Oconee County, GA Politics

If 40 people (rich, poor, old, young, gay, straight, black, white, Asian, male, female, blonde, brown, gray and bald) can come out in the rain to a house in Jennings Mill to hear an Obama staffer (from Mississippi by way of New Hampshire) talk about canvassing selected precincts with little more than 24 hours notice, then I think we shall see a rousing win for the Senator from Illinois in the Georgia Presidential Preference Primary on Super Duper Tuesday. Please remember to go vote Tuesday. Get out the VOTE!

I did not attend the Oconee County Board of Commissioners' meeting Tuesday, but Athens Banner-Herald writer Adam Thompson did, and here is his article about the goings-on with Chairman G. Melvin Davis attempting to diffuse the extremely palatable anger about some of his decisions in the recent past about water sewage in Barber Creek. The PR spin is on both here and in the Courthouse. Also here is what they called an institutional editorial from the editors - I presume - chastising the Board of Commissioners for their duplicity and closeted dealings. I should also give props to former BOC chair and current attorney Wendell Dawson and his investigative research on some of the more dubious dealings of his replacement at his web site.

Even if you are not the biggest fan of Senator Barack Obama and his campaign to be the President of the United States, I would greatly appreciate your commentary of a Letter to the Editor I wrote appearing in today's - Thursday, January 31, 2008 - edition of the Athens Banner-Herald. So far the reactionary zealots have made me look like a member of Al-Qaeda for supporting Obama. You would think that we could evolve beyond such petty bickering and insubstantial name calling in this day and age. Any help is greatly appreciated. Have a nice day and see you tonight?

7 pm Thursday in the back end of Jennings Mill there will be an organizing meeting for weekend canvassing for Senator Barack Obama at the home of the Bodansky family at 1040 Miller's Lake Landing (just off Jimmy Daniel back entrance of Jennings Mill on the right). Clearly the symbolism of the wealthy white golf and country club suburb folks supporting Obama is an outstanding sign of things yet to come this Tuesday for Georgia and the best hope for real change in Obama for Oconee. There is also an Obama HQ at 116 Sycamore in Athens. Get a sign, vote during the advance period, be brave and vote for the best candidate.

The Moore's Ford Memorial Committee Tri-County Talent Show is always an entertaining showcase of our youth from Walton, Oconee and Clarke counties, demonstrating how horrible lynching deaths 50+ years ago at the Walton-Oconee border can result in an opportunity for education and enlightenment half a century later. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. PLEASE ATTEND FEB. 16 TRI-COUNTY TALENT SHOW/MLK CELEBRATION   Dear Moores Ford members and friends,    At 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 16, the  Moore's Ford Memorial Committee is hosting our Sixth Annual Tri-County Talent Show/Martin Luther King Celebration.    If you have never attended one of these, NOW is the time! They are terrific.       Help us "Live the Dream, Celebrate the Dream, Achieve the Dream" at the Oconee County Civic Center.      PLEASE SUPPORT MOORES FORD SCHOLARSHIPS    These talent shows are our main fund raisin...

Super blogger Lee Becker has asked Attorney General Lee Becker and another watchdog group to put the Oconee County Board of Commissioners under scrutiny after their shifty dealings with the Rocky Branch water processing. Please attend the meeting Tuesday or at least write your Board of Commissioners and let them know what you think of their repeated pattern of sleaze, lies, secrecy and corruption.

  Please pass this message on to anyone who is interested in open government in Oconee County.   What Is Happening?     The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on 1-29-08 will get an update on bids for design and support for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant, which will discharge treated sewage water into Barber Creek.   What Do We Know About the Bids?     Only the names (no addresses) of the nine bidders.   Why Do We Know So Little?     The County closed the bidding process, saying citizen knowledge about the bids will "taint" the bidding process.   That Is Silly. Why Is the County Keeping Us in the Dark?     Because an examination of the bids in the first round showed the County was trying to use a cheaper and less efficient treatment technology.   What Kind of Technology Is Being Used Now?     We don't know, because t...

