Oconee County, GA Politics

The Athens Academy Spartans, the top seed out of Region 8A, will play host to the Trion HS team coming down from the mountains of NW Georgia and Chattooga County, in a playoff game this weekend. The winner would get the winner of the Whitefield Academy-Twiggs County game, giving the Spartans a chance for revenge for their only loss of the regular season should Whitefield win. Oconee County will travel to West Georgia to take on Carrolton in AAA football.

The political adolescence of Jay Hanley continues online at Facebook at the very least. 14 friends have joined the son of former Watkinsville City Council member John Hanley in his group. According to his Facebook group " Yes, the group name speaks for itself. In response to requests from friends, I am exploring or thinking about a run for an Oconee County Commission post in 2008. I understand there may be one or more open seats on the Commission in 2008 and I would only run for an open seat. I'm not interested in running against an incumbent. I did that once when I ran for Watkinsville City Council. It's very difficult. Plus, I like and respect the current board members ." We post this only as a well placed warning shot across the bow to all the other folks who might consider running for the Board of Commissioners, and I would certainly support a few more taxpaying and homeowning candidates for the Oconee County Commission. I wonder which seat Jay thinks will be ope...

Thanks to the fine folks for including my blog post about Moore's Ford Memorial Committtee in the latest Georgia Carnival, a great collection of everything you can imagine with people with blogs in the Peach State. You can check out the madness here Thanks to elementary school teacher for taking me through the steps to link me up

The Oconee County Democratic Committee has a subgroup called the Blue Hats and they have been the catalyst for the past and present Christmas parade performances and entries. We have had horse drawn carriages and assorted other parade tactics, but this year the local Democrats plan to hand out cards to be sent to Veterans. The idea will be to try and hand out as many cards as possible during the parade route Dec. 1. Trying to sing and explain what we are doing will be a challenge, but hey, anything is possible, including bringing our troops home alive from Iraq and Afghanistan. I entered a few links to find the books and what not The Blue Hats will become caffiends at Watkinsville Jittery Joe's (Main Street to where Barnett Shoals, state routes 16 and 441 Business District comes together in a Five Points like intersection) Saturday at 1 pm getting cards ready to hand out. The following is from unapproved minutes and only presented for your educational and publicity needs as w...

City Council member Tom Peavey defeated incumbent Mayor Jan Thurmond in Bogart 70 votes to 44 to take over the municipal reins of Bogart, Georgia Tuesday evening. Ralph Sheridan and Tonya Wagner also won seats on the city council with 61 and 84 votes respectively. Jack Irvin III, John Larken and Tom Leach were the losers of the race for the two city council seats with 4o votes for Irvin, 31 for Larken and 18 votes for Leach. Sheridan and Wagner are replacing Woody Bruce and Gary Gunter, who decided not to seek re-election. Bogart council meeting are always entertaining with a whole lot more acrimony and constant controversy that your average small town political gatherings. Thurmond, a realtor, rubbed some Bogart residents the wrong way with the appointment of her son Bret as the City Engineer. The council revoked this appointment some months later. She often ruled the meetings somewhat harshly, cutting off citizen comments during the "on the record" part of the meetings. P...

Steve Holzman rode a wave of discontent to a dramatic victory in North High Shoals municipal election Tuesday evening.

All readers of this blog who reside inside the city limits of North High Shoals and Bogart are urged to exercise their right to vote if they have indeed registered to vote in time, unlike one of the former candidates for the North High Shoals city council. Steve Holzman is still on the ballot and taking on the Wade Thomas for a seat some see as a pivotal sea change kind of seat where the North High Shoals council might actually take a stand against encroaching development. In Bogart the lines are much more blurred between long time council member Tom Peavey and incumbent Mayor Jan Thurmond. Her son Bret was removed as City Engineer by a rebellious council some months ago. Things have not exactly been hunky dory between the council and mayor since then, with several other candidates running for various seats on the council. It will be an interesting evening in the basement of the Oconee County Courthouse, as well as the voting booths of Bogart and North High Shoals. GET OUT AND VOTE PEO...

