Oconee County, GA Politics

The clubhouse at at the Jennings Mill County Club was destroyed by fire early this morning and the website email blast by the Oconee Enterprise seemingly scooped all the other media in this town, although admittedly I have not scoured or scouted every newspaper and radio station in the area. The fire consumed the clubhouse on this Memorial Day weekend and involved fire departments from Athens-Clarke and the wonderful volunteers from Oconee County. Obviously it could have been much worse, say taking place during the recent golf tournament or during the day, but thank goodness no one was hurt. I am thankful that our fire departments can cooperate and coordinate in ways our governments have never even imagined. I hope the residents of Jennings Mill can enjoy the holiday weekend despite this major setback.

Picking up the slack where Congressman Paul Broun dropped the ball, U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss asked for $2.8 million to attempt save the J. Phil Campbell, Jr. Agriculture Center in Oconee County . Glad somebody came to our rescue.

On the way to Southworks, stop by and have a Cuban guava pastry or various tasty cake slices at Eagle Tavern. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Hi Everyone,   This Saturday, the Oconee Farmers Market will feature carrots, radishes, nasturtium greens, herbs, snap peas, spinach and/or chard, (thanks Jamie Swedberg!)   Cuban guava pastries (Jamie), a variety of pound cakes (Sandra Bowden), coca-cola chocolate cake (tastes just like gingerbread but better!), buttermilk & lemon pound cake slices (Young Female Farmers), fresh, hot boiled peanuts and pro skins (Holly Jackson and family).   Russ Page, one of our local cattle farmers will be pre-selling / taking orders for sides or quarters of his Grass-Fed Senepol Steer meat -delicious!  Many customers have been inquiring about grass-fed beef so here's your chance to give it a try.   Mary King (Acme Plants) will be back with her beautiful perennials, featuring varieties of heuchera. ...

Let's all go to the movies - you do not have to be a Democrat or feel as if you will be branded a member of the Democratic party if you attend. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.  We're getting together for another movie night at Ciné!    Let's meet at the 7:15 showing of the acclaimed movie, Body of War, next  Thursday, May 29th. Please stay to chat afterwards if you have time.    Hope to see you!    Pat and Neal Priest  Members,  Oconee County Democrats          BODY OF WAR  http://www.bodyofwar.com    [ USA 2008, Digital, 87min, Dir: Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue, NR ]    WINNER: National Board of Review -- Best Documentary of 2007  WINNER: Hamptons International Film Festival – Audience Award – Best  Documentary    BODY OF WAR is an intimate feature documentary about the truth of war  today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet t...

I am always quick to condemn the Planning Commission as slash and burn developers hell bent on paving every inch of sod or clay left in Oconee County, so I need to acknowledge when they do something reasonably good. A large chunk of sparsely populated Bishop, Georgia will NOT be developed according to this story in Athens Banner Herald . Good for them. But when will the local authority realize we are in an economic recession and more and more home sites may be graded and paved, but we have a huge surplus of some 3,000 lots not developed and getting larger by the day? At least the votes are getting a whole lot closer at 4-3 than the usually 6-2. I think it is not wise to have developers such as Dan Arnold and Travis Marshall on the Planning Commission because it creates the impression of a huge conflict of interest at the very least. Let them run for the Board of Commissioners or any other public body, but I think they should be replaced at the next convenient appointment time.

Former Oconee County Board of Commissioners chairman Wendell Dawson knows a whole lot more about tax parcels than I ever will, and his homework has very obviously been done well on his A VOC.info site as far as the tax assessments of public officials such as Board of Commissioners members Don Norris and chairman G. Melvin Davis . I fully expect our public officials to take as full advantage of the tax laws as possible, but this does not look very ethical or positive in a political campaign season.

Lee Becker, Charlie Baugh and Russ Page for Oconee County Board of Commissioners 2010! Dear Friends,   On May 6, four citizens, including me, used the citizen comments section of the Oconee County Board of Commissioners meeting to ask the Board to begin exploring ways to make a videocast of its meetings available to citizens. I observed that citizens often are too busy to attend meetings, and the Board should do what neighboring counties are doing already by telecasting its meetings and making them available on the web. I also said that a video of meetings would provide everyone with a complete record of BOC activities. Russ Page, Charlie Baugh and  Tony Glenn also spoke, making the same point.  We said we were prepared to start making videocasts on our own if the BOC does not act. As is usually the case when citizens speak at BOC meetings, not a single commissioner responded. Chairman Melvin Davis immediately entertained and obtained a motion to adjourn, an...

