Newspaper Page Text
4A
THURSDAY, JULY 13,2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Get out and vote
I urge every registered Georgian to go to the polls and
vote their conscience, regardless of Party affiliation or
political philosophy. Good men and women have invested
enormous effort to give voters choices and to assure the core
of our democracy remains strong. It is not only a privilege
to vote, but an obligation as a citizen of this great State.
On July 10 -14, vote early...no reason needed, no line at
either the
Houston County Annex, 200 Carl Vinson Pkwy.,
Warner Robins, or at the Board of Elections office in the
Government Building in Perry.
On July 18, vote Republican!
Judy Goddard,
Warner Robins
Worrall endorses Sellier
Houston County, Peach County and the entire middle
Georgia area have been blessed in recent years with the
quality leadership they have had in the Georgia General
Assembly.
Through the years, Robert Ray has become one of the
key leaders in Georgia government and he has repre
sented our area of the state with honesty and integrity so
often lacking in some of today’s leaders.
The citizens of middle Georgia need to carefully select
someone in the upcoming election who will continue to
serve with the same measure of enthusiasm, honesty,
and integrity that Robert Ray demonstrated as one of
Georgia’s foremost elected officials.
Tony Sellier has demonstrated that kind of leadership
through-his many community activities.
His knowledge of state government, as well as the
large number of friends he has in the Georgia General
Assembly, makes him uniquely qualified to take a place
in the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia. I
hope the people in his district will cast their vote for Tony
Sellier on July 18.
Jim Worrall
Mayor
City of Perry
Vote for Gary Biack
Most people are probably not aware that agriculture is
the largest single industry in Georgia contributing to 14
percent of Georgia’s economy. One in six jobs are in the
agricultural sector.
In two-thirds of Georgia’s counties, agriculture is either
the largest or second largest segment of their economy.
What does all of this mean?
• It means that agriculture is an economic driver for a
major portion of our state. The Georgia Department
of Agriculture and its programs and regulatory powers
impact our lives daily. The gasoline you buy is measured
and its formulation regulated by the Georgia Department
of Agriculture.
The food you eat is controlled by regulations adminis
tered by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture really does
impact your life everyday whether or not you are directly
involved in agriculture.
Who controls the Georgia Department of
Agriculture? You do! You elect the Commissioner who runs
the department. We have had the same Commissioner
for 34 years.
It is now time for a new direction, new leadership and
new ideas that will bring the department into the twenty
first century.
We need a Commissioner who will provide passionate
leadership to address the ever-increasing cost of fuel
made from oil from the Middle East.
Did you know that we could make bio-fuel from agricul
tural crops and other agricultural waste products such as
pine tree debris left behind after harvesting pine trees?
Do you know what is preventing us from creating bio
fuel.
Technically we are there in some areas and very close
in others.
But the biggest stumbling block is leadership, leader
ship and leadership. We need a leader who will lead the
change rather than respond to the change.
We need a leader who will find new markets for Georgia
agricultural products. We need a leader who will get the
job done.
We need a leader who has the experience and lead
ership abilities to passionately lead the effort.
We need to elect Georgia’s First Choice for Agriculture
Commissioner. Gary Black is a Republican who has
over 25 years of experience in working with agriculture,
agribusiness and rural communities. Go to Gary’s web
site www.votegaryblack.com and check out his vision for
Georgia.
Please read Gary Black’s Companion Animal
Initiative, Economic Development Initiative and
his ideas for developing Bio-fuels in Georgia.
The next time you eat or fuel your vehicle - think about
how agriculture impacts your life.
Then think about who is going to make sure that you
have the safest food supply in the world and alternative
fuels with which to operate your vehicles.
Go to the polls on July 18 and vote in the Republican
Primary for Gary Black - the first name on the ballot
under Commissioner of Agriculture.
Jody T Strickland,
Perry
Compare and contrast WR and Centerville
In some ways today’s
Centerville reminds me
of Warner Robins when
I arrived in town more than
50 years ago.
In some ways there are
stark differences.
For example, Warner
Robins’ main shopping
was on South Commercial
Circle, where the street was
unpayed. Centerville has
major shopping centers and
numerous stores and res
taurants.
Warner Robins’ main
street was a narrow strip of
asphalt that did not extend
to the city limits. Centerville
has a major thoroughfare,
shared with Warner Robins,
and other streets, all of them
overcrowded.
Warner Robins had gov
ernment apartments, a sub
division of rented houses and
about 50 privately owned
homes.
Centerville has luxury
apartment complexes, many
privately owned homes in
older sections of town and
Eagle Springs subdivision.
Warner Robins was a poor
town with very few residents
who did not have to scrounge
out a living week to week.
Centerville reflects prosper
ity and, in many instances,
wealth.
The contrasts could go on.
Something that has
caught my attention is the
way Centerville citizens
crowd city council meetings
to express their opinions.
_ J? ~ j
"I know a little mud is good for business...
but I'll be glad when this primary election is over!"
Reminiscing on the Centennial Games
This week marks the
10th anniversary of
the 1996 Centennial
Olympic Games. Hard to
believe. I blinked my eyes,
and a decade had passed
since I was part of the man
agement team at the Atlanta
Committee for the Olympic
Games. I served as manag
ing director communica
tions and government rela
tions.
To call the Centennial
Games the “Atlanta” Games
is a misnomer. Some of the
finest Olympic moments
occurred not in Dysfunction
Junction, but out in the
state.
For example, there was
never a more beautiful sight
than Sanford Stadium at the
University of Georgia, where
the men’s and women’s soc
cer finals were held. In fact,
more spectators watched
the women’s soccer finals in
Athens than had ever wit
nessed any women’s event
in history.
