Patterson terminated

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Wednesday, December 22. 2010

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As reported here five hours before it happened, county administrator Wayne Patterson was fired Tuesday night by the Lamar County commission.

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#1 sick and tired on 12/22/10 at 07:36 AM

At the meeting last night, Jay insisted that Gretchen was guilty and Patterson was being terminated so that the board could "take another direction"(whatever that means) and have more input on the day to day operations. This is not what the newspaper reported. Someone is not speaking clearly. If we are paying their salaries shouldn't we be informed?

#2 do da on 12/22/10 at 07:46 AM

he must be the fall guy for the crooks on the commission. wish they would fire themselves and get a new group of honest hard working citizens on the commission, of course honest people don't want that job. politics ha

#3 abbycadabby on 12/22/10 at 08:32 AM

I am so disapointed in Jimmy Hearn. Not in my district but I thought he would do the right thing for the county. He is just a good ole boy yes man. We are in a MESS. Let's all turn out for every meeting and watch..Ok Charles Glass we're putting our eggs in your basket, don't roll over and play dead

#4 livedhereallmylife on 12/22/10 at 09:18 AM

I am convinced no matter what the commissioners do it will not satisfy certain people. They were going to cut some services - oh don't cut that - they were going to raise the mills - oh don't do that - then they were going to do salary cuts - oh, you certainly can't do that. So do da, I expect to see you name on the ballot next election ------- everybody watch for "do da" on the next ballot and if you don't want to vote for "do da" there is always "anonymous". Some of you make fun of Shelia but at least she has the guts to stand by what she says. Keep blogging!!!

#5 Anonymous on 12/22/10 at 10:34 AM

OK folks...somebody is in the know....Why was he terminated?

#6 Anonymous on 12/22/10 at 10:44 AM

and your name is???? Kettle calling pot black

#7 Anonymous on 12/22/10 at 01:35 PM

At least you live in Lamar County. Does Sheila?

#8 tell the truth on 12/22/10 at 02:49 PM

It seems to me that Mr. matthews is trying to make this go away. We just need to ban together and get him recalled and make him go away. Each taxpayer in this county needs to hold him and mr. patterson accountable for the mess this county is in. I also challenge each of you to learn how the grand jury system works before blogging half truths. Booklets are availble at the Lamar county courthouse.

#9 MO on 12/22/10 at 05:24 PM

livedhereallmylife: you got it right!

#10 Anonymous on 12/22/10 at 07:58 PM

How does the re-call process start? Does their have to be negligence? criminal activity? or just being an arrogant a$$ is enough to start a recall?

#11 Anonymous on 12/22/10 at 08:14 PM

All most of us ask for, is that the county government cut spending. The county's budget has grown tremendously over the last five years. Spend only on what is needed. Cut Back like the rest of us!

#12 anon on 12/23/10 at 05:41 AM

Mr. Patterson got into trouble because of his loyalty to Jay Matthews. Jay Matthews hires and surrounds himself with people that will be loyal to him and be his gophers. He always comes out squeaky clean. Just like the new girl hired in the commissioners office. Find out who she is related to and that will tell you why Mr. Matthews hired her. She has a high school education and is making 40,000 a year. And we wonder as tax payers why we are in financial trouble. As long as Jay Matthews is in charge, you need to be ready to shell out more tax money. He basically stated that in the meeting. Check out his past history as a loan officer at lst national bank. Him and his brother got off easy. Ask the GBI that was in charge of that incident. The bank failed because of his past financial conduct while he was employed at the bank. Now he is destroying the county. People wake up before it is too late. I think if the GBI had given Jay Matthews a lie detector test, they would have gotten to the root of this problem. I do hope the commissioners have a say in who is going to replace Mr. Patterson. If they don't, Jay Matthews will have someone else in there that will be his puppet on a string. Is the new county administrator going to have certain degrees to hold that office and what is going to be the starting salary? The starting salary does not need to be 75000.00 I am sick and tired as a tax payer having my tax money used for favors. It would be nice to have the couty administrator's salary back to where it was and as the new adminstrator cuts back and budgets our tax money and gets our county out of the red, is awarded with a year end bonus. I also think Jay Matthews office does not need to be across the hall from the county administrators. The further away he is from the county administrator the better it will be for us taxpayers.