Dear Dan, All over Georgia, people are talking about the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner .  The response has been overwhelming, and demand for tickets is high.  To show the nation how excited Georgia Democrats are about this event, we're offering you a very special opportunity - now, if you haven't purchased tickets, you can come see the Presidential speeches for only $25! Click here to buy your tickets for $25 ! Of course, you can also buy tickets for the whole evening, including dinner, a chance to help us honor Senator Max Cleland and Congressman John Lewis with the first-ever Georgia Giants awards, and preferred seating for the speeches by Senator Clinton and Senator Edwards.  Those tickets are only $250, but we only have a few left.   You can still invite Senator Obama to be there by clicking here . Click here to buy tickets for the dinner and Presidential speeches ....

Once again Lee Becker does an excellent job explaining the situation much better than I could, so please read his post about the upcoming Oconee County Board of Commissioners meeting and why you should attend: Dear Friends, The Oconee County Board of Commissioners will get an update on the bids for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant at its meeting on Tuesday. It is not possible to know if the Board will be asked to take action or anything about the bids themselves or the review process since the County has closed the entire process to citizens. The County offered bidders the option of using one of two technologies for the plant. I've been told by an expert on these plants that the technologies differ significantly  and that the only way to know which will produce the higher quality water is to have details about the bids. At the BOC meeting on Tuesday, members of the Board of Directors of Friends of Barber Creek will ask the BOC not to take any actio...

Transferable Develop Rights aren't very sexy, but they are important. Please consider attending this meeting. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: important discussion about TDRs in Oconee county Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:01:38 -0500 From: bill paul <bpaul@uga.edu> To: bill paul <bpaul@uga.edu> CC: Tom Hurst <tom2299@bellsouth.net> , ANTHONY GLENN <aglenn@uga.edu> , Bob and Harriett Nix <bob-harriett@charter.net> , Bonnie Murphy <mayabee333@bellsouth.net> , Brian Broderick <bjbrodrick@bellsouth.net> , Chrissy Moffett <chrissymoffett_76@hotmail.com> , christine rodick <christine.rodick@gmail.com> , Dan Matthews <danjmatt@bellsouth.net> , Don Shenk <donschenk@charter.net> , Gail Hoge <gwhoge@bellsouth.net> , Gwen Darden <gmdarden@charter.net> , J Lintecume <Birdgirl59@netzero.com...

Will there be any fall out from the absence of jurisprudence in the extremely light sentencing of embezzler Jim Ivey? The most likely and deserving victims would be Oconee County Board of Commission members chairman G. Melvin Davis and Jim Luke. They are both public servants and private people that should be dealt with swiftly in the voting booth. We need to maintain a level of dignity and sobriety in the removal of anyone willing to serve in public leadership. Just because someone testifies at a trial does not automatically condemn those with whom they side. I commend these gentlemen for standing up for their convicted colleague. But I also counsel that this testimony was delivered at a steep political price, and now it is time to pay. There are ways of registering our displeasure with the decisions of the Board of Commissioners while maintaining decorum in public meetings, and giving our leadership polite disapproval in the appropriate forum. Do not harass them in Publix or in the...

Dear Friends, I want to call your attention to two items of significance to those of us concerned about water and other environmental issues affecting Oconee County. First is a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday (January 22) in Masters Hall in the Georgia Center on the University of Georgia campus to discuss the proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility, which would be located on South Milledge avenue near the Middle Oconee River separating Clarke and Oconee counties. At the meeting, Edward Hammond, U.S. director of the Sunshine Project, an international watchdog agency opposed to biological warfare, will be speaking. Hammond is being brought to Athens by FAQ, a local group trying to make sure people are informed about the project. The second item is the public notice that Walton County is seeking a reissuance of its permit to discharge 3.4 million gallons per day of treated sewage water to Jacks Creek, a tributary to the Apalachee. As a point of reference, the proposed upgrade to th...

I have not yet had the pleasure of personally meeting the newest Oconee County beat reporter for the Athens Banner-Herald in Adam Thompson, but once I do I am sure my reaction will be something like - "Oh yeah, you're that other guy writing notes at all those various meetings around here." He has written an excellent summary of both sides of North High Shoals squabble surrounding the future (and past and present) of the debate surrounding the disbanding of the town charter, effectively un-incorporating the municipality. Let me also turn back the clock to a different time when small towns could take their differences out on the softball diamond . I had never hit a ball over a home run fence where the home run becomes an out, but I did that day.

