3/21: Competitive elections needed; Piedmont Bank expanding; more

TOWN CENTER: This drawing shows how the anticipated focal point of the City of Peachtree Corners, its Town Center, is expected to look. The city recently sold a 21 acre site to Fuqua Development of Atlanta, which will have a mixed-use development to include anchor tenant Cinebistro, 10 restaurants, ground floor retail shops, second floor office space, 70 high-end three story town homes from Inline Construction…..and a two acre Town Green. Groundbreaking is expected in May.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Gwinnett Needs Competitive Elections or Stalemate Will Continue

EEB PERSPECTIVE: The Piedmont Bank Expanding into Northeast Georgia with Merger

SPOTLIGHT: Gwinnett Medical Center

FEEDBACK: More on Commission Meetings and Method To Pick School Superintendent

UPCOMING: Norcross Clean Up and Recycling Events Scheduled on March 25

NOTABLE: Three From Sugar Hill Picked for Transatlantic Summer Academy

RECOMMENDED: It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Woodrow Wilson Makes Blackbeard Island a Wildlife Sanctuary

TODAY’S QUOTE: For Some, the Truth Is What They Want It To Be

MYSTERY PHOTO: Greenery Is One Key to Today’s Mystery Photo

CALENDAR: Jawbones vs. Sawbones in Sixth Annual Challenge at Mercer Gym

County needs competitive elections or stalemate will continue

By Jeff Ploussard, Lilburn, Ga.  |  The population of Gwinnett is one of the fastest growing in the nation. In addition, according to the Lawyers’ Committee, Gwinnett is “the most racially diverse county in the Southeastern United States.” As a resident of Gwinnett since 1995, my family has benefited from the stable, fair, competitive and robust business climate in our county. According to Partnership Gwinnett, the county’s economic development arm, there’s been $240 million in investments and 3,075 new jobs announced since January 2015.

Ploussard

It is a shame that our political system has lagged so far behind our business community in competitiveness.  Most elections are won by the incumbent who is often unopposed.

County elected officials are also not representative of the dramatic demographic changes in Gwinnett.  In fact, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court last month alleging that Gwinnett politicians violated federal law by gerrymandering the election maps of County School and Commission Boards in the aftermath of the 2010 census.  Gerrymandering is the practice of political parties drawing districts to create partisan electoral outcomes.

The lawsuit claims that the current electoral maps in Gwinnett County are drawn to dilute minority rights and voting power by dividing the minority population in the four County Commission districts.  By fragmenting the minority groups across the four districts, the elected politicians have stalled the creation of a majority minority district and the day when minority voters will have a fair and competitive opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

One can scarcely exaggerate the unfairness and lack of political representation for minority communities in Gwinnett.   Since 2010, minorities have made up more than half of the population of Gwinnett, but the county has never elected an African-American, Latino or Asian-American candidate to any county office.  Today, the five members of the Commission remains all white and Republican despite the facts that, according to Gwinnett County Public Schools, only 31 percent of county public school students are white and that the 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate won the popular vote in Gwinnett.  The resentments we hear from minority groups in Gwinnett concerning this political situation are similar to those voiced by the American colonists in the 1750s and 1760s at being taxed by a British Parliament to which they elected no representatives.

The disenfranchisement of voters in Gwinnett came to a head in August of 2016 when the aforementioned lawsuit was filed.  But the time for change is now.  According to the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office (Joint Office of the Georgia General Assembly), any change of districts for County School and Commission Boards must be introduced and passed by the state legislature.  Therefore, contact your Georgia State Senator or Representative, and ask him or her to introduce and support legislation to redraw the district maps of Gwinnett to bring more fairness, competition and majority minority representation to our county.

Without more fair and competitive county elections, the current polarization, stalemate and dysfunction of our county government will continue. Unifying efforts to make Gwinnett great again will continue to be distracted.

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

The Piedmont Bank expanding into Northeast Georgia with merger

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher |  A Peachtree Corners bank is expanding into three additional Northeast Georgia communities by acquiring the Mountain Valley Community Bank of Cleveland.

Brack

The Piedmont Bank, for which Piedmont Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company, has entered into an agreement with Mountain Valley Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Mountain Valley Community Bank, with a plan to merge the two companies. It is expected that the merger will be completed in the third quarter of 2017.

