Oconee County, GA Politics

I extend my deepest condolences to the local families and friends of the student killed at the University of North Carolina today and the George Walton Academy student murdered yesterday at Auburn. Any death is awful, but to have a life extinguished on campus when we think someone is safe is exponentially horrendous. The same can be extended to the Drew Marshall family and that of Mark "Microwave" Myrtowitz, for their deaths in recent weeks, even though circumstances may differ greatly, death sadly put things in perspective.

I have been negligent in my posting with various responsibilities and illness. Persevere kind reader and find the following links from the Oconee Banner-Herald, oops I mean Athens of course. First, SICKNESS, everybody wash their hands, cover their mouths after coughing and please keep your kids out of school if they are sick. With spring break next week, perhaps we shall see some abatement of the massive amounts of flu, bronchitis, et cetera that seems to be decimating our school system ranks Second, THANKS, to the kid Cameron K. from across the street for bringing my dog back after she nefariously decided to sneak down the street with the long-ass chain still around her neck yesterday morning. Third, NO THANKS to my son for flushing copious amounts of paper towels wrapped around fingernail clippers down his loo. He did handle an afterschool crisis at school with diplomatic aplomb though so I have to give him credit where credit is due. Fourth, GLAD WE CAN ALL GET ALONG DEPARTMENT, to...

Please do not attempt to attend this month's Oconee County Democratic committee meeting Thursday evening as it has been canceled. Thank you very much. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. To: oconeedemocrats@yahoogroups.com; oconee@yahoogroups.com From: herbwest@bellsouth.net Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 07:54:30 -0500 Subject: [oconee] March 6 Oconee Democratic Committee meeting CANCELED! Sorry for the late notice, but we have just decided to CANCEL the Oconee County Democratic Committee meeting that was scheduled for this Thursday, March 6.  It appeared that most, if not all, members of the Executive Committee are going to be absent due to various conflicts.  Therefore, even if we were able to manage a quorum, there would be no one to run the meeting.   The next regularly schedule meeting will be Thursday, April 3, although stay tuned as that meeting may be rescheduled since Becky will be absent.   Herb West, S...

Add Nancy Schaefer's name to the list of candidates for the U.S. Congressional seat currently held by Athens' and Oconee's own Dr. Paul Broun, Jr. Barry Fleming of Augusta is generally considered the establishment Republican favorite and Schaefer a right-wing nut job making Broun's eccentricities seem main stream. She is a Baptist reactionary out of Toccoa, oops Turnerville. She is an utter buffoon with fringe views on a variety of topics ranging from the North American Union (huh? - oh yes, yet another right wing fantasy) to Women's Reproductive freedom and other issues making her election an absolute uncertainty. However, her candidacy does doom Broun's chance at getting renominated, at least that would be the general political common sense at this point. Perhaps Bobby Saxon can start raising some real money now ?

I love Rocket Field and hope it can continue to be used by everyone who needs to, and maybe expand to include soccer. The Mayor of Watkinsville Jim Luken was out there with the Watkinsville Street Department scoping the next adjustments to the city recreation field this lovely afternoon. Come to the meeting next Wednesday and put int your two cents worth. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: Planning Rocket Field (Watkinsville) Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 17:10:47 -0500 From: BBrodrick@jacksonspalding.com To: BBrodrick@jacksonspalding.com CC: wkvcityhall@charter.net Planning Rocket Field (Watkinsville) All: Next Wednesday, March 12, Watkinsville is going to have the first of a few public comment periods on the future of Rocket Field as a part of our regular city council meeting .  We have already replaced the old chain link fence and have allocated funds to add sidewalks around the edges and significant street trees in coming years . W e are see...

I love the History Channel and the Moore's Ford incident, as horrible as it was, needs to be accurately recreated for future generations to never forget our inhumanity. CAST + CREW CALL :: HISTORY CHANNEL RE-ENACTMENT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Producers from the HISTORY CHANNEL are seeking actors, crew and production assistants for a historical re-enactment shoot of the Moore's Ford lynching to be shot near Athens on FRIDAY MARCH 7th From the Producer…. We need to cast: 2 Black males - 22-28 years range. They should appear young and trim. 2 Black females - 20-25. They should appear young and trim. 12-16 white males - from 20 to 50 years of age. Our 4 young black actors need to have some acting skills as they will be playing the part of the very distressed victims. The white men don't need any major acting skills. They'll be tying up the black males, dragging them through the clearing, and firing the prop guns at the mock exec...

