Oconee County, GA Politics

Maria Caudill came in 3rd in Post 3 results Tuesday evening Congratulations to first time candidate Maria Caudill, who ran a very good campaign for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners Post 3 (but came up a little short with 892 votes, a solid 20% of the electorate), OC Commission, Post 3 Margaret S. Hale — 1,787 (41.61%) W.E. "Bubber" Wilkes — 1,616 (37.63%) Maria Caudill — 892 (20.77%) 13 of 13 precincts reporting and now Margaret Hale needs to make her and Peggy Holcomb her new best friends for at least the next two months. Margaret is a very nice person, open to discussion on any ideas, and always willing to explain her point of view even if you do not agree with her. I do not know if there will be any formal endorsements, but I am sure there will be lots of conversations and considerations of which candidate is worthy of your support in two long hot months from now. Bubber led the results early, with Margaret taking over the race later in the even...

Tim Bryant wanted to know the Congressional candidates definition of the word "Liberty"    John Larkin making some kind of comment

 I had a great time at the Oconee County GOP candidates forum last week at the Watkinsville Community Center. Just so every knows, I will repeat this for 10,000th time, I vote in the Republican primary in Oconee County depsite my McGovern Democratic party roots and upbringing, to have as much impact on the local representation and government. In a race like Regina Quick versus Doug McKillip in the GOP primary for State House 117th in 2012, it can make a difference when the vote total is 64 votes. In primaries or run offs when second and third can be separated by an equally small margin, the Democratic to Republican crossover vote can make a huge difference as well. Beyond that it might seem like a kiss of death for certain longtime Democratic supporters such as myself to offer up endorsements or to put a sign in their yard. I was not successful supporting the Board of Education candidacies of Chuck Toney or Ashley Hood, or the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in Chuck H...

Approved alcohol permit for University 16 but expressed serious concerns about a variety of matters before unanimously approval

Oconee County commissioners approve 2013 budget | Online Athens

An unnamed Oconee County official confided in me the key moment when he decided to vote for Margaret Hale over Tammy Gilland last night. "She shouldn't have brought up (Margaret's) sickness," said this political junkie last night. "She should have never mentioned that. It really rubbed a lot people the wrong way." Commissioner Hale seems pretty fit and hale these days but did have neck surgery not all that long ago. She missed a couple of meeting during the winter. Gilland made only one reference in passing to Hale's health but it was at a critical juncture of an important debate when people were making up their mind about who to support in the Board of Commissioners race. Although it was not really the case, the perception also was that Gilland was the candidate brought on by Oconee County Board of Commissioners chairman G. Melvin Davis and some saw the Gilland - Hale race as a referendum on the recent reorganization of the reporting structure of ...

An unnamed Oconee County official confided in me the key moment when he decided to vote for Margaret Hale over Tammy Gilland last night. "She shouldn't have brought up (Margaret's) sickness," said this political junkie last night. "She should have never mentioned that. It really rubbed a lot people the wrong way." Commissioner Hale seems pretty fit and hale these days but did have neck surgery not all that long ago. She missed a couple of meeting during the winter. Gilland made only one reference in passing to Hale's health but it was at a critical juncture of an important debate when people were making up their mind about who to support in the Board of Commissioners race. Although it was not really the case, the perception also was that Gilland was the candidate brought on by Oconee County Board of Commissioners chairman G. Melvin Davis and some saw the Gilland - Hale race as a referendum on the recent reorganization of the reporting structure of ...

Lions Club needs our help, and I do not play golf very well. I do think it is a very good idea to participate and or volunteer in this event in a couple of Mondays from now. Woven brightly,  Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 13:26:59 +0000 Subject: [oconee] Lions Club Golf Tournament Seeking Volunteers And Players   The Oconee Lions Club is sponsoring its 1st (and hopefully not last) charity golf tournament at Lane Creek Golf Course on Monday, June 14. Organizer Gene Lyon has asked all the county commissioners if they would be interested in volunteering to help us. Margaret Hale and Chuck Horton have volunteered. As a non-political service organization, The Lions Club is extending an invitation to members of the Democratic Party to play in the tournament or to help if they would like to volunteer. If you are interested in playing or helping, call Wayne Turnbull at 706 – 769 – 5310, or Gene Lyon at 706-769-7011. I know we have members who live i...

Once upon a time not all that long ago in the midst of a recent political season I confided two bits of supposed political wisdom upon a local elected official piling signs out of an automobile. These two axioms of dubious wisdom and quality were as follows: Political Rule #1 Never run against a Fireman Political Rule #2 Never run against a Fireman's wife. This alone should convince Esther Porter she has no chance whatsoever to beat Margaret Hale in the 2010 Republican Primary and de facto General Election for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Margaret has had a health scare recently but in no way should this effect her ability to govern, although she did miss the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting.  I suppose Porter could be hedging her bet against Hale's health worsening, but even the most cynical political observer would not want their opponent to get more sick in order to win. In the insular world of whisper campaigns as loud as dynamite locally, this...

