Since you will not see this Letter to the Editor online
Here is the text of a letter sent by Charles Baugh:
Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc.
P. O. Box 1301
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Following is the text of a letter to the editor which I just sent to the Oconee Enterprise.
Dear Editor
The attitude toward and disdain for citizens who speak out on issues important to Oconee County exhibited in the 9/20 opinion column by the former Oconee County Utility Department Director is the same arrogant attitude displayed when he was the utility director. It is good that he is now the former utility director. Perhaps if he had a more positive attitude about citizen suggestions and input his advice on the Walton water contract would have been different and Board members Davis, Luke and Norris would not have voted to enter into such an expensive open ended contract which will yield only 3.5 million gallons of water in 5 or 6 years. The former utility director has resorted to the method of defending a decision by attacking the messenger rather than defending the decision based on the facts.
The three members of the Board, Messrs Davis, Norris and Luke took what appeared to be the easy way by voting to spend over $100 million (hard to say how much in an open ended contract) in Walton County to produce only 3.5mgd. It may have been an "easy decision" for Mr. Davis but it will not be an easy decision for the water customers and the taxpayers.
One does not have to be an expert to read this contract and understand the implications for the future of Oconee County. All I ask is that citizens read the contract and or my summary. Once again I will summarize the most egregious parts for your readers.
Article 3 establishes a management board for the water project controlled by Walton County.
Section 101 obligates the County for 50 years. No upper limit on cost.
Section 201 places title to the project in Walton County. The effect is that Oconee will spend an unlimited amount and will not hold title.
Section 202 (a) specifically requires the levy of an annual ad valorem tax(property tax) "unlimited as to amount"
Section 210 makes the obligations under the contract general obligations which must be paid with taxes if enough water cannot be sold to pay the bonds.
Section 702 provides for direct levy of tax on all taxable property in the county.
Article 6 provides for the issuance of bonds in unlimited amounts.
Section 205(b)(1)(B) and section 206 require other participants to pay deficient amounts for bond payments for defaulting participants.
Section 102 requires Oconee to pay a share of the costs already incurred by Walton but does not state what costs are to be paid.
Section 208 requires participants to make payments with no recourse for nonperformance by any participant. No matter how poorly run or how poorly managed Oconee just keeps paying.
Section 704 provides that default by the operator shall not relieve any participant of liability for payment of amounts specified by the contract. The county must pay even if no water is ever produced.
There are other issues but I will stop here and ask that citizens just read the contract.
It may too late to change what has been done but citizens should be fully informed in order to evaluate and hold accountable the three folks who did this. There remains a possibility that some of the lawsuits filed or to be filed in Walton County will save us from this decision but the chances are slight. I am hopeful that citizens will be more focused on the actions of their government in the coming months and will focus on this decision and its implications for the county. Government works best when citizens pay attention to what government does.
And here is my response to Miss Vinnie's ill-informed gossip column of yours truly last week:
Dear Miss Vinnie:
Thanks for reporting that I care enough about Watkinsville and Oconee County to write in Wikipedia. Since I am probably the only professional journalist to have been paid to write for all three newspapers at various times, I feel I have the right to comment about them in the public forum. Just for your information, I could care less about your lack of circulation or the total market coverage aspect of the Oconee Leader either. I would be willing to bet that one of your right wing sleuths have tracked down every thing I have ever put in Wikipedia. Hey, good for them. Glad I make them so nervous. May I make a suggestion? Instead of wasting ink and column inches on gossip about computer sites you clearly have a limited understanding about, why not write about the ongoing allegations of corruption in the various levels of government around Oconee? Would this cause all your advertising revenue to dry up and disappear? What about the advertisement a few weeks ago making all kinds of charges against the leader of local law enforcement just below his column?
Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc.
P. O. Box 1301
Watkinsville, GA 30677
Following is the text of a letter to the editor which I just sent to the Oconee Enterprise.
Dear Editor
The attitude toward and disdain for citizens who speak out on issues important to Oconee County exhibited in the 9/20 opinion column by the former Oconee County Utility Department Director is the same arrogant attitude displayed when he was the utility director. It is good that he is now the former utility director. Perhaps if he had a more positive attitude about citizen suggestions and input his advice on the Walton water contract would have been different and Board members Davis, Luke and Norris would not have voted to enter into such an expensive open ended contract which will yield only 3.5 million gallons of water in 5 or 6 years. The former utility director has resorted to the method of defending a decision by attacking the messenger rather than defending the decision based on the facts.
The three members of the Board, Messrs Davis, Norris and Luke took what appeared to be the easy way by voting to spend over $100 million (hard to say how much in an open ended contract) in Walton County to produce only 3.5mgd. It may have been an "easy decision" for Mr. Davis but it will not be an easy decision for the water customers and the taxpayers.
One does not have to be an expert to read this contract and understand the implications for the future of Oconee County. All I ask is that citizens read the contract and or my summary. Once again I will summarize the most egregious parts for your readers.
Article 3 establishes a management board for the water project controlled by Walton County.
Section 101 obligates the County for 50 years. No upper limit on cost.
Section 201 places title to the project in Walton County. The effect is that Oconee will spend an unlimited amount and will not hold title.
Section 202 (a) specifically requires the levy of an annual ad valorem tax(property tax) "unlimited as to amount"
Section 210 makes the obligations under the contract general obligations which must be paid with taxes if enough water cannot be sold to pay the bonds.
Section 702 provides for direct levy of tax on all taxable property in the county.
Article 6 provides for the issuance of bonds in unlimited amounts.
Section 205(b)(1)(B) and section 206 require other participants to pay deficient amounts for bond payments for defaulting participants.
Section 102 requires Oconee to pay a share of the costs already incurred by Walton but does not state what costs are to be paid.
Section 208 requires participants to make payments with no recourse for nonperformance by any participant. No matter how poorly run or how poorly managed Oconee just keeps paying.
Section 704 provides that default by the operator shall not relieve any participant of liability for payment of amounts specified by the contract. The county must pay even if no water is ever produced.
There are other issues but I will stop here and ask that citizens just read the contract.
It may too late to change what has been done but citizens should be fully informed in order to evaluate and hold accountable the three folks who did this. There remains a possibility that some of the lawsuits filed or to be filed in Walton County will save us from this decision but the chances are slight. I am hopeful that citizens will be more focused on the actions of their government in the coming months and will focus on this decision and its implications for the county. Government works best when citizens pay attention to what government does.
And here is my response to Miss Vinnie's ill-informed gossip column of yours truly last week:
Dear Miss Vinnie:
Thanks for reporting that I care enough about Watkinsville and Oconee County to write in Wikipedia. Since I am probably the only professional journalist to have been paid to write for all three newspapers at various times, I feel I have the right to comment about them in the public forum. Just for your information, I could care less about your lack of circulation or the total market coverage aspect of the Oconee Leader either. I would be willing to bet that one of your right wing sleuths have tracked down every thing I have ever put in Wikipedia. Hey, good for them. Glad I make them so nervous. May I make a suggestion? Instead of wasting ink and column inches on gossip about computer sites you clearly have a limited understanding about, why not write about the ongoing allegations of corruption in the various levels of government around Oconee? Would this cause all your advertising revenue to dry up and disappear? What about the advertisement a few weeks ago making all kinds of charges against the leader of local law enforcement just below his column?
Comments
Check out this article in yesterday's Columbia County News Times:
http://newstimes.augusta.com/stories/092607/opi_145127.shtml
I'm new to the blogosphere. Can I link to you and would you link to me?
http://theaugustan.blogspot.com