Early Voting for Primary Runoff Races Ends Friday
News, Politics July 18, 2016
DAWON COUNTY, Ga. — Early voting ends Friday for the July 26 general election primary runoffs.
The races in Forsyth County are between Tony Wooten and Jeff Johnson to decide who will replace retiring Sheriff Billy Carlisle and tax commissioner where two newcomers, Andi Henson Juliette and Nicole Stewart, are seeking to fill the vacancy left by Linda Townley who is also retiring this year.
Early voting started July 5 and the Dawson County Elections Office reports that the turnout has beem much heavier than expected. As of Friday afternoon, 1,569 people had cast their ballots
“That’s much greater than we anticipated, especially for a runoff election,” said Dawson County Director of Elections and Registration.
Georgia law requires a runoff if no candidate wins a majority in a general primary.
Final Candidate Forum Scheduled Tuesday
News, Politics July 9, 2016
DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — The Dawson County Tea Party and Foothills Republican Women will host the final candidate forum Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Fire Station No. 2 next to Tractor Supply on Hwy. 53 in Dawsonville. This will be the last forum before the Election Day which is scheduled for July 26.
Guests are invited to prepare questions to ask the candidates and submit them as they enter.
The candidates for sheriff are Captain Tony Wooten, an 18-year veteran of the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and Major Jeff Johnson, a 23-year law enforcement veteran.
Wooten has commanded all but one department in the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and currently supervises the community policing program and school resource officers while serving as the Public Information Officer.
Johnson is currently the head of the Dawson County detention center and has experience in patrols, courts, investigation, specialized assignments internal affairs and community programs.
Wooten won the four-candidate May primary with 1,527 votes while Johnson finished second with 1,157.
The other runoff race is between Andi Hinson Juliette and Nicole Stewart to decide who will become the county’s next tax commissioner.
Juliette is a former analyst for a Department of Defense contractor and the FBI and has managed budgets in excess of $50 million. She is a graduate of Dawson County High School and North Georgia College and State University.
Stewart is a former banker with experience in the loan department. She is also an honors graduate of Dawson County High School and North Georgia College and State University who is currently working on her Masters degree at Brenau University in Gainesville. Active in many community affairs, she was named Dawson County’s Outstanding Citizen in 2015.
Nicole Stewart, Candidate Tax Commissioner
News, Politics May 12, 2016
To provide voters the information they need to make an informed choice in the May 24 General Primary election, Fetch Your News will work hard to present a profile of each candidate running for public office. All candidates will be contacted and offered an opportunity to respond to questions.
DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — After more than a decade working in the banking industry and donating many hours to Dawson County non-profits and service organizations, Nicole Stewart decided that running for Dawson County Tax Commissioner would be the next logical step in her career.
“I actually thought about it several years ago,” Stewart said Wednesday. “As a banker, I have worked in the loan department and at one point worked closely with the Tax Commissioner’s Office doing title work and other necessary tasks. That gave me a better understanding of the different functions of the office. When I heard Linda (Townley) was retiring, I decided to campaign for the job.”
She graduated with honors from Dawson County High School and North Georgia State College and University. She is currently working on her MBA at Brenau University. She has been very active in her home county as the Chairperson for Relay for Life, Secretary of the Bowen Arts Center, a member of the Rotary Club and Ambassador of the Year for the Chamber of Commerce. In 2015, she was named Outstanding Citizen of Dawson County.
Stewart said working with so many organizations has helped her develop and polish her leadership and customer service skills and she believes those skills will serve the county well.
“I believe my banking experience is more closely related to what they do in the Tax Office than the other candidates,” she said. “There are times when taxpayers may need to set up a payment plan and that is something I do right now for our customers.”
Stewart said her vision for the office is to reopen a satellite office on Hwy. 53 near Ga. 400. “It’s not always easy for the people who work over there to get to the current office,” she said. “I don’t know why it was closed but I would like to look into reopening it. Even if we can’t afford to staff it, maybe we could open a self-service kiosk there.”
She also said she would like to have some sort of outreach program to explain to citizens what the Tax Office does and why it does it, possibly through modernization of the website. “The current website isn’t bad,” she said. “I would just like to make it more interactive, possibly allow customers to make payments online.”
Johnny Glass, Candidate for Tax Commissioner
News, Politics May 3, 2016
DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — Dawson County native Johnny Glass, who is campaigning to become the county’s next Tax Commissioner, says he will bring a strong work ethic, business ownership experience and a good personality to the job.
Glass, 48, has owned several businesses, including a successful contracting business until the economy went south and hurt a lot of small business owners. Since 2012, he has owned a towing and recovery business.
