About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2008)
Page 4A The Braselton News Wednesday, March 19, 2008 The Braselton News A publication of Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc. Mike Buffington Editor & Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher General Phone: 706-367-5233 Opinion “Difference of opinion leads to enquiry, and enquiry to truth. ” -Thomas Jefferson Braseltoons byJohnShepptird bMPPy BIRTHDAY AAA BEL Eighty-seven is the new seventy-eight. letters Says developers used ‘bait and switch’ our views Tax cut smoke and mirrors IT MUST BE an election year. Georgia legislators are tripping all over themselves to see who can pass tax cutting legislation. Some might call that “conservative political values.” But a better term might be “pandering to voters.” The current legislative tax cut war began last year when House Speaker Glenn Richardson, a likely candidate for governor in 2010, went on the speak ing circuit to promote his plan for the state taking over all local taxes by abolishing property taxes and replacing them with a sales tax hike which he and he colleagues would control and dole out to county and city governments. The problem with that plan was two-fold: First, it gave tremendous power to the state while it weak ened local governments, drawing the opposition of every city, county and school official in Georgia. Second, on his speaking tour, Richardson insulted anyone who questioned his plan, showing himself to be arrogant and abrasive. He didn’t ask for input, he dictated. That plan died and Richardson replaced it with a couple of other watered-down efforts. In the end, he pushed through the House a plan to abolish taxes on cars, a move that wouldn’t hit the state govern ment very much but that would hit all local govern ments, forcing them to raise taxes on homes and real estate to make up the difference. But Richardson’s plan was received coolly by Gov. Sonny Perdue, whose veto pen could kill it. Meanwhile, over in the state Senate, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, another potential candidate for gov ernor in 2010, stood on the sidelines until this week. On Tuesday, he announced his tax plan, which is to cut the state income tax by 10 percent over the next five years. That plan would not affect local gov ernments, as the plans Richardson has promoted would do. Cagle’s move was clever political poker that left his rival, Richardson, sputtering. Richardson wants to lead a tax cut as a basis for a run at governor, but he wants to make that cut not from the state, but rather from local governments. It’s always easier to cut the other guy’s taxes while leaving your own untouched. Cagle called his hand, in effect saying, “OK, let cut taxes, but let’s cut state taxes and not local taxes.” For average citizens, Cagle’s proposal would have the biggest impact. But both plans are likely in dan ger of a Perdue veto due to the slow economy and the impact any kind of tax cut would have on gov ernment revenues. For the most part, all the talk of cutting taxes is a game of smoke and mirrors from those seeking leverage to make a bid for governor in 2010. The Braselton News Angela Gary Managing Editor Kerri Testement News Editor Kristi Reed Reporter Jeremy Ginn Advertising Susan Tredwell Advertising Web Site: braseltonnews.com Classified Advertising classifieds@mainstreetnews.com Dear Editor: Just want to say hip, hip, hurray and a big “attaboy” to all the commissioners, developers, real estate agents, and recommendation/planning board for the beautiful Roman candle street/park ing lot lights at the new Publix shopping center on Hwy. 124 and 332. My family now enjoys our entire house being lit up 24 hours a day. They’re more like spotlights and you can’t look out the window with out being blinded. Our quality of life has now been reduced to the level it was in Gwinnett County many years ago. It’s not like we haven’t attended commission meetings. It’s just a gesture that they let us speak at all. The property behind our home was rezoned to NRC from R1 without any consideration that it bordered homes on all sides. The so-called rezon ing sign conveniently fell forward and no one saw it until right before the meeting. Our family, along with several other families, attended the meeting, but it was already a done deal. Real estate agent Joyce Hay/MetroBrokers rep resenting the developer and veterinarian purchas ing the five acres ask us not to oppose the rezon ing and they would guarantee privacy, very little lighting and not to develop the back four acres and leave natural as it’s densely populated with beauti ful trees. The developer offered to split the cost of a privacy fence along the back of our property What a joke. It was a “gentleman’s handshake” and apparently we weren’t dealing with gentlemen. Not only did they mislead, they have put the property back up for sale. The old bait and switch tactic. Now we’re all left to wonder what the heck is going to end up behind us. Oh I know, maybe more won derful lighting to further our quest for more com mercial development. There’s a place for that type of development and we all understand the county needs the rev enue, but is it to the detriment of its citizens? With a falling market, foreclosures at a all time high, decrease in home value and the recession, even if I wanted to move (and we don’t) we wouldn’t be able to sell our house. I am begging the planning commission to please halt development on top of our biggest investment, our homes. Or, developers can continue to pur chase land on top of residential neighborhoods, ruin Jackson County, and line the pockets of the very elected/appointed officials that represent us. Let’s not forget what brings these same develop ers to our county. It’s the demographics. If you keep this up, the demographics won’t be here to support “smart” development and we’ll end up with the thousands of acres of empty concrete buildings like other counties. Wake up citizens of Jackson County. Speak out and make sure you’re heard. Sincerely, Tina Heaslip, Hoschton Gwinnett police over-staffed? Dear Editor: With the price of gas so high, the police should be a bit more conscious on how to spend our tax money I couldn’t believe when I saw about two to three police cars within a one mile range at Sardis Church Road (from the corner of Thompson Mill Rd. to the corner of Friendship Rd.) driving back and forth going after just about anybody they could reach. Seemed to me that they needed to reach their ticket quota for the whole month. I drove on that road four times that day They finally got me on my last trip. Before I could finish that one mile distance, I was pulled over. The offi cer had the nerve to tell me that I was driving over 40 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. This should be considered entrapment. Police shouldn’t just be able to do whatever they want. I feel violated. Sincerely, Beth Fike, Hoschton The fight over Sunday sale of beer and wine JUST WHEN it looked like Gov. Sonny Perdue and House Speaker Glenn Rich ardson might have run out of things to fight about in the waning days of the legisla tive session, along came the issue of Sunday package sales of beer