Oconee County, GA Politics

I was not at the party where Oconee County's former information technology person allegedly assaulted another person , but I do know this. She had the crap beat out her by this person and he is guilty of stupidity if nothing else (for returning to the party without his wife shows a certain degree of premeditation). The victim in this case does not even prefer the male gender as her primary preference. This does not automatically mean he is guilty, but at least he is no longer employed by Oconee County.

Hey! The campaign continues to move forward at a great pace, but we still have a lot of work to do! We need your help! We have great opportunities coming up, so please look at the message below and then call or email us back so we can sign you up... Saturday Morning Canvass Door-to-Door Meet at Publix - Butler Crossing Parking Lot near the Cingular Wireless store 2061 Experiment Station Road Watkinsville, GA 30677 9:30am-12:00pm We have had a lot of success going door-to-door delivering our message to the voters and we are making a big impact. However, the more volunteers we get out into the community the faster our message spreads and the bigger the impact. Also, we need help in the office Monday through Friday with our phone banks. We have six phone lines set and ready to be used every day and tomorrow (Friday) as well as all next week we will be calling and Identifying voters in all three counties, and especially IDing voters who pulled democratic ballots in the primary. Cal...

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 on the County's application to dump treated waste water into Barber Creek. It will be important that a public hearing be held on the application to ensure that citizens have the opportunity to learn more about this and to ensure that the county government hears citizen concerns. Citizens will be in a better position to hold the Board responsible when the time comes. Charles Baugh President Dear Friends, The Oconee County request to be allowed to dump 1.0 Million Gallons Per Day of treated wastewater from an expanded Rocky Branch Waste Treatment Plant into Barber Creek is now up for review before the state Environment Protection Division. Please write to the EPD and ask for a hearing. Reference Permit No. GA0038806. Here is the address: Linda MacGregor, Branch Chief Water Protection Branch Georgia Department of Natura...

MINUTES OF MEETING OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL CITY OF WATKINSVILLE August 9, 2006 PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Link, Purcell, Brodrick, Walsh, Walter and City Attorney Reitman. VISITORS: See attached sheet. QUORUM CHECK: Mayor Luken acknowledges a quorum is present. Mayor Luken also asks those with non-emergency cell phones to turn them off or down. All speakers are asked to approach the lectern and address Council. WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD: Councilwoman Samantha Purcell announced Doris & Gene Thornton of 11 Bunny Hop Trail as receiving the Watkinsville Beautiful Yard Award for the month of August. The selection was made by Jittery Joes. The Thorntons were not present. MINUTES: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the June 26, 2006 Called Council meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Councilman Walsh moved and Councilwoman Purcell seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the July 12, 2006 Coun...

By a 4-to-1 vote, the Watkinsville City Council passed the beer and wine control restaurant pouring ordinance Wednesday evening. Managers have to be 25 years old and the eateries have to seat at least 50 people on the inside. The ordinance will not take effect until Jan. 1, 2007.

Outside of the Eckerd's at Butler's Crossing. He looked sad and lonely. I waved and he waved back. Sorry no one I know is voting for you

Might be some beer and wine rumblings for restaurants in Watkinsville and Oconee County in the not too distant future.....see #2 on old business. AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE August 9, 2006 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES APPEARANCES 1. Jaimee Dean – business license – Mary Lou’s Garden – 10C Barnett Shoals Road 2. Flo Wilkes – demolition permit – existing building @ Greensboro Highway 3. Ted Evans – building permit – 55’x130’ steel building @ 50 Greensboro Highway ADMINISTRATION 1. Reconciliation Report (June 30, 2006) MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS 1. Bicentennial Reports 2. Consider Beer & Wine Ordinance NEW BUSINESS 1. Possibly consider new storm water engineer. 2. Consider moratorium on construction in downtown Watkinsville and consider expansion of the downtown area. ADJOURN

