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4A THURSDAY, JULY 13,2006 ptcruahm Hmmral 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 ' tsaaasaMaai i ■■ .. 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.