Oconee County, GA Politics

Biodiesel finds home in backyards By Stephanie Schupska University of Georgia The biodiesel topic is hitting the lips of those working in places ranging from labs to government regulations offices. As fuel prices continue to mount, many Americans have started hunting ways to make transportation more economical. And that includes the production of biodiesel. "Biodiesel has true scale-ability," said Rob Del Bueno of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "It can be made in a multimilliongallon tank or in a 2-liter bottle in a kitchen if done carefully." Del Bueno knows this firsthand. After college, he promoted a band that played gigs wherever they could get them. To save money, they converted the tour van to run on vegetable oil taken straight from the fryers at the bars where they played. Del Bueno was hooked, not on the band, but on the fuel they used. He started tearing apart engines, making his own biodiesel and running his car on it. He then started making it f...

As some of you may know, I worked as an assistant to Bonnie Murphy in Eagle Tavern when it was still the Welcome Center. So I will be happy to do so again in a volunteer capacity as I read in the Enterprise today. Eagle Tavern should not go unattended. I wish volunteer my services, but contingent upon one very important request. I must again insist on trying to get Eagle Tavern open on the Bicentennial of the city of Watkinsville Nov. 24, 2006. I know Anita has graciously offered us the use of the front lawn of Eagle Tavern and a tent, but given the chance for inclement weather that day, I would like to ask all parties to please reconsider their intransigence on this issue. This can be a win-win situation for everybody. I have worked for the Oconee County Government before as the assitant to the Welcome Center director. I will be glad to do so again, but if and only if I can receive assurances that I can open Eagle Tavern on the day of Watkinsville's Bicentennial - yes the day afte...

This article might not answer that hot button issue, but this is about the man who has been selected to be the new tax man here in Watkinsville: Board chooses likely appointee for chief tax appraiser position Oconee County By Merritt Melancon | juliana.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:24 AM on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 WATKINSVILLE - The Oconee County Board of Assessors has chosen former Greene County Chief Tax Assessor Allen Skinner as the likely appointee to fill the vacant chief tax appraiser's post. Todd Paschal, the county's long-time chief tax appraiser, resigned from the post in March to take a higher paying job as chief tax appraiser in Morgan County. Assessors Chairman James Miller said Skinner's depth of experience as both a county tax assessor and in the real estate business set him apart from the three other candidates the board interviewed for the position. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in busi...

New York Times May 21, 2006 NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES Honoring a Rich Past While Moving Forward By ANNE BERRYMAN Madison, Ga. DURING the Civil War, Maj. Gen. Henry Warner Slocum ordered his troops to spare Madison from destruction. He did so at the pleading of the mayor, Joshua Hill, a former congressman who opposed secession and who resigned when the Confederate States of America seceded from the Union. Today, the leaders of this city of 3,781, with its array of well-maintained Greek Revival, Victorian and Craftsman-style houses, continue to fend off any challenge to its historic character. "We're threatened by growth," said Michael J. Naples, a Madison city councilman who moved here six years ago from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., where, he said, "the builders descended upon us like locusts" after changes in zoning. Mr. Naples said he shudders to think of Madison developing as rapidly. "There's a certain beauty to this town," he said. "There's ...

Recent polls show that Georgia Lieutenant Governor candidates Ralph Reed and State Senator Casey Cagle are running neck and neck, with seven short weeks to go until their primary election. Shockingly, more than 50% of Republican voters haven't decided who to vote for yet. Help us educate voters about the real Ralph Reed with a contribution today. We have very little time. In today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pollster Matt Towrey summed up what what's going to happen: "This is a race that's up for grabs for whoever wants to spend the most money on television and claim it." With Reed leading the money chase, everyone expects a typical Reed smear campaign any day, like the charges he made against decorated vet Senator Max Cleland being soft on terrorism and the love-child he claimed Senator John McCain had. We need your support right now to introduce Reed as a typical, hypocritical politician who doesn't practice what he preaches. Both candidates know e...

Each side of the political spectrum loves to hurl insults at the other. Both extremes want to frame the arguments with labels and names marketed carefully to bring out the strongest response. It is with this in mind I launch the Save America First campaign. This movement will shift focus from foreign intervention to domestic tranquility. We need to make sure our country prospers in face of economic and terrorist threats. We love our country, we support our soldiers, we rejoice when they come home alive

I am trying to help the City of Watkinsville celebrate their bicentennial with a photo stamp, postal cancellation and cachet envelope commemorating the 200 years. The postmaster Dayna Mahaffey and the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce have been very helpful in the process. Today Charles Grimes gave me a colorful John Gholson print from Fall Festivals long gone past. I think it was number 486 of 600. They have a fantastic treasure trove of historic area prints in that place. I took the large Gholson print down to Pritz Plus so they can scan and print it on the envelope. Anita Ford at Eagle Tavern has graciously offered us the opportunity to cancel mail with the special Eagle Tavern Station commemorative cancellation the day after Thanksgiving day in the front of Eagle Tavern in a tent. Does anyone have a large weather proof tent I could borrow in late November? I would bet between OCAF and Ashford Manor we can scare one up by Halloween at least. The Oconee County Democratic Committee do...

