GwinnettForum | Number 25.49 | June 17, 2025
NEW CITY HALL IN PLANS: The city of Dacula is planning a new $40.3 million city hall and parking garage and amphitheatre. It will be built across Harbins Road from the current city hall. The new city hall will have 42,732 square feet of space, and the parking garage will have 298 spaces, including charging station for electrical vehicles. The amphitheater and restroom consists of 6,475 square feet. Bowen and Watson construction firm of Toccoa has been hired to erect the structures. It is anticipated that construction will take 30 months, with the opening planned toward the end of 2027. An amenity of the City Hall will be a roof top event space, including indoor space plus two patios. GwinnettForum has learned that the new city hall property is on land that was once the Ashworth (Jerry and Charles) homestead. For a site plan and another conceptual photo, see Lagniappe below.
TODAY’S FOCUS: No Kings protest in Suwanee was peaceful…and wet
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Seems Hegseth has plans to invade Greenland
SPOTLIGHT: Aurora Theatre
ANOTHER VIEW: Vought focuses on makeover of government for Trump
FEEDBACK: Questions selection of superintendent search firm
UPCOMING: Snellville at same millage, but adds a garbage fee
NOTABLE: Library online graduates nine from high school
RECOMMENDED: Send us your recommendations
GEORGIA TIDBIT: State greenspace program encourages set-aside space
MYSTERY PHOTO: Try your hand at locating this covered bridge
LAGNIAPPE: City hall, parking deck and amphitheatre for Dacula
CALENDAR: Writers workshop June 21 at Lilburn library
No Kings protest in Suwanee was peaceful … and wet
By Channing S. Haskell
Special to GwinnettForum
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. | Tuesday, phone dings, with a message from my “activist” acquaintances inviting me to join them this past Saturday for participation in the No Kings mass protest. As I was busy with building a shed in my backyard, I was not ready to jump in and deferred to my apathetic side. However, that all changed Thursday afternoon when videos of the government manhandling of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California appeared on the internet.
We gathered locally in Norcross and carpooled the 15 miles to the protest in Suwanee’s Town Center City Park. Following our arrival around 2 p.m., we proceeded through a short pedestrian tunnel under the railroad track, past the Suwanee Police Department where absolutely nothing was happening (very reassuring), across Buford Highway, and into the park.
We immediately joined the crowd who all appeared very happy and enthusiastic about supporting democracy. We hoisted posters, waved flags and chanted responses. Meanwhile, other protesters appeared. As we were positioned next to the highway on the edge of the park, passing motorists soon joined us as they honked, tooted, waved, showing flags, and the occasional poster.
The protesters filled all park areas adjacent to the Buford Highway and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, three to five rows deep with others cooling themselves in shade of the park’s many trees. Organizers indicated a crowd size of 2,000. The gathering storm clouds finally inundated the crowd around 3:30 p.m, sending us scurrying to our vehicle but not before a very refreshing cold shower.
The protest was a great experience. There was no drama. It fulfilled the protest poster “This is What Democracy Looks Like.” We should thank the City of Suwanee for allowing this event in a very positive and professional manner.
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Seems Hegseth has plans to invade Greenland
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
JUNE 17, 2025 | Several congressmen on the House Armed Services Commission had a hard time believing their ears last Thursday.
It seemed that the Department of Defense, headed by a newcomer with no managerial experience, Pete Hegseth, was saying the United States has plans to invade foreign nations, namely Panama and Greenland.
Among the congressmen, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, Republican of Ohio asked: ““It is not your testimony today that there are plans at the Pentagon for taking by force or invading Greenland, correct?” As Hegseth started to repeat his answer about contingency plans, Turner added emphatically, “I sure as hell hope that is not your testimony.”
The Hegseth response didn’t help much: ““We look forward to working with Greenland to ensure that it is secured from any potential threats.”
What was that? Was it just double-talk by the former Fox commentator? Sure sounded like it.
Hegseth’s refusal to give a direct answer to the House Armed Services Committee alarmed Democrats and Republicans, who repeatedly asked him to clarify the Pentagon’s stance toward two territories eyed by President Donald Trump.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith of Washington asked the secretary whether the Defense Department has plans to take Greenland or Panama by force if necessary.
