Last week Commissioner Bebe said she would be raising Walker property taxes by 13%. Now she says talks of tax increases are “premature” and she hasn’t made up her mind yet – although the state requires paperwork for tax increases to be turned in during early August.

(When she finally does decide, she could very well choose to go up even more than first announced.)

Chattooga County, which already has a much higher tax rate than Walker, says their county and school taxes will remain flat for the next year.

Meanwhile, ex-convict County Attorney Don Oliver is preparing to obtain more loans to pay back loans Bebe took out to help Hutcheson. Walker County’s debt to tax revenue ratio (not including Hutcheson liability outside of these loans) is approaching 50%.   

Qualification for fall City Council elections has been moved to August 31-September 2. An earlier date set by the council ran afoul of the city charter and had to be changed.

The election will be November 3rd. LaFayette council seats contested will be Ward 3 (Meeks), Ward 4 (Davis), and At-Large (Swanson). So far LU isn’t aware of any challengers for those spots.

If you’d be interested in running, the qualification fee is only $108.

More from last Monday’s special meeting:

WQCH Radio, 08/04/15: “IN A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MONDAY NIGHT, THE LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL CHANGED THE QUALIFYING DATES FOR THE CITY ELECTION THIS YEAR IN ORDER TO CONFORM TO THE CITY CHARTER.

“AT LAST MONTH’S MEETING, THE DATES WERE SET TO START AUGUST 24th – BUT THE CHARTER SPECIFIES THE ‘LAST MONDAY IN AUGUST’. SO THE DATES WERE RESET FOR AUGUST 31st THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2nd, MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FROM 8:30 AM THROUGH 4:30 PM DAILY AT CITY HALL. THE QUALIFYING FEE IS $108.

“..IN OTHER BUSINESS, THE COUNCIL APPROVED A LOAN AND A GRANT FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TO PURCHASE TWO NEEDED VEHICLES FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. CITY MANAGER DAVID HAMILTON HEARD ABOUT THE USDA LOAN-GRANT PROGRAM WHILE AT A MUNICIPAL ASSOCIATION MEETING.

“USDA WILL LOAN THE CITY $23,700 TO PURCHASE A NEW POLICE CRUISER, AND WILL GIVE THE CITY AN ADDITIONAL $24,700 TO PURCHASE A TRUCK FOR ANIMAL CONTROL. BOTH VEHICLES WILL BE PURCHASED FROM THE LOCAL JENKINS CHRYSLER-DODGE DEALERSHIP.

“POLICE CHIEF BENJI CLIFT SAID THE STATE BID IS THE LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE, AND RECENTLY, THE LOCAL DEALER HAS BEEN MATCHING THE STATE-BID PRICE FOR POLICE VEHICLES. ‘IT’S NICE TO BE ABLE TO PURCHASE LOCALLY AT THE LOWEST PRICE’, CLIFT SAID.

“FITTINGS TO MAKE THE 4-DOOR TRUCK SUITABLE FOR ANIMIAL CONTROL, WILL BE FABRICATED LOCALLY TO SAVE MONEY, ACCORDING TO THE CHIEF.”

These “special meetings” are becoming a regular thing lately.   

The 2015 elections are almost three months away, but candidates are already making plans for 2016.

Tax Commissioner Carolyn Walker breaks the ice, announcing she WILL run for reelection next year. Walker has held the job since 2001.

So far she’s the only confirmed, serious candidate for any of the dozen county positions up for a vote next May.   

Charlie’s Cafe on the downtown square, which opened last spring, has closed. But the building won’t be empty: a new eatery is slated to occupy the same space, with a new name.

Per an employee of the NEW business, a meat-n-three type restaurant named “Hillbilly’s” will open where Charlie’s was, with new owners and management. The store will offer country cooking, plus ribs, shrimp, and burgers.

Hillbilly’s will operate Tuesday-Saturday and MIGHT be open as soon as this Tuesday, August 11th. A formal announcement is forthcoming.

Recent Local Health Inspections:

The lowest health inspection score in recent weeks (for the south end of Walker LU covers) was an 85, earned by Queen City Bistro on July 28th. They were cited for a series of minor issues, including tomatoes too warm in a cooler, prepared food not dated, a leaking cooler, and mops stored improperly.

The next lowest score, an 86, was issued to Manor House Restaurant at Mountain Cove Farms on July 30th. The county-owned enterprise had a bag of moldy cheese and poorly cleaned equipment.

Wanda’s in Rock Spring wasn’t much further ahead with an 87. Issues there on July 22 included no soap in a hand wash sink and a reach-in cooler barely holding proper temperatures.

An 88 was handed to China Buffet on August 5th. Problems at the Asian all-you-can-eat were related to the amount of time items were left on the bar and a few condiments on the bar not protected by a sneeze guard.

