County Budget Committee Expanded from Five to Seven Members

November 24, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Budget Committee has been expanded from five to seven members including one from each district.

Members of the committee as appointed by County Commission Chairman and County Mayor Tim Stribling are Julie Young (1st district), Sabrina Farler (2nd district), Jenny Trapp (3rd district), Dr. Scott Little (4th district), Jerry Adcock (5th district), Jeff Barnes (6th district), and Beth Pafford (7th district).

During its regular monthly meeting Monday night, the county commission approved the appointments along with other committee assignments made by Stribling on an 8-6 vote. Third district commissioner Jenny Trapp made the motion and second district member Myron Rhody offered a second to the motion. Commissioners voting in favor of all the committee appointments in addition to Trapp and Rhody were Beth Pafford, Janice Fish Stewart, Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, Dr. Scott Little, and Julie Young. Those voting no were Anita Puckett, Dennis Slager, Matt Adcock, Bobby Johnson, Sabrina Farler, and Bruce Malone.

In July the county commission adopted a new set of policies and procedures for conducting business and under Rule 17, “the Budget Committee shall be made up of one Commissioner from each of the seven districts to be appointed each October by the County Commission Chairman and approved by a majority of the Commission. The officers of the Budget Committee shall consist of a Chairman and Vice Chairman to be appointed by the County Mayor”.

The previous budget committee was made up of Sabrina Farler, Dr. Scott Little, Jerry Adcock, Jeff Barnes, and fifth district member Anita Puckett. Since only one commissioner from each district may now serve on the budget committee, Puckett lost her committee assignment with the new appointments.

In addition to the budget committee, the chairman appoints all other committees each October with the approval of the county commission.

Seventh district member Bruce Malone complained that some commissioners got more committee appointments than others. “I don’t think it is fair and balanced at all. Some people (commissioners) got five or six (committee assignments). Some got two and in one case one. You (chairman) have taken a select few out of the county commission government altogether just about. You have also rewarded people (commissioners) with the worst attendance records at meetings, workshops, and their own committee assignments. You also put someone on the budget committee that resigned from the budget committee (referring to Jerry Adcock). He stated publicly at the July 27 county commission meeting that he no longer wanted to be on the budget committee yet you put him back on the budget committee. That particular commissioner threatened to take away seed money from the fire department and fire hydrant money. I don’t think that kind of behavior should be rewarded. He has no business being on the budget committee,” said Malone.

In response, Commissioner Jerry Adcock, who was seated next to Malone during the meeting, turned to him and said “Bruce, kiss my …”

Chairman Stribling addressed the complaints. “I know some say there was some disparity because some people (commissioners) are only on a couple of committees while others are on four or five committees. I did not keep score. In one case we combined four or five of these committees into one (according to the new policies and procedures),” said Stribling.

November 23, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

Two people were airlifted after separate crashes Thursday night and early Friday morning in DeKalb County.

The first wreck occurred at 8:41 p.m. Thursday night on Highway 96 (Dale Ridge Road). Trooper Chris Meness of the Tennessee Highway Patrol said 18 year old Russell Elliott of Brush Creek was driving north in a 2002 Ford Ranger. A 17 year old boy was with him. Elliot went off the left side of the road while trying to negotiate a curve too fast. The truck went off a steep embankment and hit three trees before coming to a stop. The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department performed extrication to remove Elliot from the truck. He was airlifted from near the scene to Vanderbilt Hospital. The boy was taken by DeKalb EMS to Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital.

The second crash occurred Friday morning at 2:27 a.m.. Trooper Meness said 21 year old Samantha Hutson of Cookeville was traveling east on Sparta Highway near Sligo in a 2010 Honda Accord when she lost control while attempting to negotiate a curve. The car went off the right shoulder and crashed into a rock embankment. Hutson, who was not wearing a seatbelt, suffered a severe head wound and neck injury and was airlifted from near the scene to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. She has since been released from the hospital.

November 23, 2020
By:

The Walk Across Tennessee recently finished a six week competition. During a time when everyone is trying to socially distance to decrease the pandemic numbers, this friendly competition allows everyone to get much needed exercise. The goal of Walk Across Tennessee is for each team of up to 8 people to log 500 miles of exercise, which is the distance across Tennessee. Teams do not literally walk across the state. They can choose any type of exercise and convert the mileage to walking miles.

There were 10 teams and 80 people participating. The teams walked a total of 7,637 miles. Congratulations to the 1st place team, The Wholly Walkamolies who walked 1355 miles. Team members were: Kim Cabral, Marilyn Cabral, Kristen Kulkam, Dawn West, Jenny Evans, Trish Cabral, Sharon Garcia, and Angie Vettraino.

The second place team was the Hurricane Hikers. Team members included: June Keith, Tiwanda Hall, Kalah Donnell, Julie Corcoran, Carina Lundberg, Laurie Chaple, Scott Kolb, and Harriet Adrian. The third place team was Footloose with 1232 miles. Team members included: Lauren Hall, Clay Medley, Brendon Wagner, Carrie Cantrell, Terry Caldwell, and April Martin.

In addition the top individual female award went to Kim Cabral who had a total of 330 miles. The top male award went to Clay with 274 miles.

Be on the lookout for another Walk Across Tennessee in the spring. Walk Across Tennessee is a program by the University of Tennessee Extension office in DeKalb County. The University of Tennessee offers all its programs to all eligible persons regardless or race, color, sex, national origin, or handicap.