Following the merger, Mountain Valley Community Bank (MVCB) will continue to operate as a division of The Piedmont Bank. MVCB is headquartered in Cleveland, and has additional offices in Gainesville and Jefferson.

The Piedmont Bank has additional offices in Suwanee, Lawrenceville and Dunwoody, and loan production offices in Brookhaven and Cumming.

MVCB will add approximately $202 million in assets, $178 million in deposits and $107 million in gross loans to Piedmont’s operations. MVCB was founded in 2004 and has a strong deposit franchise, with core deposits representing 100 percent of total deposits and non-interest-bearing demand deposits representing 38 percent of total deposits. The composition of the MVCB loan portfolio is complementary to the Piedmont existing loan portfolio, bank officials say.

The Piedmont Bank as of December 31, 2016 had $552 million in assets and $487 million in deposits. It was founded in 2006 as Republic Bank, and became The Piedmont Bank when it was acquired by Piedmont Bancorp in 2009.

Watson

Monty Watson is chairman and CEO of The Piedmont Bank and says of the transaction: “We are very excited to announce our partnership with the Mountain Valley Community Bank. Its dedication to its customers and the communities it serves, along with its strong financial performance, made MVCB a natural partner.  We are delighted to welcome MVCB customers and employees to The Piedmont Bank.”

Marc J. Green, the CEO of MVCB, will serve as the North Georgia Regional president and chief risk officer of The Piedmont Bank following the merger.  He states: “We are excited to be joining the Piedmont team. It was of great importance to us to find a partner with strong values, clear strategic vision and financial strength. Our customers, employees and the communities we serve will all benefit from this transaction.”

The Piedmont Bank has 69 employees, while MVCB has 30 employees. Watson says that all employees will be retained in the merged operations.

The boards of both Piedmont and MVCB have approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017. It is subject to approval of MVCB shareholders, receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

MVCB was advised by the investment banking firm, The Burke Group, and the law firm of Miller and Martin,  PLLC.  Piedmont was advised by the investment banking firm Roger G. Powell, LLC, and represented by the law firm of Alston and Bird, LLP.

Piedmont directors include Paul Donaldson, Robert D. Cheeley, John J. Howard, Monty G. Watson, Robert J. Ratliff and T. Michael Tennant, while James E. Stephenson is an advisory director.

The two banks’ websites are www.piedmontbankonline.com, and www.mvcb.com.

• Have a comment?  Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Gwinnett Medical Center

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gwinnett Medical Center’s parent company is Gwinnett Health System (GHS), which also includes Gwinnett Medical Group and Sequent Health Physician Partners.  GMC employs approximately 5,000 associates and has 800 affiliated physicians serving more than 400,000 patients annually.  Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC) is a nationally-recognized, not-for-profit healthcare network with acute-care hospitals in Lawrenceville and Duluth. Additional facilities include: the Gwinnett Women’s Pavilion, the Gwinnett Extended Care Center, Glancy Rehabilitation Center, outpatient health centers and surgical centers, imaging centers and outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy facilities.

• To learn more about how GMC is transforming healthcare, visit org.

• For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.

Disturbed by continued interruptions at commission meetings

Editor, the Forum:

Gwinnett’s failure to keep Gwinnett great, I hope, won’t be based on one statement by one man. I don’t like what Mr. Tommy Hunter said, but we can’t continue to protest, interrupt meetings every time someone says something we don’t like or don’t approve of.

We need to let our Commissioners do their job without continued interruptions. Find another place to protest – please.

— Mary Upchurch, Peachtree Corners

Two sound off at efforts to elected county school superintendents

Editor, the Forum:

Your recent editorial about why we should not elected school superintendents  was right on the nail. Pound for pound!

It used to be that a popular guy who ran the beer store could get elected superintendent despite a withering lack of education. And somebody with a doctorate would hesitate to put his face on a poster and run for office.

Please, continue to teach people what we should’ve already learned about this matter. Politics makes strange bedfellows!

— Dave Brown, Eatonton

Editor, the Forum:

I just read your piece about school superintendents in today’s Forum.  I work with school systems across the state and agree with your assessment of the pitfalls of an elected superintendent. I want to make sure and provide a complete reference in my outreach to the folks I know in the legislature.

