Oconee County, GA Politics

The latest Presidential preference poll in Georgia done by Strategic Visions indicates that Arkansas extremist Mike Huckabee is leading amidst the G.O.P. and Hillary Clinton is leading amongst the Democrats in the Peach State. All that could change in three weeks when the Iowa Caucus take place. We shall see a lot of fluctuations over the Holidays as more comes out about outrageous statements in Huckabee's past including wanting to quarantine AIDS patients and other assertions showing his ignorance and lack of leadership. I think Barack Obama will shock the world and barely win Iowa, with Clinton and Edwards right behind. I think Huckabee will win but by a narrow margin over Romney with Ron Paul doing much better in third than the conventional wisdom would expect and Rudy Giuliani doing much worse in fourth with Thompson a distant fifth. It will be interesting to see how many candidates fall to the wayside before New Hampshire. I would expect Tancredo will tank before then as will ...

Friends, *Please join us at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th for a bike ride to raise funds for Athens Police Officer Sergeant Courtney Gale.* Sergeant Gale was attacked Tuesday evening in a local grocery store and is in critical condition at St. Mary's Hospital. As is true of every police officer, Sergeant Gale puts her life on the line daily to protect each one of us...now, we rally to support her. In an effort to help further surround her, and her loved ones, with positive energy and support from the community, we will be conducting a Police Escorted Bike Ride from the downtown Police Station (133 Washington Ave.) to St. Mary's Hospital and back. We ask a $10 donation to participate, but no one will be turned away. All proceeds will go directly to Sergeant Gale and her family. This is a completely grassroots effort, so your help in printing and posting the attached flier will be greatly appreciated. *If you cannot attend the bike ride, please try to focus your encouragi...

Many of you know Courtney Gale. If you have not already heard, she was the victim of a horrific attack last night. She was working as a security guard at the Kroger on Alps Road in Athens while off-duty from her usual service as an ACC Police Officer. The article below details what happened. She is in St. Mary’s Hospital in ICU and is in stable but critical condition. The ACC Police Department has set up a special fund for Courtney. Please consider making a donation, especially at this time of the year. Courtney is facing a very long recovery. Anyone interested in donating may do so at any SunTrust bank branch or mail donations to SunTrust Bank, Attention: Heidi Spratlin, 1022 Prince Ave., Athens, GA 30606. Email is not the best way to deliver this kind of terrible news, but I did want to get the word out. Thanks to all, Tony http://www.onlineathens.com/cgi-bin/printme2005.pl Athens-Clarke officer stabbed multiple times at supermarket By Joe Johnson Staff witer Story updated at 11:15 a...

AGENDA CITY OF WATKINSVILLE December 12, 2007 CALL TO ORDER QUORUM CHECK PRESENTATION OF THE WATKINSVILLE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD MINUTES APPEARANCES 1. David Duncan – business license – Bulldawg Market of Many Things – 1040 Turkey Industrial Boulevard 2. Gregory Scott Smith – business license – Smith, Frohwein, Tempel, Greenlee, Blaha LLC – 3 N. Main Street 3. Ed Yarbrough – building permit – 394 sq. ft. addition to existing residence at 54 Jackson Street 4. Mike & Tom Link – demolition permit to remove duplex located at 160 & 162 N. Main Street PRESENTATION OF THE CHRISTMAS PARADE AWARDS ADMINISTRATION No report presented. MAYOR’S REPORT CITIZEN’S COMMENTS OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Personnel matter ADJOURN

Important News: Georgia Delegate Selection INTRODUCTION On Saturday, April 19th, 2008, the Democratic Party of Georgia will conduct caucuses in each of Georgia's 13 Congressional Districts to select Delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Between January 26th - February 23rd, 2008, Georgia Delegate Candidate Training Workshops will be held throughout the state in all Congressional Districts. Attending the Delegate Candidate Training workshop in your District is not required to stand for election, but it is recommended. At the training, you will learn more about the Delegate selection process and what to expect once you arrive at the convention, should you be elected. If you would like to stand for election as a Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, please review the date, time and location information for Candidate Workshops in Congressional Districts comprising Fulton County ...

