate,” he said. “But we assumed it would be a fair process.”

When Jenkins showed him contracts he signed in November 2007 stating he knew the county was making changes to the way it conducted garbage hauling, Johnson responded, “We knew there were changes coming and we thought we’d be a part of those changes. Based on my record in the county, I had no reason to believe I wouldn’t receive another contract.”

Johnson also reiterated under oath a December 2007 conversation he had with Chairman Charles Bannister following a public hearing concerning the new solid waste plan. At that time, Johnson said Bannister told him, “Nobody is going to put you out of business.”

Johnson said if the plan goes forward, he will be forced into bankruptcy as 90 percent of his clientele resides in Gwinnett County.

Bannister was asked if he recalled that conversation.

“I recall speaking to Mr. Johnson at the meeting, but I do not remember what I said to him a year ago as much as the gist of the conversation. It would be uncharacteristic of me to predict an outcome of a process or decision that I was not completely controlling,” Bannister wrote in an e-mail. “I recall him believing that a new plan would put him out of business.”

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By PATRICK FOX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Lawyers for two sanitation disposal companies will appear in Gwinnett Superior Court at 9 a.m. Wednesday trying to stop implementation of the county’s new solid waste disposal plan.

The companies are seeking an injunction against Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, alleging the nonprofit agency in charge of administering the program has no legal authority to manage the county’s waste disposal service.

Attorney Roy Barnes, who is representing Southern Sanitation and Sanitation Solutions, said Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, aided and abetted by Gwinnett County, is depriving the two companies of their right to do business.

“I’ve never seen a county try to take a fellow’s business,” Barnes said. “It’s outrageous.”

Attempts to reach officials at Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful were unsuccessful.

The suit charges that the county cannot delegate legislative authority to a private corporation. It claims that administrative fees, which Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful will levy against customers, amounts to a tax.

The suit also alleges that in its request for bids, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful promised there would be eight service areas and that no more than one provider would serve any three areas. The agency later divided the county into six service zones and awarded exclusive rights of service to two companies with headquarters out of state.

In addition, the suit alleges, the bidding process was fixed in favor of the big companies from the start. Applicants for the service zones had to be able to post a $2 million performance bond, almost 15 times the $150,000 bond required to operate in the county currently. This, the suit says, eliminated the small haulers who had serviced Gwinnett County for years.

The suit is seeking to stop the county’s plan to implement the new solid waste program, scheduled to begin Jan. 2. It also seeks compensation and attorneys’ fees for the plaintiffs.

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