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PAGE 4A BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008 Opinions “Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ” - Henry Ward Beecher - Chris Bridges, editor • Email: cbridges@barrowjournal.com our views Apartment projects need close look WHAT IS the future of hous ing in Barrow County? While that may seem like a remote concern today given the hous ing bust and general economic downturn, it is a key question Barrow County citizens need to consider. Last week, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners approved a controversial zoning change for a large development that dropped 48 single-family houses from the plan and added 264 apartments instead. The developer asked for the zoning change because of the housing slump, saying it would be easier to market apartments than houses. The move was opposed by the county planning board, which recommended denial of the zoning change. It was also opposed by the Barrow County School System. In the developer’s presenta tion to the BOC, attorney John Stell argued that the apartments would “cause less sprawl” and would not impact local schools as much as houses, saying peo ple without children are more likely to rent apartments. Perhaps on a national scale, that is the case. Certainly in col lege towns like nearby Athens, apartment rentals have fewer children. But in Barrow County, it’s dif ficult to determine exactly what the demographic of apartment rentals will become. It’s not a college community, nor is it an urban area that attracts young professionals. Stell told the BOC that he thought those 264 apart ments would have less than 50 students in Barrow County schools. Maybe, but that seems unlikely given Barrow’s location, demo graphics and growth history. In recent years, Barrow has attract ed a lot of young families and has a median age of 32 com pared to the national average of 36.4. It’s likely that given the economic downturn and tighter credit markets, young families in Barrow County will move to apartments in the next few years more than Stell suggested. Regardless, the impact on schools is just one issue the com munity should consider as it pon ders other proposed apartment projects. As a recent Harvard study shows, the demographic divide between homeownership and renters is becoming more and more significant. A community cannot build long term wealth or grow leader ship off of rental housing. The Barrow Journal Winder, Barrow County, Ga. www.BarrowJournal.com Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher Chris Bridges Editor Susan Norman Reporter Susan Treadwell Advertising Manager Susan Mobley Office Manager Jeremy Ginn Marketing Manager Jessica Brown Photographer POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Barrow Journal, 77 East May Street, Winder, Georgia 30680 Published 52 times per year by Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. Application to Mail at Periodicals Postage Rates Pending at Winder, Ga. Email: news@barrowjournal.com Phone: 770-867-NEWS (6397) Fax: 678-425-1435 SUBSCRIPTIONS: Inside Barrow County $15.00/yr Senior Citizens in Barrow $13.00/yr. Surrounding Counties $19.75/yr. Other In-State $38.85/yr. Out of State $44.50/yr. Military/APO $42.50/yr. Out of county Senior Citizens Deduct $2 The Grinch was right “Maybe Christmas, ” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store....Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” - the Grinch Mr. Clark was in the Athens unemployment office the other day. The place was full. One of the clerks said he’s worked in that office for 14 years and he’s “never seen it this bad.” Usually, he said, the Athens office sees around 1,200 people a month. “Last month, we saw over 6,000,” he said. “1 don’t know what we’re going to do about finding all these people jobs.” According to the headlines, 1 in 10 Americans is “in mortgage trouble,” whatever that means. Last week, our very own Barrow Journal reported that foreclosures in Barrow County have jumped 80-percent in the last five months. There were 157 foreclosures in our county in October and a total of nearly 1,400 so far this year. The headlines also say the 533,000 layoffs that occurred nationwide in November were the “most in 34 years.” Not to worry, retail sales are down, too. A post-Thanks- giving headline cries, “Nov. retail sales worst in 30 years.” All this said, after only brief deliberation, we agreed not to exchange Christmas gifts this year - not in the immedi ate Clark house, or between the extended Clark family houses. The extended Sinn family is on the bus, as well. We did agree that we would all probably break the rule a bit by sending small collective boxes of things we made ourselves on the cheap. For example, I might make some note cards with photos I’ve taken on them. Mr. Clark could throw in some of his jalapeno hot sauce. My daughter might add some silly self-imprinted things, like crazy koozies or festive cocktail napkins. My daughter-in-law’s recent association with Arbonne products could certainly round out the low cost, but heartfelt holiday boxes we send to the out-of-state relatives. Within the immediate Clark