The Tri-County Journal
& Chattahoochee Chronicle
PO Box 850, 71 Webb Lane
Buena Vista, GA 31803
229-649-6397
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By RICHARD HARRIS (From the August 9, 2006 issue)
   The Commission of the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County continues to receive applications for the new countywide police department it voted to establish a couple of months ago, and one commissioner’s proposal to postpone forming the department was voted down in a meeting last week.
   Commissioner Wade Coleman, who was the only commissioner to vote against the June motion to form a police department, suggested last week that the Commission should at least put the plan on hold. Coleman noted that two of the Commission seats will be on the ballot in November and that some of the candidates are not in favor of the police department being created. So, he reasons it would be better to slow the process down until after the election, as it is possible – depending on the outcome of the election – that when January rolls around a majority of commissioners won’t want a police department.
   In addition to voting to create the police department, the Commission recently cut $300,000 from the budget for the Chattahoochee County Sheriff’s Office for the next fiscal year. Coleman was also the only commissioner to vote against that motion (both votes were 3-1, with Commissioner Sonny Smith absent).
   Sheriff Glynn Cooper has challenged the budget cut in court. He believes the cut is politically motivated, as the Commission Chairman Larry Dillard had previously requested the governor to investigate the sheriff – a request that was turned down by Governor Perdue. Another local official, Probate Judge Ken Van Horn, has since requested an investigation, but the governor has not granted his request either.
   Sheriff Cooper filed suit in Chattahoochee County Superior Court last month, asking the court to force the Commission to restore his funding to last year’s amount. The case is scheduled to be heard on August 21. He has also stated that he would welcome an investigation.
   Editor’s Note: Background information may be found on this newspaper’s website by visiting the archive of top featured stories of past weeks (click here).