“Our job at the Defense Department is to have plans for any contingency,” Hegseth said multiple times.
Smith followed up, “Including the contingency of basically invading Denmark?”
“Any contingency you need, we’ve got it,” Hegseth answered. “We got a building full of planners, and we’re prepared to give recommendations whenever needed.”
Later Smith said: “I don’t think the American people voted for President Trump because they were hoping we would invade Greenland. The message this sends to the rest of the world is one that the U.S. is purely in it for itself, and does not care about alliances.”
The New Republic added: “The White House also has plans to conduct an expensive public relations campaign to convince Greenlanders that they actually want to be Americans.”
Now let’s consider. Of the possible plans that Secretary Hegseth seems to be saying that the Defense Department has, are they any different from the plans that Russia must have had before it launched an offensive and took over the Crimea? Or is the Hegseth idea any different from what Russia was planning when it started invading Ukraine?
Consider: an invasion is essentially the beginning of a war, something that Pete Hegseth cannot unilaterally authorize. That takes congressional action. Is Pete Hegseth overstepping his bounds when he says that the United States has plans for invading other nations? And we might add that no doubt this would be at a high expenditure … just to make the plans! Is Hegseth wasting our Pentagon tax funds when he prepares for such invasions?
Though the United States has often been at war, the American people are a peaceful one, no liking to get involved in actions that will kill our soldiers for no good reason. We’ve gone to war when it threatened us, but so far, we seen no threat from Panama or Greenland, which is the property of our NATO friend, Denmark.
We’ll give Pete Hegseth one mark: he really knows how to muddy the waters. That’s because he’s unqualified for this high office, and doesn’t have the background to adequately lead the Defense Department. His action tells us a lot: Every college graduate, even of Princeton, is not smart.
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Aurora Theatre
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Vought focuses on makeover of government for Trump
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
“The Functional Government Initiative and the Center for Renewing America identify at least a trillion dollars’ worth of divisive, identity-based programs and policies among the federal thicket and make suggestions that could ensure they don’t come back.” – Center for Renewing America (March 10, 2025).
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Longtime Trump supporter Russell Vought is also the founder of the Center for Renewing America, a radical right-wing think tank which wants to return the USA back to the bad old days of the 1950s, pre-civil rights. Vought is one of the more extreme and influential members of the new administration. He has a unique and disturbing history.
Vought, who has vowed to aggressively dismantle the “deep state”, is currently the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought was in the same position in 2020 in the first Trump administration. OMB’s the powerful federal agency which develops President Trump’s budget. OMB also reviews all other federal agencies to ensure full and absolute compliance with Trump’s Executive Orders and policy directives, no matter how questionable or draconian they may be.
Conservatives were all too aware that for much of Trump’s first term, his actions were erratic, based on his whims and not well planned. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, determined that the situation must be different in Trump’s second term. Therefore, it promoted the development of Project 2025.
Vought was one of the driving forces behind the development of Project 2025, designed to convert the federal government into a very different entity than it was in Trump’s first term. Trump claimed to have never read that 920-page document. That is no doubt true, but it is still being implemented every day by his actions and his slavishly devoted admirers like Vought. He also developed a “180-Day Transition Playbook” which is being used as the day-to-day plan for extreme change.
Vought is openly aggressive in his approach to radically changing government, publicly stating to Steve Bannon (an aggressive Trump supporter who was jailed after Trump’s first term): “We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation.” He has also pushed for the second Trump administration to go after its perceived enemies with a vengeance.
Although Trump claims to be a populist, many of Vought’s views are definitely pro-corporation and anti-consumer. For example, his advocacy that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau be shuttered.
Consistent with his Christian Nationalist views, in 2016 he wrote that: Muslims “do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ his Son, and they stand condemned.” One can assume that he feels the same about Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and others.
Vought has been a known commodity for quite a while, as have his radical views. Yet, he was confirmed 53-47 by the Senate, along party lines with no Democrat voting for him. As Senator Patty Murphy stated at the time: “Senate Republicans just confirmed Russ Vought to manage our nation’s budget. Vought is an extremist who has made clear he’ll ignore our nation’s laws, cut funding that helps people across the country and give Trump unprecedented and unconstitutional power. There will be consequences.”