Southworks is another wonderful event at Rocket Field in Watkinsville. Please consider coming to Watkinsville this weekend. Each year on Memorial Day weekend we celebrate the arts by bringing a variety of art forms to the community.   Here is a schedule of the performing arts events. Please list/post on your web page or any other calendar or posting you can access. Also, send a note to everyone on any of your mailing lists. Print it out and share it or tape it up somewhere. But most of all, join us for a rocking good time. SOUTHWORKS 2008 Entertainment Schedule Portable Stage Times Saturday May 24 Times Sunday May 25 11:00 Paula Benson - Jazz R&B singer songwriter http://cdbaby.com/cd/paulabenson 11:00 Prime Time Jazz - Athens Georgia 's Premier Jazz Group. House band for the recent Twilight Jazz Festival Jam Session. ...

I have not studied the 600 page proposal for the Charter School for Math and Science in Oconee County, nor do I claim any expertise in the area of academic innovation other than Governor Sonny Perdue signed some law easing the path for their creation and ultimate integration into the state and local school systems. Adam Thompson of the Athens Banner-Herald wrote a pretty balanced view of the evolution of this possible addition to the local schools. Jmac at Safe as Houses wrote an interesting take on this as well . All I know is more and more kids are being home schooled even here with one of the best school systems in the area if not the state, which is not a bad thing onto itself, but it is emblematic of a larger dissatisfaction with the public school system in Oconee County (and every where for that matter). There are soccer teams and journalism clubs planned, so I am down with those. The laptops and small teacher-student ratio work well for me. We have a few budding Einsteins who...

Some dork (me) got up and talked about curbs, recycling, ballfields, paving, soil and a Board of Education candidate who helped pick up trash at Harris Shoals Park: MINUTES OF MEETING OF MAYOR AND COUNCIL CITY OF WATKINSVILLE May 14, 2008 PRESENT: Mayor Luken, Council members Link, Purcell, Brodrick, Walsh, Walter and City Attorney Reitman VISITORS: See attached sheet. QUORUM CHECK: Mayor Luken acknowledges a quorum is present. He also welcomes Chuck Horton, County Commissioner , to our meeting. All speakers are asked to approach the lectern and address Council. PRESENTATION OF THE BEAUTIFUL YARD AWARD: Councilwoman Purcell presents Maridee Williams of 1021 Jeremy Drive the Watkinsville Beautiful Yard Award for the month of May. The selection was made by Athens Seed. MINUTES: Councilwoman Purcell moved and Councilman Link seconded the motion to approve the minutes of the April 9, 2008 Council meeting as presented. Motion carried unanimously. AR...

Mike Maxey may have made his biggest visible mistake by leaving (behind?) his campaign sign in the sacred soil of Harris Shoals park in Watkinsville, but there is lots going on behind the scenes that gives one pause and puzzlement at the very least. This Board of Commissioners candidate originally had his sights set on the Chairman's job, but the Chairman Melvin Davis's campaign manager Larry Benson is building a big hotel that Maxey will be paving soon here in Oconee. So this appearance of conflict of interest coupled with the convenient decision to pave the Veterans Monument coupled with the changing of his mind at least three times does not exactly instill confidence in the Maxey approach to governing Oconee County. This gives me ample reason to endorse the candidacy of incumbent Board of Commissioners candidate Chuck Horton for Post 4. Horton has more experience than just about anyone in public service, first as the Chief of Police at the University of Georgia and several t...

Former Arkansas Governor and possible Republican vice-president candidate Mike Huckabee made an off-handed comment at the NRA Convention after hearing a chair fall to the floor - "That's Barack Obama waiting to make a speech here - someone aimed a gun and him and he fell out of his chair diving to the floor." As innocent as this kind of comment might seem at first blush, this is exactly the kind of affirmation that right wing wackos with rifles need to pull the trigger in an assassination of Obama. Already today a Hispanic man who came out against a Marietta bar owner who put a picture of Curious Georgia with Obama in '08 on a shirt received a package with powder and a cross on it at his front door. The tone and rhetoric have already gone off the charts with revisionist Republican fearmongers suggesting that the presumptive Democratic nominee is an appeaser. We need to stick to the issues and figure out how to fix what is wrong with this country, not appeal to reactio...

There comes a time in some political campaigns where people of good conscious must take a stand. These watershed moments are seldom as well defined as the one emerging out of the wake of several Oconee County Board of Commission members wanting to move the Courthouse from its present location. Chairmain G. Melvin Davis, and BOC members Don "Isshures" Norris and Jim Luke are generally believed to be the Gang of Three wanting to move the Courthouse out of Watkinsville to some area currently outside the current city limits. This movement evidently arose out of the secret meeting in Madison in December. We shall see how this manifests itself it the campaign, but suffice to say that challengers Johnny Pritchett, John Daniell and Sarah Bell stand to profit the most from the latest secret shenanigans done behind the scenes and even out of the county. Watkinsville Mayor Jim Luken took a very courageous stand against this ill-advised maneuver at the end of the City Council meeting Wed...

