Oconee County, GA Politics

These are the stories you will not hear, read or see in the Mainstream Media

MINUTES OF MEETING OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL CITY OF WATKINSVILLE October 10, 2007 PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Purcell, Brodrick, Walsh, Walter and City Attorney Reitman ABSENT: Council man Link VISITORS: See attached sheet. QUORUM CHECK: Mayor Luken acknowledges a quorum is present. All speakers are asked to approach the lectern and address Council. Mayor Luken commends Councilman Brodrick on his recognition as one of the 40 under 40 of Georgia’s Best and Brightest in the Georgia Trend Magazine. Mayor Luken further appreciates the accomplishments of all council members as he gives a highlight report of the activities over the past year. MINUTES: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Brodrick seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2007 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. RUSSELL RHODES: Councilman Walsh moved and Councilman Walter seconded the motion to approve a business license for A Rhodeside Plumbing at 1020 Stone Shoals Ter...

This article in Time magazine may be an indicator of things yet to come

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky's office leaked the home office of 12-year-old Graeme Frost in Kentucky. This boy woke up out of a coma not long ago and suddenly became the latest symbol of Republican greed and selfishness by speaking for the Democratic party in last week's radio address about the S-CHIP legislation expanding insurance coverage to the lower middle class (quickly disappearing thanks to the economic foolishness of the GOP). Now the right wing water carriers are attacking the kid and his family over every thing from their counter tops to the schools they attend. Give it a break GOP. You have met your match on this one. You can smear Cindy Sheehan and let Rush condemn phony soldiers and countless others, but this one is going to blow up even more in your face.

This is the first common sense thing the Bush Administration has contemplated in a long time.

The Watkinsville City Council passed the beer and wine pouring licenses for the five outstanding restaurants inside the city limits and all of them are maybe three blocks apart on Main Street. The newest kid on the block is called Mirko's Pasta at 2 S. Main Street and this restaurant could give DePalma's a run for their money as far as fresh pasta and good service. They took over the spot where a Quizno's once was a few weeks back in the Town Center development at 2 South Main Street, Suite 101. The owner is named Mirko Digiacomantonio but a gentleman named Stefano appeared before the city council pleading for new employees only half jokingly. They have been very busy and packed since opening a week ago Friday. Kenneth Gautreau resubmitted his license application for the Cajun restaurant which bears his name. Anne Miller-Anderson did the same for Maison Bleu. Both lost loved ones who ran their respective restaurants in the last calendar year. Marta Dean appeared for Jos...

I do not take pleasure at our government's ineptitude. I know President Clinton had chances to take care of Bin Laden more than a decade ago. I wrote a paper in a class at UGA two decades ago pointing out Al-Qaeda's threat to the US. But this is inexcusable.

There are more of these at Spotted . Thanks to Catherine Hodges for taking these photos.

The following was pilfered from RecoveringLiberal.com via Craig's List. It is written from a Hebrew point of view about Larry Craig and cohorts. Both parties have had their share of sleazy activities articulated in many more places than this. Believe nothing on the internet unless you know it to be true. That got me thinking about other Republican holier than thou folks who might be in the same boat. I asked a friend to do a bit of research on that subject, and here is the list that he put together; Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable. Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania pled no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation. Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo of Floyd County, Kentucky was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy. Republican teacher and former city cou...

Be sure to read this

The Democratic Party needs to enunciate the positive alternatives to the Republican culture of corruption and not just line up like sheep behind the latest Clinton brand of political washing machine soap to clean out the sleaze of GOP cronyism. Locally this could be best formulated with comprehensive smart growth planning for our rapidly growing county. The perception is that development drives our economy. We need to connect our communities, build more sidewalks, make it safe for Johnny to ride a bike to school. Right now Oconee County is nothing more than a gathering of semi-secluded neighborhood subdivisions which keeps up apart. Sewer systems are not available outisde of Watkinsville. The roads are entirely too narrow in most of our municipalities. Our schools are not the least bit connected for jogging, biking, skating or walking. We need to plan more and build less, unless it is bike paths or sidewalks. There are some good subdivisions and development that seem to come fro...

Watkinsville and Oconee County historic sites [Vinnie Williams, Oconee Enterprise, 9/27/07, p. A3] are not drawing tourists because their destruction is being encouraged by those who should be fighting tooth and nail to save these special places. Word gets around quickly and the public wants no part of it. The guilty parties are developers who don’t care and their supporters in the city and county governments. Those folks seemly have no vision of what should be protected, how to do it, and what the public really wants. Are they deaf? The gateway charm at the intersection of Barnett Shoals Road and Main Street in Watkinsville has been replaced by some out-of-scale ‘thing’ which comes close to a spaghetti western stage set. The wonderfully wide sidewalks in downtown Watkinsville have been replaced by parking spaces. Now the sidewalks are so narrow that two people can’t pass each other without turning sideways. Who thought that improvement up? And then, there are those unfortunate t...

Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Just when you think you have heard all the bad news about the Walton County reservoir, comes this. Some will remember that Oconee's cost share for the first phase of the project was originally estimated to be $43,000,000. Sometime later the number being used was $48,000,000. The number used during the very short discussion of the bond issue last night was $49,800,000. Not only that, the Citigroup bond salesman who did part of the presentation recommended the Board approve a bond issue of $66,000,000 at up to 15% interest which the BOC approved with little discussion. The vote was 3-1 with Hale, Luke and Norris voting for the issue. (Hale voted against the original motion, go figure) It now appears that Oconee will have to validate the bonds and the stated reason for the $66,000,000 issue at up to 15% interest was to avoid going back to court to validate each issue of bonds plus a significant amount o...

Rush is a cowardly turd to compare our troops to suicide bombers and call them "phony soldiers"

We suffer the lunatic fringe bombastic buffoons on the radio spoon fed us by the near local monopoly Southern Broadcasting. I know, I used to be one. Advertisers should look elsewhere to spend their money these days. While Bill O'Reilly is not on our market thankfully, it is time to let Newstalk 1340 WGAU AM that Rush "Phony Soldiers" Limbaugh is a repugnant hate monger who cannot handle any dissent what so ever. I know this cigar chomping right wing talk radio comedian can draw big numbers with the easily persuaded, but it is time to find a different kind of entertainment for the airwaves in Athens, although Southern Broadcasting owner Paul Stone will never change his mind, even when the last local advertiser has flown the coop. This day too will come to pass. I would urge more diversity in programming, announcers, and content on local radio stations. We are blessed to have some serious talent extremely underpaid in our market. The only place that the Drive By Truckers ...

Certain parts of the rare sidewalks inside the city limits of Watkinsville were sorely needing upgrade and repair. My son and I used to coast over what we affectionately call the roller coaster between Third and Second on Barnett Shoals cement pedestrian paths. The Street Department has done an excellent job of smoothing out the jagged precipice to make it a nice safe ride. There are a couple of areas as sharp curbs at First and Third that should be next on the Street Department's list of things to improve by smoothing out to the street level with the nice gradual rise. The new sidewalk down by Stone Shoals is a welcome addition, but the blight that remains of SC Logging is an eyesore. Main Street Yarn is a welcome addition in the beautifully refurbished barn by Quinton Phillips and Cindy Jerrell. Residential, small business and industrial can co-exist well with a little bit of community input and planning, along with a healthy dose of smart growth. The Watkinsville City Coun...

We got a young'un who done good in the eyes of Georgia Trend . Does that make him a trendy? The Banner-Herald even put him on the front cover. I saw his wife pushing their new born through 5 Points the other day.

Where do you fall on this battle, intrepid reader? I tread the middle ground carefully. Miss Vinnie Williams is the publisher of the Oconee Enterprise newspaper, and Wendell Dawson is the former Board of Commissioners chairman in Oconee County. These two local icons can not stand one and other. The roots of their disagreement are arcane and obscure, compounded by ego and hubris, not to mention the lack of humility and apology on both sides. A friend called them the masters of half reporting. I have had my differences with both people and also worked well with them over the nearly two decades I have had some sort of Oconee connection. They have more in common then either would care to admit. I hope they can work out their differences and reconcile before they leave this mortal coil. But I do not think that is going to happen. Both are fiercely proud, perhaps to their detriment ultimately. Perhaps they could co-host a charity tiddlywinks tournament to determine who will prevail. Thi...

The following is a paid political announcement. I donated $12.73 to the Saxon campaign a couple hours late for last quarter's donation reporting. Wanna know why the 2.73 end to the donation? Here is another tidbit from an email plea I did not receive but had forwarded from friends is Morgan County. All I ask is that, whatever you contribute, you add an extra $2.73 to it, to represent the 273,000 Georgia children that my opponent wants to leave behind. If you are able to, please contribute on my website by Sunday to beat the fundraising deadline for this quarter. Have a great day, Bobby For Immediate Release September 26, 2007 Michael Cantone Campaign Manager 804-543-4976 (c), 706-757-2208 (o) mike@bobbysaxon.com What can Broun do for you? Not much if you’re a Georgia child in need of healthcare ATHENS, Ga. – Democratic Congressional candidate Bobby Saxon released the following statement on last night's vote in the House of Representatives to re-authorize the State Children'...