Dear Friends, This is a reminder about our Democratic social (which we're dubbing a "homecoming") to be held at Watson Mill Bridge State Park on Saturday December 15 from 2p to 5p. We're specifically inviting Democrats from Madison, Oglethorpe, Athens-Clarke, Elbert, Hart, Franklin, Wilkes, Barrow, Jackson, Oconee, Walton and Greene counties, as well as the UGA Young Democrats -- though any Democrat in Georgia (or beyond) who is willing to make the drive is welcome to join us that day! We're also encouraging you as county leaders to invite and encourage candidates and elected officials to attend. Please emphasize that this is not a campaigning event, and we won't allow stump speeches, but this is an excellent networking opportunity for candidates, elected officials and all of us in the Northeast Georgia area! The event is being hosted by the local Democratic committees from Madison and Oglethorpe counties, and, depending on the how it goes, may become an annu...

I got a big kick finding out about this through my healer/singer friend Wilma who is playing at the Melting Point Sunday night with a child friendly event you should all attend, but she is also going to be Dancing with the Athens Stars on Sunday, March 2, 2008. Wilma just received the proclamation from the city of Winterville for her song and video of the same name. She is amazing individual and talented singer/songwriter/guitarist/massage therapist and one of my favorite people. I can not yet personally vouch for her dancing talents but I am sure she will be one of the best people in this event and worthy of your donations. The description made me smile and want to attend. I think Project Safe is very important and well worth supporting. By then I should have enough $$ to contribute more than I can right now because of the season for giving to our family gifts, etc. I think dancing is one of the most interesting of the performing arts, and while I was not a big fan of the TV show, ...

Coaching is the most thankless task known to mankind. Parents have nothing but venom to spew your way if you are not playing little Johnny enough. That said, Coach Nick Saltaformaggio came to Oconee County after Hurricane Katrina scattered many people from New Orleans a couple of years ago. He deserved much better treatment than what he received around these parts. But no coach is ever going to take Oconee County back to the promise land of football State Titles as long as the current principal remains in power at the High School. I only heard random fragments of disgruntled statements from the kid across the street who is not yet old enough to play for him, but would hear about how various threats were made ostensibly by him. Locker room chatter is something better left to the locker room. I would like to thank Coach Salt for his considerable efforts with a great QB who will be signed by some Division 1 team next year as well as his work with Oconee County Warriors football.

Please take advantage of one of the upcoming opportunities on December 5th, 10th, and 11th to learn more about the draft Statewide Water Plan. Your involvement is needed to create a plan that works for all Georgians. Details on the meetings may be found below. Georgia’s rivers, lakes, and streams are the lifeblood of our state. A draft Statewide Water Plan was released this summer and Georgia’s Water Council is working to finalize it January. However, there are serious flaws in the draft plan that must be fixed now to ensure there will be enough clean water for all Georgians. We Want a Water Plan That : · Protects downstream communities · Is adequately funded · Requires efficient water use everywhere, always · Ensures water clean enough to drink and fish safe enough to eat · Provides for public input and local action The Current Plan Does Not Meet These Goals Because: · It cannot require the Metro North Georgia Water Planning Distric...

Visitors to Watkinsville who choose to drive down narrow School Street to events at OCAF and Rocket Field will have sidewalks and new street lights to help guide the way . The Streetscape repaving of downtown Watkinsville has been a long time coming, and it is refreshing to see the Federal Government cooperating with this effort. I think in general the city of Watkinsville needs to widen several of the very narrowest streets, including School Street and Wilson Road. The city also needs to continue to make the sidewalks safe and have curbs that are graded instead of sharp.

Here are some photos from yesterday's Watkinsville Christmas parade. For another 270 something images go here :

Jay sent me an email to clarify some of my ponderings: I have just come across your blog post of November 11, 2007 on my Facebook Exploratory Committee for County Commission. This group/committee was created in April at which time I was considering a run for county commission. However, I decided several months ago that I will not be a candidate for county commission in 2008. I have concluded that, at this time, I am better suited for a "behind the scenes" role in a campaign rather than being the candidate myself. I am not ruling out another run for office in the future. To answer your pondering on the posts up for election, all Commission and Board of Education posts will be up in. On the BOC, Chairman (Melvin Davis), Post 1 (Jim Luke) and Post 4 (Chuck Horton) will be for four year terms and Post 2 (Don Norris) and Post 3 (Margaret Hale) will be elected for two year terms. On the BOE, Post 1-Chairman (Christine Franklin), Post 4 (David Williams) and Post 5 ...

