Oconee County, GA Politics

The gathering at High Shoals Elementary School was largely a dog and pony show for the Charter "to move forward" according to State Representative Bob Smith who was requested by oddly absent Mayor Jeff Thoomas and misquoted the vote tally (3-1 vs. 3-2). But otherwise you had an entertaining collection of concerned residents of every stripe, mostly divided into the "I've lived here all my life and the rest of you are just carpetbaggers" in the distinct minority and the more sober and numerous people supporting the Charter including a Vietnam Veteran sporting some fashionable white uniform from the Coast Guard and a couple of the towns council. Mayor Johnny Pritchett of nearby Bishop was in attendance, as was the Mayor of Watkinsville Jim Luken and Oconee County Board of Commissioners chair G. Melvin Davis along with five dozen or so residents of the High Shoals area. The discussions of the audience ranged from fringe zealots screaming about Nazis to most people p...

Tonight at 7:30 pm (thanks Steve) - Thursday, December 20th, 2007 - there will be a special called meeting of the North High Shoals city council prompted by the paranoia of two of the old school members of the city council: Eddie Cape and Mayor Jeff Thomas. They are pushing for a referendum to dissolve the town charter. Their fear seems to stem from the recent election of one new council member Steve Holzman. Thomas, the owner of the Family Life Retirement Home - ran several elections past against Gaynor Bracewell, who ran on a dissolve the town platform. The late Bracewell, who owned a couple of homes near his Paradiso Falls water recreation and beach, lost by a large margin to Thomas in that election. Please attend this meeting and let your feelings be known about the attempt at wiping out the municipality of North High Shoals. Even though the local city government would not have much direct authority over it, there is a new Elementary School being built in the city. There are lots ...