Elliott Brack’s Perspective
BRACK: County schools starting with record 182,865 enrollment
By Elliott Brack | With school starting this week, Gwinnett County Public Schools are expecting 182,865 students to enroll, the most ever. The county schools employ 22,731 people, and is the largest employer in Gwinnett, and fourth largest in Metro Atlanta. The school district is now the 11th largest district in the entire country.
BRACK: Northside Gwinnett Hospital to have largest campus in state
By Elliott Brack | By the time a new 17-story tower at Northside Hospital Gwinnett is completed in 2026, that would mean it would be the biggest single hospital campus in Georgia. Debbie Mitchum, president of that Lawrenceville hospital, says: “We will first add 240 beds to the new tower, and completely build out 12 floors.
BRACK: New national suicide prevention phone line is 988
By Elliott Brack | Here’s something that might be mighty important to some Gwinnettian. You can now access the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with a three digit telephone code, 988, providing quicker and easier access. The old number was 800-273-8255. To me, this really seems to be a major, and mighty important, change.
BRACK: New book of Gwinnett’s transformation raises at least one question
By Elliott Brack | A new book from the University of Georgia Press is entitled “Gwinnett County, Georgia, and the transformation of the American South, 1818-2018.” The book is edited by two professors, Michael Gagnon of Flowery Branch, who is an associate professor of history at Georgia Gwinnett College, and Matthew Hild of Atlanta, a lecturer at Georgia Tech.
BRACK: Taxing real property is not always easy and often not fair
By Elliott Brack | Equally taxing people is complicated. For the tax year 2022, you could have two families living side-by-side in similar houses and one might be taxed considerably higher than the other. That’s because some Gwinnett residents get the benefit of a value offset exemption (VOE) for owner-occupied residences.
BRACK: Gwinnettians work on dedicating 8-foot statue to King
By Elliott Brack | Several Gwinnettians are involved with producing an 8-foot bronze statue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which will be placed in downtown Atlanta on Jan. 16, 2023. The near-complete clay statue model was unveiled last Thursday in Athens to a gathering of about 100 people, mostly from Gwinnett.
Gwinnett Forum | May 3, 2024
“Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for.”
— Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren (1891-1974).
2024 PRIMARY CANDIDATES
Below are links to the ballots Gwinnett voters face in the May 21 voting.
NONPARTISAN CANDIDATE ANSWERS
To read answers to four questions posted by GwinnettForum to non-partisan candidates, click here. Answers in partisan races are forthcoming.
ENDORSED CANDIDATES
- Click here to read about Gwinnett candidates endorsed by GwinnettForum.
Continuing objectives
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests that Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His list:
- Move statewide non-partisan judge and school board elections to the General Election.
- Adoption of the 2023 Transit Plan for Gwinnett.
- More creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett.
- Advancement and expansion of city historical societies.
- Require establishments that serve alcoholic beverages to halt sales of such products at 1 a.m., and close by 2 a.m.
- Require the Georgia Legislature to meet only once every two years.
- 21st century salary for the Gwinnett County Commission members.
- Remove chewing gum on sidewalks at entrances of post offices and other governmental buildings.
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging and straws in Gwinnett and require instead the use of paper products.
- Condos instead of apartments for Gwinnett.
Interested in Gwinnett history?
Now re-printed in its third edition, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the award-winning history of Gwinnett County, is once again available for purchase. It sold out of its first two printings. The book won the 2010 Award of Excellence in Documenting Georgia History from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. The book is available at Old Town Antiques at 93 Main Street in Lilburn.
- The history of Gwinnett is also available as an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $9.95.
Our underwriters
Recent Full Issues
Award
Follow Us