Sullivan Proposes Another Idea for County to Consider Regarding Jail/Judicial Center

February 21, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

How many beds would be needed if and when a new DeKalb County Jail or Judicial Center is built?

The Jail committee of the DeKalb County Commission is expected to learn next Tuesday night, February 27 from the county’s architect and contractor what the costs projections are for a possible 150, 190 or 225 bed facility. The meeting will be at 5 p.m. in the history room of the county complex.

During the last jail committee meeting in January, Jim Hart, Jail Consultant and Field Manager of the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) updated the committee on the county’s jail assessment revised study which now recommends up to 272 beds to meet current and future needs but there seemed to be little or no support among the committee for a facility with 272 beds.

Even if the jail committee decides on the number of beds for a new jail or judicial center, the county has not yet identified a suitable location to build it. Several potential locations have been suggested including property on Riley Avenue owned by the hospital which has caused neighbors in that area to start a petition drive against such an option. Again, the county has not yet settled on any location.

Apart from the jail/judicial center issue is whether the Board of Education will agree to appropriate two million dollars of its surplus funds in support of the county’s offer to fund construction of a new $40 million elementary school without raising property taxes or implementing a wheel tax for that project. The school board postponed a vote on that earlier this month until all seven members could be present at the next meeting.

Since then local property developer Tonya Sullivan has come up with an idea which she is calling a modified plan for the county to consider which would downsize the proposed jail project to only the number of beds needed and a courtroom and for it to be built on the site of the Board of Education headquarters (Ernest Ray Education Center) downtown adjacent to the existing sheriff’s department and jail. Sullivan said the county could offer to purchase from the Board of Education the facility, formerly known as the Bicentennial Building and have the school board move to a new location yet to be identified. Sullivan said her plan would be less costly to the county, make use of property for jail space the county already owns, and preserve use of the courthouse. She added that it would also relieve public worries about a jail or justice center being built in their neighborhood. Through cost savings in that effort, Sullivan said the county and school board could perhaps work toward a more viable plan to build a new school.

Sullivan said she has already spoken with County Mayor Matt Adcock, Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, and School Board Chairman Shaun Tubbs about her idea but has not formally presented her proposal to the county commission or board of education.

Sullivan put down her thoughts in the following prepared statement she gave to WJLE:

“I have been in deep thought about how the school and the county could work together to reach a common goal of a new school and a justice center”.

“I feel that God gave me the idea that could possibly be a responsible and viable solution that would meet the goal”.

“The county has presented to the school board that a school could be built if they (board) contributed two million dollars. This idea would save the county money and in turn be able to reduce the needed contribution for the school board which would allow the building of the school to commence”.

“The county commissioners have been diligently seeking a location to build a justice center. This has a high price tag. The new justice center if relocated would be potentially intrusive of neighborhoods and cause hardships on families and devaluing homes cost wise. If relocated, money will have to be spent to gain square footage that we already own before adding new beds. Relocating abandons the courthouse and repairs to the courthouse still falls on the county”.

“The new idea that I have that I have spoken with the county mayor about would be to negotiate and purchase the Board of Education building and use that property to build new beds with a courtroom on top”.

“The Board of Education would relocate. At first the money saved could assist with a school and assist with repairs; modify the justice center; meet the needs of showing a commitment to the state for new beds; offering security to the prisoners; be responsible with taxpayers dollars, not disturb neighborhoods, keep the same location and utilize square footage that we currently have, and to continue to utilize and repair the courthouse”.

“I made an appointment to meet with Mr. Shaun Tubbs, School Board Chairman, and Mr. Patrick Cripps, Director of Schools. I discussed the opportunity of a new justice center and the potential to sell the current Bicentennial Building where the school board is housed. I discussed the needs of the county and basically told them that I was a liaison between them and the county and the board could come to an agreement to offset some or all of the two million dollars by selling the building, offering a savings compared to relocating the jail and with that savings and some contribution, the board and county could maybe move forward in building a school and justice center with the justice center being modified to fit the space available”.

February 21, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The Harlem Wizards, the most interactive, fun, community basketball event in the world is coming to Smithville.

The world-famous Harlem Wizards will visit DeKalb Middle School on Thursday, February 29 at 6 p.m. for an evening of great fun and fundraising.  Doors will open at 5 p.m. The Wizards will play a game against a team of DeKalb County School teachers, principals, SRO’s and community leaders. The event is a fundraiser for DeKalb Middle School. Only 850 tickets will be available and all sales will be online at www.harlemwizards.com or https://pretix.eu/harlemwizards/smithvilletn02-29-24-07-00pm/. DMS will get 52% of ticket proceeds. Souvenirs and concessions will also be available for sale on game night.

“ Ms. Suzette Barnes (DMS teacher) has been so gracious to plan and organize this awesome event to get us some funds to support our students in the unique ways they need,” said DMS Principal Caleb Shehane.

“We have a lot of plans here at DMS but unfortunately it takes funds and we are trying to raise those funds to give our students more opportunities whether it be through our positive behavior support system, social emotional learning, and to provide students opportunities to maybe see some things outside of DeKalb County, to go on a field trip or maybe to bring some more things to the school as a whole”.