Jay Hanley kindly replied to my query about Cowsert's companion, and I was wrong about him being his son. I have seen Doc Eldrige and apparent son eating at Foodworks recently with the younger one wearing a Cowsert shirt. Here it is Dan, Thank you for your attendance at Thursday's Oconee GOP meeting and for your comments about the well-run meeting. I am glad you felt welcome. That is our aim. On your blog, you pose a question to me as to who the young man was with Bill Cowsert. That was his campaign manager, Chris Herdner. As you observed, no local government officials were present for Ralph Reed's speech. Sheriff Berry is on Casey Cagle's list of endorsers as are Commissioners Luke and Horton. I don't know where the other commissioners stand on the LG race. Chairman Melvin Davis was out of town so that is why he was not present at the meeting. Again, thank you for your attendance. Jay Hanley Secretary, Oconee County Republican Party The topic that echoes th...

Blue Nation by Chris Bowers, Mon May 15, 2006 at 08:29:17 PM EST Ever since 2000, American progressives have been subjected to a steady stream of red-blue electoral maps. There are many problems with such maps, but what always irritated me the most about those maps were how they over-emphasized large, thinly populated expanses of land. New York City has more people than Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and the Dakotas combined, but on the red-blue electoral map of national counties is shows up as a tiny, dark blue speck compared to a sea of deep red. It was the sort of visual aide that any feudal lord would have loved, since it emphasized land instead of people. However, the situation has now changed. The new Survey USA 50-state Bush approval rating shows the depth of Bush's troubles. In forty-seven states, Bush has a negative approval rating. In seventeen states, Bush's disapproval rating doubles his approval rating. In fifteen states, his disapproval rating is lower than any dis...

A Lonely Warning On Debt By David S. Broder, The Washington Post Sunday, May 14, 2006 The hardest question any Washington reporter faces these days, whenever talking with voters outside the capital, is simply: Can I believe anything I'm told by those politicians in Washington -- or by the press? The cynicism in the public is thick enough to cut with a knife. People are tuning out on the president, on politicians -- and on the press. That is what makes it newsworthy when a public official, speaking on the record, sets forth a view that is as blunt and uncomfortable as it is politically unpalatable. Without further ado, let me then quote extensively from a speech delivered May 3 on the floor of the Senate by George Voinovich, a Republican from Ohio -- a speech that, by the way, drew almost no comment from his colleagues or from the apparently benumbed press corps. Voinovich began by pointing out that when he came to the Senate in 1999, "the national debt stood at $5.6 trillion. ...

The rodeo sucked because the announcer was a racist, sexist asshole who belittled women and minorities and gays, among many others. They also dropped the flag on the ground. This is the press release from the People for Ethical Treatment for Animals: Farmington, Ga. — PETA has fired off a letter to Dr. Michael Adams, president of the University of Georgia (UGA), urging him to make this year’s "pig tote" race in UGA’s Great Southland Stampede Rodeo the university’s last. PETA’s request follows a rash of complaints from UGA students and faculty that the baby pigs used in the event are obviously frightened, often attempt to escape, and have even suffered painful broken bones. In the pig tote, competitors thrust baby pigs by their hind legs into wheelbarrows and begin the race, during which the animals sometimes fall out and are tossed back in. Besides the frightening noise of the crowd and having to cope with strange surroundings, the baby pigs particularly suffer when they are ...

Evening everyone: We received very good news today folks. The owners of the Branch Road property at the corner of US441 have withdrawn their rezone request! Undoubtedly the unanimous vote for denial by the Planning Commission on Monday night, along with the recommendation for denial by the Planning Department, had significant impact on the developers. I’ll keep you posted on what more we may learn in the days/weeks ahead. I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be the last battle over commercial rezone of that property. Hopefully in the short-term at least. Thanks to all of you for your support!!! By influencing the type and quality of development in the southern region of the County, we are making a positive difference in the County as a whole. Stay tuned………

It was not so much who was in attendance in the less than two dozen people present for Lt. Gov. candidate Ralph Reed's appearance in Oconee County, it was who was not there. Not a single member of the local government, not even the sheriff. Now there were some other elected officials and candidates for certain; Comer's own State Senator and father of a billboard man Ralph Hudgens was there and endorsed Reed, Bill Cowsert and son ? (not sure about him) - I will defer to Jay Hanley who ran a good meeting and the Rev. Larry Davison who made me feel welcome and shook my hand upon exit. Ralph Reed spoke eloquently about a variety of topics. The mechanics of his school voucher program made me wonder why people who are in counties where more than 50% of the people DON'T fail won't get the government money to go to private schools or homeschool. And one member of the audience remarked that the several thousand dollars Reed was proposing would not even cover a third of the expen...