family, we’ve agreed to break the mles by exchanging coupons for various things we’ve “been gonna’” do for each other for months. Without giv ing away the surprises, I can say that we all have some nice ideas for things we can do for each other that involve time rather than money. It may be shaping up to be a pretty good Christmas, after all... When we first thought of no gifts this year, it seemed like a pretty rough prospect. I mean, Christmas - with nothing to open? Surprisingly, it seemed fine to us all. These tough economic times are impacting even the still gainfully employed pretty hard and, it turns out, most of us are just not that excited by the prospect of another holiday season spent roaming the aisles of Target and Macy’s hoping to find something that communicates love (or at least warm est regards) to each and every person on our shopping list. There wasn’t even any discussion. “That sounds good to me...Yep, count us in...We have no problem with that... ” were just a few of the reactions voiced in family phone calls and e-mails. And surprisingly, the prospect of a relatively non-mate rialist Christmas has been very freeing emotionally. I am actually feeling much more festive this year than I have in many years and a lot of it has to do with simply knowing that this holiday season is not going to be about gifts - at all. Mr. Clark put up the Christmas tree today and we hung our wreaths and outdoor decorations. The nutcracker collection is back up on the mantle. The angel collection looks great, as always, on the piano. A few cinnamon and pine scented candles set the tone in the air. And Christmas music is pretty much all we’ll be listening to from here on through the New Year. Who says you need to buy a bunch of stuff to enjoy the holidays? One of the things I like most about life are the surprises along the way. Difficult times, problems and challenges come to us for a reason — there is a lesson to be learned. I can’t say that Mr. Clark’s six months (and still counting) of unemployment have been anything but harrowing. I can say there have already been some valuable lessons learned. I think this Christmas of no gifts is another lesson in the making. After all, Christmas is not about stuff. It’s about love, and miracles, and drawing closer together on a cold, clear night. Isn’t that what happened in that stable, so long ago... and, isn’t that what we seek as we deck our halls, and string our lights, and wander the aisles of our favorite department store? The Grinch was right. Christmas doesn’t have to come from a store. And, yes, it does mean a good bit more. Lorin Sinn-Clark is a columnist for the Barrow Journal. She can be reached at lorin@barrowjournal.com. Where is leadership during budget crisis? AT A TIME when Georgia is facing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and has to deal with a budget deficit of $2 billion or more, what has been the response of our political leadership? Let’s put it this way: there is definitely room for improve ment. The Legislative Services Committee, whose member ship includes the top leaders of the state Senate and House of Representatives, voted last week to defer a 3 percent cost-of-living pay increase that lawmakers were scheduled to receive in 2009. They made it sound as if they were mak ing a huge personal sacrifice for Georgia’s taxpayers. “As we face tremendous budget challenges, it is appropriate that we do our part,” said Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), the outgoing Senate president pro tern who plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2010. How much of a sacrifice are we really talking about? Deferring the salary increase will cost each lawmaker about $525 next year - or about $124,000 total for the entire General Assembly. The budget now exceeds $21 billion a year, so the legislative reduction will amount to less than one-thousandth of one percent of total state spending. As my accountant friend would say, that’s not even a rounding error. It’s certainly a nice symbolic gesture, but it won’t get you close to making up a $2 billion budget deficit. The legislative leadership could have made a bigger dent in state spending if they had called a special session during the fall and started some serious discussions about which programs should be cut and which should be retained. They declined to call a special session prior to Nov. 4 because they were all running for reelection to another two-year term. That’s an understandable reason for not acting on the budget crisis. The problem is, they also declined to call a special session after election day, appar ently thinking they can just let the state’s problems drag on while the economy goes deeper into the tank. Evidently, a deferred pay raise is the most we’re going to see from our lawmakers. How about the state’s chief executive, Gov. Sonny Perdue? His department heads are actually talking about budget cuts and one of them resulted in the closing of an assisted living facility in Milledgeville where more than 80 military veterans were trying to live out their final years. The vet erans were told to find new residences by Thanksgiving, because after that they