Athens Banner-Herald's Oconee County beat reporter Juliana Merritt Melancon wants to talk to some people from the south end of Oconee County to ask them various questions, some of which you will get a clue about below. If you are from Bishop on south, please call her if you can. Here is her plea. Thank you very much from the both of us. Hello Oconee County Residents, This is Merritt Melancon from the Athens Banner Herald . I’m one of the writers here who covers Oconee County for our paper, and I could use your help. I’m working on an article about families who live in the more rural southern half of the county, and families who live in the more suburban northern half of the county. It’s about how they’re similar and how they are different. What services each group expects from the county and what services they use? How they picture the county in 10 years? How involved are they in the workings of the county government? Why they live in the county and how they identify themselves w...

The Oconee County Democratic Committee cobbled together a couple of letters thanking voters for selecting the Democratic side in the recent primary. We mined and stiched together various databases to retrieve the names of those who voted on the Democratic side for both this election and the most recent. We realize people cross over for various reasons and I suspect this person might have done so for her own personal decision. We respect that so I wanted to remove her name. But here is the email exchange I went through with her: Mr. Matthews, My husband and I recevied a letter from the Democrat party recently. We have also received numerous phone calls from Democrat candiates asking us to vote for them. These calls are recorded calls and do not give any information on what the candidate stands for. I want to know who you got our personal information from. To me this is an invasion of my privacy and I DO NOT want to receive any more calls from your candidates. You can respond to thi...

I am supporting Jim Martin in the Democratic run-off for Lieutenant Governor on August 8, and I hope you will too. In the race for Lieutenant Governor, only Jim Martin has the experience we need to bring down healthcare costs, bring good-paying jobs to Georgia, and increase student achievement. Jim served for 18 years in the state House, was an active member of the Democratic leadership, and passed more than 60 laws that improve the lives of Georgians every day. He also led the Department of Human Resources under two governors. Jim is respected statewide as an advocate for children, senior citizens, and families. No candidate in the race for Lieutenant Governor has a comparable record of accomplishment or shares our values more than Jim Martin. That is why Jim has been endorsed by Mayor Shirley Franklin, Ambassador Andrew Young, Governor Roy Barnes, the Georgia Association of Educators, and leaders from across the state. I ask you to join me in voting for Jim on August 8. To learn more...

Just picked up the first issue of the new weekly newspaper and was very impressed with the initial edition. Any time there is competition for local news everyone benefits (although I know a certain General Manager who might disagree with me). The 24 page tabloid is colorful and printed well. It reminds me of a top notch college newspaper printed well in Monroe. The logo is kind of off balance or off kilter a bit, and I would suggest making it about an inch and a half wider on the left and less curved. I know Rob Peecher from our days together in Eatonton at the Messenger and he will put out a quality product. It is a tad too gray on some of the inside pages - page 3 could have used a photo, but considering the start-up from near zero, they have exceeded expectations in a short time. Rob wrote almost every news story and feature, and he can't possibly expect to continue that load. The autism feature was interesting but read more like a magazine story, but I would well imagine he had...

The latest informational meeting of the Watkinsville City Council was packed to a full house Monday evening. The funniest event of the evening was when a supporter of the beer and wine proposal was describing how his 91 year old mother was trying to foist a bottle of wine while using a walker and then having to drink the whole bottle.

Not from me, but from Jim Shearon of Ashford Manor fame: 27 July 2006 Dear Mayor Luken and City Council Members, We acknowledge that you have been working steadily and digilenty with the RDC to format new ordinances for the City and that it is an extensive and complicated process. None the less we are greatly concerned over the possibility that there could be additions, renovation/remodeling, removal of buildings on properties within the Historic/Business District that would not be consistent with the look and atmosphere of the existent buildings and the vision of the City that came out of last year’s Visioning Sessions. We fear that potential developers within this area might not show the sensibility and aesthetic exhibited in the Town Center development. This fear is reinforced by the slovenly care of many of our downtown properties including Commercial, residential and undeveloped plats by their current owners. The Urban Forrest Ordinance and the new Sign Ordinance (which di...