#13 do da on 12/23/10 at 07:02 AM

is that your real name? ha ha

#14 livedhereallmylife on 12/23/10 at 07:09 AM

I would like to be obverse for a moment - I am not the lawyer blogger, tax specialist blogger, human resource specialist blogger,the government specialist blogger, blah, blah, blah. I am just sick of all of you who sit on your happy behinds and put every decision made under a microscope and force your poor, lack of researched, hypercritical "opinions" on the rest of us. Go to the meetings, ask the commission questions in open meeting so they are recorded, educate yourself and stop all this rejective behavior. Then voice your opinion to the people who count - who are making the decisions. Let them hear from you DIRECTLY!

#15 Yellot Aliehs on 12/23/10 at 07:20 AM

Probably because he failed his lie detector test and Mrs. Ellerby passed hers....

#16 Wake Up!! on 12/23/10 at 04:53 PM

You want to pay an official whose in charge of all county affairs a measley $75,000 or less. Well Lamar County, that may well be our damn problem. If you want someone good who can handle the job, the first task is pay them appropriately. You can't pay someone of such a task driven job a salary of $35,000-$50,000. Only some stupid idiot would think that. And if you do, yes I called you an idiot. Let's do the right thing and pay for the service we want. Pay up or shut up!!!

#17 anon on 12/24/10 at 08:04 AM

You need to wake up. How big do you think this county is? We are not Dekalb, Henry, etc.? Check Butts, Monroe, Upson .. So to you it's all about money. That is kind of humorous to me. Cause Mr. Patterson get a nice size raise and look at what we the taxpayers got in return. This county is in one heck of a mess financially. I think people need to prove themself first in the position. This county might be better off not having a county adminstrator.

#18 Anonymous on 12/24/10 at 09:24 AM

We pay the IDA head as much as Patterson. He was not overpaid. $70K is not that much money for someone with special skills. It is only $35 an hour.

#19 Anonymous on 12/24/10 at 02:08 PM

There ya go! Let's just throw more money at the problem, that'll fix it!

#20 Anonymous on 12/26/10 at 04:38 AM

So...we are overpaying the head of the IDA.

#21 anon on 12/26/10 at 08:14 AM

The IDA is another huge disappointment for the county. That should definitely be set up on commission salary . The more jobs you bring in the more money. No companies setting up shop here in Lamar, no money. It is a sales job basically. I would love to see the logbook of the person in charge of this position and how many appointments, sells calls, etc. is made on a monthly basis. Patterson was overpaid for the position he held. There are quite a number of people with degrees and successful in the financial field of county and city operations that need the job. You don't need to pay a county administrator a "DeKalb county" salary for a small county like Lamar. With insurance and salary, they should be paid for the size of the county they are operating. In fact, when the commissioners ran the ad for the girl they just hired as officer manager, there were alot of people that had all kind of degrees trying to get the job that were out of work. Of course, Mr. Patterson and Mr. Matthews hired a highschool graduate with no other degrees for the position. From what I saw when I paid my 80.00 tax fee., people were backed up in line and this lady was standing there , watching all the other ladies work. She is making 40,000.00 a year. What a joke! It makes me wonder why they didn't do away with the postion. All the other ladies seemed to be quite competent running the office without her.

#22 Sheila Tolley on 12/26/10 at 10:34 AM

Allow me to answer that for you as I am sure you have a valid interest in my livelihood. I have residences and live in three counties. Four actually, but my residence in Cordele is for sale. I reside in Pike, Spalding, and Lamar.

I vote in all three counties as well. AND pay MAJOR taxes to earn that right. I have a need to use my legal Alias's, for sure, but my sister left me her voting privilege in her will. I use that one in Barnesville.

