Oconee County, GA Politics

Please attend this breakfast if you can Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Dear CCDC members and friends,   Please plan on attending the next meeting of the Athens Area Democrats to be held on Saturday, October 4 , beginning at 9 a. m. at Trumps. See the email below for additional information.   Sincerely, Karen Solheim CCDC Vice Chair for Communications   BUFFET BREAKFAST ATHENS AREA DEMOCRATS 9:00AM – OCT. 4, 2008 TRUMPS – WASHINGTON & JACKSON  ST. TOPIC: IMPORTANT ECONOMIC ISSUES FACING THE UNITED STATES SPEAKER: DR. ASTERIOS (Stell) KEFALAS, PhD, Professor of Management, Emeritus, Terry College of Business, UGA PRICE: $12.00 per person Tickets may be purchased at the Democratic HQ at 220 Prince Ave. Open Tues, Wed, & Thur. 12 noon to 6PM and Fri & Sat.12noon to 4PM. Or contact Bill or Peggy Horton pahorton@aol.com < mailto:pahorton@aol.com > or 706-548-5769 or contact Anita Brannen anitabarney@charter.net ...

Before the Oconee Enterprise newspaper labels this candidate forum another personal or group vendetta, this is an honorable gathering of interested individuals and groups with no agenda other than informing Oconee County voters and making wise decisions with that information. The rest of this letter is from Lee Becker. Dear Friends, Oconee County Board of Education candidates Tom Breedlove and Rich Clark have agreed to take part in a Candidate Forum from 7 to 9 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13, at the auditorium in the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville. The Oct. 13 Candidate Forum is being organized by members of five citizen organizations: Citizens for Oconee's Future, Citizens for South Oconee County, Friends of Barber Creek, Friends of the Apalachee, and Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth. I'm the president of Friends of Barber Creek. Citizens will be able to ask questions directly of Breedlove and Clark at the Oct. 13 Forum. Please go to my blog at www.oc...

With the loss of an elected mayor and an appointee to the Planning Commission, Bogart residents and acting Mayor Terri Glenn and the council members are faced with daunting task of deciding what they want to do with the future of the trans-county municipalities.

Hello! I wanted to let you know the line-up -- revealed yesterday -- for the 2009 "Dancing with Athens Stars" at the Classic Center. Our big surprise star from Oconee County is . . . Sgt. Courtney Gale! She's paired with dance instructor Ron Putman, who is based at Freedom of Movement in Oconee. And another surprise is . . . Commissioner Michael Thurmond! Please see the other stars and their match-ups in the press release below. You can also learn the winner of -- and the phenomenal tally of funds raised by the 12 finalists vying for -- the "People's Choice" slot in the show. People can vote online at Project Safe's web-site for their favorite dancer starting on December 1st. Thank you! Pat Priest Co-Executive Producer ----------------------------------------------------------- Project Safe has announced its line-up for the 2009 "Dancing with Athens Stars," its signature spring dance competition that raises money for services...

Subject: [oglethorpedems] John Lewis @ For The People Rally, 9/21 Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:47:24 -0700 (PDT) From: Laura Floyd <floyd_laura@yahoo.com> Reply-To: oglethorpedems@yahoogroups.com To: oglethorpedems <oglethorpedems@yahoogroups.com> --- On Fri, 9/12/08, For The People Rally <peoplerally@ gmail.com> wrote: From: For The People Rally <peoplerally@ gmail.com> Subject: For The People Rally Announcement To: "For The People Rally" <floyd_laura@ yahoo.com> Date: Friday, September 12, 2008, 2:11 AM Contact : Eric Gray, egray9@gmail. com September 12, 2008 Congressman John Lewis Announced as Keynote Speaker At Gainesville "For The People Rally". (Gainesville) – Congre...

Subject: You're Invited! Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:38:51 -0400 From: Carl McGrath <carlmcgrath@yahoo.com> To: Carl McGrath has sent you an invitation to 'Phone Bank for Obama in Watkinsville' -- click here to view the invitation and submit your response: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs5xzd --- Feel free to come for whatever time you can spare even if you can't work the entire 2 hours. Also, please send this invitation to friends who are also potential volunteers for this activity. Thanks! Carl - - Go Obama __________ To be removed, send a message to carlmcgrath@yahoo.com with REMOVE ME in the Subject line.