The Oconee School of Rock presents The Fall 2007 ROCKCITAL Monday & Tuesday November 5th and 6th Oconee Co. Civic Center 7pm Come see our students and instructors rock their way through songs from such artists as Cold Play, The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jimi Hendrix, The Eagles, U-2, Tracy Chapman, Audio Slave, Lynyrd Skynnerd & Weezer, as well as several original compositions.......It doesn't get much more fun than this..... Mark Smith - Professor of Drums & Concussion Mike Steele- Professor of Bass & Acoustic Guitar JoJo Glidewell - Professor of Keys & Guitar Big Jim Brown - Professor of Guitar & Vocals ________________________________________________________________________Full Moon Studio706-769-4100www.netnik.com/fullmoon

The ground zero of political discontent in Oconee County is now in tiny town North High Shoals, where a dozen votes can swing an election. That is only place this side of Bogart where we have a contested election in the county tomorrow. While the election is for a whole lot more than just smart growth versus overgrown development, the debate does essentially boil down to that simple calculus . Steve Holzman is running against silent incumbent and brother of the Mayor Wade Thomas. In the many years of going to meetings in North High Shoals, I do not believe I have ever heard the council member Thomas ever open his mouth during a meeting, while his brother the mayor seldom closes his. Small town politics are an interesting and engaging situation where everybody knowns every one else business before they do. North High Shoals name has been dragged through the mud with various charges of impropriety in campaigning and the tiny town in under investigation from the state for these electoral ...

With an unprecedented period of growth and development in Oconee County comes a large number of houses on the market. The overall infrastructure has yet to catch up with the massive amount of building here in this special section of Northeast Georgia. Three years of building has resulted in a glut of houses on the market, with Oconee's median price pushing over the half-million dollar mark recently. We need sanitary sewage systems for the entire county. No more huge septic fields please. The balloon could soon burst for all of us unless we compile a creative approach to growth and a vision to incorporate it with improved services such as a paid fire department. Keep an eye on the Planning Commission, Board of Commissioners and more as they threaten to mortgage our future with one too many strip malls and cul de sac developments

Grovetown's Terry Holley decided to waste time and miles driving around the 10th district to get stomped by Bobby Saxon in next June's primary. To be fair, Holley has not declared his candidacy yet, only that he has an exploratory committee. I will not support him, unless Bobby Saxon drops dead or something. Something tells me the third time will not be the charm for Holley, as he ran in 2006 and 2007. Holley preached well to the choir, but did not convert many believers. Holley lost to Charlie Norwood in the 2006 General Election and lost to James Marlow in the run up to the special election. Holley is the 10th district Democratic Congressional district chair, which he has to give up again, and is a very nice person but does not inspire great deal of confidence or "elect-a-bility." He seems woefully underfunded, understaffed and not very web savvy. He could serve his would-be constituents a whole lot better by working behind the scenes to raise money for legitima...

The following was written by Kate McDaniel, and I certainly support our Veterans as well: The Oconee Veterans Memorial Foundation is coordinating a fundraising B-B-Q for the memorial to be built and erected at the entrance of the Oconee Community Complex and for the Reeves Family. Two (2) fliers are attached with the specifics. Since veterans are both Democrats, Republicans and Independents, it is fitting for all to pay tribute to our Oconee Veterans. Would you send this out to all of your members or if you prefer, I will be glad to do it if you are busy with other things and if you will supply me with the e-mail list. I have a few of your members on my list but certainly not all. The B-B-Q (being prepared by Tom Little and his staff) is donation only and all proceeds will go to the Reeves Family and the Memorial Foundation for building the memorial. Please help Mr Little by getting the word out this weekend or early next week. The date is Memorial Day, Nov 11 on Sunday from 11 am t...