We need to ween Georgia off fossil fuels as soon as possible. I have added a tank or two of biodiesel to my truck, not yet available in Oconee although we're working on that one. Go to Apex Oil off Old West Broad in Athens for Biodiesel FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kristin Brekke, Communications Director Phone: (605) 334-3381 / E-mail: kbrekke@ethanol.org Ethanol-Blended Fuel Could Ease Atlanta Gas Prices Sioux Falls, SD (March 31, 2005) – Atlanta gas prices could drop by seven cents per gallon or more if ethanol was used in the metro area's fuel, according to the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). “Because of the strong production of ethanol in the U.S. and record high prices for gasoline, the price of ethanol-blended fuel is a great value,” said Ron Lamberty, ACE Vice President / Market Development. “We estimate that, based on current market prices, fuel prices in the Atlanta metro area could be seven cents per gallon lower if stations were allowed to use ethanol...

Good evening everyone, Below is some info regarding the upcoming public reading and subsequent vote on the county’s stormwater ordinance. The following info comes via Charles Baugh and Lee Becker. Please attend the upcoming BOC meetings and/or write the Commissioners in support of countywide application of the ordinance. If you aren’t familiar with the issue, you can study the files available at the Friends of Barber Creek website (http://www.barbercreek.org/barbercreek/library.html). Given the rapid growth occuring in the county, a countywide ordinance is the only way to ensure proper protection measures are in place for our streams and rivers. The county actually has a very good history of implementing environmental protection standards that are beyond the State’s basic guidelines (e.g., 100 buffer on rivers for construction; 50-100 buffer on the flood plain). Let’s hope they keep such high standards for the stormwater issue as well. My apologies for any duplicated posts. Ch...

Bobbie Paul, Director of Women's Action for New Directions (Nuclear Disarmament), is searching for men who are willing to play the part of KKK men in a drama on Tuesday afternoon, evening, in Oconee County at Moore's Ford, as described below. Senator Tyrone Brooks is the leader of the effort, as described below. This is a nationally famous event. Please check out the directions below and respond to Bobbie Paul: Bobbie Paul Director Atlanta WAND 250 Georgia Ave SE Suite #202 Atlanta, Georgia 30312 (404) 524-5999 www.atlantawand.org bobbiepaul@rp.cbeyond.com Tyrone brooks can be reached here. There is press conference at Concerned Black Clergy tomorrow at noon. GABEO Legislative Building Suite 511 18 Capitol Square SW Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Phone: 404.656.6372 Fax: 404.656.0238 mowens@legis.state.ga.us http://www.gabeo.org/nm/publish/news_63.shtml 60th Anniversary Commemoration and 2nd Re-enactment of the Lynchings at the Moore’s Ford Bridg...

Hi everyone, PLEASE share this email with your friends and other groups you are affiliated with in North Georgia. Charlie Norwood is attending the Georgia Mountain Fair Parade in Hiawassee, GA, this Saturday, July 22. The parade starts at 12:00 p.m. (Norwood's campaign opponent, Terry Holley, has a conflict and won't be at this event.) Norwood is behind the push for I-3, the proposed interstate through the North Georgia mountains. (Terry Holley opposes I-3.) IT WOULD BE GREAT if folks who oppose I-3 and especially folks who oppose Norwood could attend this parade on Saturday, and take some homemade signs (like: "To stop I-3, stop Norwood!"), and scatter themselves along the parade route. Please encourage folks to do this! Also, the latest Stop I-3 Newsletter can be found online at: http://www.stopi3.org/newsletter.html Thanks much!! -- Kat Here is the link to the latest Stop I-3 Coalition Newsletter (which includes the latest candidate tracking poll...

Not even 10 pm and he gives up. 11alive.com