-------- Original Message -------- Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:19:46 -0700 (PDT) From: Carl McGrath <carlmcgrath@yahoo.com> Reply-To: carlmcgrath@yahoo.com To: Carl <CarlMcGrath@yahoo.com> CC: Barack Obama <info@barackobama.com> More good stuff on our new website for Oconee Co.!  Check it out at http://www.obama.great-usa.com/ Big thanks to JP Crisan for his great work on this site.   Go Obama! Carl **** Carl McGrath 1031 Simonton Drive Watkinsville, GA 30677-2579 (706) 769-3400

Rich Clark survived being introduced as Rick by newly appointed Oconee County Tourism Director Peggy Holcomb at a fundraiser Sunday at the Watkinsville Community Center. Many children brought their parents to Harris Shoals Park for the event. Many checks were written, many questions answered and the future of our children's education remains in the hands of the discerning Oconee County voters. Signs were passed out, cookies were munched, voters asked Rich about what prompted him to run for the Oconee County Board of Education and Clark continued to make himself known to the public. He once again proved himself distinct and different than many of the other candidates but more than just party affiliation. Dr. Clark will do great things on the Board of Education in Oconee County, and you can reach him at 706-769-1004 or clark4boe@yahoo.com.

Please attend this event and let Rita know you are coming Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. From: oconee@yahoogroups.com To: oconee@yahoogroups.com Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:56:46 +0000 Subject: [oconee] Blue Hats of Oconee Co. Democrats, 9/20/2008, 1:00 pm Reminder from:   oconee Yahoo! Group   Title:   Blue Hats of Oconee Co. Democrats   Date:   Saturday September 20, 2008 Time:   1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Next reminder:   The next reminder for this event will be sent in 4 days, 3 minutes. Location: ...

Time for some reading and discussing without too much cussing! Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: [oconee] McCain v. Obama -- and their books! Hello to the growing-by-leaps- and-bounds Oconee Democrats! Finally -- though I'm still reading! -- we're holding the first part of our book challenge this week in Oconee County. We're meeting to discuss John McCain's autobiography "Worth the Fighting for" this Thursday at Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Road, with the discussion slated to begin at 6. Please come early to order something to eat or drink so that we can help support this locally owned eatery. The discussion will be moderated by the very friendly Dr. Sarah Bell, former chair of the Republican party in Oconee and an adjunct professor of English at Gainesville State College in Oconee. We'll meet to discuss Obama's autobiography "The Audacity of Hope" on October 16th at t...

Apparently there are a lot (at least six as of 2 pm Friday) of gas stations in Athens completely out of gas and not going to be filling up their tanks again until Monday. Wonder what Gov. Sonny Perdue will do this time? Close the schools again? Blame it on Ike, blame it on Palin, blame it on Steve Spurrier. I hope Dawg fans don't get stranded in Columbia, South Carolina.

This is an update of the evolution of the Oconee County, Georgia work for the campaign for Barack Obama for President. Even though our period of work with a national campaign staffer may be over, it is time for the local folks to take command and make him win in Georgia. You can do a lot with a little. Bring a cell phone to the Sanctuary at Second and Barnett Shoals Road on every Tuesday and Thursday. Go get some yard signs in Athens or Lexington. Register voters this weekend at Krimson Kafe. Ask people in your neighborhood if they are registered to vote. Explain to people why you feel passionate about Barack Obama and how absurd the attacks of the right are. Thanks to Kathleen & Lawrence who graciously allow GA For Change gatherings in The Sanctuary where we've met since July and where we met last night.  Also thanks to Tiffany Kingery for her help over the past 6 weeks.  We are sad to say "bye" to Tiffany,...

The Watkinsville City Council met Wednesday and approved three businesses (Sells4URealty of Debbie McMillon Henry, Henry Norman for Realaware, LLC and David Weeks for Shishkabobby's) in a brief meeting. The most important and far reaching announcement from Mayor Jim Luken is the formal addition of the four municipalities to the list of beneficiaries of the SPLOST tax pie expected to be some $40 milion over the next six years, with Watkinsville potentially hauling in some $3.2 of that extra penny on purchases. This could mean sidewalks on Harden Hill Road among other places around town.

