Oconee County, GA Politics

UGA field goal kicker Brandon Coutu nailed a long field goal toward the end of the Georgia Bulldogs game today with the Kentucky Wildcats. I was sitting with a physically challenged friend of mine in the handicap access area. My friend Steve said "you guys should move over toward the center for the field goal attempt" and we did. The kick was true, bounced right in my arms, I held it aloft and gave it to my son to throw back, which he did with a tight spiral. We had also caught one during the halftime that Coutu kicked from about the 50 yard line in the prelude to the second half. Many fans were throwing the ball back up further in the stands when the Wildcats warmed in the the start of the second half. We decided that it would be better sportsmanship to throw it back. I do not know if I had ever held a special kicking football before. It felt good. Lowell was very well behaved at the Georgia football game and thanks to all those who work to make the football season come of

You're invited to JRF's Bottle Auction Make your reservation today Click here to reserve online Dear Friends, You're invited to the Jeannette Rankin Foundation annual Bottle Auction.  Join us on December 4 at 7:30 pm at Trumps Catering downtown for a holiday wine tasting, scrumptious hors d'oeuvres, and a live auction featuring wrapped mystery bottles.  Come enjoy wonderful food, drinks and company, learn about wine pairing and bid on wrapped bottles containing fine wine, champagne, gift certificates to local restaurants and entertainment, and more.    Save the Date DATE: December 4, 2007 TIME: 7:30 pm LOCATION: Trumps Catering

If you are looking for something fun and for a good cause to do tonight here it is. The Oconee Dems have donated a wreath (with a blue and white snowman theme) to the auction tonight to benefit the Oconee Area Resource Council Family Connection. Catering is by the new Daily Neighborhood Deli @ Franklin Grove—the food will be fantastic! Tickets are $15 at the door.

Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 8:21 AM Subject: Ray Durham memorial service this Sat, Nov. 17, 2 p.m MFMC Founder Ray Durham Dies of Parkinsons Dear folks, Two days ago, our Moores Ford family took a big loss. Founding MFMC member LaRamon Durham died of Parkinson's Disease last Sunday, Nov. 11 at St. Mary's Hospice Center in Athens. A memorial service in Ray's honor will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Athens. As you well know, he had been sick for a long, long time. Phyllis Durham, his wife, has asked us to say a few words on Saturday. Ray loved our Moores Ford family and was loved in return. Directions: from Hwy 78 (also called the Atlanta Highway), turn south at the light on Timothy Road (Golden Pantry in the south corner (this intersection is east of the Georgia Mall and about 3-5 miles west of downtown Athens). Head south on Timothy maybe 1-2 miles to the U/U Fellowship on the left, an ir

The worst part of missing these Watkinsville City Council meetings is not hearing the part where Mayor Jim Luken reads his comments and generally they are not included in what I get from city clerk Julie Sanders (they are in here but Luken almost always adds some colorful but well spoken quote often but not always combining his military and or Cincinnati or Roswell or baseball backgrounds). Luken often reveals the best little nuggets of news in this part of the meeting. But I digress. Thanks to Julie for sending the minutes. I love Watkinsville. Been a pretty good week for Mack Guest III after getting appointed to the Board of Education and now he has another business under his belt. The following are unapproved minutes of last night's meeting, reads like this was a relatively brief and unspectacular or non-controversial gathering: MINUTES OF MEETING OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL CITY OF WATKINSVILLE November 14, 2007 PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Link, Purcell, Walsh,

Some of our elected leaders have shown their lack of leadership and foresight again on issues important to all residents, not just folks in Oconee County. 10th district U.S. Congressman Dr. Paul Broun wants to outlaw all women's reproductive rights (which is surely doomed to fail and be another huge waste of time and effort and tax payer money) and State Representative Bob Smith can only complain about Athens - Clarke County's watering ban (not realizing his own county has basically done the same - excellent take on this at Jonathan McGinty's must-read-daily Safe as Houses ) and not stand up for the Navy School's transition to a new campus of the Medical College of Georgia. Blake Aued points out how one of Broun's prospective primary opponents in Barry Fleming is already being led down the path of pitting Augusta versus Athens in the whole Medical College of Georgia debate.