I do my best to respect people's privacy. I am in no way condemning the Oconee Enterprise newspaper for disclosing that she has Lupus, especially if she is OK with them disclosing it. I guess I am a little sensitive to the sharing of medical information after working in the University Health Center for a number of years.  I hope Margaret Hale battles and defeats Lupus and gets her discs in her back worked on to the point where they are no longer bothering her.

This is the video from the meeting where the Board of Commissioners vote to change the duties of the Chair and more specifically the Administrative Officer Allen Theriault in reporting to the Board and not just to the chair. Oconee County BOC Mtg. 8-4-09 from Oconee County IT on Vimeo .

The manner with which governments function is about as exciting to participate in sometimes as watching paint dry, but I always give massive props to those who spend their own hard earned time to volunteer above and beyond the call of duty to try to refine our processes to make them more participatory and less of a micro-managed oligarchy. The Oconee County Board of Commissioners has been an evolving beast as long as I have lived in the county, and will continue to change as our children come in to the forefront a decade plus down the road. The steps that Chuck Horton, Jim Luke, Margaret Hale and others are taking to try to restructure the load and communication process are greatly appreciated .

Once again Lee Becker is on top of the ball about what is going on with the Oconee County Board of Commissioners From: Lee Becker < lbbecker@mindspring.com > Date: Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 10:45 PM Subject: Efficiency, Process and Civics Lessons To: lbbecker@mindspring.com Dear Friends, Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis would like the discussion of the proper relationship between the chairman and the other members of the board to focus on efficiency and effectiveness. Commissioners Jim Luke, Margaret Hale and Chuck Horton have made it clear that they are more concerned about process than efficiency and effectiveness. Each had stated strongly that Davis achieves his efficiency and effectiveness by withholding information from them, making it hard for them to make independent assessments of the issues before the county. The dispute should play out in public on May 6 and possibly on May 7 when Davis and the four commissioners are to meet to discuss the...

Lee Becker lets us know once again how ethically flawed the decision making process has become in the Oconee County government. Dear Friends, The Board of Commissioners tonight approved the rezone for an office park just east of the blind curve on Daniells Bridge Road. Margaret Hale cast the only dissenting vote. Chuck Horton made the motion to approve, which was seconded by Jim Luke. Don Norris, who in May of 2007 concluded he had a conflict of interest on the same rezone and recused himself, decided tonight he was not in conflict and voted with Horton and Hale to approve the project. In May of 2007, Hale, Horton and Luke all voted against the same rezone. The developer filed suit. In closed session, the Board decided to settle the suit. The vote tonight was simply a confirmation of that closed-meeting decision. Emil Beshara, director of Public Works for the county, told the BOC the blind curve was not "dangerous" but the development would make it better because it would inc...

The Oconee Enterprise newspaper put their status as Legal Organ for Oconee County, Georgia in jeopardy by supplying free political advertising to Esther Porter , who is running against Margaret Hale. I would think that Miss Vinnie Williams would have avoided the appearance of impropriety by writing a check to her daughter Maridee to cover the expense. I am also rather shocked that Maridee let this obvious lack of ethical control go past her watch. It will be interesting to see how aggressively Oconee News Leader owner/publisher Rob Peecher, Senior pursues the legal ads now that he had this scandal thrown upon a silver platter for him. I do not know who the attorneys for these newspapers are, but one can only imagine the legal fees will be immense for this possible battle. Esther is going to lose by a large margin to Margaret Hale. Hale has been campaigning hard all throughout the county and has many more volunteers putting up signs and knocking on doors. This latest scandal only reinf...

I took a sign from Oconee County Board of Commissioners member Margaret Hale en route to checking out the Forum yesterday evening. On the way out she was still putting together signs to give out and I told her - only half joking - the rules of Oconee County politics. 1. Never run against a firefighter for public office (how can you possibly be against a firefighter?) 2. Never run against anyone married to a firefighter Margaret should win re-election rather easily for the following reasons and more: Commissioner Margaret S. Hale has lived in Oconee County since 1984. She was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia where she graduated from Saint Vincent's Academy in 1979. In 1980 she moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia . In 1984 she married Michael Hale and they relocated to Oconee County . They presently live in the Farmington community with their two children Brad and Beth. They are members of Ashford Memorial Methodist Church . Margaret has been active in the...

The biggest news out of this story should be that Oconee County Board of Commissioners member Margaret Hale got up and left a budget meeting, but instead it looks like another member of the G.O.P. elite are going to run against G. Melvin Davis for the chairmanship of the Board of Commissioners in Oconee if we are to believe the scuttlebutt at the end of the comments. Always click on the show comments section of Athens Banner-Herald stories online as they often provide hilarity, irony and insight into various goings-on in Oconee County and elsewhere.

The Oconee County government gave the big thumbs down on Matt Elder's proposed waste transfer station and dumpster stash south on Watkinsville on Highway 15 last night . God bless Post 4's Chuck Horton - who made the motion to deny - and Margaret Hale - who seconded the motion. Many people spoke out against it. Former University of Georgia football coach Ray Goff was the biggest idiot speaking out for it.