and wine. Sunday sales are once again in play because a House committee has added the provision to a bill that would legalize beer sales on Sun day at the new stadium in Gwinnett County where the Atlanta Braves will place one of their minor league teams. Pro-alcohol lawmakers figured that if it’s okay to sell suds on Sunday at a baseball game or at a restaurant, what’s the harm if a grocery store sells the stuff as well? According to the governor, there’s plenty of harm. Perdue told reporters last week that he looks unfavorably upon the Sunday package sales bill, an indication that he will veto the measure should it ever cross his desk. “I think it’s the wrong thing to do and I think it’s the wrong time to do it,” Perdue said. “I haven’t supported this in the past, I don’t now.” That touched off another clash with Richardson, who’s been seething at Sonny ever since the governor vetoed a tax break last year that the speaker favored. “The governor does not get the final vote, the General Assembly does, and if we vote on something and he vetoes it, especially something like this where he has absolutely no ground to stand on, then we’ll come in here ... in January and override the veto,” Richardson said. “It would be one thing if you had a moral position that there should be no sales on Sunday, but once you say you’re OK with Sunday sales at a Braves game or Sunday sales in limousine, which is what [Perdue] said, I don’t know how you have a moral ground,” Richardson added. Richardson is making a mistake here when he assumes that Perdue takes a consistent position on issues. The governor is actually one of the big gest flip-floppers since John Kerry, and if Perdue should veto the Sun day sales bill for the reasons he gave to reporters, it won’t be the first time he has taken a contradictory position on a volatile political issue. When asked why he opposed Sunday package sales, Perdue said, “I think six days is plenty [of time] to gather up. You’ve got refrigerators. You’ve got different stores open. I think we need a little relief on Sunday” Perdue, who’s a non-drinking Baptist, is saying that he wants the gov ernment to impose his personal religious preferences on all Georgians when it comes to the issue of buying alcoholic beverages on Sundays. But that’s very different from past statements where Perdue has opposed govern ment interference into personal decisions and the idea of Georgia becoming a “nanny state.” In 2005, for example, the General Assembly passed a bill that prohib ited smoking in many restaurants and other public places. At the bill sign ing ceremony, Perdue criticized the legislation because he thought it rep resented too much government intrusion into what is ultimately a personal matter. “We don’t want or need government to mandate for us what we eat or drink or how much exercise we get or whether we engage in dangerous activities, from skydiving to smoking,” Perdue said before signing the no-smoking bill. “I’m concerned about what I refer to as a growing nanny government,” Perdue said on that same occasion. “We really just want government to leave us alone. We want to make our own choices even if they’re the wrong ones.” For good measure, Perdue added, “when you start legislating these kinds of issues for people, limiting their choices, it really begins to con cern me because of the whole issue of government intrusion.” Of course, that was then . . . this is now. When the state uses its authority to prevent you from smoking in a public place, then it’s being a nanny government and that’s wrong, according to our governor three years ago. But when the state tells you not to buy beer and wine in a grocery store on Sun day, even when Sunday sales of alcohol have been legal for years at ball parks and restaurants, then that’s just fine, according to our governor now. So we are headed for another legislative battle over this issue - a battle that might have been avoided if the governor could somehow be persuaded to stop talking out of both sides of his mouth. Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia. England responds to critics of watering bill BY REP.TERRY ENGLAND Tuesday of last week marked the 30th day of our 40 day legisla tive session. This is a crucial day because it is the day that a bill must have passed at least one body in order to have a chance of becom ing law. I would like to comment on a piece of legislation that I have been criticized locally for sponsoring. HB 1281 deals with outdoor watering restrictions that are placed by local authorities, whether it is cities or counties. First let me say, I appreciate our local water utility folks and the job they do and in no way has this ever been aimed at the job they have done during this drought. They have managed our water resources tremendously well; unfortunately that is not the case across the State. We have had some very bad actors in parts of the State during the drought that have failed to plan ahead. There have been those that for no reason have enacted complete outdoor watering bans because they did not want to an swer customer calls asking about restrictions any more. One metro area city water utility management personnel asked their city council to go to a complete outdoor watering ban and when asked what the justification was, the reply was, “it just seems like a good idea” they had no reason to do so. Things like this have cost 35,000 Georgians there jobs in the Green Industry since last August. I have been working closely with the Georgia Municipal Association to make changes to the Bill as we get it ready for its journey through the Senate. The other parts of the Bill that they are excited about deals with the ability to ask to come out from under the State imposed reduction mandates and drought level imposed restrictions in com munities that may be a part of the drought area but have plenty of water to use. Currently and during the last 9 months, there have been many communities asking to come out from under these restrictions but under current law they can not. This has had a major impact on their budgets as they count on water sales for large portions of their operating revenues. There are also emergency measures that I have added to the Bill also to allevi ate many concerns I have heard. I would be more than happy to dis cuss this or any Bill you may have questions about. You may have heard that Gover nor Perdue has lowered the rev enue projections for this state. For us in the legislature, this means that we must revise the budgets we have been working on and make spending cuts in some areas. While this does mean we have less money to fund our priorities, I again reiterate that the House remains committed to funding our education needs and we are work ing diligently to get those funds to our schools. As a member of the Appropriations Sub Committee on Education, I can tell you that we are working hard to get you your money’s worth. God Bless you and your family. Representative Terry England represents parts of Barrow county in the House of Representatives. During the Session he may be con tacted at: 501 Coverdell Legislative Office Building, Atlanta, GA 30334 Office: 404-656-0183 Email: terry.england@house. ga.gov ENGLAND
