Oconee County, GA Politics

I saw another blog saying 9339 voters exist today in Oconee County. Surely several thousand of them are upset with the status quo corruption and development. Perhaps more people will decide with the children and the future in mind. The following is from Maddie Powell and her outfit, with a note from Fred Smith attached at the end. Hi everyone! Huge thanks to you, the kick-off now has a stellar Host Committee, which includes (in no particular order) Bob and Nancy Denson, Bertis and Katherine Downs, R.E.M., Ron Schwartz, Dick Bestwick, John Jeffreys, Becky Vaughn, Gwen O'Looney, Dr. David Jarrett, Doug and Mary McKillip, Jackie Howe, Ed Robinson, Rich and Janice Rusk, Ray and Nancy MacNair, Jim and Katie Bavis, Grady and Cynthia Martin, Marvin Nunnally and Charlie Maddox, and Evan and Erika Powell. This list is still growing, we have decided to use a mailing service instead of attempting to do it ourselves, which bought us a little bit of time to keep asking all of you to support ...

Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Subject: Board of Commissioners Budget Hearing and Agenda Meeting Notes, 5/30/06 Sadly only a hand full of citizens came to the Budget Hearing but I suppose those who did not waste their time were the smart ones as what was presented was virtually incomprehensible. However there were 2 numbers that just jumped off the charts: a total "budget" of $43,261,408 representing a 9.13% increase over last year. It did not take long to see that what was presented as the "budget" was in fact grossly incomplete when a citizen asked how much is included for the new jail financing. The answer was nothing. Excuse was because the Board had not decided how to finance it and they expect to cover it with the fund balance. Later one of the Commissioners pointed out that the cost of acquiring right of way for the Mars Hill road widening also was not in the "budget". As it stands now the "bu...

The hot weather seemed to keep the crowds down at OCAF's Southworks this past weekend. I enjoyed seeing Bob Hay and Jolly Beggars (this pic was not taken there but at the effie's club follies show at the Georgia Theater earlier last week) but would have rather seen them outside on the stage instead of inside the old basketball gym. If they ever need a place to film Hoosiers II this Rocket Field gym would be the place. I liked all the art and always get a bone or rock from Oconee Minerals. This time it was a lapis ring for my son and a couple sapphires inside of some other rock. We built a steamroller thanks to Lowe's and listened to a bagpiper walking around the grounds. We walked up there once and biked a second time. It was truly amazing to see what a good job they did of cleaning up after themselves immediately afterward Sunday.

Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Subject: Oconee County Stormwater Ordinance Following is the text of an e mail message from Lee Becker, Friends of Barber Creek with important information about the proposed stormwater ordinance. Lee provides an excellent summary of the important issues with the proposed ordinance. I urge all to read this e mail and the ordinance and then let the county staff know of your concerns. Lee is most concerned about the impact on Barber Creek but the impact of poor stormwater protection is not limited to Barber Creek.  Folks, this ordinance is far more important to the long term future of the county than any single rezone. This Board of Commissioners is driving development of the county and based on the direction given the county staff to "water this ordinance down" (no pun intended) it looks like they are willing to sacrifice water quality, an important part of what makes the county a good plac...

Biodiesel finds home in backyards By Stephanie Schupska University of Georgia The biodiesel topic is hitting the lips of those working in places ranging from labs to government regulations offices. As fuel prices continue to mount, many Americans have started hunting ways to make transportation more economical. And that includes the production of biodiesel. "Biodiesel has true scale-ability," said Rob Del Bueno of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "It can be made in a multimilliongallon tank or in a 2-liter bottle in a kitchen if done carefully." Del Bueno knows this firsthand. After college, he promoted a band that played gigs wherever they could get them. To save money, they converted the tour van to run on vegetable oil taken straight from the fryers at the bars where they played. Del Bueno was hooked, not on the band, but on the fuel they used. He started tearing apart engines, making his own biodiesel and running his car on it. He then started making it f...

As some of you may know, I worked as an assistant to Bonnie Murphy in Eagle Tavern when it was still the Welcome Center. So I will be happy to do so again in a volunteer capacity as I read in the Enterprise today. Eagle Tavern should not go unattended. I wish volunteer my services, but contingent upon one very important request. I must again insist on trying to get Eagle Tavern open on the Bicentennial of the city of Watkinsville Nov. 24, 2006. I know Anita has graciously offered us the use of the front lawn of Eagle Tavern and a tent, but given the chance for inclement weather that day, I would like to ask all parties to please reconsider their intransigence on this issue. This can be a win-win situation for everybody. I have worked for the Oconee County Government before as the assitant to the Welcome Center director. I will be glad to do so again, but if and only if I can receive assurances that I can open Eagle Tavern on the day of Watkinsville's Bicentennial - yes the day afte...

This article might not answer that hot button issue, but this is about the man who has been selected to be the new tax man here in Watkinsville: Board chooses likely appointee for chief tax appraiser position Oconee County By Merritt Melancon | juliana.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:24 AM on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 WATKINSVILLE - The Oconee County Board of Assessors has chosen former Greene County Chief Tax Assessor Allen Skinner as the likely appointee to fill the vacant chief tax appraiser's post. Todd Paschal, the county's long-time chief tax appraiser, resigned from the post in March to take a higher paying job as chief tax appraiser in Morgan County. Assessors Chairman James Miller said Skinner's depth of experience as both a county tax assessor and in the real estate business set him apart from the three other candidates the board interviewed for the position. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in busi...

