Oconee County, GA Politics

Dear Moore's Ford friends, Please attend our upcoming film screening on July 22 with Keith Beauchamp. A short press release and longer personal column are attached. Keith is terrific - young, eloquent, full of passion. No wonder he got some older residents in Mississippi to start talking about Emmett Till. Please send this news to friends and list servs you think may be interested. How about Common Ground in Athens and OCAF in Oconee County, among others? Had a great trip to Alaska, where I was helping a friend build a home. But its always nice to come home. All the best, Rich Emmett Till Film & Producer Headed for Monroe On July 22, to honor the 60th anniversary of the Moore’s Ford lynching of 1946 and build support for the current FBI and GBI investigations, the Moore’s Ford Memorial Committee will host a film screening – The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till – by filmmaker Keith Beauchamp. Set for 1 p.m., Saturday at the Monroe Community Center, Beauc...

So I will not be there in person, but I just got a telephone call from a producer at WSB TV (channel 2) confirming that they are going to use a question I submitted for the Republican debate between Ralph Reed and Casey Cagle. This debate is going to air Sunday at 5 pm. Ironically I submitted it for the Democratic governor's debate instead, but it applies just as well by Casey and Ralph Now I am not going to ruin the suspense by revealing what I am going to ask them, because that would give them a chance to prepare some textbook response. Suffice to say it is something echoed by many voters besides me and it will add some spice to the usual boring debate queries. It has nothing to do with Abramoff or banking directly.

I consider Watkinsville City Council member Brian Brodrick to be a friend of mine. He devours these blogs quicker than just about anybody, and in his business of working for Jackson-Spalding PR agency he is more sensitive to it. We live in a very small town. Sometimes emotions get carried away on contentious issues such as beer and wine in grocery stores and restaurant, and he wanted to reply to an article I wrote. By most considerations what happend last night was over in a minute and Brodrick basically called out Jim Shearron for berating Kate McDaniel. The entire three-way verbal spat did not last 15 seconds. And so I feel it is appropriate to publish his response to my article written last night: The following was written by Brodrick. 1) The only reason I raised my voice towards Jim is because I felt like he got personal with Kate. I always want debate to be civil at council, and felt like he crossed a line in attacking her. Both made valid points. I have the utmost respect for ...

Good evening everyone. I thought I’d pass along this bit of good news from Lee Becker regarding the county’s stormwater ordinance. My apologies if this is a repeated post. Cheers, Tony Glenn President, Citizens for South Oconee County -----Original Message----- From: Lee Becker [mailto:lbbecker@mindspring.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 9:43 PM Subject: Good News Dear Friends, Yesterday I spoke with Amy Morrison, who is in charge of the stormwater ordinance for the county. She said the overwhelming number of comments coming in to the county are calling for the stormwater ordinance to be rewritten so that the entire county will be required to follow the state standards for control of runoff. As a result, she said, she has changed the ordinance. The version that she posted to the web on July 6 contains language designed, she said, to accomplish this. The key provision is Section 3, part E, which says that the Oconee County Board of Commissioners "shall" compel a land ...

July City Council Meeting Oconee Living section Athens Banner-Herald July 12, 2006 Nerves frayed toward end of Watkinsville council meeting By Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Correspondent Athens Banner-Herald Contentious rancor erupted briefly toward the end of the first regular monthly meeting of the Watkinsville City Council since City Attorney R. Judson Huff resigned over a “liquor elimination ordinance,” according to Police Chief Lee O’Dillon. “It gives us a tool,” said O’Dillon. “It will stop the brown bagging.” He did not need to intervene in the quick heated exchange between Council member Brian Brodrick and a couple of residents. Cooler heads and apologies soon prevailed after Mayor Jim Luken restored order. Brodrick said he favored “baby steps” toward the beer and wine in restaurants and package stores instead of “jumping into the deep end of the pool.” Local Republican Party secretary and retired blogger Kate McDaniel of APVOC.com questioned the council’s attitude toward change, an...

So I was told at an OCAF volunteer dinner that the Athens Regional Medical Center is going to build a new hospital some 10 years down the road off Jimmy Daniel across from the back of Jennings Mill. About time Oconee County gets some first rate medical facilities. 91-year-old Louise Shearon was selected volunteer of the year and Ashford Manor chosen the business of the year, both well deserved. Here are a bunch of photos from that event.

Mr. Rob Peecher Sr. has bankrolled some newspaper competition for the Oconee Enterprise and Athens Banner-Herald Oconee Living section. This newspaper will be called The Oconee Leader. I worked for his son in Eatonton a few years back and knew his dad lived up this way. Rob Jr. spent a lot of time in West Georgia and at the Eatonton Messenger. Find out more Wednesday. Maybe I will drive down that way and see if I can scout up some more information. AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE July 12, 2006 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES APPEARANCES 1. Maridee Williams – Bicentennial Birthday Celebration 2. Steve & Dory Brown – demolition permit – existing house @ 36 S. Main St. 3. Robert Peecher, Sr. – business license – The Oconee Leader – 46A Greensboro Hwy. 4. Brian Young – building permit – Ice Vending Building – 42 N. Main St. 5. Scott Boswell – building permit – remodel existing building @ 64 N. Main St. 6. Sherry Carson – swimming pool permit – 108...

A peach of a scandal in Georgia By Garrison Keillor July 6, 2006 If a preacher secretly accepts a bucket of money from a saloonkeeper to organize a temperance rally at a rival saloon and maybe send in a gang of church ladies to chop up the bar with their little hatchets, this would strike you and me as sleazy, but others are willing to make allowances, and so Ralph Reed's political career is still alive and breathing in Georgia. He has bathed himself in tomato juice and hopes to smile his way through the storm. The facts are fairly simple. Mr. Reed left the Christian Coalition in 1997 as it was sinking, and he was paid by Jack Abramoff to organize opposition to a gambling bill in the Texas legislature, which would have opened the door to competition for Mr. Abramoff's client casinos in Louisiana. So Mr. Reed got the good Christians of Texas to bombard the legislature with phone calls and letters denouncing gambling, for which Mr. Reed was paid millions of dollars in gambling mo...