Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2007
3Hmtskm Paiiy
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Get an actuary, do it right
The City of Perry has dragged its heels
since April on a proposal made for
early retirement benefits for hazard
ous duty employees.
The city council asked for an actuarial
study on a proposal for pension payments
and health
insurance.
Instead it is
getting an
actuarial study
on the pension
payments, and
the city man
ager’s study
on the cost
of the health
insurance cov
erage.
We believe
that the city
should go
ahead and
approve the
early pension
benefit, which, according to the actuary,
will increase the city’s annual pension ben
efit cost of $345,245 to $374,109. That’s a
$28,864 increase, or less than one percent.
We also believe that even if it means
further delays, the city needs to have an
actuarial report on the cost of the health
insurance benefits, rather than going with
an estimate prepared by the city manager.
That was what we understood the council
asked for in the first place, and we want to
see the vote on the additional cost of the
health insurance based on a study by an
actuary, by which we mean a person profes
sionally trained in estimating the future
costs of pensions, insurance and related
fields.
We have made no bones about supporting
this proposal. It’s not a simple matter of
rewarding the courageous firefighters and
police officers who protect the public and
put themselves in harm’s way. It is also
good business.
The city needs to recruit, train and retain
good young professionals for these posi
tions. One way to do that is to offer the
option of retiring at 55 with full pension
and with health insurance benefits continu
ing until Medicare kicks in.
This means that a firefighter or police
officer doesn’t have to worry about being
able to carry firefighting gear, climb ladders
or subdue felons when he or she is heading
toward 60.
It also means that the young employees
who have been recruited and trained for
hazardous will have a good incentive to put
down roots in Perry, to get to know the com
munity, and to stay here when jobs are open
in other cities.
Let’s get it done, and get it done right.
Letters to the Editor
Lee was a complex man
A recent issue of USNews and World Report has a cover
story entitled Secrets of the Civil War. In it we learn
the real feelings of Robert E. Lee about slavery and the
Confederacy based on the discovery of a cache of Lee family
papers recently uncovered. They reveal a multi-faced man
who was more accessible yet more puzzling than before.
Contrary to popular belief, Lee not only believed in slav
ery; he was capable of treating his own slaves cruelly.
That he was also a warm, witty, lusty, vulnerable human
being filled with foibles and bafflements. In the end we
see him as a disappointed, heartsick man, but still an icon
of our history and our only civil war.
Frank W. Gadbois, Warner Robins
GNF congrats in order
I noticed in an upcoming GAMES MAGAZINE, where
the Georgia National Fair was listed as one of the “BEST
OF THE BEST” in the United States. It is an impressive
article recognizing the fact that our fair has already won
more than 60 prestigious awards as well as having been
listed several times as one of the top 50 fairs in America.
All of this has been accomplished in 18 short years. Other
fairs mentioned in the article have been around far lon
ger than the Georgia Nutional Fair. Mike'Froehlich and
his staff are to be commended for the great work they
have done in bringing our fair to the prestigious position
it holds among the great fairs of America.
Jim Worrall, Mayor, City of Perry
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
The city council asked
for an actuarial study
on a proposal for
pension payments
and health insurance.
Instead it is getting
an actuarial study on
the pension payments,
and the city manager's
study on the cost of
the health insurance
coverage.
Money greases the gears of government
Lobbyists spent nearly a million
dollars entertaining and feeding
Georgia legislators this year and
we are expected to believe they did it
out of the kindness of their hearts.
Please. They did it because they con
sider that money - actually reported as
$835,000 - a good investment.
Georgia’s lawmakers defend the prac
tice of accepting gifts, trips, expensive
meals, etc., as “part of doing business.”
The question has to be, “What kind of
business?”
Some legislators resist the tempta
tion to vote as their benefactors expect
of them.
But enough legislators go along with
the wishes of the lobbyists that they
usually get what they want. And too
often what the lobbyists want is not
good for the ordinary taxpayers.
There is the claim that all lobby
ists get for their tickets to events,
expensive meals, expensive trips, lav
ish entertainment, gifts and more is
“access.” Maybe so. They certainly get
access that the average citizen cannot
get. And the results show that that
“access’ often translates into beneficial
legislation.
I always have wondered why some
state legislators and congressmen are
influenced by such relatively inexpen
sive expenditures. It seems that any
one willing to sell his or her vote would
put a higher price on it.