Watkinsville City Council May 11, 2006 Oconee Living Section Athens Banner-Herald Watkinsville Council increases local businesses by 10 By Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Correspondent The Watkinsville City Council met with a very busy schedule Wednesday and approved nine new business license applications and renewed one with a notorious past. Sandy Callaway of S.C. Logging Company at 50 Barnett Shoals came back before the city council to seek reinstatement of his wood yard’s business license after getting it revoked during the previous administration of Mayor Sammy Sanders some years back. Callaway complied with numerous suggestions for beautifying the area he thought had been a wood yard for more than 60 years by removing junk cars and other garbage. Council member Joe Walter, who was the city’s first code enforcement officer, commented that he thought Callaway had complied with every request presented him by current code enforcement officer Robert Hegge. Council member Samantha Purcell succ...

Oconee groups want revised plan tweaked Stormwater management By Merritt Melancon | juliana.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 9:56 PM on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 WATKINSVILLE - Though turnout was low and public comment virtually nonexistent at the first public hearing on Oconee County's revised stormwater management plan, local advocacy groups are hoping officials will tweak the plan before it's approved June 6. Since Amy Morrison, the county's stormwater coordinator, first introduced the proposed stormwater management plan last fall, it's been consolidated from three ordinances into one and lost some of its teeth. Now members of the Athens Area Home Builders Association are inspecting the ordinance looking for any other objectionable regulations, while members of the county's smart-growth advocacy group Citizens for Oconee's Future are hoping that county officials will restore some of the regulations cut from the first draft. County officials ha...

This just in from Tony Glenn and the folks who want to save South Oconee: Sorry it’s taken me 24 hours to update all of you on the events at the Planning Commission meeting last evening. For those who could not attend you can find additional info at Kate McDaniel’s site (http://www.apvoc.com/). Our main issue was of course the proposed convenience store at the corner of Branch Road and US441. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the request. Their vote, along with the Planning Staff report which also recommended denial, gives us cautious optimism going into the Board of Commissioners meeting on June 6th. Remember that the BOC has the final deciding vote on rezone issues. I can’t stress enough that you should plan to attend the BOC meeting if at all possible. Having a significant number of people at the meeting, whether you intend to speak or not, does have an impact. Also, at the June 6th meeting, note that outside the Commission chambers there will be a row of sig...

FOR RELEASE ON Friday May 5, 2006 May 5, 2006 For Information Contact: Becky Vaughn, 706.540.9724 Becky Vaughn enters race for the House of Representatives, District 113 BOGART (GA) Becky Vaughn qualified in the race for the Georgia House of Representatives District 113 today to represent Oconee County, northern Morgan, western Oglethorpe, Winterville, and Clarke’s southern and western edges. “I believe we need a change—one that takes a new leader with a broad vision. At a minimum the citizens should have a choice. I want to use my knowledge, skills, and leadership abilities to effectively serve as the voice of this dynamic community called the 113th. Vaughn, who narrowly lost in her bid for state senate in 2004, has been a resident of Oconee County since 1995. She serves as the President and CEO of the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse where she has worked with many legislators over the years i...

I apologize for not getting this sent out sooner. I want to update everyone on the recent meeting with one of the three developers of the Branch Road property. Last Wednesday evening a group of us met with Frank Williams, the son of Francis Williams. Initially the meeting was to include both the junior and senior Mr. Williams as well as a third partner, Jimmy Johnson (not to be confused with the Jimmy Johnson living here in Farmington), but the other two men did not attend. I'm really glad the meeting took place. I think Frank Williams was as nervous and unsure about the event as we were. We all seemed to get the impression that he himself does not really like the planned development but is simply looking at it as a business investment (emotional detachment). Seems to us that his father is really the one running the show and that he is a very blunt, old-style businessman that only sees land as a commodity and not as something to cherish. Ironically Frank mentioned that he, ...

I encourage everyone to take a moment and write an email to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners to voice your concern with the proposed rezone request currently posted for the corner of US441 and Branch Road. The following information is taken directly from our website (home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-SouthOconee), which now contains a page dedicated to this issue. The previous truck stop proposal for the corner of Branch Road and US441 has once again come forward but is now a convenience store, fueling center (12 passenger car stations), carwash, and office space. While the current project is reduced in size and scope, the underlying issues are no different from the previous plan. The inconsistency with the Future Land Use Plan, the lack of infrastructure in the region, the uncertainty of the US441 widening project, the public and traffic safety concerns, the proximity to Heritage Park, as well as the detrimental impact that such a development will have on the quality and value of the...

Becky Vaughn of Bogart qualfied at the last moment of the extended qualifying period to run against Bob Smith for the State Representative slot in the new House of Represenatives district 113, including all of Oconee County, and some of Clarke. This should be an interesting race to say the least. Becky ran against Brian Kemp in 2004 for State Senate and gave the man seeking the Ag Commish post everything he wanted and then some in a very close contest. Smith has not had opposition for several terms but now must keep some of his considerable war chest at home in Watkinsville instead of running amok on other nearby contested races such as the Kidd-Cowsert round II or the Ag Commish primary or the Lt. Gov. primary or who knows what else. Becky learned a lot last time around and has jettisoned some of the excessive baggage of the previous campaign. We will keep you updated on her strategy as it becomes available.