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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL jgnptS TO THE EDITOR SPLOST article raises blood pressure The Saturday article entitled “Is a SPLOST refund on the horizon?” has raised my blood Pressure to the near boiling over point. When SPLOST 2001 was proposed, the county commission told Houston County resi dents of projects that were needed and if we did not approve them surely the sky would fall upon us with unbearable consequences. Well, even though we approved the SPLOST, the sky has not fallen upon us and we suffer only from the taxation levied upon us and the loss of faith in anything the county commis sion has to say. We were led to believe that if we approved SPLOST 2001 we would not face tax increases. Guess what? We were deceived. We were told that if SPLOST funds in excess of the SBS million were collected we would see a tax rebate. Guess what? We were deceived. We were told that the SPLOST 2001 projects were “NEEDED”, but as of the moment 17 of the 23 county projects have either not been started or completed. Now, what is the most telling factor to be considered when deciding whether those projects were needed: The statements of the county commission and their mind-numbed supporters or the evidence that five years after SPLOST approval the “needs” have not even begun to be addressed even though the money to complete them has been taken out of our wallets and purses? Guess what? We were deceived again. Mr. Steve Engle, Director of Administration, is quoted as indicating that any excess SPLOST 2001 funds collected have to be used to pay for uncompleted 2001 SPLOST proj ects. “Some projects (from the 2001 SPLOST) are going out to bid just now”, Engle noted. Mr. Engle is incorrect. Page 16 of the Association of County Commissions of Georgia SPLOST Guide states, “If one of the approved projects is completed under budget, the law allows counties and municipalities to shift the excess proceeds from the under budget project to one that may be experiencing cost overruns. Proceeds saved on one project and used on another would not be considered excess proceeds”. Note that excess proceeds can be used for a project that is experiencing a cash shortfall only from SPLOST projects that were completed under cost estimates. Again quoting from the ACCG SPLOST Guide, “In case of a ‘shortfall’ of SPLOST funds to pay for projects. The approved projects could be scaled back, but not abandoned. A local government must make up any shortfall from their general fund or other funding sources.” In other words, the government could issue bonds or raise taxes to make up the differ ence. In the case of bonds, the taxpayer will pay for those also. Regarding excess proceeds, “the law requires that they be used solely to reduce or pay off existing debt of the county. If there is no county debt, any excess proceeds must be paid into the general fund of the county to reduce property taxes. Note that the SPLOST law does not require that the excess proceeds deposited in the general fund be shown as a property tax credit or offset. Instead, a county may expend those proceeds for some other public purpose that would otherwise have to be paid for with property taxes, thereby having the effect of reducing property taxes as the law requires (O.C.G.A. 48-8-121(g)).” In other words, forget any tax rebate regardless of what the county commission may have led you to believe. The most galling aspect of the matter is the absolute misuse of public funds and abuse of public faith. When a SPLOST is approved, the community expects to see some movement to provide for those vital needs their government leaders told them were so important. The fact that the county has waited five years to either begin or complete 17 projects means that it is likely they will not be completed until some eight to nine years or more after voter approval. , Further, the delay means that the cost of labor and materials will have risen so much that those projects will most certainly experience budgetary shortfalls. Taxpayers will certainly make up the difference. I have used the word “deceived” earlier in this letter. Some will surely think that my use of the word is too harsh. It is merely my opinion. However, I offer one further piece of evidence to support my reasoning. During the campaign to solicit approval Of the county’s 2006 SPLOST, one project offered as being critical to the future was the widening of highway 96 (For which voters approved the expenditure of some $9 million to encourage the state to hasten the beginning date of the project, although the federal government had already provided $5 million for the proj ect). The voters dutifully went to the polls and voted their approval. Unfortunately, voters were not told that part of that project would involve creation of a bypass around the Bonaire business district at the intersection of highways 96 and 247. Needless to say, those businesses are threatened with closure as traffic will be diverted around their locations. Two questions arise from this: Who stands to profit from this deci sion and why weren’t the voters told of the proposed bypass, since it had to be known by the county commission well before the SPLOST referendum? The answers are obvious. The disclosure might have cost 2006 SPLOST supporters many votes. Now I ask you, were voters deceived or not? When proposing SPLOST projects and touting their many positive attributes, it is only ethical to list the negative consequences of the projects as well. Knowing that adverse conditions will arise from a proposal and failing to disclose them are, in my opinion, acts of deception and unworthy of elected officials who are supposed to protect the interests of their constituents. The whole sorry mess can be described only as a tale of gross mismanagement, material incompetence, and abuse of public trust by elected officials. I have reached the conclusion that we must see a change in the direction this commission is taking us. They are simply out of touch with reality. David E. Wittenberg, Kathleen Kyoto piece uninformed, misleading Of the many uninspiring and myopic editorial pieces I have read in your paper, the piece published Aug. 29 titled, “Kyoto Treaty a Trap,” is so far, the most uninformed and misleading partisan drivel to make it into print. You decry the possibility of the United States becoming a second rate nation. Too late, folks, the Bush administration has already seen to that by sending good paying, high tech jobs offshore in exchange for inferior goods at cheap prices. The consequences of the dog in the manger attitude of the present administration to atmospheric pollution transcends geo graphic boundaries. The air that we all breathe and the water we drink are being polluted at an alarming rate, regardless of where we live. I would recommend you see AL Gore’s fine production An Inconvenient Truth before you present any more oil company propaganda