— Al Stinson, Peachtree Corners

Dear Dave and Al: From what I read in the media, this bill is apparently dead in this session of the Legislature. But be vigilant: bet it will come up again! It was Senate Resolution 192, by the way, by Sen. John Wilkinson (R) of Toccoa.–eeb

Send us your thoughts:  We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum.  Please limit comments to 300 words.  We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length.  Send feedback and letters to:    elliott@brack.net

Norcross Clean-up and Recycling events scheduled on March 25

The City of Norcross is kicking off the spring season with a Neighborhood Clean-up and Recycling Day on Saturday, March 25. Residents can help keep Norcross ‘clean and beautiful’ by bringing in documents to be securely shredded, hauling in non-hazardous bulk items and recycling electronics. During the one-day event, the City of Norcross will also be accepting canned or non-perishable goods donations for the 2017 “Can” Do for Hunger Campaign.

Clean-Up Event: Residents can bring in items that are not hazardous material to the Public Works Facility, 345 Lively Street (just off Buford Hwy) from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. The Clean-up event is free and open to City of Norcross residents only (proof of residency required).

Shredding: The shredding is free and open to the public, will be held from 9 a.m. – noon or until the truck is full at Norcross City Hall, 65 Lawrenceville Street. American Security Shredding. Each person is limited to five medium boxes or equivalent.

Electronics Recycling: The general public is invited to participate in the electronics recycling to get rid of old cell phones, computers and keyboards. City volunteers will be available to help unload donated items. This event is free except for televisions, which require a $20 fee. CRT Monitors are $5. This will be held at the Norcross Community Center, 10 College Street, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Duluth warm weather activities have new event this year

A new Art festival, dancing characters, food trucks, live music, a lantern walk and a bustling new downtown are some things residents can expect to see in Duluth this year.

Site of many Duluth events

Events kick off as early as April with the return of the Peach State Cornhole League. The popular tailgate game will consist of three eight-week leagues.

Fridays ‘n Duluth kicks off May 5 alongside Food Truck Friday. Flicks on the Bricks will present a free movie on the first of each month from May until September.

New to the scene is a crawfish festival. The ticketed event, MuddBuggs and  Music, will be held on April 22. Enjoy crawfish, low country boil and live entertainment on Duluth Town Green.

Also, new to the event calendar is the Duluth Arts Festival which on June 9 will kick off Duluth’s nine-day art week. The Aurora Theatre presents “In The Heights” on June 17th to wrap up the week.

Signature events like the Duluth Fall Festival, Duluth Celebrates America, Howl on the Green, Deck the Hall, and Cookies and Cocoa with Santa will all be back for 2017.

Sugar Hill announces performers for The Bowl Stage for 2017

The City of Sugar Hill announces the 2017 Quantum National Bank Concert Series for The Bowl stage behind City Hall.

Ticket prices start at just $35. Tables and suites are available for purchase as well.  For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.thebowlatsugarhill.com.

The 2017 line-up includes:

• May 26, Georgia Music Hall of Fame musicians Collective Soul of  Stockbridge, Ga.

• June 10: Grammy Award winner Boz Scaggs.
• July 15: Grammy Award winners KC and the Sunshine Band.
• August 12 Josh Turner returns to The Bowl stage.  was the biggest country hit of 2012 according to Billboard Year-End.
• September 2: Rounding out the summer concert series is Ben Folds.

Three from Sugar Hill picked for Transatlantic Summer Academy

Three members of the city’s Youth Council have been selected to participate in the Young Leaders’ Transatlantic Summer Academy on Human Rights.  Accepted into the program were Taylor Morain, Kaan Cubukcu and Spencer-Grace Williams.  This program is a four-week educational opportunity focusing on the topic of human rights.

Alongside the three Sugar Hill students, nine students from other Georgia cities’ youth councils or committees and 12 youth from Tübingen, Germany will participate in the trip.

During their trip, students will visit Atlanta, New York, Tübingen and Berlin.  They will have the opportunity to meet activists, people affected by recent events, media representatives, speakers and politicians.

Legislature commends Georgia Hispanic Construction Association

The Georgia General Assembly has commended the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association (GHCA) for its service and excellence. The resolution seeks to “recognize and commend the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association for its commitment to serving the Hispanic community and its high standards of service and dedication to excellence and extend sincere best wishes for future success.”

