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Stories by Johnny Edwards
Golf tourney raises funds for pet rescue
A charity golf tournament at Country Club of the South in Johns Creek will raise money for Angels Among Us Pet Rescue. The nonprofit rescues dogs and cats from high-kill shelters and places them within a network of foster homes.The “FORE Paws” tournament starts at 9:30 a.m. on June 10 ...
Fulton pins hopes for improvement on new elections chief
Fulton County’s new elections chief will begin trying to turn around a troubled department next month.The County Commission voted unanimously to hire a Texas elections administrator, Rick Barron, to be the county’s first permanent elections director since September, when the last one resigned while incarcerated.Barron, who was given the job ...
Fulton enjoys a growth spurt -- or does it?
In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the disappearance of over 113,000 people in Fulton County in a single year, at least on paper. Now, two years later, the bureau estimates that about half the vanished masses, some 57,000 people, are back. Some population experts find those numbers confounding, improbable ...
Fulton tax chief defends $39K SUV, denies retaliation
Georgia’s highest-paid elected official says he needs a taxpayer-funded full-size SUV to get to meetings and public appearances, and he won’t even consider turning it in unless told to by the whole Fulton County Commission. Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand also denies retaliating against the county commissioner who first brought attention ...
Tax chief airs info from records about SUV critic
Less than two weeks after a county commissioner questioned his need for a county-owned vehicle, Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand has aired potentially damaging or embarrassing tax information about her. It was the second time this year that he has released such information about North Fulton Commissioner Liz Hausmann, ...
Fulton tax chief’s car cost taxpayers $39,000
Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand dipped into his own department funds last year to buy a full-size SUV for his own use, costing taxpayers $39,000, documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveal. Because Ferdinand’s vehicle, a 2013 Ford Explorer Limited, is part of the county’s fleet, it means residents ...
Fulton water and sewer customers warned of scam
Scam artists may be targeting Fulton County water and sewer customers, calling them at home, asking for credit card numbers and threatening to shut off services if the customers don’t pay up immediately. It’s a trick, says Fulton County Water and Sewer Billing, and anyone who gets such a phone ...
Clash with GOP may boost elections candidate
Revelations about Rick Barron’s recent travails in Texas make him a better pick to lead Fulton County’s troubled elections office, not a worse one, say several elections board members who chose him. Although they weren’t aware that a small-town election held on his watch had to be redone because of ...
Play performance benefits Fulton libraries
The Horizon Theatre’s May 15 performance of “The Book Play” — a comical tale of a book club in pandemonium — will benefit local libraries, including 34 operated and being constructed by the Atlanta-Fulton system. Proceeds go to the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation. Tickets are $30 online at www.afpls.org and ...
Texas official tapped to clean up Fulton elections
Fulton County’s elections office, which bungled two elections last year and whose last director resigned while jailed, could have a new leader this month. Members of the elections oversight board say they found someone who has been through tribulations in running countywide polling operations: Rick Barron, currently the elections administrator ...
Fulton OKs work on $5 million airport center
Construction of a $5 million aviation-themed cultural center, once a contentious project that riled North Fulton leaders, is back on track at Fulton County Airport-Charlie Brown Field. At issue now is how cash-strapped Fulton County will pay for operating costs after it opens. The County Commission last week approved a ...
Fulton’s high-paid tax collector gets a county car
Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand makes more money than any other elected official in Georgia, yet taxpayers fund his daily commute. Ferdinand, who earned nearly $350,000 last year, has a county-issued 2013 Ford Explorer XLT to use for his 28-mile round-trip drive, documents show. And county vehicles can be ...
Despite credit rating hit, Fulton gets record-low interest rate
A recent credit rating downgrade didn’t hamper Fulton County in obtaining a bridge loan Wednesday. The county got another record-low net interest rate, 0.15 percent, through Wells Fargo Bank in issuing $200 million in tax anticipation notes — a routine, short-term loan to tide the county over until property tax ...
Fulton names top pick for elections chief
Fulton County’s Registration and Elections Board has named their top pick for a new elections director: Richard Barron, currently the Elections Administrator for Williamson County, Texas. The County Commission is expected to vote May 15 on whether to hire him. A county spokeswoman could not say late Tuesday what salary ...
Fulton on a growth spurt — or not
In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the disappearance of over 113,000 people in Fulton County in a single year, at least on paper.Now, two years later, the bureau estimates that about half the vanished masses, some 57,000 people, are back.Some population experts find those numbers confounding, improbable and a ...
Racial mix of Fulton’s workforce way off from county population
Fulton County’s government workforce no longer looks like Fulton County. Census figures put the population at 48 percent white and 45 percent black, but 83 percent of the county government’s 5,500 employees are black and 14 percent are white. No other core metro county, nor the city of Atlanta, has ...
State says Fulton officials broke the law
The state attorney general’s office says four Fulton County commissioners broke the open meetings law when they presided over a room full of residents railing against GOP efforts to reshape the county government. But the state won’t seek fines if they’ll fess up and promise not to do it again, ...
Political battle hits Fulton’s credit rating
The political battle over Fulton County’s governance could have an unintended consequence: higher borrowing costs in the future due to a downgrade of the county’s credit rating. Fitch Ratings cut Fulton’s credit rating in part because of concern about House Bill 604 – awaiting Gov. Nathan Deal’s signature – which ...
Cobb County manager considered for Fulton job
Longtime Cobb County Manager David Hankerson is being considered for the same job in Fulton County, a county official confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Commissioner Tom Lowe said Hankerson is on the short list, but declined to say more. Hankerson is eligible to retire from Cobb, meaning he could legally ...
Fulton tax office in dispute with India, State Department
A minor international flap is stirring after $20,000 in tax liens were slapped on a property that serves as the Indian Consulate. The debt has been turned over to a private collection firm, and the U.S. State Department, citing an international treaty that makes foreign missions tax-exempt, has intervened on ...
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