This article provides some interesting insight into the newly unleashed student onto the world at large. Sometimes the world unfortunately bites back. I do hope they find this young man but with the frigid temperatures of late I am afraid his destiny is to join that of other infamous recent disappearances of local college students. Please keep looking and let the authorities know if you find anything unusual on your property between here and Atlanta.

I know online petitions are subject to all kinds of kooks, nuts, spoofers and other online charlatans, but we have to start somewhere. So please sign and forward to all your friends, especially those who live in Oconee County. Petition powered by ThePetitionSite.com

Oconee County, Georgia residents are finally starting to learn about the repeated pattern secret meetings and decisions about the future of their increasingly corrupt sewage as well. Lee Becker deserves a medal for having the mettle to battle with the Oconee County Board of Commissioners' secrecy armed only with Open Records requests. He has exposed numerous clandestine gatherings and been downright stonewalled when it comes to the latest request for records surrounding the bidding process for our sewer treatment. Chairman Davis continues to expedite his own political obituary by obscuring Oconee County dealings in various governmental matters. Sunshine shall bring us spring and a new chairman for the Board of Commissioners soon, given governmental transparency to make the cockroaches of corruption scatter. The following was sent to me by Lee Becker and I insist you check out his blog and urge him to run for the BOC in at least a write-in basis in 2008. Dear Friends, The County co...

The five radio stations owned by Paul Stone and Southern Broadcasting are now owned by the same media conglomerate Cox Communications that owns WSB and the AJC and hopefully the conservative Mr. Stone can go back to where ever he came from (Elberton, Pensacola?) with the $60 million. Does this mean we get Clark Howard and Neil Boortz 24-7? Herman Cain can now guffaw with his buddy Tim Bryant all the time? Matt Caesar and Babs Dooley will have to make room for Sean Hannity? We shall hear, I'm sure

Media Advisory: January 15, 2008 Contact: Martin Matheny 706-461-0439 (m) 678-278-2108 (o) martin@georgiademocrat.org *Democrats to present response to "State of the State" address* * **ATLANTA - *State Representative Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) will be presenting the Democratic response to the Governor's State of the State address on Wednesday, January 16 at 4:00 p.m. Representative Ashe will speak to members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses and area Democrats at the Capitol Education Center auditorium, located at 180 Central Avenue, near the Capitol. -30- Paid for and authorized by the Democratic Party of Georgia: 1100 Spring Street NW, Suite 408, Atlanta, Ga 30309. Jane V. Kidd, Chair; Michael Thurmond, Vice-Chair; Rex Templeton, Jr., Treasurer. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

None of the many mistakes made by Oconee County Board of Commissioners chair G. Melvin David by themselves rise to the level of an impeachable or criminal offense, but the continued pattern of subterfuge and ignorance of immediate county needs does point to a level of incompetence and boorish behavior which bodes poorly for Oconee County's future. I believe this necessitates a new level of leadership on the top elected officer level. Chairman Davis is a decent man, but I think we can do a whole lot better. For those of you tired of reading the list of errors, I suggest you skip ahead a few paragraphs. But here is something I posted in the Athens Banner-Herald's new political page a few days ago: 10. Testifying on behalf of convicted felon Jim Ivey 9. Holding secret meetings illegally in Madison and other clandestine planning debacles 8. Not calling for a BOC vote on beer and wine in restaurants in Oconee County. 7. No public swimming facilities yet at new park despite a donatio...

This book group has done an outstanding job expanding the ranks and participation with the Oconee County Democratic committee Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: oconee@yahoogroups.com To: oconee@yahoogroups.com Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:57:49 +0000 Subject: [oconee] Non-partisan Community Book Group, 1/17/2008, 6:00 pm Reminder from:   oconee Yahoo! Group   Title:   Non-partisan Community Book Group   Date:   Thursday January 17, 2008 Time:   6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 4 days, 2 minutes. Location:   Five Points Deli, Epps Bridge Parkway Phone:   ppriest@charter.net Notes:   The Oconee County Democrats hold a non-partisan book group monthly to discuss politics and history. We encourage adults and teens with varied viewpoints to join us for spirited discussions. Feel free to invite friends from other counties, too. In...