She was 100 percent correct. The GOP must be held to account for confirming him. Remember that when you vote in 2026 and 2028.
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Questions selection of superintendent search firm
(Editor’s note: the following letter, in part, was sent to all members of the Gwinnett School Board by a parent.—eeb).
Editor, the Forum:
To the Gwinnett School Board:
First and foremost, you have a capable candidate leading the system today. There was no reason to spend money on the search. Dr. Al Taylor knows GCPS. Sometimes the best things are those right in front of you.
You voted to hire Alma Advisory Board (of Chicago). There were better search firms out there, if we needed one.
- Alma is a young company, opening in 2016. They have only placed 20 high level executives, only three of those were superintendents. They have not yet placed any talent in a system as large as GCPS.
- They were $25k more expensive than the next bid.
How does Alma fit into this new vision when they were part of the old? Alma has had contracts over the past few years. Mr. Wilbanks first used them for Leadership Training. Under Dr. Watts tenure, they were hired to conduct talent retention audits. Most notably, those audits under Dr. Watts were not overall talent retention, they focused on racial equity.
As I have said before, I did not think Dr. Watts was the right person for the job. I did not think he deserved to keep his job, and I still believe you had plenty of things to fire him with cause so it wouldn’t cost the taxpayer so much.
But what we have witnessed in the past few months is the School Board being next level reckless with our children’s futures, and the taxpayer’s pocketbook.
–Philana Nowak, Mulberry Mill Creek cluster, District 2
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Snellville at same millage, but adds new garbage fee
The city of Snellville has approved its Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) balanced budget of $40,740,970. The budget maintains current services, prioritizes staff retention and fosters community development.
Mayor Barbara Bender says: “This is the fourth consecutive year the millage rate has remained at four mills. However, in order to hold the line on the overall millage rate, the decision was made to reinstate a residential sanitation fee of $240 that will be reflected on tax bills in September.”
The FY26 budget reflects the current global economic conditions which have impacted the cost of living, health coverage, construction supplies and utilities. City leaders have balanced these increased expenses with a focus on continued quality service and progress toward community goals.
The city, with citizen input, updated the T.W. Briscoe Park Master Plan. The plan included the construction of a new community center with amenities such as an indoor walking track, basketball, pickleball and volleyball courts, meeting rooms and an aerobics studio. In May, the city broke ground on the $11.3 million community center funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax and more than $1 million in Community Development Block Grant funding.
Funding is provided for a major intersection improvement at North Road and Wisteria Drive, addressing congestion and improving safety near The Grove at Towne Center. The project will also include new sidewalks, lighting and landscaping as well as upgraded traffic signals to improve safety for pedestrians in the area.
Other capital investments include a total of $1 million for the city’s annual paving project and $1.4 million in stormwater infrastructure improvements.
Mayor and Council upheld the referendum vote to support House Bill 581. With this legislation, homeowners will receive the floating homestead exemption which ties increases to property values to the rate of inflation instead of market values. This will slow the property valuation increases for homeowners and the full effect on the city’s property tax collections will not be known for several years. The floating homestead exemption is in addition to the city’s current homestead exemption.
The city has funded residential garbage collection out of general fund property taxes for the last 20 years. Since this policy was instituted, the cost of sanitation services has increased substantially and city staff has recommended charging separately for services.
“We’ve known for the past five years that this train was coming to an end,” Mayor Bender said. “We will have to rebid the contract next year and seeing the current rates other cities are facing, we know our costs will have yet another substantial increase. We simply cannot continue to fund the shortfall without either a serious increase to the millage rate or adding a flat user fee. This is not something any of us wanted to do.”
The $240 annual fee will be included in this year’s property tax bills.
A three percent increase in salary is designed to retain and attract new employees to the city. Parks and Recreation will hire two new full-time and 13 part-time employees to staff the new Community Center at T.W. Briscoe Park.
