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♦ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2006
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From left, Tony
Sellier, Beth
Perera, Larry
O’Neal, Scott
Taylor, Willie
Talton and Ron
Bass. All are
candidates for
the Georgia
House of
Representatives.
Journal Charlotte Perkins
ISSUES
From page iA
costs and Medicaid costs.
Rep. Larry O’Neal pre
sented the current state
administration’s tort reform
legislation as one way that
insurance and healthcare
costs will be lowered. He
also said he had co-spon
sored legislation for indigent
care clinics to be staffed with
volunteer retired healthcare
professionals, and described
a proposed “multi-share”
health insurance program
which would divide insur
ance premium costs.
Beth Perera scoffed at the
idea that tort reform had
lowered costs for consum
ers.
“The insurance companies
CONCERNS
From page iA
Cowart said he went out
there after some complaints
from residents and asked
the real estate agents if the
development was on city
sewer or would be in the
city and was told “no” it was
on septic and would not be
annexed.
Cowart said he knew the
lots were too small for sep
tic tanks and there was a
city sewer lift station for the
development.
“That land is buildable
only with sewer,” Walker
said of the land in the area of
Bonaire Middle School and
Wessex Drive. “The school
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won out big time,” she said,
“not the consumers.”
Perera pointed out that
some of the areas largest
retail employers “are lim
iting the number of hours
employees work” in order to
avoid offering health insur
ance.
She suggested that net
works of small businesses
could provide insurance
programs for their employ
ees. Tony Sellier said he is
“not a proponent of govern
ment-run health care.”
Sellier brought up the
problem of Georgia’s short
age of trauma centers for
acute injuries, but took the
approach that the state’s role
would be to help with profit
ability and reduce taxes.
“A lot of businesses are
going overseas because of the
would have to close without
city sewer.”
“We are blessed to have
quality services that people
want,” Councilman Terry
Horton added ... “water,
sewer, police and fire. Being a
resident is not a bad thing.”
In other business not on
the agenda Monday:
■ Cowart raised concerns
about video gaming machines
and game rooms set up in
the back of local stores. He
said there are lingerie and a
knick-knack store he knows
of with almost no merchan
dise, but they have the video
gambling machines in the
back.
He asked that the city ask
about the machines before
issuing business licenses. At
tax burden,” Sellier said.
O’Neal also emphasized
the need for trauma centers,
and for programs which
would provide alternatives
to emergency room visits.
“The least efficient way
to provide health care is
to start in the emergency
room,” he said.
Scott Taylor, who is chal
lenging O’Neal for the
District 146 seat, talked
about indigent care costs,
and said, “There is no rea
son our hospitals should be
taking a $25 million a year
loss.”
He said, “We have a medi
cal and moral imperative
for all people to have health
care,” and argued that the
way to solve the indigent
care problem is to “decrease
the number of uninsured
least 50 percent of the rev
enue has to come from mer
chandise sales to have the
machine, he said. “I went to
two of them,” Cowart said.
“Both have nothing in them.
Almost no merchandise on
the shelves.”
Walker added, “if they are
gambling, although it’s ille
gal in the state of Georgia.
They have to have a fed
eral gaming stamp available
from the Post Office on the
machine.”
■ The council also received
updates on several ongoing
projects including the new
fire stations on Bernard
and Lake Joy, the police sta
tion on Lake Joy and the
Wellborn Road widening.
City Purchasing Agent
LOCAL
people.”
Rep. Willie Talton said
that one reason hospitals
are losing money is that “We
have a lot of illegal people.”
“If these people (go to a
hospital) they have to be
seen,” he said.
In regard to mental
health services, there was
a brief flare up from mem
bers of the audience when
the Republican candidates
argued that there have been
no “budget cuts” to area
mental health. (Essentially,
the disagreement comes
from the state’s determina
tion to allocate a specific
percentage of funding to
care for mentally ill children
and teens, which has meant
that there is less funding
for adult mental health ser
vices.)
Mark Baker said the city is
still working on acquiring
rights of way along Wellborn
Road,
“We’ll have to move some
fences abut we’ll try not
to take out trees unless we
have to,” he said.
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Discussion of mental health
services and substance abuse
services revolved around
issues of providing long
term care and rehabilitation
as opposed to incarceration.
Talton said, “I think the
state is doing a pretty good
job of addressing mental ill
ness, and the government
has some plans to feed more
money into mental health.”
Taylor, however, point
ed out that according to
a nationwide ranking by
NAMI, Georgia got a grade
of “D.”
Bass spoke with some pas
sion on the damage done
by methamphetamines, and,
while he urged longterm
rehabilitation for addicts,
said that the people who
make and sell the drugs are
“terrorists.”
Baker said he was going
leave it to Flint Energy to
decide if they need the trees
cut down, to relocate the
power lines.
Baker said the Police
Department is waiting on
furniture bids before it can
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
METH
From page iA
two weeks ago and also
found $200,000 in cash
in another recent traffic
stop.
Dykes estimated the
value of the drugs at
$50,000 with an estimat
ed street value, “once the
dealers break it down,”
Dykes said, “of SIOO,OOO
to $200,000.”
The driver, Micah David
Buchheit, 30, of Webster,
Fla., is currently being
held in the Houston
County Jail without bond
on charges of trafficking
in methamphetamine,
failure to maintain lane
and the tint violation.
Police are still investi
gating where Buchheit
was coming from and
where he was going with
the meth, Dykes said. And
no cash was found during
the search of Buchheit’s
car.
CONTEST
From page iA
payment and clearance
fees.” Recipients are sup
posed to deposit the check,
then write one of their
own and send it to cover
the “administrative” costs
of receiving their full win
nings.
“The plan these crooks
have is that the consum
er’s check will be cashed
before they and their bank
realize the fake check is
worthless, ” Oxendine
said. “MAG Mutual is
as much a victim in this
scam as consumers are.”
move some operations into
the Lake Joy station. The
Fire Department will be mov
ing old furniture from the
stations it is closing down to
the new sites, once they are
ready, explained Fire Chief
Robert Singletary.