New York Times May 21, 2006 NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES Honoring a Rich Past While Moving Forward By ANNE BERRYMAN Madison, Ga. DURING the Civil War, Maj. Gen. Henry Warner Slocum ordered his troops to spare Madison from destruction. He did so at the pleading of the mayor, Joshua Hill, a former congressman who opposed secession and who resigned when the Confederate States of America seceded from the Union. Today, the leaders of this city of 3,781, with its array of well-maintained Greek Revival, Victorian and Craftsman-style houses, continue to fend off any challenge to its historic character. "We're threatened by growth," said Michael J. Naples, a Madison city councilman who moved here six years ago from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., where, he said, "the builders descended upon us like locusts" after changes in zoning. Mr. Naples said he shudders to think of Madison developing as rapidly. "There's a certain beauty to this town," he said. "There's ...

Recent polls show that Georgia Lieutenant Governor candidates Ralph Reed and State Senator Casey Cagle are running neck and neck, with seven short weeks to go until their primary election. Shockingly, more than 50% of Republican voters haven't decided who to vote for yet. Help us educate voters about the real Ralph Reed with a contribution today. We have very little time. In today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pollster Matt Towrey summed up what what's going to happen: "This is a race that's up for grabs for whoever wants to spend the most money on television and claim it." With Reed leading the money chase, everyone expects a typical Reed smear campaign any day, like the charges he made against decorated vet Senator Max Cleland being soft on terrorism and the love-child he claimed Senator John McCain had. We need your support right now to introduce Reed as a typical, hypocritical politician who doesn't practice what he preaches. Both candidates know e...

Each side of the political spectrum loves to hurl insults at the other. Both extremes want to frame the arguments with labels and names marketed carefully to bring out the strongest response. It is with this in mind I launch the Save America First campaign. This movement will shift focus from foreign intervention to domestic tranquility. We need to make sure our country prospers in face of economic and terrorist threats. We love our country, we support our soldiers, we rejoice when they come home alive

I am trying to help the City of Watkinsville celebrate their bicentennial with a photo stamp, postal cancellation and cachet envelope commemorating the 200 years. The postmaster Dayna Mahaffey and the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce have been very helpful in the process. Today Charles Grimes gave me a colorful John Gholson print from Fall Festivals long gone past. I think it was number 486 of 600. They have a fantastic treasure trove of historic area prints in that place. I took the large Gholson print down to Pritz Plus so they can scan and print it on the envelope. Anita Ford at Eagle Tavern has graciously offered us the opportunity to cancel mail with the special Eagle Tavern Station commemorative cancellation the day after Thanksgiving day in the front of Eagle Tavern in a tent. Does anyone have a large weather proof tent I could borrow in late November? I would bet between OCAF and Ashford Manor we can scare one up by Halloween at least. The Oconee County Democratic Committee do...

Jay Hanley kindly replied to my query about Cowsert's companion, and I was wrong about him being his son. I have seen Doc Eldrige and apparent son eating at Foodworks recently with the younger one wearing a Cowsert shirt. Here it is Dan, Thank you for your attendance at Thursday's Oconee GOP meeting and for your comments about the well-run meeting. I am glad you felt welcome. That is our aim. On your blog, you pose a question to me as to who the young man was with Bill Cowsert. That was his campaign manager, Chris Herdner. As you observed, no local government officials were present for Ralph Reed's speech. Sheriff Berry is on Casey Cagle's list of endorsers as are Commissioners Luke and Horton. I don't know where the other commissioners stand on the LG race. Chairman Melvin Davis was out of town so that is why he was not present at the meeting. Again, thank you for your attendance. Jay Hanley Secretary, Oconee County Republican Party The topic that echoes th...

Blue Nation by Chris Bowers, Mon May 15, 2006 at 08:29:17 PM EST Ever since 2000, American progressives have been subjected to a steady stream of red-blue electoral maps. There are many problems with such maps, but what always irritated me the most about those maps were how they over-emphasized large, thinly populated expanses of land. New York City has more people than Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and the Dakotas combined, but on the red-blue electoral map of national counties is shows up as a tiny, dark blue speck compared to a sea of deep red. It was the sort of visual aide that any feudal lord would have loved, since it emphasized land instead of people. However, the situation has now changed. The new Survey USA 50-state Bush approval rating shows the depth of Bush's troubles. In forty-seven states, Bush has a negative approval rating. In seventeen states, Bush's disapproval rating doubles his approval rating. In fifteen states, his disapproval rating is lower than any dis...