Library online graduates nine from high school
Gwinnett County Public Library (GCPL) awarded nine graduates their high school diplomas on June 7 at the Norcross branch. Family and friends joined them, along with guest speaker Constance Brown, chair of the Hooper-Renwick Committee.
Gwinnett County Public Library offers qualified community members the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma and credentialed career certificate through Career Online High School, a program supported by community donations. Career Online High School is specifically designed to re-engage adults in the education system and prepare them for entry into postsecondary career education or the workforce. In the last 12 months, GCPL has graduated 24 people from the program. 132 have graduated from the program since its 2016 launch here in Gwinnett County.
Our students are mostly women. Many are new to this county. Most U.S. students come in with 10th or 11th-grade level schooling and can now finish their diploma.
Library Director Charles Pace says: “Earning a high school diploma is a life-changing achievement. Career Online High School is a key part of our mission of inspiring our residents to learn, grow, and dream.”
GCPL awards scholarships annually to qualified learners looking to earn a high school diploma and advance their careers. Once enrolled, students access a 24/7 online learning platform with board-certified instructor assistance. Students can graduate within a year by transferring in previously earned high school credits but are given up to 18 months to complete the program. Gwinnett County residents can learn more about Career Online High School and take an online self-assessment by visiting https://gwinnett.careeronlinehs.org/. For more information or questions, please contact the library at 770-978-5154.
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State greenspace program encourages set-aside space
The Georgia Community Greenspace Program, passed into law under Governor Roy Barnes in 2000, encouraged rapidly developing counties to voluntarily set aside 20 percent of their land as “greenspace.” Although funding for the program ceased in 2004, the Georgia Community Greenspace program was revolutionary because it codified the concept of greenspace, acknowledged the detrimental aspects of urbanization, and emphasized the responsibilities of local governments to preserve land as a means of maintaining quality of life.
Greenspace was defined under this law as “permanently protected land and water, including agricultural and forestry land,” meaning that development incompatible with greenspace functions on the preserved land was not permitted. Greenspace functions as delineated by the program included protection of water quality for rivers, streams, and lakes; flood protection; wetlands protection; reduction of soil erosion; protection of corridors and habitat for native plants and animals; preservation of scenery; protection of archaeological and historic resources; and informal recreation, such as fishing, hiking, and birding.
The Community Greenspace Program was developed in response to growing population pressures around the state during the 1990s. The greenspace concept is essentially an urban one, distinguishing land that is built-over from land supporting plants or water. Organizations such as Trees Atlanta, the Georgia Conservancy, and the Atlanta Regional Commission amplified the impact of the program by providing planning and training efforts for greenspace acquisition and preservation.
The local, urban orientation of the Georgia Community Greenspace program evolved against a broader background of land conservation within the state. State and federal governments began purchasing land in Georgia during the 1920s for the establishment of state parks and national parks, wildlife refuges, and management preserves. By the 1970s land-conservation efforts had accelerated through the work of the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, and many smaller land trusts working within the state. In addition, land was preserved through the Heritage Trust, Preservation 2000, and RiverCare2000. These programs, along with the Community Greenspace Program, preserved more than 300,000 acres of land in Georgia from 1974 to 2003, usually through outright purchase of land.
The Georgia legislature allocated $90 million ($30 million per year) from 2001 through 2003 for the acquisition of county greenspace. The funds, held in a trust, were available to fast-growing local governments that could demonstrate a commitment to preserving 20 percent of county land as greenspace and could produce acceptable greenspace plans. Not all governments were able to acquire land, however, and some monies were returned to the state. The program was not funded in 2004 because of decreases in state revenues.
In December 2003 Governor Sonny Perdue signed an executive order establishing an advisory council for the Georgia Land Conservation Partnership, which was charged with developing Georgia’s first comprehensive conservation plan. The advisory council issued its report in August 2004, and in April 2005 Perdue signed into law the Georgia Land Conservation Act.
