Council agrees to purchase Laserfiche records management software system
News December 23, 2020DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — In the final meeting before the Christmas Holiday, City Council voted unanimously Monday (Dec. 21) to purchase a records management software system from Laserfiche through MCCI at a cost of $19,152.50 with an annual service cost of $3,695 .
City Clerk Beverly Bannister requested the purchase which includes set up, training and ongoing assistance. Mayor Mike Eason said, “It’s going to enhance our capability to find documents and provide information to the public and to counsel.”
Councilman Stephen Tolson presented a review of city-owned lease properties, including the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame Museum and the Distillery and recommended the lease at the Museum be increased from $400 to $500 per month plus 5 percent of revenue. He also recommended an increase from $3,000 a month to $4,500 a month to lease the Distillery.
Councilman Caleb Phillips, who was appointed Mayor Pro Tempore for 2021 during the meeting, made a motion that was unanimously approved to table the issue until the next meeting.
Council also approved the final plat for Oakdale Subdivision located near Allen Street and Memory Lane before adjourning until the New Year.
Dawsonville Ethics Board delays decision until Feb. 19
News January 21, 2020DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. – A decision in the ethics complaint filed against City Councilman Mark French will have to wait until Feb. 19 at the earliest.
Steven Leibel, French’s attorney, raised several objections at Tuesday’s Ethics Board hearing that Abbott (Abb) Hayes, the attorney representing the City of Dawsonville, was not prepared to answer. Hayes said it was the first time he had heard the objections and he asked for time to prepare a response.
Hayes agreed to provide a written response by Feb 3, Leibel agreed to file a written rebuttal by Feb. 7 and the Board agreed to reconvene on Feb 19 at 9 a.m. at City Hall.
The City initially charged French with nine violations of the City’s Ethics Code which was sparked by a request French made of City Manager Bob Bolz to consult with the City Attorney regarding a question posed by a private citizen, who also happened to be French’s employer. Three of the nine were dismissed during a preliminary hearing last month.
During that hearing, French argued the complaint should be dismissed because the City failed to follow its own rules that require the city to serve notice of a complaint within seven calendar days. French said he was not served for nine days.
Subsequently, the City refiled the complaint but this time the complainant was listed as City Councilman Stephen Tolson.
Leibel quickly attacked the second filing. “The question is this a complaint through the City or is this an individual complaint. If it’s a City complaint then it’s illegal because the new complaint was not voted on by the City Council. If it is not a complaint by the City, and is an individual complaint by Dawsonville City Council member Stephen Tolson, then I would ask that Mr. Hayes needs to recuse himself because he is being paid for by the City and my client is not. That is a conflict of interest I see as a problem.”
In a written statement issued in January, French said the complaint was politically motivated. “It is based solely upon on political motives and not on any alleged improper action on my part,” he wrote. “The Council is well aware of my support for another candidate in the recent Mayoral election. In my opinion, the complaint is both frivolous and patently unfounded.”
Leibel asserted, “This body has an inherent conflict of interest in any case where there is an internal governmental dispute between members of the body.”
He also raised Constitutional questions about the legitimacy of Ethics Board. “Before you can even hold a hearing, there have been no policies or procedures assuring procedural due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution and the State of Georgia. You need to adopt procedures and rules that are available to participants so they know what the purview of the Ethics Board is with regard to process.”
Shelley, the attorney on the Board, questioned whether this was a City complaint or an individual complaint. Hayes did not answer directly, but said, “I do think the City has an interest in seeing the Ethics Code is properly administered when an ethics complaint is brought.”
Hayes said City Attorney Dana Miles recused himself from the hearing “because the allegations at issue here relate to him.”
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Dawsonville Councilman Mark French responds to ethics complaint: “I will fight it with every fiber of my being”
News December 11, 2019DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — Dawsonville City Councilman Mark French said Tuesday he has obtained legal counsel to defend against a complaint that he violated the city’s Ethics Ordinance.
“I believe this is completely frivolous and I will fight it with every fiber of my being,” French said Tuesday in a phone interview with Fetch Your News. “I did not ask for anything improper. I asked the city manager to coordinate with the county attorney to draft a proper response to a citizen’s inquiry.”
