Friday, March 16, 2001
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Friday, March 16, 2001 |
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Voters head to the polls By JOHN
THOMPSON
Coweta voters head to the polls Tuesday and will decide whether to continue a one-cent sales tax for construction of new schools. Additionally, voters will select a new clerk of Superior Court in what has been an unusually low-key campaign. The most discussion in this year's campaign has revolved around the special purpose local option sales tax. School officials have said the $90 million raised by the five-year sales tax would enable the school to build a new elementary and middle school and pay off the school system's indebtedness. Opponents of the tax have complained that the school system has not properly identified all the projects in the tax proposal. The most vocal opponents of the tax have been the county's senior citizens, who have asked the school system to exempt them from paying school taxes. But school system officials have not been able to obtain exact figures on how much seniors pay in property taxes, so the measure could not be brought before local legislators to call for a referendum. In the clerk race, three candidates are vying for the seat. Cindy Brown is currently serving as interim clerk and is emphasizing her 11 years of experience in the clerk's office. Brown has worked for three clerks: Virginia Hollberg, Debbie Glover and Joan Griffies. During those years, she has learned that the most important aspect of the job is being a public servant, she said. "My door will always be open," she said. Wally Metzger is running for office in Coweta County for the first time and said he has lived in the county for five years. If elected, Metzger said he would like to see trust put back in the office. "We've had problems in the past. I'd like to restore the integrity to that office," he said. Former Clerk Joan Griffies also is running for the office. Griffies was defeated last July by former clerk worker Mary Jane Thompson. Thompson resigned earlier this year after pleading guilty to taking funds from the clerk's office. Griffies emphasized her experience in the job for the last four years as one of the main reasons voters should cast their ballots for her. "These last four years have been the most satisfying thing that I've done in my life," she said. Griffies said that she had modernized the office with new computer equipment and said she is a skilled manager. Complete election results will be in next week's Coweta Citizen Review.
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