According to Wilson Tomala of Peachtree Corners, GHCA develops and promotes the Hispanic construction industry throughout Georgia. From left are Hector Montalvo, executive director of GHCA; Guiomar Obregon, former chairwoman of the board and founder of GHCA; Rep. Pedro “Pete” Marin of Gwinnett; and Wilson E. Tomala.

Tomala was born and raised in Ecuador, and finished his engineering degree in New York, where he lived for years. He and his family moved to Georgia in 1996. He owns Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling of North Atlanta, which is located at 1450 Oakbrook Drive in Norcross.

Jackson EMC Foundation awards $33,104 to local nonprofits

The Jackson EMC Foundation board of directors awarded a total $81,572 in grants during their February meeting, including $33,104 to organizations serving Gwinnett County.

From left, Jackson EMC District Manager Randy Dellinger presents a $9,604 Jackson EMC Foundation grant check to Gwinnett Special Forces athlete Victors Dolive, Marketing Director Melanie Dolive, athlete Adam Bradford and Committee Chairwoman Gina Wilkins as service dog and team mascot Willow looks on.

$9,604 to Gwinnett Special Forces, a community-based volunteer organization accredited under Special Olympics of Georgia that provides adults with intellectual and development disabilities in Barrow, Gwinnett and Hall counties the opportunity to play sports.

$7,500 to Judy House, a faith-based transition home for homeless men who have been incarcerated or under community supervision in Barrow, Gwinnett and Hall counties, to provide necessary personal expenses, transportation, food, household supplies and rent while they seek jobs and reconnect with their families and the community.

$7,500 to the North Gwinnett Arts Association to provide art education to students ages 5 to 90 who demonstrate financial need.

$5,000 to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America to help 13 children from Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties attend Camp Oasis which allows campers to interact with other children who face the same challenges.

$3,500 to Guest House, a Gainesville non-profit senior day care center serving Banks, Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson and Lumpkin counties that offers therapeutic activities, socialization, and professional medical services to frail seniors and those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Jackson EMC Foundation grants are made possible by the more than 184,700 participating cooperative members who have their monthly electric bills rounded to the next dollar amount through the Operation Round Up program. Their “spare change” has funded 1,165 grants to organizations and 342 grants to individuals, putting nearly $11.8 million back into local communities since the program began in 2005.

It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

From Harriet Zoller, Sandy Springs  |  Sinclair Lewis was so alarmed by the rise of Nazism and fascism in Europe in the 1930s that in just four months he wrote this satiric novel. It was published in October 1935, and since the election of Donald Trump, booksellers can hardly keep the book in stock.  The novel is set between 1936 and 1939.  Its protagonist, a small newspaper publisher in rural Vermont, shrinks from political activism.  He can’t believe the American electorate will choose a demagogue for president.  Modeled on Louisiana’s Huey Long, this New England demagogue calls American voters “the League of Forgotten Men” and “the Dispossessed” and woos them with the promise of $5,000 for every family.  Within days of being elected, he begins dismantling and replacing positions in the halls of American democracy (the Congress, the Courts, the military) with loyalists. Described as “shockingly prescient,” this novel has a currency today that can’t be denied.

An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb

Woodrow Wilson makes Blackbeard Island a wildlife sanctuary

(Continued from previous issue)

An 1894 Marine Hospital Service inspection report noted that the Blackbeard Island quarantine station comprised 13 buildings and 23 employees. The report noted a surgeon’s hospital on the south end of Blackbeard. A launch, the Hygeia, was used to disinfect ships and their ballasts as well as to transfer people from the north and south ends of the island. There was an engineer to operate the launch and another in charge of the ballast removal and disinfecting station on the north end of the island. Other employees included a drayman, a carpenter, a stockman for the station’s small herd of cattle, a cook, a laundress, a head surgeon, an assistant surgeon, and a male nurse. The report noted that 90 vessels called at Blackbeard from foreign and domestic ports to undergo disinfecting and quarantine.

The disinfecting station, built on wharves extending into Sapelo Sound from Blackbeard’s north end, was composed of tanks and a rail track to expedite the removal of ballast stone from the holds of ships contaminated by yellow fever. In 1904 a brick crematory was built; it is the only structure from the quarantine era that still remains on Blackbeard Island. Marine hospital records do not note that this device was ever used for its intended purpose—to cremate the bodies of yellow fever victims.