Shepherd Hills nursing home rounded out the B scores on July 21st with an 89. Inspectors found dirty equipment, bacon not cooled fast enough, and over-diluted sanitizer.

LaFayette Healthcare / Pruitt Health Nursing Home: 91
Krystal: 94
Southern Bliss: 95
Twins Pizza: 95
Arby’s: 96
Ivy Cottage: 96
Walker County Jail: 96
Subway at Walmart: 99

As the Times Free Press recently pointed out, Walker County’s current property tax rate isn’t the lowest around, and when the Commissioner signs off on her (proposed) 1 mil increase later this month we’ll be among the top in Northwest GA.

2014’s tax (7.725 mils) is higher than Whitfield (6.061) and Catoosa (6.598). Another 1 mil would also move us higher than Dade (8.179) and within a hair of Floyd (8.767). But those counties are providing their taxpayers with more services than Walker does. What do you get back for the taxes you pay?

Bartow and Chattooga, the highest on THIS list (which isn’t all-inclusive by any means) are both sole commissioner governments, along with Walker and Murray.   

How broke IS Walker County?

Last month Commissioner Heiskell promised to give Cherokee Regional Library an extra $20,000 to support the Rossville branch and buy more books for all three libraries.

Library leaders, however, got nothing when they went to collect the funds; county CPA Greg McConnell said there’s not $20,000 left in the county’s accounts to give them.

Bebe told the Chattanooga paper she’s not wasting money because there’s not any. This shows she’s not kidding, we’re broke.

The reasons for being out of cash are all too clear when you look at the county’s audit from last year, which has just started leaking out. LU will take a detailed look at that over the weekend. (Hint: the Commissioner decides how to spend money, and she’s not good at making those choices.)

“Commissioner Heiskell has told the press that she hasn’t wasted taxpayer money. The facts, however tell a different story.” -Mike Cameron, Rossville Taxpayer

Walker County can’t afford to fix its roads, can’t provide ambulances, and now there’s not even enough money left – they say – to buy books. This is a disgrace.

LU has been told (but cannot verify) when the library leaders went to Bebe and got her promise of $20,000, she showed them preliminary plans for spending millions on a hotel at her farm.

IF that’s true (and again, it is so far NOT independently verified) she’s slipped into delusional senility and ought to be removed from her position by a judge.     

One of LaFayette’s most notorious thieving punks is on the run.

LPD and GA State Patrol seek information on the location of Corey Chaz Warren; he’s wanted for violating his parole and for charges related to theft.

Mr. Warren got out of prison in May and was arrested in early June for drug possession and lying to police. He served only three years of a 12-year sentence for drugs and burglary.

He has a twin brother Codey, who he often claims to be. Codey is, however, currently in the Walker County Jail. If you see either of them (either way), call LPD or 911.   

Great news for Commissioner Heiskell’s friends and remaining supporters: Walker County property owners will endure another huge tax increase this fall, thanks to her wild spending and backwards priorities.

Bebe admits she’ll have to raise taxes by at least 1 mil, which is another $1 for every $1,000 your home and land are worth. She says it’s not her fault, and she’s not wasting money, because there’s no money left to waste.

“I’m operating on no money,’ she said, ‘just in case you think I’m wasting it.'”

She’s right about there being no money to waste – she’s wasted it all already. The county is facing massive, massive debts because of how much she’s blown on special projects we don’t need and don’t want. She’s shedding legitimate public services and cranking up taxes, but but still hanging onto her pets to the end.

Walker can’t have a working ambulance service, a full-time library, road repairs, neighborhood dumpsters, running water for Villanow, or open community centers.

But we WILL have a wedding resort farm ($4.3 million lost so far, with more money down the drain every day), a county fair, a bank building, a half-finished walking trail, a shopping center for her friends on Lookout Mountain, and a trolley.

The tax increase won’t pay for those things, no, because they were already paid for with loans. This tax increase will only go to cover some of that existing debt (hardly all of it) and allow the county to take out more loans to repay other loans.

“In other words, this would be a loan to pay off a loan to pay off a loan.”

Granny maxed out the credit card again, so she needs another card with a higher limit to pay that one off. (Sorry kids, your inheritance is long gone.)

Walker County voters had opportunity to take Heiskell’s “card” away in 2012, but the chance slipped away. What can we do NOW? Precious little.

With ONE commissioner, there’s no accountability except during elections – and even elections don’t undo what’s already been done. If Heiskell left office tomorrow, this mess she’s made would take a decade to fix. A sole commissioner can drive the government off a cliff because nobody else can hit the brakes.

As much as Bebe is to blame for what she’s done and continues to do, blame for this tax increase also falls on her supporters, county employees, and vendors who consistently vote for her and prop her up publicly, who kept her in office (and left the card in her hand) in the last election.

