Oconee County, GA Politics

Crowd Gathers for Candidates Forum in Oconee

None of the many mistakes made by Oconee County Board of Commissioners chair G. Melvin David by themselves rise to the level of an impeachable or criminal offense, but the continued pattern of subterfuge and ignorance of immediate county needs does point to a level of incompetence and boorish behavior which bodes poorly for Oconee County's future. I believe this necessitates a new level of leadership on the top elected officer level. Chairman Davis is a decent man, but I think we can do a whole lot better. For those of you tired of reading the list of errors, I suggest you skip ahead a few paragraphs. But here is something I posted in the Athens Banner-Herald's new political page a few days ago: 10. Testifying on behalf of convicted felon Jim Ivey 9. Holding secret meetings illegally in Madison and other clandestine planning debacles 8. Not calling for a BOC vote on beer and wine in restaurants in Oconee County. 7. No public swimming facilities yet at new park despite a donatio...

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Athens Banner-Herald asking for the resignation of Oconee County Board of Commissioners chairman G. Melvin Davis. Davis has done even more to ruin the reputation of Oconee County than merely testifying for a convicted felon or having a series of secret meetings making plans to move the Courthouse from downtown Watkinsville . I think this is emblematic of a much bigger problem of good old boy networking and covering of their collective asses. I am no conspiracy theory nut, but I do think there is a battle going on here with the future of Oconee County at stake. The residents and business owners of this county are the victims of this clandestine planning and secret meetings. Davis needs to resign to accept responsibility for a system gone out of control. He is a very genuine and nice person, but we have to say enough. At the very least he should not run for re-election. Please people, let the newspapers and the radio stations and your neighbors. Th...

In the wake of Dr. Paul Broun's win over Jim Whitehead for Congress, suddenly something seismically changed in the political power structure around here. Within a period of less than a half an hour, I conversed politely with local Republican leaders Melvin Davis (Board of Commissioners chairman) and Jim Luke (Board of Commissioners and former Planning Commission member) and had State Representative Bob Smith shake hands with me and ask me about my soccer playing son in Publix. I was astonished, but they all know we vote as well, sometimes with our noses held, and do occasionally have to vote G.O.P. in dire circumstances. Melvin made some feeble excuse for his vote on the Barnett Shoals rezone about a 30,000 square foot lots adjacent to the development as why he cast the vote to break the tie. Jim Luke, who voted against it, made it clear he is a property rights person "as long as it is reasonable" but also thumped his chest from the planning commission days about sidewalk...