Resident: Marlow's Term Filled with "Hurling Wild Accusations"

Editor's note: The following is a letter to the editor from Ball Ground resident John Carter

I’ve been reading reports lately relative to the political divide in Cherokee. It is troubling that the theme seems to be ‘he said, she said.’ Not every debate has two valid sides. Just because there are two parties in an argument does not mean that they share the same motivation, knowledgeability, credibility, or integrity.

Despite her Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) complaint, Marlow’s words in both email and from the stage have not had anything to do with her points of contention enumerated to SACS. She has spent her short tenure hurling wild accusations about field trips, GSBA, budgets, and audits. All of these have been easily debunked.

Marlow knows how little truth there is to her accusations from the stage as she did not include them in her complaint to SACS. Her points from the stage are intentionally misdirecting and accusatory without regard for the damage they will do. It is also shocking how many of her barbs are shot following her receipt of a text message. The disjunct between her two fronts of attack shows how little truth there is to both.

Marlow’s most recent strategy is exploiting CCSD’s custodial staff. Once again, the state government has reduced funds and left the districts to sort out the damage. For the past few months, the district has been researching a way to manage the spiking cost of SHBP for non-certified employees. 

Board Members (Robert) Wofford and (Patsy) Jordan have been working tirelessly to find a solution that kept our fine custodians employed, balanced the budget, paid a living wage, and continued benefits. With a heavy heart, a solution was found through Aramark managing our staff with flex hours and opportunity for advancement. By contrast, Marlow did not even pick up the proposals regarding the custodial solutions until the day of the board meeting. 

Even more offensive is Marlow’s audacity in accusing another member of the board of inappropriate interaction with staff. In my limited interaction with (Janet) Read, she has been professional, hard-working, and student focused. Marlow by contrast has spent her short tenure on feeble gotcha questions, seeking to defund numerous quality aspects of our system, receiving multiple ethics complaints, mixing business and pleasure with her political team, all while having been charged with filing a false police report.

The greatest divide in this debate is not political. It is a wide chasm in facts, motive, and integrity. Treating the two sides as equal is laughable.