Here is your chance for infamy and actor glory. I love the History Channel -------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- From: filmathens <info@filmathens.net> To: filmathens <info@filmathens.net> Cc: dinacanup@hotmail.com Subject: cast + crew call :: HISTORY CHANNEL RE-ENACTMENT 3/7 Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 18:31:07 +0000 > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > CAST + CREW CALL :: HISTORY CHANNEL RE-ENACTMENT > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > Producers from the HISTORY CHANNEL are seeking actors, crew and > production assistants for a historical re-enactment shoot of the > Moore's Ford lynching to be shot near Athens on FRIDAY MARCH 7th > > From the Producer…. > > We need to cast: > 2 Black males - 22-28 years range. They should appear young and trim. > 2 Black females - 20-25. They should appear young and trim. > 12-16 white males - from 20 to 5...

Please support Lee Becker and his battle for our water safety future with various factions of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Please read the following email and consider contacting the Commissioners to let them know of your feelings about the future of Barber Creek before Tuesday evening. Dear Friends,   The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night will make the most important decision yet on the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant when it decides whether to accept the recommendation of the Selection Committee it appointed to review the bids for the engineering design of the plant. That Committee has recommended that HSF Engineering of Snellville be awarded the contract for the upgrade. The Committee also recommended an alternate design, rather than the design used at the County’s only other sewage plant on Calls Creek. The design of the plant is crucial, for it determines the quality of the water that will be released ...

The Athens Banner Herald newspaper correctly took Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry to task for inappropriate comments coming on the heels of the murder of a motorcycle rider in Bogart. The death of anyone is a tragedy and should be treated as such, not to be woven into socio-political commentary (even though that is what I am guilty of here). The editorial is a well written chastising of Sheriff Berry for letting his true feelings come out at a most difficult time. Oconee and Clarke counties have been remarkably free of conflagration and horrible tragedy on a mass scale, and I certainly hope it remains that way. However our leaders need to show a little more discretion before opening their pie holes to make fools or our selves and our counties. For the record, I have nothing but the highest regard for the fine deputies and staff of the Oconee County Sheriff's Department and have always been treated extremely well and very professionally every time I have had any reason to step fo...

Wonder what Zell Miller would have to say about this? *Georgia Democrats highlight "Tax and Spend Republicans" with GOP tax of the day* *ATLANTA – *Georgia Democrats are putting the spotlight on the dark corners of the Republican tax plan by featuring the GOP tax of the day on the state party's website. Each day, the Democratic Party of Georgia will post a new example of one of the over 175 goods and services to be taxed under Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson's tax scheme. "We think it's vital that the people of Georgia know exactly what the Republicans want to do to pry more money out of hardworking Georgians," said Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Jane Kidd. "Unfortunately, with over 175 new taxes in this scheme, I don't think we can get to all of them before the legislative session ends." The Democratic Party will post one new taxable good or service each day until the Republican tax plan (HR 1246 and HB 97...

The following shows the email exchange between Tim Bryant of NewsTalk 1340 WGAU AM in Athens and the Kathy Prescott and Grady Thrasher of Athens FAQ (who are opposed to the NBAF coming to Athens. While opposed to NBAF in principal because of lack of infrastructure and roads specifically to the area at Milledge and Whitehall, I do not blame Bryant for not wanting to let the opponents of NBAF carry on with copious follow up questions. While the NBAF opponents may have completely legitimate arguments and relevant follow-up questions, they do themselves no favors by making enemies in the media. I doubt that Thrasher and Prescott will be back on Bryant's four day a week interview program anytime soon. The following is from their email release of the back and forth between Bryant, Prescott and Thrasher, along with some folks in North Carolina. Convoluted would be a polite assessment of this clusterf*ck. Dear All, Thanks to all of you that have signed the petition. And to all of you that ...

I had the numbers wrong but the equation right as far as guessing where the various members of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners would vote in whether to allow restaurants outside of the municipalities the ability to pour beer and wine with meals. The standard calculus now goes with Horton and Hale voting no and Luke and Norris voting yes and Chairman Davis casting a tie breaking vote in the affirmative allowing restaurants to pour beer and wine with meals. I would not cast their votes in stone exactly yet, but we are supposed to see in April with an actual vote after the requisite public hearing and tweaking of the ordinance. I am somewhat surprised that the county-wide ordinance is less restrictive than the one working well in Watkinsville. There will be rampant rumor mongering and name calling between now and April. I will do my best to separate the fact from fiction from now until then.