COMMUNITY FORUM Iraq Veteran and candidate for Georgia 's 10 th U. S. Congressional District Bobby Saxon of Nicholson , Georgia will be the guest presenter in a Community Forum at 6:00 P.M. Monday night, November 19, 2007 at the Community Center located at 707 Hart Avenue in Union Point. Directions are attached. The general public from Greene County and surrounding Counties are invited and urged to attend; especially all Democrats in the area. We are attempting to give a voice to our silent, timid, Democratic majority in the face of a loud, boastful, aggressive Republican voice. Suggestions are hereby solicited. Cookies and punch will be served DIRECTIONS TO UNION POINT COMMUNITY CENTER 707 HART AVENUE UNION POINT , GEORGIA TRAVELING 1-20 East: (From Atlanta ) Take Exit #130 – Greensboro ; Eatonton Turn left onto Highway 44 North. Follow State Highway #44 into the City of Greensboro . Turn right at traffic light and continue on Highw

As someone who tried twice to get appointed to the Oconee County Board of Education himself, I offer a hale and hearty congratulations to former UGA football player Mack Guest II, owner of the LAD Truck Lines on Barnett Shoals in Watkinsville on his unanimous appointment to the School Board to replace Tom Porter. We always need new voices to make Democracy work better for all of us. I wish Mr. Guest well with the daunting challenges of working on the Oconee County Board of Education . Speaking of the Board of Education, s eems some interlopers from surrounding counties are pretending to live full time in Oconee County in order to get their kids in our outstanding schools , or at least they are going to be investigated now. Between divorces, kids living at multiple houses on different days of the week and other modern concerns, this will be no easy chore

Laurie, Jim, Mario and Dave at Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast are wonderful people who have done great things to improve our community. Now they are seeking a little bit of community feedback about their concert series. Please take it upon your self to print this questionnaire or cut and paste this back to them. Ashford Manor “Concerts on the Lawn” 2007 In an effort to enhance your experience at the 2008 Summer Concerts on the Lawn Series, we need your feedback to help make next years season a great success! Please complete the following brief survey. Name (optional): May we reach you? Yes No If yes, please list best method: How many Ashford Manor concerts did you attend this season? Who attends with you? Check all that apply. ___Children ___Colleagues ___Family ___Friends ___Other_________________

Thanks to Laura Dempsey Public Relations Director for this. Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Athens Area Habitat for Humanity (706) 208-1001 PR@athenshabitat.com Athens Habitat Breaking Ground on Women Build Home Athens, GA—Athens Area Habitat for Humanity will celebrate the Women Build Ceremonial Groundbreaking on Wednesday, November 14 th at 3:30PM. The ceremony, which is open to the public, will take place at 883 Waddell Street Athens, GA. Women Build is a Habitat for Humanity International program that encourages women to have fun and make a difference by building homes and communities. The current Women Build project (Building Green and Building Dreams) is the third campaign presented by Athens Area Habitat. This campaign is made possible through a partnership with Athens-Clarke County Human Economic Development and The Athens Land Trust. Fundraising efforts, which have included three major events so far, began over the summer. The Women Build

Coaches, Now that our Under-6 and Under-8 Soccer seasons have ended, I wanted to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all Micro Coaches from this Fall 2007 season. I must admit is was difficult to keep an eye on close to 60 Under-6 and Under-8 Soccer teams. But from what I saw it looked like all teams accomplished our main goal of the season, for the players, parents, and coaches to have fun! Whether it was teaching skills related to the game, or teaching the values of teamwork and sportsmanship, I hope you and your team enjoyed each other's company this season. The success of this soccer program is due in part to our volunteer coaches like yourself who do a wonderful job each season. Without the dedicated effort put forth by our volunteer coaches--the opportunity for the kids of our community to experience a few months of healthy fun and learning in an organized team environment would be difficult, if not impossible, to coordinate. Your commitment to your team, our program