The Oconee County Farmers Market was fantastic last week. You should go this week as well or check it out at Eagle Tavern Saturday morning. Here is the latest from the organizer Debbie Beese. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Hi Everyone,   Hope you're having a good week and enjoying this cool weather while it lasts!  We love the rain, but the cool nights and not quite as warm days as you would expect this time of year are slowing down some of our produce from the northern part of the state (like MaryAnn Simmons) and also locally.  We can't complain at this point though since we need the rain so much!   This week however, we will feature cilantro, sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, lemon balm, sorrel, sage, oregano, Cuban guava pastries, a variety of perennials, including ferns, heuchera and hellebores, (happy to deliver locally is the word from Mary King at Acme Plants), and chocolate, buttermilk, and rum cake.  Come early, produce went e...

Former (and future?) Mayor Nedra Johnson did not invite me this year, but the twice a year Bishop town supper is always an interesting gathering of political candidates and townspeople in the sleepy little municipality. It was kind of interesting how she decided not to invite Board of Education candidates except Ashely Hood (who is a Bishop resident) and have Congressional candidates. A few years back I tried to get a few U.S. Senate and Georgia Governor candidates there, and she was having none of that. Current Mayor and former Athens-Clarke County Fire Marshall Johnny Pritchett is running for the Board of Commissioners and based merely on the fact that he has put sidewalks in the city to honor one time council member and recovering Athens-Clarke County police officer Courtney Gale is reason enough to support Pritchett in the upcoming GOP primary. I almost always support firemen such as Mike Link or John Walsh, Jr. on the Watkinsville City Council. Athens Banner-Herald reporter Adam...

Watkinsville is the county seat of Oconee County. That much being said, there is a movement afoot to move the Courthouse to outside of the current city limits of one round mile around the Courthouse. There are three properties for sale immediately adjacent to the Courthouse, stated Mayor Jim Luken. He is an ex-Marine and chooses his words carefully, not given to dramatic or grandiose statements. Luken did not come out and name names by saying that it was Don Norris who came out and stated what evidently Board of Commissioners chair G. Melvin Davis said in the infamous secret meeting in Madison in December of last year. Former chair Wendell Dawson was the first to write about the plans to move the courthouse out of its current location out of this notorious meeting which now threatens to end the political careers of at least three people. Given the economic state, and the recent upgrades and $84,000.00 window treatments going on even two weeks ago, the current courthouse is fine. An...

I saw the Todd Haynes movie last night called "I'm Not There" with eight different actors and actresses expertly weaving together and apart the many myths, legends, facts and fairy tales from the Bob Dylan era of the last 40 years. I will be there at Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast for this show Monday evening, and while it might not be as packed or as popular as the recent Abbey Road Live! show featuring Beatles covers, this ought to be an equally entertaining for the more discerning music fans. Please come and watch your kids please.

  The Oconee County Democratic Committee will host their annual caucus to select new committee members 11:00 am Saturday, June 14, 2008 at the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville on 23 N. Main Street in the Board of Commissioners' chambers on the second floor. All,   I have just reserved the Commissioners' Chambers in the courthouse for Saturday, June 14, beginning at 11:00 am , for our party caucus to elect new committee members.  I'll be responsible for picking up the key from the BOC office on Friday.   I've sent a notice to the Oconee Enterprise about the caucus, and Maridee said she would put it in the calendar section, but couldn't guarantee it would start this week.  I've also submitted the event to the calendar for the on-line Oconee Enterprise .  I'll also send a notice to the ABH for the Oconee Living section.   Please be sure this is on your calendar and you plan to attend, esp...

The latest and greatest from Lee Becker about the secrecy of the Oconee County government supposedly saving us money while telling us NOTHING: Dear Friends,   Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin claims that the decision to conduct in secret the bidding for the upgrade of the Rocky Branch sewage plant saved the county $70,000. The claim is based on some questionable comparisons, and it is possible the secret bidding procedures cost the county money. For details, go to my blog at http://www.oconeecountyobservations.blogspot.com/ . Lee     Lee Becker lbbecker@mindspring.com    

There was a horrific accident this Tuesday afternoon on the Athens 10 Loop, otherwise known as the By-Pass or Paul Broun, Sr. Memorial Highway. My son's mother witnessed a gold SUV veer in and out of traffic, over correct and then flip several times before coming to rest on its nose. Needless to say, she was momentarily traumatized by watching such destruction and was grateful our son was not in the car to watch the crash. She was even more astonished that she could call 9-1-1 and the call was not answered! The area of the wreck was in the part of the Loop between 316 and 441 that is part Clarke and part Oconee, but still, perhaps the Emergency Response people were flooded by calls. I hope whoever was in the accident survived, but it did not look promising from her almost tragically close viewpoint. The gold SUV was crumpled and mangled so badly that she could not even see if there was more than one person inside. So please drive carefully out there. We have volunteer firemen in Oc...