ELECTION COVERAGE ONLINE
Johns Creek Election SCAN CODE FOR RESULTS http://bit.ly/17DcRzi
GOP’S BONDS RADIOACTIVE Fulton GOP chairman gets jolt in Tampa ►►PAGE 6
'HOOCH FALLS IN FINALS Volleyball team second in state ►►PAGE 7
November 7, 2013 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 13, No. 45
JC No. 1 Ga. city for job seekers Alpharetta, Roswell also make top 5 By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Johns Creek is the best city in Georgia for job seekers according to an Internet consumer and shopping comparison site. Alpharetta in ranked No. 2 and Roswell is No. 5 in the state. The company, NerdWallet, based its research on four criteria: • Growth in working population • Median household income • Cost of living • Unemployment rate
In the aggregate comparison, Johns Creek was No. 1 with a score of 71.4 and Alpharetta close behind with a score of 68.8. Dunwoody, Peachtree City and Roswell rounded out the top five. NerdWallet analyst Annie Wang said the survey was looking for the cities with a population over 25,000 that provided the best environment for a job seeker to get a well paying job. That would be places where there was a large population of workingage people and large family incomes that had low unem-
ployment. “We also wanted to look at the cost of living, because that can skew the value of household income if it costs a lot to live there,” Wang said. Think New York City. Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce President Brandon Beach said it was no surprise to him to see North Fulton dominating that list with three cities in the top 5 and four in the top 8. “It’s a combination of years of hard work making sure we have excellent education, excellent infrastructure, whether it is fiber optics in
See JOBS, Page 4
Recall targets councilmen Raffensperger, Figueroa HATCHER HURD/STAFF
Karen Edge holds her Volunteer of the Year award at the Johns Creek Foundation’s Mayor’s Ball.
JOHNS CREEK FOUNDATION »
Edge city’s top volunteer Highlights Mayor’s Ball By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – It was truly a gala night Oct. 18 as the Johns Creek Foundation honored 2013 Volunteer of the Year Karen Edge at its annual Mayor’s Ball. Always the highlight of the
evening, this year’s award was particularly popular. Karen Edge, a 20-year Johns Creek resident, was nominated by Karen Daniel, vice president of the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve Association Inc. “Karen is always finding
See EDGE, Page 26
Cite unlawful expenditure for investigation By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Just when it looked like politics was done in the city, another precinct is heard from. Now there are two recall petitions that have been submitted for Councilmen Brad Raffensperger and Ivan Figueroa. Stephanie Endres, a longtime City Council watchdog, and Greg Bock are two of those who have begun the recall process against the two councilmembers. Endres said it was for violating their oath of office and the charter for
RAFFENSPERGER
FIGUEROA
initiating the investigation against Mayor Mike Bodker. “This was an investigation against a political opponent for political purposes at taxpayers’ expense,” she said. “The second reason is for violating the Open Meetings Act by issuing a joint press release voicing opposition to Mayor Bodker and Councilwoman [Kelly] Stewart’s comments related to the incident involving the city manager on
Oct. 7, 2013.” Endres said the investigation, which she said was unlawful, provides grounds for recall. The city charter does not allow for investigations by council against individuals, she said. Other venues are open to council either through an ethics complaint to the State Ethics Board or through the appropriate law enforcement agency if there were allegations of laws broken. Endres also pointed out that the two councilmembers colluded with the other council signatories of the press release, indicating they met as a quorum in secret and without publication or notice to release their message through the city communications of-
See RECALL, Page 10