Blame also falls on Walker County’s elected legislators – Jeff Mullis, Steve Tarvin, and John Deffenbaugh – who have ignored demands for a vote on the outdated, ruinous sole commissioner system.

Thanks to ALL of you Bebe voters. Thanks a whole hell of a lot. YOU bear the blame for this, just as much as she does. But we ALL have to pay the price for your (and her) stupidity and selfishness.       

Two more local businesses closing: Charlie’s Cafe has shut down, and Sears is done by the end of August.

Per one owner, the decision to close LaFayette’s long-struggling Sears franchise was made by Sears’ corporate headquarters. The store has started clearance sales now and will be done by August 24th.

Charlie’s Cafe on the downtown square has already closed, but is supposed to reopen soon under new owners. The replacement restaurant (name not yet known) will be a meat n three open Tuesday-Saturday. No date yet for the reopening.   

Frequent flier (arrest-wise) goes to jail again after claiming he was raped at a local motel.

Drugs? Of course.

WQCH Radio, 08/04/15: “A LAFAYETTE MAN WAS ARRESTED AT A LOCAL MOTEL SUNDAY, FOLLOWING SOME BIZARRE BEHAVIOR…

“MANAGEMENT AT THE FORMER DAYS INN REPORTED A MAN HARASSING HOTEL GUESTS AND EMPLOYEES, TALKING LOUDLY AND BANGING ON DOORS IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.

“POLICE RECOGNIZED THE MAN AS 34 YEAR OLD JAMES JOSHUA JACK NEZ, OF LAFAYETTE. WHEN CONFRONTED, NEZ SAID HE HAD BEEN RAPED BY A HOTEL EMPLOYEE AND WANTED A ‘RAPE KIT’.

“HIS MOTHER WAS SITTING IN A VEHICLE IN THE PARKING LOT WITH NEZ’S CHILDREN. SHE SAID THEY HAD BEEN WAITING ON THE MAN, TO TAKE HIM TO ANOTHER LOCATION.

“NEZ WAS CHARGED WITH DISORDERLY CONDUCT AND SEARCHED. METH, A SYRINGE AND A GLASS PIPE WERE FOUND ON HIS PERSON. HE WAS ADDITIONALLY CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF METH.

“WHEN TAKEN TO JAIL AND ASKED FOR INFORMATION ON HIS RAPE ALLEGATION, NEZ REFUSED TO SAY ANYTHING FURTHER.”

Nez was arrested in 2014 for hiding from police in an attic with his girlfriend. He went to jail again this year for choking a girlfriend (not sure if it’s the same one). How long will he be in this time?   

LPD officers Nick Terry and Dusty Coker are credited with saving a man’s life early Friday morning.

The officers broke into a burning home on Simmons St. shortly after midnight on July 31st, finding Jeffrey Scott Harris passed out on his kitchen floor. They dragged him to safety. Firefighters saved the home from total destruction; Harris is alive, but his current condition has not been released.     

Residents of Pear Pine trailer park, the worst place to live in LaFayette, have gone without water service for over a week.

Residents of the ghetto trailer park pay $400 a month for an ancient single-wide and a landlord who turns a blind eye to illegal activities. They’re also supposed to get utilities, but water has been cut off because Pear Pine’s out-of-state owners are more than $6,000 behind in paying their tenants’ combined water bill.

That place has been awful for decades. But that’s not the fault of the residents: It was a s***hole when David Coker owned it, and it’s gotten even worse since he sold it.

LaFayette could reconnect the water to help those who live there, but that could do more harm than good if it encourages tenants to stay where they are instead of taking their rent money to better similarly-priced places. If the city does restore service, it should be temporary and be accompanied by help finding those who live there a better place to live.

The city has no legal obligation to help those living at Pear Pine, but bears some ethical responsibility for their situation – first because they’re citizens of LaFayette, and secondly because the city has never done anything to ensure rental properties are safe to live in.

Once Pear Pine is vacated, LaFayette should begin conducting inspections of rental property – trailers, apartments, even houses – on a regular basis, or when tenants move out. (How did the trailer park change owners several years ago without falling afoul of building codes? Somebody was obviously asleep at the switch.)

The Queen City will never be better than it is when we allow a dangerous, ugly place like Pear Pine Trailer Park to exist and take advantage of the community’s poorest families. That’s not to say we shouldn’t have low-rent housing, but for $400 a month it should be better than this.   

Last week Nissin Brake conducted a surprise drug test for all of its employees.

Per this corporate memo, the drug test was prompted by complaints from employees themselves. What’s worse than doing a hot, dangerous job with mediocre pay? Doing it next to somebody who’s under the influence.

Company insiders say about 30 of the automotive supplier’s 300 workers failed the test (or failed to show up on the day it was conducted) and have joined the ranks of unemployment. Nissin is now hiring.

This is one reason why Roper and other large employers can’t keep people – too many Walker County residents show up at work under the influence.