The new law created a trust fund and a loan fund, both administered by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, a state agency established in 1985 to provide financing for a variety of environmental improvement and infrastructure projects. The Georgia Greenspace Commission (which was responsible for reviewing and approving greenspace programs for the Community Greenspace Program) was reconstituted as the Georgia Land Conservation Council. The Georgia Land Conservation program is open to all local governments rather than just rapidly developing ones, with competition among local entities for funding based on the demonstrated ability to purchase and protect greenspace.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Try your hand at locating this covered bridge
It’s part of Americana, those covered bridges. There just are not as many as there once was. This one may fool you, but see if you can determine where it is located. Remember, always try to think outside the bridge, er, that is, box!
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, solved the recent Mystery Photo. He writes: “Today’s mystery photo is of the Taubman Museum of Art, a contemporary art museum located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in historic downtown Roanoke, Va. The museum houses over 2,000 pieces of contemporary art, including works by Thomas Eakins (1844–1916) and Norman Rockwell (1894–1978). It also has an interactive children’s gallery, and the lofty atrium houses some large-scale installations.
“It was designed by American architect Randall Stout (1958–2014) and built in 2008. Its 81,000 square foot deconstructivist-style is notable for its dramatic and swooping, patinated-zinc-and-steel roof line that echoes the Blue Ridge Mountains, with a curved arch that draws inspiration from the nearby Natural Bridge, approximately 40 miles northeast of Roanoke.
“The 77-foot glass atrium reflects the sky, with a ‘gable-style’ roof ridgeline extending out, creating a pointed overhang reminiscent of the Mill Mountain Star (aka the Roanoke Star), a nod to one of Roanoke’s most famous landmarks. The Taubman Museum of Art was named Virginia’s best-designed museum by Architectural Digest in 2018 in recognition of its visionary architecture.” Peel attached a photo he took in 2011 of the Mill Mountain Star (aka the Roanoke Star), which is one of Roanoke’s most famous landmarks, and a reflection of the roof ridge line design of the Taubman Museum of Art.
The photo was sent in by George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Jay Altman of Columbia, S.C. wrote to tell us that “The building is named in honor of the former CEO of Advance Auto Parts and later the U.S. Ambassador to Romania, Nicholas F. Taubman, and his wife, Eugenia Taubman.”
Another who recognized the photograph was Stewart Ogilvie, Rehobeth, Ala.
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Click here to send an email and please mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Coming in the future to Dacula: This is the site plan for the new Dacula city hall on Harbins Road, across from the present city hall. Note the amphitheatre is to the left of the city hall. Below is a conception of what the amphitheatre would look, with the city hall in the distance.
Writers workshop June 21 at Lilburn library
Norcross PDC will have as its speaker on Wednesday, June 18 at 8:15 a.m. the chairman of the Gwinnett County Public Library, JT Wu. All are invited.
First Senior Center of Georgia will celebrate eight years of serving the Vietnamese senior community on June 19. The all-day celebration will feature performances, food and contests. The staff, volunteers, and longtime members will be recognized. The celebration will be 5555 Oakbrook Parkway, Building 500, Suite 500-B , in Norcross.
Writers Workshop: Learn more about writing, network with other writers, and listen to accomplished authors offer tips to improve your writing. In partnership with the Atlanta Writers Club. This workshop is scheduled on June 21 at the Lilburn Branch of Gwinnett County Library.
Author talk: join Katherine Scott Crawford at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library at 6 p.m. on June 24. She will discuss her historical fiction novel, The Miniaturist’s Assistant. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
Taste of Peachtree Corners will be June 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Atlanta Marriott at Peachtree Corners, sponsored by the Peachtree Corners Business Association. Enjoy an evening of delicious bites and drinks as you get to sample foods from local restaurants and businesses. Upon check-in, you will receive a Passport highlighting participating restaurants and businesses and their offerings. Advanced registration appreciated.
The Park Place Master Plan Recommendations workshop will be July 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The workshop will be at 1790 East Park Place Boulevard. Come to share your thoughts on the recommended design framework for Gwinnett’s southwestern gateway! Your feedback will help ensure that the master plan reflects the needs and collective vision to make this community thrive. The Park Place district generally surrounds the intersection of Park Place Boulevard and Stone Mountain Highway. This is an important southern gateway to Gwinnett. To learn more about the Park Place Master Plan, click here!
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