Farms are something I hold dear but really do not have all that much experience with except detassling corn as a 14 year old kid in Iowa and various relatives and state fair type things. Essentially I am a city kid, but farms and agriculture are something I hold near and dear to my heart. Sometimes I think they are rapidly disappearing from our lovely county, so any time local land is set aside to be used in perpetuity as agriculture , I applaud. Many of the reasons I am Democratic and will be the rest of my life sprout from my agrarian roots. Here is some interesting local news that really has nothing to do with the above article but is indeed agricultural in nature: reetings everyone, With Thanksgiving this week, I want to take a moment to thank all those people who have been making the choice to eat locally and support our local farmers, our local economy, and our community. Thank you. This movement cannot move forward without you...or the hard work of amazing farmers having to endu...

The Oconee County Democratic Committee has once again entered the Watkinsville Christmas Parade and needs people to help them march 10 am - 12 noon Saturday, December 1 on Barnett Shoals Road in Watkinsville to hand out Christmas cards to the large gathered masses for them to go mail them to deserving Veterans back from Iraq and Afghanistan in Augusta and elsewhere stateside. Congressional candidate and Iraqi war veteran Bobby Saxon helped a great deal with this effort, and I would sincerely invite all interested people from Jackson and Oglethorpe counties (and anywhere else for that matter) to drive over Saturday morning and help out in our effort. Our own Rita Bennett is trying to get an accurate head count as to those who will or will not be participating in this event. Please try to let her know via either the listserv or an email or even a comment here if you cannot reply otherwise. "I need to know who will be present at the parade. We are # 41 out of 106 entries. Please l...

Upon a recent tour of the Oconee Jail, Sheriff Scott Berry said the facility was not yet ready to handle the supposed massive amounts of illegal aliens and become a half way house for deporting foreigners back to their country of origin, but it could happen in the future. Does this enter in to the equation of why twenty something people who were detained while seeking work , of that I am not certain. Oconee County had kind of reached an odd detente with the day laborers by building them a shelter and providing a port-a-potty for the workers to use and wait for the various developers, landscapers and others who employ them, generally off the books. Even homeowners needing a ditch dug or some other

Local Republican stalwart and former state senate candidate Jim Ivey accepted a plea deal from Judge Lawton Stephens to avoid a much harsher sentence in a deal that had been in the works long before Thanksgiving . Ivey, who maintained his innocence, copped to the plea to hopefully avoid jail, although District Attorney Ken Mauldin will oppose the first offender status for the former financial officer for the Veterans Memorial who finally acknowledged his guilt to embezzling money from the charity. He claims it is in the best interest of his children. I still say he ought to be sentenced to chisel the unexpected bedrock under the Oconee County Complex where the Veterans Memorial is going to be across from Herman C. Michael Park in the Eastville community near Butler's Crossing.

Come one, come all and join Oconee Democrats as we celebrate the season! Sunday, December 2 6:30 pm 1030 Meriweather Dr . (Jennings Mill-second house on the right off of Jimmy Daniell Rd.) Bring an hors d’ouvre or dessert to share. This is a great opportunity to invite someone who might be interested in being part of Oconee Democrats . Please RSVP by email or phone (706.354.8861)

Come one, come all and join Oconee Democrats as we celebrate the season! Sunday, December 2 6:30 pm 1030 Meriweather Dr . (Jennings Mill-second house on the right off of Jimmy Daniell Rd.) Bring an hors d’ouvre or dessert to share. This is a great opportunity to invite someone who might be interested in being part of Oconee Democrats . Please RSVP by email or phone (706.354.8861)

Oconee native and 10th district Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Saxon helped county parties in Oglethorpe and Oconee counties this week with an appearance scheduled in Lexington Thursday and used his Veteran experience to good work by directing the Oconee County Democratic Committee where to properly address their Christmas cards to get them to our troops in hospitals in Augusta and elsewhere. The Oconee County Democratic committee intends to hand out pre-addressed Christmas cards to parade attendees to mail at home or at the post office during the Watkinsville Christmas parade Saturday morning along Barnett Shoals and Main Street past the Eagle Tavern.