as editorial truth! Jim Pearsall, Centerville Masonic district annual fish fry a success Submitted The 12th Masonic District held its annual Dublin VA Hospital Fish Fry Saturday. During that occasion, smiles beamed on both sides of the serving tables as they have each Labor Day for more than 20 years, as more than 200 veterans and the entire hospital staff were served. Special thanks go out to the cooking team from Tyrian No. 11l of Warner Robins, who didn’t bat an eye, but just set up the pro Great Deals Free AD for items under SSO Call 987-1823 for details fessional cookers and got to work. Brother M. M. Cloud, a mason from Houston Lodge No. 35 of Perry, super vised the cooking. This year there were also some special Masonic guests to drop in from other areas in the state. Brother Ted Collins, the senior grand warden of the Grand Lodge of Georgia stopped by as did Brother Mac Collins, a congressional candidate for the U.S. House and a mem ber of Indian Springs Lodge No. 307 in the 6th District. Come See Our Newly Expanded Showroom! MUUU OmuU'i LarfMl StUttim OfUfhUnf FbtUava SOUTHERN LIGHTING mmm* HOME LIGHTING CENTER Est. 1987 Fans, Framed Prints Lamps & Framed Mirrors Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30 ___ _ . mm satio-2pm 2508 Moody Road 00037466 LOCAL/OPINION Collins personally delivered many plates to the veterans on the wards. Again, thanks to all the Masons and lodges who took time out on their Saturday to make this possible, and a very special thanks to those veterans who allowed them to cook a few fish for them. They paid the price of free dom. Subscribe today Call 987-1823 929-0624 Florida election test of religious right's strength Next Tuesday, Florida will likely follow the same pattern we have seen developing around the nation this midterm prima ry season. An uninspired and dispirited electorate will, in huge numbers, fail to vote. That will mean quirky results in some important races, and a major test for the continued viability of the so-called Christian Right as a force in Republican politics. While most polls have shown Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist leading his race against Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher by at least 20 points, our Insider Advantage survey, conducted for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, suggested that Crist was leading, but not by a huge margin. Unlike the other surveys, ours showed a substantial percentage of undecided voters. This is consistent with the results of polls we have conducted in other southern states, where these undecideds actually turned out to be non-voters. When this happens, races get tricky because only the most hard-core voters go to the polls. Crist is a handsome and articulate candidate who would have broad appeal to voters in the November • general election. But, for whatever reason, he felt compelled several weeks ago to declare that he favored allowing civil unions of same-sex partners in Florida. Within a matter of days, famed Republican strategist/ad expert Mike Murphy had mysteriously signed on with Gallagher’s then-failing campaign. Anyone who has been around GOP politics on a national level over the past few decades and knows the power that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has in his home state could easily add two plus two and figure out that Murphy would never take , ¥>\><£;3§ ¥■ ' WvJ 'A Ml: '.^ySM# l * ■ <# »■ . £„ ,v • ~ M tmmmmmwwwmmmm "Neighbors ComSmA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2006 ♦ on a long-shot campaign if he felt by doing so he would be offending Bush, who is officially neutral in the race. More importantly, why take on a losing cause? The answer: It might not be such a losing proposi tion. Gallagher, who has had a long and often controver sial career in state politics, decided long ago to hitch his star to the conservative and religious-right segments of his party. In two televised debates, he attacked Crist for his positions on abor tion, the cost of alleviat ing classroom overcrowd ing, civil unions and a host of other conser vative red-meat issues. H i s cam paign TV ads Matt Towery Columnist Morris News Service basically say that Crist is not a “Jeb Bush conservative.” It’s a very polarizing effort, which, in a normal year for voter turnout, would likely back fire and send moderate Republicans flocking to the polls to defeat a candidate with such a “far-right” mes sage. But this isn’t a normal primary season. All around the country, we’ve seen the electorate ignore primary elections. And an extremely low turnout gives organiza tions and voting blocs such as the religious right the opportunity to prove wheth er they truly have the orga nizational skills in place to ignite voter passion. Understand, this election could go in one of two direc tions. Consider the case in Georgia, the ninth most populous state in America. In the recent Republican primary election there, for mer Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed went 1357-D Sam Nunn Btvd. Perry, GA 31069 478-987-0172 ipnnwwnsßirth.net down in flames in his bid to become lieutenant gov ernor. Reed lost in a low-turnout primary. Did the Christian and reugious-right vote dis appear in that race? Maybe. But the argument can also be made that Reed was car rying all the baggage of a close association with con troversial and soon-to-be sentenced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. What happens in Florida if the most motivated voter is the hard-core religious conservative vote, which has shown at least anec dotal evidence of being the core of the GOP electorate? This year’s Florida primary will occur not only after a brief encounter with a pow erful storm, but on the day following Labor Day. My guess is that voter turnout may not even reach the 20-percent mark. If that happens, you can throw out all the polls and rest assured that the battle to carry the GOP mantle to replace Bush will be a jump ball. And that ball will fall on the side of either main stream Republicans turn ing out to elect the more moderate Crist, or the hard core religious right proving its might by putting can didates more to their lik ing on the general election ballot. Once again, Florida becomes the test case for the future of one of the major political movements of our time. Matt Towery served as the chairman of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s political organization from 1992 until Gingrich left Congress. He is a former Georgia state representative, the author of several books and cur rently heads the polling and political information firm Insider Advantage. To find out more about Matthew Towery and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and car toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www. creators.com. ySMs:«i* Es - M - _"<. .a,, - t fIMMMK he tradition of neiah ■ hors serving neighbors : Georgia. 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