Oglethorpe Democrats present Foot Soldiers for Civil Rights Program The Oglethorpe County Democrats are proud to present a special program in honor of Black History Month, “Donald L. Hollowell: American Freedom Fighter.” Dr. Maurice Daniels, co-director of the University of Georgia’s Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies, will present a short documentary film and discussion of the life of Donald L. Hollowell, best known as the chief counsel for Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter in the landmark lawsuit (Holmes v. Danner) that opened the doors of UGA to black students. The program will take place Thursday, February 28, 7:00 PM at the Oglethorpe County Library. Free and open to the public! For more information, call 706-743-3792 or visit www.oglethorpedemocrats.org

For Immediate Release: February 22, 2008              Contact: Martin Matheny                  678-278-2108 (o)                  706-461-0439 (m)                  martin@georgiademocrat.org     Official Democratic delegate numbers for Georgia   ATLANTA – The Democratic Party of Georgia released the final, official delegate breakdown for Georgia today.   The numbers are:     Senator Barack Obama Senator Hillary Clinton Statewide At-large Delegates 13 6 Statewide Pledged Party Leaders/Elected Officials 7 4 Congressional District 1 2 1 Congressional District 2* 3 2 Congressional District 3 ...

It was a wet Thursday afternoon at Athens restaurant Harry Bissett's New Orleans Cafe when former U.S. Senator Wyche Fowler took time out of his busy day to join a small group of very dedicated Democrats from Oconee County for a lunch and conversation. Fowler has been teaching a class at the UGA Law School and has deep ties to the community. Dr. Neil Priest recalled Fowler's encyclopedic knowledge of the hymnal. I was asked by the former ambassador of Saudi Arabia to recount his announcement before running for Senate involving the such notorious bands as the Bar-B-Que Killers and Eat America at the 40 Watt Club many moons ago. Fowler peppered the spicy meal with lots of anecdotes ranging from deserts the size of France in Saudi Arabia to carrying Castro's machine gun in Cuba while the recently resigned strong man drove him around his island. During the meal former US Congressman Don Johnson came up and talked briefly to Senator Fowler about the forthcoming conference of f...

Lord knows I do not read the Catoosa County News newspaper on a regular basis, and could not have told you if it even was owned my Morris or just subscribes to syndication of their editorial writers. Their Atlanta writer Walter Jones takes on the powerful local legislator and chair of the House Appropriations Committee in Watkinsville Republiucan Bob Smith in his campaign to derail the Board of Regents with countless controversial Constitutional adjustments he thinks can be hammered through this remaining half session of the legislature. Good luck Representative Smith, I do not share your confidence in trying to do to the Board of Regents what Speaker of House Glen Richardson tried to do to local control of property taxes and countless "un" Fair Tax proponents have tried to do the IRS. Professing one's ignorance of the local media does not do one any favors in the eyes of the public or even your voting constituency.

Local soil scientists want to stay put in Watkinsville working at the USDA's J. Phil Campbell Sr. Soil Research Center instead of having it fall to Federal Budget constraints for FY 2009.

Lee Becker hits a homer with Attorney General Thurbert Baker while County Attorney Daniel Haygood continues to ignore requests to open up the sewer probe. Dear Friends, The Georgia Attorney General's office, as part of its mediation program to handle citizen complaints, has asked Oconee County to respond to my complaint about the County’s denial of access to the Selection Committee reviewing bids for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage treatment plant. In the meantime, I received a letter from County Attorney Daniel Haygood again denying me again access to a second meeting of the Selection Committee and to documents produced by that Committee. Haygood has an interesting argument. He said the Committee reviewing the bids is not the Selection Committee called for in the Request for Proposal. Basically, if it walks like a Selection Committee and quacks like a Selection Committee, I’m inclined to believe it is a Selection Committee. For details, go to my blog at ht...

Bill Yarbrough is the current vice chair and is past chair of the Oconee County Democratic Committee. He is also a referee in high school and college football, as well as a realtor and flower shop owner.  He is on the Oconee County Planning Commission and Board of Elections. In this instance, he will be talking about the new voting districts and other political and electoral details. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. To: oconee@yahoogroups.com; katemail@bellsouth.net From: ppriest@charter.net Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:52:12 -0500 Subject: [oconee] Bill Yarbrough to speak on election-related issues The Oconee County Democratic Committee is pleased that Bill Yarbrough, a member of the Board of Elections in Oconee County, will be our Fourth Sunday speaker this month. Bill recently updated the committee about the new polling districts, and we immediately thought that other people would find his behind-the-scenes comments informative...

The oh-so familiar J. Phil Campbell Sr. Agriculture Station on State Route 53/Experiment Station Road may cease to function after the new 2009 budget of President George Bush is adopted with the new fiscal year. This erosion experiment center will be a huge loss for the federal, state, county and municipal governments. Perhaps Gainesville State College can acquire the property for the ever-expanding needs of their growing and still-way-over-populated Oconee County campus across the street. While they should connect Bishop Farms Parkways North and South, because of wetland protection they will not without huge amounts of tax dollars. The proposed exit for the backside of the campus off 441 is way down the road of things the DOT is going to do in this county. We could sure use some sidewalks/bikepaths along Hog Mountain Road and all of Experiment Station Road.