Grace's birthday is an important annual animal celebration we have enjoyed every year, and we welcome walking my black lab/pit bull mix Josephine some six blocks away to the lovely and spacious grounds of Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast to mingle with dozens of dogs and their owners. Mario Castro, Jim and Dave Shearron are always gracious hosts to their many guests, both canine and human. Thanks to Councilman Broderick for passing this along. Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Subject: Grace's Birthday Party in Watkinsville on 9/21 Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 17:46:20 -0400 From: BBrodrick@jacksonspalding.com To: BBrodrick@jacksonspalding.com Grace's Birthday Party in Watkinsville on 9/21 Oconee friends, media, b loggers and commentators – just a heads up that Grace ' s birthday party is around the corner (9/21) at Ashford Manor .  Hope you will all consider covering it, including in a post ( http://gracesbirthday.com/ ) , or just help spread the word by men...

Dear Dan, Today, I am honored to send you a copy of our first television commercial of the general election campaign, just as our race emerges as one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country. Honored, because it contains a strong message from my friend, Max Cleland, who was the target of a shameless campaign attack in 2002 carried out by my opponent in this race, Saxby Chambliss. In the ad, Max and I take it directly to Chambliss for supporting economic policies that are wrong for America. We are launching our statewide television campaign with this ad today. We are doing so for two simple reasons:  First, we know that Saxby Chambliss is about to start spending his millions on television, and we do not intend to cede the airwaves to him as we head into the fall. Second, I know that I can count on you . Unlike Saxby Chambliss, I have not spent the past six years building a war chest with the support of the special int...

Thank you for getting something out at least. Everybody should attend her meeting. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 18:05:05 -0400 From: sherryjackson4senate@yahoo.com To: danmatt@hotmail.com Subject: FOR THE PEOPLE Update #1 FOR THE PEOPLE Update #1 Thanks from Sherry Friends, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone that helped make my recent fundraiser a tremendous success! First, thanks to everyone that attended and contributed to my campaign. Without you, this campaign would not be possible, but it's because I have your support I know that we can bring the people of our district the representation they deserve. Next, I would like to thank the Clarke County Democratic Committee for allowing us to use their headquarters to hold this event. The work that you do is...

Just goes to show idiots shop at Lowes as well as Home Depot. I would have dialed the Oconee County Sheriff's Department immediately or at least taken pictures of this poor fool and posted them on the internet. Myrna should have told the management at the store at the very least. I would well imagine that the Secret Service and the FBI would have wanted to know the identity of this man. Making a threat on a Presidential candidate's life is a felony. Woven brightly, Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. To: oconee@yahoogroups.com From: herbwest@bellsouth.net Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 19:59:25 -0400 Subject: [oconee] Frightening anti-Obama encounter in Oconee County All:   I wanted to share with you a very frightening encounter Myrna had this afternoon with an ardent anti-Obama individual.  She had stopped at Lowe's (on Epps Bridge ) to buy a few things, and the encounter happened as she was getting back into her car in the parking lot. ...

 Please attend this event if you want to help the Obama campaign here in Oconee County, Georgia.   From: Carl McGrath <carlmcgrath@yahoo.com> Subject: You're Invited! Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:23:18 +0000 Carl McGrath has sent you an invitation to 'Voter Registration Drive' -- click here to view the invitation and submit your response: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gs7bhw

Lee Becker never ceases to amaze me, taking a topic as dry as water and making it as moist and vital to every voter. Dear Friends, Unless you've been doing a lot of sprinkling of your lawn, you probably have not noticed that Oconee County increased its water rates on April 1. Under the guise of conservation pricing, the increase for those using more than 12,000 gallons per month was 30 percent. The head of the citizen committee that reviewed and approved these increases acknowledged, however, that it isn't clear these rate changes really will reduce demand for water–which is the stated goal of conservation pricing. Moody's Investors Service viewed the increase simply as an attempt by the county to increase water revenue as a run up to the sale of revenue bonds for the Hard Labor Creek reservoir in Walton County. The push for the rate increase came from Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis, but the other members of the Board went along with the increase with little d...