For those of you with kids in school at the land of Spartans, I can report of an epidemic of the stomach flu variety, threatening football games and what not this weekend. Pack up on those crackers and fluids and give me any suggestions for battling this outbreak.

You are cordially invited to the Grand Opening of the Bobby Saxon for Congress Campaign Headquarters Tuesday, November 6, 2007 5:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m. 125 South Milledge Avenue Athens , GA 30606 Please RSVP to (706) 549-2862 or info@bobbysaxon.com Paid for by Bobby Saxon for Congress P.O. Box 6624, Athens GA 30604 706-549-2862 www.BobbySaxon.com

Welcome to the latest blog on the Oconee block by the name of Oconee Politics . Sound familiar? It should, but that is OK. Public relations professional and Watkinsville city council member Brian Brodrick, who has certainly spoon-fed me any number of posts over the years, finally took the plunge and created his own blog with the same name as mine. Now Lord knows I have accused various Republicans of various crimes against humanity over the years, but originality is not one of them. Many people call me or this blog "Oconee Democrat" because of the URL reflects that, but I still refer to it as Oconee Politics, and to Brodrick's credit, he has subtitled his a "Voice of Moderation." Does that mean I am branded as a voice of immoderation? Perhaps in some people's opinion. One of my latest photos from the batch on Spotted may actually be reprinted in the Community Window thanks to Jason Winders. Now will I get paid freelance like I used to for a quarter century ...

Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 The hearing to validate the $66,000,000 Oconee County bond issue for its 3.5 million gallons per day share will be held at 9:30AM Nov. 6th at the Walton County Courthouse, Monroe, GA. Citizens who wish to intervene should read the legal announcement published in the Oconee Enterprise 10/25/07 and proceed accordingly. The Tuesday night Board of Commissioners meeting was quite a spectacle, primarily for what was missing. While they spent a considerable amount of time congratulating themselves on how well they have handled the water "crises" and how much water consumption has dropped, not a word was mentioned about the fact that water revenue drops along with reduced water consumption. All that projected revenue used to justify spending so much on so little in Walton County will evaporate just as quickly as the Bear Creek water has evaporated. Not a word was mentioned about long term w...

After (or maybe before) the last soccer game of the season Saturday morning and trophies are handed out at the party, I plan to go to this sale at the Watkinsville Community Center. I have bought some books through Many Ann's website and they are very good. The following is from an email Mary Ann sent me without the color and exclamation points. I am always down with the free mini-massages. For those of you near Watkinsville, Georgia, I will have some of the 140 new Usborne titles on sale this weekend at the Holiday Bazaar, says Mary Ann McQuinn. "We will have several door prizes from each of the vendors listed below" Please help us get the word out by forwarding this e-mail to your friends. ***Don't forget to visit my web site monthly and enter to win $50 in free books! No purchase is required; however, there are internet-only specials that are quite a good deal As always, if you would like to get free books, ask me about a home party. I will also personally visit yo...

second sunday soccer game at uga 008 Originally uploaded by danmatthews Be safe and careful tonight when you are trick or treating in all our subdivisions and neighborhoods. You can hit downtown businesses in Watkinsville starting at 4 pm and it makes a very safe and easy journey.

Come see the film "In the Shadown of the Moon" Monday As for the movie -- we've hastily put this together because we thought this stirring documentary would be especially heartening in these depressing times of war, torture and drought. In the Shadow of the Moon is about the dogged scientists and courageous astronauts who reached the moon. Join Oconee County Democrats and others from around the region to see a fine movie, discuss the film and other matters with new and old friends, and support Ciné. We'll meet inside around 7; the movie starts at 7:15. Please forward this to your friends! Hope to see you! Pat Priest --------- IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON http://www.intheshadowofthemoon.com/ [ UK 2006, 35mm, 100min, Dir: Duncan Copp ] Winner: 2007 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award The excitement, majesty and extraordinary human accomplishment of the American lunar program of the '60s and early '70s is rousingly captured in IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, a new docu...