My philosophy is always Vote. As many times as possible.

#23 Sheila Tolley on 12/26/10 at 04:05 PM

I did not write this blog, although my name is spelled backwards.

#24 livedhereallmylife on 12/27/10 at 06:54 PM

If you are voting in all three counties, the attorney general needs to take a look at that!

#25 Shirley on 12/28/10 at 08:51 AM

Are these jobs ever posted?

#26 Anonymous on 12/28/10 at 09:35 AM

I heard from a reliable source that Matthews hired this person all by hisself & yes there were quite a few MORE qualified applicants.

#27 Anonymous on 12/29/10 at 10:20 AM

Well, Jay Mathews took out Ist national bank with his falty loans and having relatives working there (Copelands) that mad sure he had a confortable position. Now he's taking out the county, with a very generous salary. He couldn't run a dog pound. GOOD BYE JAY, you won't be there next time around!

#28 recall how to on 12/29/10 at 11:40 AM

Georgia*
Const. Art. 2, §2.4
Ga. Code §21-4-1 et seq.
All state and local officials who hold elective office may be recalled
No recall may commence during the first or last 180 days in office.
Grounds for recall are conduct which relates to and adversely affects the administration of his or her office and adversely affects the rights and interests of the public; and act(s) of malfeasance, violation of oath of office, failure to perform duties prescribed by law willful misuse, conversion or misappropriation of public property or funds.
Time for gathering signatures is 45 days for a petition requiring 5,000 signatures or more; 30 days for a petition requiring fewer than 5,000 signatures.
Signature requirement is number equal to 30% of the electors registered and qualified to vote at the last regular election.

#29 anon on 12/29/10 at 05:09 PM

We would have 5,000 signatures in 20 days , if we have enough people out there knocking on doors in the evenings and weekends. Does the state require that the recall petitions are worded in a certain way?

#30 recall how to on 12/29/10 at 06:37 PM

O.C.G.A. § 21-4-5 (Copy w/ Cite)
Pages: 6
O.C.G.A. § 21-4-5

GEORGIA CODE
Copyright 2010 by The State of Georgia
All rights reserved.

*** Current Through the 2010 Regular Session ***
*** Annotations Current Through September 24, 2010 ***

TITLE 21. ELECTIONS
CHAPTER 4. RECALL OF PUBLIC OFFICERS

O.C.G.A. § 21-4-5 (2010)

§ 21-4-5. Recall petition -- Application for and time of filing; sponsors; withdrawal of signature; duties of election superintendent; printing and distribution of recall petition forms by Secretary of State

(a) No application for a recall petition may be filed during the first 180 days or during the last 180 days of the term of office of any public official subject to recall. No person shall be authorized to circulate, sponsor, or sign such application unless such person is an elector or sponsor as defined in Code Section 21-4-3.
(b)(1) The application shall include:

(A) The name and office of the person sought to be recalled;

(B) The printed names and signatures of the official sponsors, the date signed, residence addresses, and the name of the county of residence;

(C) The designation of one of the sponsors as the petition chairperson who shall represent the sponsors on all matters pertaining to the recall application and petition;

(D) A statement that: (name and office) has, while holding
public office, conducted himself or herself in a manner which relates to and
adversely affects the administration of his or her office and adversely
affects the rights and interests of the public and stating the appropriate
ground or grounds for recall as set forth in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7)
of Code Section 21-4-3 with a brief statement of the fact or facts upon which
the ground or grounds are based. Such statement shall be typed, printed, or
reproduced by the election superintendent on the face of each application
issued; and
(E)(i) An affidavit by the petition chairperson and the person circulating such recall application that each person sponsoring or signing such recall application is an elector of the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled and that the fact or facts upon which the ground or grounds for recall are based are true.

(ii) The affidavit required by division (i) of this subparagraph shall be in the following form:

#31 recall how to on 12/29/10 at 06:40 PM

see http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/Default.asp for the rest of the law.

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