The inquiry French referred to was an email sent from Steve Sanvi to City Manager Bob Bolz on Nov. 7 that asked, “How is residency (of an elected official) determined? If you own a home in the district elected and another outside the district, how is the primary residence determined?”
In a Nov. 7 email response to Sanvi, Bolz wrote, “I believe those are legal questions that are outside my expertise.”
Also, on Nov. 7, French emailed Bolz to request that he consult with legal to provide a response to Sanvi’s questions.
Sanvi, a resident of the City of Dawsonville, who – the city council points out in its complaint — is also French’s boss. He was attempting to determine if Councilman Jason Power lived outside the district he was elected to represent. Eleven days after Sanvi raised that question, Power announced his resignation, saying he is building a home outside his district that would be ready for occupancy soon.
The ethics complaint, which was signed by Councilmen Power, Stephen Tolson and Jacob Phillips was filed Nov. 25. It lists nine provisions of the Ethics Code French is alleged to have violated. Every alleged violation is stems from French’s attempt to have city government answer a citizen’s question.
The Ethics Board is empowered to dismiss the complaint if it is found to be unjust, frivolous, patently unfounded or fails to state facts sufficient to invoke the disciplinary jurisdiction of the city council.
Fetch Your News reached out to Dawsonville Mayor Mike Eason for comment Wednesday, but declined our request.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Tanner, Gooch discuss bills passed in 2019 General Assembly
News April 9, 2019DAWSONVILLE, Ga. – Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega and State Rep. Kevin Tanner of Dawsonville were the featured speakers at last night’s Dawson County Republican Party Meeting at the Bowen Arts Center.
Gooch represents 200,000 north Georgia residents, including those in Dawson, White, Lumpkin, Union and Forsyth counties. The district is made up of about 75 percent Trump voters.
“It’s the most conservative district in the state senate and the third most conservative in the country,” he said. “So, it’s pretty easy for us to go down there and vote a conservative agenda cause that’s who we are and who we try to represent back home.”
He said he had took some heat from liberals for his vote in favor of the fetal heartbeat bill – the bill that bans abortions as soon as a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat — but added, “I was proud of my vote on that heartbeat bill, saving hundreds of thousands of unborn children. It was probably the best vote I had taken in my nine years in the senate.”
Gooch also talked about passing enabling legislation to create business courts in the state. The legislation will allow businessmen and women to take a case directly to a business court rather than the Superior Court. “A lot of business issues are highly specialized and not many Superior Court judges have business experience,” he said. “In a business court, they would be able to bring in experts that know a lot about the subject matter.”
Another issue he has spearheaded for several years is the expansion of high-speed internet access to rural communities. He and other legislators who understand that high-speed broadband internet service is essential to schools, businesses and hospitals made it a priority this year. They passed legislation that allows power companies and phone companies to begin selling internet service in rural areas.
Tanner also weighed in on the fetal heartbeat bill, saying, “I have several in Lumpkin County who are very much opposed to that legislation. There is no way I could ever change their mind and I’m very much pro-life and there is no way you could ever change my mind. It’s a moral fiber issue for me.”
Tanner worked hard on getting new voting machines for the state. The bill passed in the House along party lines with Democrats opposed. The new machines, which will cost between $150 million and $200 million, will allow voters to cast a ballot electronically, print out a copy for their approval then scan it to have it recorded.
“I have yet to be able to get my democrat colleagues to give me a reason they would be opposed to that particular machine,” Tanner said. “The reality is (opposition) is coming from the national party that they should oppose the legislation. I will say this, it is proven statistically that the best way to rig or cheat in an election is paper ballots. If you want to stuff ballot boxes and rig an election, paper ballots are the best way to do that. These machines make it very difficult if not impossible for that to happen because if there is an audit, there is a trail we can follow.”
Tanner has been a champion of mental health reform in Georgia which has led to the creation of a behavioral health reform and innovation commission made up of 23 members. Four will be legislators but the majority will be experts in the field of mental health.”