Saw Oconee County Board of Commissioners member Don Norris at the downtown Athens post office this morning and he sounded initially just as confused as I was about which of the four seats on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners will be up for election in 2008. After a couple of early morning mistakes, he thought that Post 2 and 3 will be up for election in November of 2008 (and in June if we need a primary, a much more likely scenario on the Republican side than the Democratic side in heavily G.O.P. Oconee County). That would be for the Bogart's Norris and Farmington's Margaret Hale currently occupied slots in the election. No word from him or Margaret if they are going to seek re-election or not. Norris did seem somewhat puzzled when I told him Jay Hanley had formed an exploratory committee. "For what?," he puzzled before engaging someone else in line. Turns out according to the Oconee County Board of Elections that all four seats are up for election, so this i

This is a pretty cool way to get art and help the homeless in our community. Watkinsville is the Art Land of Georgia. Local art sale assists homeless - Variety

Smart growth proponents will be pleased to know of the emergence of an as-of-yet unnamed group of supporters borne out of frustration with the development of the former Green Hills Country Club tract and surrounding area at the Clarke-Oconee-Oglethorpe nexus down Barnett Shoals way. This group has met several times at the Splitbeard Meadow barn of Dr. Bill Paul at 4900 Barnett Shoals Road in his barn and will do so again Tuesday evening at 7 pm. " The mission of our organization is to promote responsible community development by protecting historic(al) features, maintaining healthy economic growth, enjoining the political process, addressing environmental concerns, and monitoring sprawl, thereby preserving a high quality of life for all residents of the Clarke-Oconee-(Oglethorpe) region," wrote Dr. Paul in an email sent out earlier. Barnett Shoals Regional Coalition, (Intercounty) Coalition for Sustainable Development and Watch Dawgs are names that have been given a test

Glad I can answer that, although I will probably miss this one because of the UGA men's basketball game versus Grambling State: APPEARANCES 1. Carol Anne Kelley – business license – CAK Unlimited Design, Inc. – 1141 Stone Shoals Terrace 2. Mack Guest III – business license – LAD Logistics, Inc. – 109 Barnett Shoals Road 3. Christopher Blanchard – business license – Christopher M. Blanchard, LLC – 31A N. Main Street 4. Sarah Scott – building permit – 20’ x 38’ detached garage – 1031 Christian Court 5. Wisteria Ridge – building permit – 40’ x 40’ leasing office – Bldg. 100 – 95 N. Main Street 6. Wisteria Ridge – building permit – 74’ x 42’ apartment building (F1) – Bldg. 200 – 95 N. Main Street 7. Wisteria Ridge – building permits – 64’2” x 50’4” apartment building (F2) – Buildings 300, 400, 500, 1000, 1300, 1400 & 1500 to be built by F2 specifications – 95 N. Main Street 8. Wisteria Ridge – building permits – 74’

The Athens Academy Spartans, the top seed out of Region 8A, will play host to the Trion HS team coming down from the mountains of NW Georgia and Chattooga County, in a playoff game this weekend. The winner would get the winner of the Whitefield Academy-Twiggs County game, giving the Spartans a chance for revenge for their only loss of the regular season should Whitefield win. Oconee County will travel to West Georgia to take on Carrolton in AAA football.

The political adolescence of Jay Hanley continues online at Facebook at the very least. 14 friends have joined the son of former Watkinsville City Council member John Hanley in his group. According to his Facebook group " Yes, the group name speaks for itself. In response to requests from friends, I am exploring or thinking about a run for an Oconee County Commission post in 2008. I understand there may be one or more open seats on the Commission in 2008 and I would only run for an open seat. I'm not interested in running against an incumbent. I did that once when I ran for Watkinsville City Council. It's very difficult. Plus, I like and respect the current board members ." We post this only as a well placed warning shot across the bow to all the other folks who might consider running for the Board of Commissioners, and I would certainly support a few more taxpaying and homeowning candidates for the Oconee County Commission. I wonder which seat Jay thinks will be ope