Ten Outgoing Members of County Commission to be Recognized Tonight

August 27, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Ten members of the county commission will be attending their last meeting Monday night, August 27. Their terms expire Friday, August 31.

Five of them were defeated for re-election in the Democratic Primary in May and two others lost their re-election bids in the August County General Election. The other three members chose not to seek re-election this year.

County Mayor Tim Stribling will be recognizing and presenting plaques to the outgoing members during Monday night’s monthly county commission meeting.

The longest serving members leaving the commission are Larry Summers and Wayne Cantrell. Summers, a Democrat, lost his re-election bid in the August General Election. Summers has served for a total of 38 years from the seventh district including three terms from 1978 to 1990. Summers returned to the commission in 1992. He was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then was elected to six more terms from 1994 to 2018.

Cantrell, a Democrat, has served the fourth district since 1994. He is wrapping up 24 years and six terms on the commission. Cantrell was defeated in the May primary.

In the first district Mason Carter, a Republican, served 12 years and three terms. Carter did not seek re-election.

Second district members Joe Johnson, a Democrat, and Jimmy Midgett, an Independent, will be leaving the commission after 4 years and one term. Midgett did not seek re-election while Johnson lost his re-election bid in the May primary. Johnson previously served on the commission from the third district during the 1980’s. He was appointed to fill an unexpired term and then was elected to one term in 1986. Altogether, Johnson has put in 11 years on the commission.

In the third district, Bradley Hendrix and Jack Barton, both Democrats, will be stepping down. Hendrix, who did not seek re-election to the commission, is completing 8 years and two terms.

Barton, who was defeated for re-election in the May primary, has put in a total of almost eleven and a half years on the commission. He was elected from the second district in 2006 and 2010 but he resigned in January, 2014 after moving his residence outside the district. Barton was elected to the commission from the third district in August 2014

In addition to Cantrell, another fourth district member, Jonathan Norris, a Democrat, will be leaving the commission after 4 years and one term. He was defeated in the May primary.

Along with Summers, Kevin Robinson from the seventh district is stepping down. Robinson, a Democrat, served 4 years and one term. Robinson was defeated in the May primary.

Sixth district member Betty Atnip, a Democrat, will be stepping aside after 4 years and one term on the commission. She lost her re-election bid in the August General Election.

Four members of the commission will be returning September 1.

Julie Williams Young, a Democrat will be starting her first full 4 year term on the commission from the first district. She has been on the commission since September 1, 2016 after being elected to fill the remaining 2 year unexpired term of her predecessor Elmer Ellis, Jr. who resigned earlier that year.

Fifth District members Anita Puckett, a Democrat, and Jerry Adcock, a Republican were re-elected on August 2. Adcock will be starting his third term and Puckett her second.

Sixth district member Jeff Barnes has been on the commission for 16 years and will be starting his fifth term.

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Although the Board of Education has not yet reached a consensus on a specific school building construction plan to recommend to the county commission it may be getting closer.

During an informal workshop last Tuesday night, the School Board and Director of Schools Patrick Cripps focused primarily on two options:

*Building a new pre-k to 5^th grade elementary school and adding on to Northside Elementary to make it a pre-K to 5^th grade school, or

*Building two new pre-k to 8^th grade elementary schools and adding on to Northside Elementary to make it a pre-K to 8^th grade school.

Director Cripps asked each member of the Board to submit to him written pros and cons of each option for review at another meeting. The board could settle on either option, submit both proposals, or come up with another alternative for the county commission to consider.

“We are trying to get something before the next school board meeting as far as the plans so we can further our discussions,” said Director Cripps.

Last fall Upland Design Group, the board’s architect, presented six options for consideration but narrowed them down to three by April at the Board’s request.

According to Cripps the last available numbers from April showed estimated costs for the pre-k to 8 building project would run in excess of $30 million as opposed to $18 million for the pre-k to 5^th grade plan. Neither option includes the cost of land purchase. Cripps said he has contacted Upland Design  to  provide updated construction cost estimates

“I have contacted the Upland Architectural group to talk to us about new numbers. They say the numbers (costs estimates) are changing constantly because of the (construction) demand that is going on (in the market). They (architects) are going to refigure the costs of building pre-k to 8 and pre-k  to 5  schools and send me some updated numbers ,” said Director Cripps.

Either of these two options would require zoning meaning students would have to attend the elementary school within the zone where they reside.

“We would have to zone under these scenarios because when you have multiple schools with the same grade levels you can’t flood one school with all the students and the other with hardly any students in it so we would have to set boundaries in the county at that point,” Director Cripps said.

Whichever construction plan is presented , the county commission would have to approve it and authorize funding to pay for it over a period of years through a note or bond issue. After the first project is completed and paid for, Director Cripps said the school board wants a plan in place, working with the county commission, to move toward building a new high school.

“We see that we need three schools. The elementary and high school are the oldest buildings in the county and the middle school has some age on it. You can’t just look at this (first) building phase and say we’re done for 20-30 years. We must have in place what our next step is going to be. I think it is important that we have a plan in place. The next phase for other buildings to be built,” he said.

Director Cripps and members of the School Board spent part of the day Saturday traveling about the county looking for property that would potentially make suitable elementary and high school building sites.

August 25, 2018
By: Dwayne Page

Members of the “Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour” held their annual “Art for Kids Day” Saturday at the DeKalb Farmers Market in support of the School System’s Back Pack Program to help feed hungry children.

Claudia Lee, local artisan, said all the artwork for this annual event is donated and all the money raised from sales goes to the Back Pack Program.

IMG_0622 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

“One hundred percent of the money from the sales goes to help fund the Back Pack program which provides supplemental food for kids in DeKalb County who are not getting fed regularly at home. We are one of the organizations that does fund raising for this program,” added Lee.

“The art work is donated by area artists as well as artists from the Appalachian Center for Crafts, and Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour. We do it once a year.  It is almost always in August. We collect art work all year long and people look forward to it. They get some great deals. The prices are amazing,” said Lee.

According to Elise Driver of the Coordinated School Health Program, About 6% of the DeKalb County School student population goes hungry on a regular basis with meals provided at schools being their main source of food. “Coordinated School Health began sending bags of food home to children ten years ago. We began with long weekends and holidays and now we feed them every week during the school year. Funding is not always consistent and we are continuously seeking donations of food and or money to maintain our program, to improve the nutritional value of the food products given to students, and to promote healthy eating habits,” said Driver.

To make a donation, contact Driver at the Board of Education Central Office known as the Ernest Ray Education Center at 615-597-4084.

Meanwhile, the 19^th annual “Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour” is scheduled for October 26-28.

Every fall, on the last full weekend in October, when the color is breathtaking and there is a certain crispness in the air, the artists of Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour in DeKalb and Cannon Counties open their studios for a free three day open studio event. Celebrating its 19th year, the tour has grown to include 15 stops with 30 participating artists.  Artists will be demonstrating their craft mediums and offering handcrafted shopping opportunities at every stop on the tour. This is a perfect family outing or weekend getaway.

To learn more visit

http://offthebeatenpathtour.com/