“We have started the early process of a playground,” Principal Shehane continued. “We have the footer poured and the basketball goals up and we have some swings on the way. We hope to add to it little by little just to give the kids a place to play and relax and have some down time. Even though they are middle school students they still enjoy playing so we are trying to do that. We are also trying to offer some field trip incentives to students that may go above and beyond that work really hard with their attendance and grades. We have a lot of different ideas we are going to try to get people motivated”.

“We are trying to encourage students to have good attendance at school and to have positive behaviors, not only in school but in society. If we can use this as a means to do that then we want to do so,” said Barnes.

Hype Trailer from The World Famous Harlem Wizards on Vimeo.

“We have been working on attendance incentives,” added Martha Melching, DMS Counselor. “Some local businesses have been very kind and they have donated some items or funds to help with that but we really want to celebrate the kids who are showing up consistently. That is one of the things we have talked about. We would like to have some really nice prizes and things for that but also some experiences for the kids. We have big ideas. We just need the money to fund those ideas,” said Melching.

The energy at a Wizards game is electric. The laughter is infectious. The dunks are rim-rattling. High-flying and awe inspiring. The hoop artistry, ball-handling, tricks, and teamwork are mesmerizing.

What really takes it to another level is the hometown participation from the kids on court experiences, to the teachers, principals and other community leaders who take on the Wizards as the “hometown heroes”. Besides cheering for their teachers, the kids are involved all night long. They will all have a chance to get on the court!

Throughout the game audience members will be asked to volunteer in different contests and acts. The experience at a Wizards game is the community, the school coming together for a night of good, pure fun and excitement and it’s a fundraiser.

The event will feature a variety of fun interactive extras to complement the Wizards’ dazzling demonstration of hoops artistry: Pregame “Wiz Kids” warm-up, contests, comedy, awesome slam dunks, audience participation, merchandise giveaways, and more. The game will conclude with the Wizards’ signature dance celebration that will have the parents on their feet and the kids moving to the beat.

Members of the DMS team scheduled to take on the Harlem Wizards that night include DeKalb Fire Chief Donny Green, Smithville Mayor Josh Miller, State Representative Michael Hale, General Sessions/Juvenile Court Judge Brandon Cox, Smithville Elementary Assistant Principal Karen France, Northside Elementary Principal Angela Johnson, DeKalb West School Assistant Principal Seth Willoughby, DeKalb Middle School Principal Caleb Shehane, DCHS Assistant Principal Thomas Cagle, Darrin Vincent of Dailey & Vincent, DeKalb Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell, DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock, Casey Midgett of First Bank, DMS teacher Justin Nokes, DMS SRO Joseph Carroll, DWS SRO Billy Tiner, DCHS SRO Chris McMillen, Northside Elementary School SRO Joe Pack, Sign Interpreter Rochelle Davis, NES teacher Trey Jones and possibly others yet to be named.

“We have had the Harlem Wizards here before and its always been a sellout. Its always a big crowd and a packed gym,” said Barnes. “This year we have 850 tickets to sell. Tickets sales this year are a little bit different than in the past. Before we had the paper tickets but this year everything is digital online. Its important to get tickets early. No tickets will be available at the door if its a sellout online,” Barnes added.

On game day, Barnes said the Harlem Wizards will be visiting all other schools in the county except for the high school. “On game day, depending on the school, the Wizards will either do cafeteria visits with students or 20-minute assemblies doing character traits lessons. At DMS we will do a pep rally and Northside will also do a pep rally but the details at the other schools have yet to be worked out”.

Founded in 1962, the Wizards have played over 15,000 games throughout the US that have raised more than $25 million for schools and charitable causes. The Wizards have also played in over 25 foreign countries on six continents.

Tickets are priced as follows: 850 tickets will be sold.

Advance Student Admission $12.00

Advance General Admission $14.00

Gate Admission (if tickets available) Student and Senior Citizens $14.00. General Public $16.00

Reserved $20.00

Courtside Plus Package $35.00 (60 tickets available)

Courtside Plus Package includes curtsied seating, a pre-game meet and greet for 10 minutes with 2 Wizards, a CS+lanyard, a free Wizards photo for the kids, a $10.00 gift certificate for adults and a $5.00 discount on jerseys purchased in advance.

Courtside Player Package. $110.00 (10 tickets available)

Courtside Player Package includes all the benefits of Curtsied Plus and a jersey for the kids. The kids will join the Wizards and play in a 3-minute game coached by the Harlem Wizards during halftime.

If you want to be a sponsor for tee shirts, etc. call DeKalb Middle School.

February 23, 2024
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County Election Commission reports that a total of 91 people voted Thursday, February 22 in the March 5 primaries. Of that number, 85 cast ballots in the Republican Primary and 6 in the Democratic Primary.

That brings the seven-day early voting total to 622 of which, 574 have voted in the Republican Primary and 48 in the Democratic Primary.

The early voting period is underway through Tuesday, February 27 at the courthouse in Smithville. The Absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, February 27.

The remaining dates for early voting in Smithville are as follows:

Friday, February 23: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)

Saturday, February 24: (9 a.m. until 12 noon)

Monday, February 26: (1 p.m. until 5 p.m.)

Tuesday, February 27: (9 a.m. until 1 p.m.)

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