The peak of the island’s activity as a quarantine station was reached in 1900, largely because of the processing of yellow pine timber from the numerous sawmills around nearby Darien. Beginning in 1889, Sapelo Sound, with its natural deep harbor, became the preferred anchorage for vessels engaged in the timber trade. By 1900 shipping around Blackbeard Island and Sapelo Sound began making a transition from wooden, sail-powered vessels to steamships designed to accommodate larger timber cargoes.

The Blackbeard quarantine station was deactivated in 1909, after vaccines developed by Walter Reed and others had practically eliminated yellow fever. In 1914 an executive order signed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson made Blackbeard Island a wildlife preserve, and in 1924 the island was permanently established as a national wildlife refuge. Since then it has been managed and administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior.

• To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

Greenery is one key to today’s Mystery Photo

With the weather turning a season this week, check out this greenery, which could be about any place except the flatlands. Is there a clue here staring you in the face?  Send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include your hometown.

We thought the most recent Mystery Photo was difficult, which came from Rob Keith of Peachtree Corners. It’s no surprise that the only reader who recognized the statue was George Graf of Palmyra, Va. He writes: “This is the Commemoration Stone where the Vietcong detonated a car bomb on Christmas Eve 1964 at the Brink Hotel (now The Park Hyatt) in Saigon, Vietnam.

“According to Peter Alan Lloyd, the explosion killed two American soldiers and injured 60 others, including military personnel and Vietnamese civilians.  One of the bombers said that the number of American officers at the Brink Hotel had swelled on Christmas Eve because they were using the building to coordinate their celebrations, and that the attack would therefore cause more casualties than on a normal day, which is why they chose Christmas Eve.  The bombers, disguised in South Vietnam Army uniforms, stashed explosives weighing approximately 200 lbs. in the trunk of one of the cars, and set a timing device to trigger the bomb at 17:45, during happy hour in the officers’ bar at the hotel.  The Viet Cong wanted to send a message to the US that no matter how heavily guarded Saigon was, they could infiltrate their defenses and cause significant casualties.”

(NEW) The Jawbones (attorneys) vs. the Sawbones (doctors) will play in the sixth annual basketball match on March 25 at 6 p.m. at the Mercer University Gymnasium in Chamblee to raise money for the Side-by-Side Brain Injury Clubhouse. It is sponsored by the Lilburn and Stone Mountain Woman’s Clubs. For more information or tickets, go to www.sidebysidecluhouse.org.

Chip Wade, an HGTV designer will speak on  March 25,  at 7 p.m. at the Infinite Energy Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, presented by the Gwinnett Public Library. Host, designer, and executive producer of the Emmy Award winning series Elbow Room, Wade is an Atlanta native who comes from a long line of carpenters and wood craftsmen.  For more information, visit www.gwinnettpl.org or call 770-978-5154.

Exhibition Extended: World Through the Lens Photo Show of Frank Sharp at the Tucker Library, 5234 LaVista Road has been extended until April 28, 2017. The library is open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

11th Annual Supplier Symposium for firms wanting to do business with Gwinnett County. The symposium will be April 11 starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.  Attendees will meet buyers and contracting officers from the Purchasing Division and other metro Atlanta agencies and take advantage of networking opportunities designed to create relationships.  For more information about the event and to register, visit this site.

HANDYMAN SERVICES: Whatever your home maintenance problem is, Isaias Rodriguez can help. An experienced painter, he is dependable in installing or repairing siding, gutters, ceramic tile, plumbing, garage doors, or any other problem around your home. He’ll even fix your bike! He is originally from Mexico and has been in Georgia since 1996. He is legally allowed to work in the United States and is insured. Give him a call at his home in Norcross at 404-569-8825 or email him at rodriguez_isais@yahoo.com. Visit his Facebook page at Neza construction and home repair to see some of his past work.

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• Editor and publisher:  Elliott Brack, 770-840-1003
• Managing editor: Betsy Brack
• Roving photographer:  Frank Sharp
• Contributing columnist: Debra Houston
• Contributing columnist: George Wilson

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