That’s good stuff.
One of my favorite ven
ues was the Olympic rowing
venue in Gainesville. Many
other locations begged,
pleaded, cajoled and some
times threatened us for an
Olympic venue. If they got
it, they immediately began
whining about the traffic
problems the venue would
cause them, the cost of police
overtime, the inconvenience
to the locals, the need for
us to hire somebody’s no
account brother-in-law and
for us to pay for everything.
Not Gainesville. They were
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
For many years, through
the 1940 s and 19505, Warner
Robins city council meetings
always drew a packed house.
Meetings were held in the
lobby of the old city hall
(torn down and replaced by
the Nola Brantley Library).
Citizens were veiy interest
ed in their city government
and attended meetings to
take part in them.
Some of the things said
and done at those Warner'
Robins council meetings
were hilarious and exciting.
For many years, the only
way to get a crowd at Warner
Robins city council meetings
is to have something on the
agenda that makes them
angry - rezoning that affects
them or new taxes.
For the present, at least,
Centerville’s relatively small
population is showing an
interest in their city, and
that is good.
They attend meetings and
they express themselves.
Dick Yarbrough
columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
great to work with.
The Games drew special
interest groups like a barn
yard draws flies. Our efforts
to stage the yachting venue
in Savannah were held up
interminably because of the
perceived danger to nesting
wood siorks. Why the storks
gave a tinker’s damn about
yachting was never fully
explained, but the media
made it sound like the end
of civilization as we know
it. The solution, of course,
was to hire the complaining
environmentalists and the
problem would magically
go away. Funny how that
works.
The City of Atlanta, as
stated ad nauseum, did a
poor job of preparing to be
on the world stage. The city
was too small-minded, race
obsessed and utterly devoid
of leadership in the govern
ment, the media and the
business community. Traffic
snarls, tacky souvenir
shacks, city officials claim
ing they would beam ads off
the moon - you can imag
ine how that played with
the national media - and
* * *
As the campaigns for
the Democratic and
Republican primaries wind
down you hear more and
more people complain
ing about “dirty politics.”
’’Why don’t they stick to the
issues in their advertising?”
is a common question.
The answer, of course, is
that those dirty ads, aimed
at tearing down the repu
tations of opponents, work
in state and national cam
paigns. They have a tenden
cy to backfire in local races.
Show me a state or nation
al candidate who sticks with
the issues and does not
attack opponents and I will
show you a loser.
Cathy Cox learned her les
son in a hurry this year. She
started out with television
ads in which she calmly pre
sented her campaign issues
and, before she knew it, she
was being accused of run
ning a lousy, wimpy cam
paign.
m mi
Jsshh
too many people intent on
turning a quick buck off the
Games conspired to make
the city look like a bad joke.
Fortunately, the Atlanta
newspapers knew right where
to lay the blame. When the
Games were over, a reporter
opined that the problems
had occurred because I was
“arrogant.” Being called
arrogant by the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution is like
being called fat by a sumo
wrestler.
There were many unsung
heroes: There were the
50,000 volunteers who
worked tirelessly to help
stage the Games; even today
I hear from people around
the country about how great
the volunteers were.
There were the hard-work
ing ACOG staff, who gave up
several years of their lives to
make the Games happen.
Then-Gov. Zell Miller was
indispensable in getting
us funds and manpower to
operate outside the venues,
and he ran interference for
us with the Feds. Miller
worked me over pretty good
a couple of times, but he
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Her opponent - Mark
Taylor - took out after her
from the start and gained
a good lead before Cox real
ized what was happening.
Now both Cox and Taylor
are running nothing but
attack ads down the stretch.
The Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s Political
Insider column pointed out
this week how both candi
dates are targeting black vot
ers on black radio stations
and other black media this
week because, as Political
Insider said, “blacks control
the Democratic Party.” Each
candidate is trying to prove
he or she will do the most
for them.
I won’t go into that asser
tion, but it is obvious that
the candidate that gets
the most black votes will
emerge the winner. Blacks
do vote around 90 percent
Democratic. Some of the
things being said in that
niche advertising might
make your hair stand on
end.
Anyway, politics is not
played by the Marquis of
Queensbury rules.
It is a death sport, in
which the winner takes all
and the loser usually fades
into oblivion. Politicians are
not in it to run a good race,
to receive compliments for
running a clean campaign or
for the fun of it.
They are in it to win and,
in politics, winning is every
thing.
came through with what we
needed to stage the Games.
The two million fans who
refused to be intimidated by
the Olympic Park bombing
had a great time and were
themselves heroes. They
were here to celebrate this
once-in-a-lifetime event and
to soak up the experience,
and they did.
The biggest heroes, of
course, were the 10,000
men and women from 197
countries who had trained a
lifetime for a few moments
of glory in Atlanta. Eighty
percent were eliminated in
their first competition, but
that really didn’t matter.
They were and always will
be Olympians.
Finally, I will be forever
blessed for having known
and worked with Billy Payne,
ACOG’s founder and CEO.
He saw the goodness in the
Olympic movement that the
rest of us frequently missed.
I am asked constantly,
would I do it again? Would
I endure the pressure, the
long hours, the meanness,
the squabbles, the bombing
and all the second-guessing
to help stage the Olympic
Games in Georgia? I hon
estly don’t know.
All I know is that the
experience was like hitting
yourself in the head with a
hammer. It sure felt good
when it was over.
You can reach
Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net,
PO. Box 725373, Atlanta,
Georgia 31139, or Web site:
www.dickyarbrough.com.