Mike BabbDALTON, Ga. – A consolidated government has allowed Athens, Ga., and Clarke County to provide a level of service and do projects they could not have done as separate governments, according to their finance director.
John Culpepper, who was finance director before consolidation and during the transition, met Wednesday with the charter commission for Whitfield County and Dalton to talk about the process.
The 15-member charter commission is tasked with studying the possibility of consolidating Whitfield and Dalton and writing a charter for the new government. If recommended by the commission, citizens will vote on the referendum in November 2012.
Culpepper answered dozens of questions from various members of the commission, who asked about financial details and the political process of presenting consolidation to voters. It was the first time the commission heard from an official in a consolidated government.
“Consolidation allowed us to focus not on the needs of the government but on the needs of the community. I think we do a better job of addressing those needs,” Culpepper said.