A Lonely Warning On Debt By David S. Broder, The Washington Post Sunday, May 14, 2006 The hardest question any Washington reporter faces these days, whenever talking with voters outside the capital, is simply: Can I believe anything I'm told by those politicians in Washington -- or by the press? The cynicism in the public is thick enough to cut with a knife. People are tuning out on the president, on politicians -- and on the press. That is what makes it newsworthy when a public official, speaking on the record, sets forth a view that is as blunt and uncomfortable as it is politically unpalatable. Without further ado, let me then quote extensively from a speech delivered May 3 on the floor of the Senate by George Voinovich, a Republican from Ohio -- a speech that, by the way, drew almost no comment from his colleagues or from the apparently benumbed press corps. Voinovich began by pointing out that when he came to the Senate in 1999, "the national debt stood at $5.6 trillion. ...

The rodeo sucked because the announcer was a racist, sexist asshole who belittled women and minorities and gays, among many others. They also dropped the flag on the ground. This is the press release from the People for Ethical Treatment for Animals: Farmington, Ga. — PETA has fired off a letter to Dr. Michael Adams, president of the University of Georgia (UGA), urging him to make this year’s "pig tote" race in UGA’s Great Southland Stampede Rodeo the university’s last. PETA’s request follows a rash of complaints from UGA students and faculty that the baby pigs used in the event are obviously frightened, often attempt to escape, and have even suffered painful broken bones. In the pig tote, competitors thrust baby pigs by their hind legs into wheelbarrows and begin the race, during which the animals sometimes fall out and are tossed back in. Besides the frightening noise of the crowd and having to cope with strange surroundings, the baby pigs particularly suffer when they are ...

Evening everyone: We received very good news today folks. The owners of the Branch Road property at the corner of US441 have withdrawn their rezone request! Undoubtedly the unanimous vote for denial by the Planning Commission on Monday night, along with the recommendation for denial by the Planning Department, had significant impact on the developers. I’ll keep you posted on what more we may learn in the days/weeks ahead. I’m cautiously optimistic that this will be the last battle over commercial rezone of that property. Hopefully in the short-term at least. Thanks to all of you for your support!!! By influencing the type and quality of development in the southern region of the County, we are making a positive difference in the County as a whole. Stay tuned………

It was not so much who was in attendance in the less than two dozen people present for Lt. Gov. candidate Ralph Reed's appearance in Oconee County, it was who was not there. Not a single member of the local government, not even the sheriff. Now there were some other elected officials and candidates for certain; Comer's own State Senator and father of a billboard man Ralph Hudgens was there and endorsed Reed, Bill Cowsert and son ? (not sure about him) - I will defer to Jay Hanley who ran a good meeting and the Rev. Larry Davison who made me feel welcome and shook my hand upon exit. Ralph Reed spoke eloquently about a variety of topics. The mechanics of his school voucher program made me wonder why people who are in counties where more than 50% of the people DON'T fail won't get the government money to go to private schools or homeschool. And one member of the audience remarked that the several thousand dollars Reed was proposing would not even cover a third of the expen...

Watkinsville City Council May 11, 2006 Oconee Living Section Athens Banner-Herald Watkinsville Council increases local businesses by 10 By Daniel J. Matthews, Jr. Correspondent The Watkinsville City Council met with a very busy schedule Wednesday and approved nine new business license applications and renewed one with a notorious past. Sandy Callaway of S.C. Logging Company at 50 Barnett Shoals came back before the city council to seek reinstatement of his wood yard’s business license after getting it revoked during the previous administration of Mayor Sammy Sanders some years back. Callaway complied with numerous suggestions for beautifying the area he thought had been a wood yard for more than 60 years by removing junk cars and other garbage. Council member Joe Walter, who was the city’s first code enforcement officer, commented that he thought Callaway had complied with every request presented him by current code enforcement officer Robert Hegge. Council member Samantha Purcell succ...

Oconee groups want revised plan tweaked Stormwater management By Merritt Melancon | juliana.melancon@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 9:56 PM on Tuesday, May 16, 2006 WATKINSVILLE - Though turnout was low and public comment virtually nonexistent at the first public hearing on Oconee County's revised stormwater management plan, local advocacy groups are hoping officials will tweak the plan before it's approved June 6. Since Amy Morrison, the county's stormwater coordinator, first introduced the proposed stormwater management plan last fall, it's been consolidated from three ordinances into one and lost some of its teeth. Now members of the Athens Area Home Builders Association are inspecting the ordinance looking for any other objectionable regulations, while members of the county's smart-growth advocacy group Citizens for Oconee's Future are hoping that county officials will restore some of the regulations cut from the first draft. County officials ha...

This just in from Tony Glenn and the folks who want to save South Oconee: Sorry it’s taken me 24 hours to update all of you on the events at the Planning Commission meeting last evening. For those who could not attend you can find additional info at Kate McDaniel’s site (http://www.apvoc.com/). Our main issue was of course the proposed convenience store at the corner of Branch Road and US441. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the request. Their vote, along with the Planning Staff report which also recommended denial, gives us cautious optimism going into the Board of Commissioners meeting on June 6th. Remember that the BOC has the final deciding vote on rezone issues. I can’t stress enough that you should plan to attend the BOC meeting if at all possible. Having a significant number of people at the meeting, whether you intend to speak or not, does have an impact. Also, at the June 6th meeting, note that outside the Commission chambers there will be a row of sig...