Oconee County, GA Politics

The Democratic Party needs to enunciate the positive alternatives to the Republican culture of corruption and not just line up like sheep behind the latest Clinton brand of political washing machine soap to clean out the sleaze of GOP cronyism. Locally this could be best formulated with comprehensive smart growth planning for our rapidly growing county. The perception is that development drives our economy. We need to connect our communities, build more sidewalks, make it safe for Johnny to ride a bike to school. Right now Oconee County is nothing more than a gathering of semi-secluded neighborhood subdivisions which keeps up apart. Sewer systems are not available outisde of Watkinsville. The roads are entirely too narrow in most of our municipalities. Our schools are not the least bit connected for jogging, biking, skating or walking. We need to plan more and build less, unless it is bike paths or sidewalks. There are some good subdivisions and development that seem to come fro...

Watkinsville and Oconee County historic sites [Vinnie Williams, Oconee Enterprise, 9/27/07, p. A3] are not drawing tourists because their destruction is being encouraged by those who should be fighting tooth and nail to save these special places. Word gets around quickly and the public wants no part of it. The guilty parties are developers who don’t care and their supporters in the city and county governments. Those folks seemly have no vision of what should be protected, how to do it, and what the public really wants. Are they deaf? The gateway charm at the intersection of Barnett Shoals Road and Main Street in Watkinsville has been replaced by some out-of-scale ‘thing’ which comes close to a spaghetti western stage set. The wonderfully wide sidewalks in downtown Watkinsville have been replaced by parking spaces. Now the sidewalks are so narrow that two people can’t pass each other without turning sideways. Who thought that improvement up? And then, there are those unfortunate t...

Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Just when you think you have heard all the bad news about the Walton County reservoir, comes this. Some will remember that Oconee's cost share for the first phase of the project was originally estimated to be $43,000,000. Sometime later the number being used was $48,000,000. The number used during the very short discussion of the bond issue last night was $49,800,000. Not only that, the Citigroup bond salesman who did part of the presentation recommended the Board approve a bond issue of $66,000,000 at up to 15% interest which the BOC approved with little discussion. The vote was 3-1 with Hale, Luke and Norris voting for the issue. (Hale voted against the original motion, go figure) It now appears that Oconee will have to validate the bonds and the stated reason for the $66,000,000 issue at up to 15% interest was to avoid going back to court to validate each issue of bonds plus a significant amount o...

Rush is a cowardly turd to compare our troops to suicide bombers and call them "phony soldiers"

We suffer the lunatic fringe bombastic buffoons on the radio spoon fed us by the near local monopoly Southern Broadcasting. I know, I used to be one. Advertisers should look elsewhere to spend their money these days. While Bill O'Reilly is not on our market thankfully, it is time to let Newstalk 1340 WGAU AM that Rush "Phony Soldiers" Limbaugh is a repugnant hate monger who cannot handle any dissent what so ever. I know this cigar chomping right wing talk radio comedian can draw big numbers with the easily persuaded, but it is time to find a different kind of entertainment for the airwaves in Athens, although Southern Broadcasting owner Paul Stone will never change his mind, even when the last local advertiser has flown the coop. This day too will come to pass. I would urge more diversity in programming, announcers, and content on local radio stations. We are blessed to have some serious talent extremely underpaid in our market. The only place that the Drive By Truckers ...

Certain parts of the rare sidewalks inside the city limits of Watkinsville were sorely needing upgrade and repair. My son and I used to coast over what we affectionately call the roller coaster between Third and Second on Barnett Shoals cement pedestrian paths. The Street Department has done an excellent job of smoothing out the jagged precipice to make it a nice safe ride. There are a couple of areas as sharp curbs at First and Third that should be next on the Street Department's list of things to improve by smoothing out to the street level with the nice gradual rise. The new sidewalk down by Stone Shoals is a welcome addition, but the blight that remains of SC Logging is an eyesore. Main Street Yarn is a welcome addition in the beautifully refurbished barn by Quinton Phillips and Cindy Jerrell. Residential, small business and industrial can co-exist well with a little bit of community input and planning, along with a healthy dose of smart growth. The Watkinsville City Coun...

We got a young'un who done good in the eyes of Georgia Trend . Does that make him a trendy? The Banner-Herald even put him on the front cover. I saw his wife pushing their new born through 5 Points the other day.

Where do you fall on this battle, intrepid reader? I tread the middle ground carefully. Miss Vinnie Williams is the publisher of the Oconee Enterprise newspaper, and Wendell Dawson is the former Board of Commissioners chairman in Oconee County. These two local icons can not stand one and other. The roots of their disagreement are arcane and obscure, compounded by ego and hubris, not to mention the lack of humility and apology on both sides. A friend called them the masters of half reporting. I have had my differences with both people and also worked well with them over the nearly two decades I have had some sort of Oconee connection. They have more in common then either would care to admit. I hope they can work out their differences and reconcile before they leave this mortal coil. But I do not think that is going to happen. Both are fiercely proud, perhaps to their detriment ultimately. Perhaps they could co-host a charity tiddlywinks tournament to determine who will prevail. Thi...

The following is a paid political announcement. I donated $12.73 to the Saxon campaign a couple hours late for last quarter's donation reporting. Wanna know why the 2.73 end to the donation? Here is another tidbit from an email plea I did not receive but had forwarded from friends is Morgan County. All I ask is that, whatever you contribute, you add an extra $2.73 to it, to represent the 273,000 Georgia children that my opponent wants to leave behind. If you are able to, please contribute on my website by Sunday to beat the fundraising deadline for this quarter. Have a great day, Bobby For Immediate Release September 26, 2007 Michael Cantone Campaign Manager 804-543-4976 (c), 706-757-2208 (o) mike@bobbysaxon.com What can Broun do for you? Not much if you’re a Georgia child in need of healthcare ATHENS, Ga. – Democratic Congressional candidate Bobby Saxon released the following statement on last night's vote in the House of Representatives to re-authorize the State Children'...

I agree with the U.S. Army decision to give the late soldier from Watkinsville a raise after his death and funeral . That will provide his family and new born son a little more financial security in the forthcoming years. We saw the supporters and those kooks from the church in Kansas near the burial grounds on Atlanta Highway early Saturday afternoon. There were lots of flags near Barnes and Noble and motorcycles and police escorts, etc. Military funerals are an interesting ritual that everyone should see at least once no matter what you views about the war. I hope his death is not in vain.