Oconee County, GA Politics

AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE January 9, 2008 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK MINUTES APPEARANCES 1. George Svoronos – business license – Physio-Diagnostics, Inc. – 1191 Felton Drive 2. Hometown Communities (Wisteria Ridge) – building permit – 565 sq. ft. pool house – 95 N. Main Street 3. Hometown Communities (Wisteria Ridge) – building permit – 356 sq. ft. mail kiosk – 95 N. Main Street 4. John Byram – building permit – renovate existing building at 19 & 21 N. Main including 4, 6 & 8 Court Street ADMINISTRATION MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS 1. Consider Subdivision Regulations 2. Consider Franchise Fee Ordinance NEW BUSINESS EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Discuss land acquisition ADJOURN

This is the result of a long series of email exchanges, but it was fun and I was happy to contribute. I can remember being huddled at the end of the stairwell in my pajamas watching a crowd of people up our stairs raising their hands for George McGovern on a cold night in 1972. We had a "raucous caucus" according to the Des Moines Register and Tribune newspaper at the time and thus was born yet another nickname from Coach McGuire. We had people packed into every corner of our stucco house on the hill in the middle of Snake Drive.

Please let your feelings be known about our local government doing things behind our back...... Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P.O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Following is a message from Lee Becker, Friends of Barber Creek with information about the secret bidding process being used by the county to contract for the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant. Please remember this is the plant that will result in treated sewer water being dumped into Barber Creek which flows through several Oconee subdivisions. This project was advertised for bids once before but no contract was let as a result. Go to Lee's blog for the background on this project. Charles Baugh Subject: Citizens "Taint" the Bidding Process Dear Friends: Oconee County officials, in an effort to keep citizens from "tainting" the review process, have decided to keep secret the second round of bids for the $8-10 million upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant as well as the re

Dear Friend, If you're like most Georgia Democrats, you're excited about Georgia's Presidential Primary coming up on February 5th. I want to ask you to help us get out the vote on that day, by reminding your friends, family, and coworkers about this important election and by making sure that everyone you know is registered to vote. The deadline to register to vote in the February 5th Presidential Primary is next Monday, January 7th! If you know someone who hasn't yet registered to vote, please encourage them to get in touch with their local Board of Elections, so they can help choose our next President. For more information on how to register to vote, or to download and print a voter registration application, visit the Georgia Secretary of State's website . As you know, Georgia's primary date is shared with many other states. I want to challenge all of us to start 2008 off on the right foot by getting more Democrats out to the polls than ever

Please come help pick up litter along the side of the road on the busiest thoroughfare in Oconee County, Georgia with the Oconee County Democratic Committee. Oconee Democrats, their friends, neighbors, and children are invited to meet at the Mars Hill fire station on Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. to clean up our mile of the Oconee Connector. Please bring a pair of work gloves and any aluminum cans you have to recycle in the firefighters' recycyling bin. Safety vests and trash bags will be provided. The Fire Chief has graciously offered the station's dumpster for our filled bags, so that is one less messy job to worry about. Lets turn out a crowd and finish this off quickly!

I have lived in Georgia more than a quarter century with my father's family going seven generations deep on a hilltop in Druid Hills, but I grew up in the great state of Iowa in a rather interesting political climate. My mother Norma S. Matthews was part of the apparatus adjusting the Iowa Caucuses to the front of the line in 1972. We hosted a caucus at our house on 44th st.eet "Snake Drive" where people huddled in corners to declare their allegiance to everyone from Hubert Humphrey to Edmund Muskie to Scoop Jackson and George McGovern. My mom was the co-chair of the McGovern campaign and we had quite a parade of people through our living room and guest rooms that year, including Bill and Hillary, Gary Hart, and many others less famous. McGovern came in third that evening but won in the expectations game, doing better than was thought possible, and the Senator from South Dakota won the elusive momentum factor into New Hampshire and Wisconsin on to the nomination. Every