“I’m used to long hours,” he said. “I average about 15-18 hours a day so I do have a very strong work ethic.”
Glass said his biggest regret is that he’s been so busy earning a living that he hasn’t had much time to give something back to the community he loves. “This isn’t about money for me,” he said. “I can make a lot more doing what I’m doing now. “I wanted to be able to give something back before I get to old to do so.”
Asked how he would have time to devote to his business and serve as Tax Commissioner, he was definite. “I won’t,” he said. “If I’m fortunate enough to win I will either sell the business before the end of the year or dissolve it. I’ve already had a couple of offers.”
Glass said the county budget is around $10 million and the biggest budget he has handled is about $1 million. “I’m completely confident I can handle it,” he said.
Asked about his goals for the office, Glass said, he wants to continue the office’s high collection rate, which he said is about 90 percent across the board and create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors.
“I have a good personality and I’m great with people,” he said. “I’ll do my best to work with everyone. I know there are times when people can’t come to the office so I’ll be glad to go to them or do whatever it takes to collect the money.”
Karin McKee, Candidate Dawson County Tax Commissioner
News, Politics April 20, 2016
To provide voters the information they need to make an informed choice in the May 24 General Primary election, Fetch Your News will work hard to present a profile of each candidate running for public office. All candidates will be contacted and offered an opportunity to respond to questions.
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Karin McKee says improving customer service will be among her top priorities if she is elected Dawson County’s Tax Commissioner in May.
“The people there are not friendly,” she said. “I want to do away with the cold government environment. To do that I would evaluate the personnel and reevaluate the whole system from the leadership on down.”
McKee began her career in the healthcare industry in the late 1960’s. She brings an extensive background in business operations, financial record-keeping and management of large budgets to her second campaign for Tax Commissioner. She ran for the office in 2012 and lost by just 150 votes.
“My years of experience in providing quality service to those who are not able to care for themselves, my compassion for the less fortunate and my strong desire to give something back to our community and serve the public convinced me to make another run,” she said
From 1969 to 1990, McKee served as business office manager for Ashton Woods Convalescent Center in Atlanta where she managed accounts payable/receivable, Medicare billing and served as consultant for medical records. In 1990, she was named assistant administrator and bookkeeper of Knollwood Terrace (Nursing Center) where her responsibilities included hiring staff, setting up policies and procedures, managing budgets and Medicare and Medicaid billing.
A 2014 graduate of Leadership Dawson, McKee is currently the apartment manager for Mashburn Farms in Cumming where she handles all aspects of the operation.
McKee says if she is elected she will focus on improving customer service and will look at the good ideas that are being incorporated by successful tax commissioners’ offices across the state in order to ensure she provides the most efficient service to Dawson County residents.
“I will honor the county’s policy of anti-nepotism and competitive bidding so that the office will be run in the most professional, accountable and ethical manner,” she said.
McKee has been married to John McKee for 44 years. They raised two sons in neighboring Forsyth County and relocated to Dawson County eight years ago.
Andi Hinson Juliette, Candidate Dawson Co. Tax Commissioner
News, Politics April 20, 2016
To provide voters the information they need to make an informed choice in the May 24 General Primary election, Fetch Your News will work hard to present a profile of each candidate running for public office. All candidates will be contacted and offered an opportunity to respond to questions.
DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Andi Hinson Juliette is no stranger to managing big budgets and big responsibilities. The former analyst for a Department of Defense contractor and the FBI has managed budgets in excess of $50 million.
“I believe I’m the only candidate for Tax Commissioner with the right experience” she said. “No one else has had the responsibility for as large a budget as I have had.”
A graduate of Dawson County High School and North Georgia College and State University, she left Dawson County and moved to Washington, D.C. to become an intern for then Congressman Nathan Deal.
After a brief stint in Deal’s office, she became a project analyst with The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which develops emerging technologies for use by the military. Later, she was recruited by FBI headquarters where she worked in support of a program manager.
Juliette then moved back to her Dawson County home where she met her husband Tony a small business owner.
Her priorities for the office include opening an east precinct office to serve the Ga. 400 corridor, a self-serve kiosk in the Big Canoe area and improving customer service.
“A lot of people have asked me about re-opening an east precinct office,” she said. “I believe it does need to be opened and that we can do it without adding to the budget. Opening a kiosk would benefit those who work outside the county and can’t get to the courthouse to register their vehicles without taking time off from work.”
Improving customer service is also important to her. “The office is good now but can be great if we build on the customer service function,” she said. “The tax office is one of the first places new residents go and almost all businesses in the county have some contact with the office.”