would be evicted. The savings to the state from shutting down that veterans’ facility totaled about $2.7 million. It seems like a harsh way to save a few dollars, but these are hard times we’re fac ing and sometimes budget cuts are going to hurt people. There’s just no way to avoid that reality. Of course, Perdue could have saved even more money if he had canceled the ill-fated “Go Fish” program that he announced last year to great fanfare. This initiative, which will cost taxpayers at least $19 mil lion, authorized the construction of larger docks and boat ramps at state reservoirs in hopes that the new facilities would attract bass fishing tournaments. It was a great idea, Perdue claimed, that would boost tourism and make Georgia a destination state for all those people who just can’t get enough professional bass fishing. Perdue had the misfortune of proposing this wonderful idea at the same time that a record-setting drought swept across the state, dropping the water levels in reservoirs to historic lows. Two fishing tournaments that had been planned at Lake Lanier were cancelled because of the drought and the boost in tourism spending that Go Fish would bring about doesn’t seem to have happened. But that hasn’t stopped Perdue from plunging ahead with plans to build a new visi tors center and hatchery to support the fishing program in Houston County. The cynical among us would note that Houston also happens to be the county where Perdue was born, raised, and first elected to the Legislature. So, with the next session of the General Assembly soon upon us, here’s the tally on how our political leadership is dealing with a huge budget deficit: they’ve deferred a small pay raise for legislators and they’ve kicked 81 veterans out of an assisted living facility. That would reduce the budget deficit to about $1,997,000,000. I’m sure they’ll be able to take care of that with little trouble. Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report. He can be reached at taawford@capitolimpacL net. Parades can provide sense of town unity THE RECENT Christmas parade in downtown Winder officially ush ered in the holiday season. I know the decorations have been out for some time in quite a few homes and the Christmas lights in the downtown area have been piercing the night sky for several weeks now. However, it seems the parade (the 60th annual event took place Dec. 6) always turns up the fes tive atmosphere another notch and such was the case on a cold, December afternoon recently. When you think about it, parades and holiday events often go hand in hand. I still remember growing up in my hometown and enjoy ing an annual parade each fall as part of a community gathering we called the “Deer Festival.” It seems if you are from a small town, you can tell tales of events which are usually culminated with parades. While Winder is certainly larger than my hometown of Monticello, located in Middle Georgia, the Christmas parade still has the same feel to it. Traffic comes to a halt in the downtown area and many make it a family event each year. Parades like the one we enjoyed in Winder earlier this month have “Americana” written all over them. Whether they are signaling the arrival of Christmas or celebrate the Fourth of July, hometown parades, to me, are as American as Old Glory waving in the breeze. It’s something that crossed my mind recently when the 60th annu al Christmas parade was enjoyed by all those who braved the ele ments. • • • Hearing the news of the pass ing of WSB radio personality Mike Kavanaugh recently took me back some 18 years. At the time, I was a college student and was freelancing high school football games on Friday night. Admittedly, I was probably one of the few 19-year-olds whose radio spent any time on the AM dial, but WSB radio was must lis tening for me at the time. On Friday nights after the game I attended was over, I would call the WSB newsroom and report the score of the game. Kavanaugh was working the news desk on those Friday nights some 18 years ago and it got to the point where he recognized my voice when I would say, “I have a high school football score to report.” For someone trying to get a foot in the journalism door, to be even be able to speak with someone with the status Kavanaugh held meant something. While I never met him in person, I will always remember the why he treated me like a fellow professional when I dialed in. It was only a simple high school football score, but Kavanaugh made me feel like I was reporting something truly news worthy. Kavanaugh, only 57, died unex pectedly of a heart attack on his birthday recently. He had logged decades as a broadcaster and was also one of the best financial plan ners in the field. Years after our Friday night phone conversations I would laugh to myself when I would think how he would have disapproved of how I don’t handle my money wisely. A generation has passed since our brief Friday night phone con versations, but Kavanaugh’s voice always took my back to that part of life which truly seems ages ago now. His passing, in some small way, took a part of me with him. Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournai com. Ah chris bridges