“The problem is once you graduate from a mental health court, there is no follow up,” he said. “If you have schizophrenia, or you have bipolar, or acute depression, you have to be followed your entire life to make sure medication is being taken and you’re not having an episode.”
Last night’s meeting was the first since the election of a new slate of officers at the County Convention. The new officers include Seanie Zappendorf (chairperson), Mike Berg (first vice chair) Pepper Pettit (second vice chair), Dale Smart (secretary) Katie Hulsebus (treasurer) and Norman Samples (committee member at-large).
Among the elected officials who attended the event were Mayor Mike Eason, Commissioners Julie Hughes-Nix, Sharon Fausett, City Councilman Stephen Tolson and former Commission Chairman Mike Berg.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Tolson, French join Dawsonville City Council
News December 19, 2017DAWSONVILLE, Ga. – The Dawsonville City Council made major changes in both leadership and policy during the final meeting of 2017 Monday.
Two new city councilmen – Mark French and Stephen Tolson – took the oath of office, replacing Angie Smith and Mike Sosebee.
Tolson is a retired U.S. Army Ranger with a master’s degree in healthcare administration. He currently manages a Cumming medical group. French earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from what is now the University of North Georgia. He has 20 years of experience in public service, having served 10 years in Lumpkin County’s finance department and 10 years as that county’s grants analyst.
Before the new councilmen were seated, Councilwoman Angie Smith and Councilmen Caleb Phillips and Jason Power approved changes to the city charter that will reduce the mayor’s pay from $2,000 to $600 a month, create voting districts and change the way city council members are elected at-large to election by district. Councilman Mike Sosebee voted against the changes.
The new council voted unanimously to keep Power as Mayor Pro Tem.
Council also approved alcohol beverage licenses for Discount Package Store at 2131 Hwy. 9 and El Rio Mexican Café at 69 Hwy. 9 South.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Four Candidates Qualify for City Council Race
News August 25, 2017DAWSONVILLE, Ga. – Qualifying for the 2017 city-wide, non-partisan municipal elections ended Thursday with two incumbents and two new candidates entering the race for city council.
Incumbent Angie Smith will seek her second full term in office. She was appointed to the board in 2012 and won her first election in 2013. Mike Sosebee has served on and off city council over the past 30 years.
The newcomers are Stephen Tolson, who lists his profession as healthcare administrator and Mark French, an office manager.
The election is scheduled Tuesday, Nov. 7 between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. All city voters will vote at the Dawsonville precinct, Dawson County Board of Elections Office; 96 Academy Avenue in Dawsonville.
If you have any questions about your voting status, go to “My Voter Page” @ http://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do or call the Elections & Voter Registration office at 706-344-3640.
Fetch Your News will post profile articles on all the candidates in the coming weeks and provide the most comprehensive news coverage of all the races.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Tolson Brings Strong Credentials to City Council Race
News, Politics August 26, 2017DAWSONVILLE, Ga. – Stephen Tolson has qualified to campaign for a seat on the Dawsonville City Council and the 40-year-old father of three has all the right qualifications to become a formidable opponent.
He has a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration and a professional work experience as manager of a Cumming medical group. He also has a 20-year proven record as a dedicated public servant. He is a retired Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army.
Tolson said he has attended many city council meetings and feels he knows the issues facing a city on the verge of explosive growth.
“I’ve lived here since 2008 and the city has been in a bit of turmoil the last few years,” Tolson said. “I have traveled around the world in the army and I feel like I can bring some insight to the city council. I believe city government needs someone new who has been around and can offer a new perspective.”
Tolson recognizes that managing growth is the key issue he will face if he is elected. But he said there is another issue, less talked about perhaps, but vitally important to the community — the growing epidemic of illicit drugs.
He said it is a problem that is growing locally as well as nationally and is devastating to communities.
Having a bachelor’s degree in psychology Tolson said he has seen how destructive drug addiction can be. “It breaks my heart to see what it does to families,” Tolson said. He added that he would like to see some sort of program the city could associate itself with to help combat the epidemic.
Tolson and his wife Sandra have two sons, Tristan, 3, and Stephen Jr., 5, and a daughter, Alejandra, 14.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com