Efforts by good government organi
zations do everything they can to limit
the influence of paid lobbyists, but
leaders in charge absolutely refuse to
When race matters, and when it doesn’t
Last week brought a convergence
of issues into the public realm, all
of which I’ve previously written
about, polled on or participated in.
Readers of this column know that
in my former life as a Georgia legisla
tor I introduced a bill, later altered by
the Georgia Senate and made law, that
eventually created the legal snarl sur
rounding Genarlow Wilson. He’s the
young man now serving a 10-year sen
tence for having consensual sex with a
15-year-old girl when he was 17. It was
neither my intent nor the Legislature’s
that anyone be so punished for such a
deed.
Prior to last week’s hearing before
the Georgia Supreme Court, I filed a
“Friend of the Court” brief on behalf
of Wilson. The assistant attorney gen
eral in the hearing argued that Wilson
should remain in jail. She said my
opinion of the current law is no more
significant than that of the man on the
street. She’s right.
What she missed is the case law I
provided. It indicates that the legisla
tive intent - which can be taken from
many sources, including an author of
the bill - should be considered in any
interpretation of the law.
But quibbling over the wording of the
original bill misses the point. The fact
that the bill has resulted in someone
serving a 10-year sentence, when that
was not my intent or that of any sane
person, establishes that the sentence is
cruel and unusual punishment.
the court should, of its own
volition, be allowed to free Wilson.
In my judgment, this is beyond just
sound legal reasoning; it’s probably the
best chance Wilson has, given the other
legal and extra-legal circumstances
surrounding the case.
Of course, Wilson, a young black
man, has attracted the eye of those
concerned about civil rights and the
law’s treatment of people of color.
In this case, I believe such concerns
may be justified. The prosecutor and
OPINION
adhere to strict ethical standards.
That is the way it has been forever
and probably will continue to be forev
er. Money greases the gears of govern
ment and, in spite of every thing, it all
works out pretty good in the long run.
PepsiCo, which sells the biggest sell
ing bottled water - Aquifina - has come
clean and admitted that what you buy
is merely bottled tap water. You just
pay a dollar or more for a small bottle
of water that is available for a few dol
lars for a thousand gallons.
I am always amused when I see
someone purchase a bottle of water at
a restaurant instead of drinking the
water put before them on their table.
Selling water in a bottle at high prices
is one of the major merchandising
accomplishments of the modern era. It
has become a billion dollar a year busi
ness built on the gullibility of millions
of Americans.
Tm getting out of the stock market
...I just don't have the nerve for it!"
others involved in the case have argued
that more whites have been sent to
jail under this bill than blacks. Yet I
find it hard to believe that more white
teenagers than black teens have been
jailed for having oral sex with someone
within a few years of their own age.
The vast majority of such cases are
never brought to light, and few are
prosecuted if they are. Plus, young
black men often come from homes
where a father figure might not be
around - or where top-flight trial attor
neys might not be at their disposal.
But not everything that appears to
be racial is. Like the dog-fighting scan
dal surrounding Atlanta Falcons quar
terback Michael Vick, who is black. As
soon as the indictment came down,
Insider Advantage conducted a poll of
Falcons fans.
Half wanted Vick released from the
team immediately. Half wanted him to
keep playing until the trial concludes.
Immediately came the chorus that
race is a motivating opinion in all
of this. Yes and no. It’s true that
more whites than blacks wanted Vick
released. (It’s also true that an over
whelming percentage of blacks want
him to keep playing.)
But the poll also showed that blacks
make up only about 35 percent of the
Falcons’ total fan base. So, for Vick to
have almost half of the fans supporting
him, it meant that he had healthy sup
port from whites. And he did.
In this instance, it wasn’t race that
did in Michael Vick.
It was Vick himself.
Finally, there’s the agony and ecsta-
fIHB
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
The Jekyll Island Authority is get-
Matt
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
ting heat for giving away $lO million to
a large developer in return for building
a hotel on the island. According to The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution there are
plenty of developers anxious to build
motels or hotels on the island, as it is
revitalized.
This is another example of govern
ment paying an industry or business
when they shouldn’t. Why should tax
payers subsidize someone going into
business or expanding a business,
while others have to make up the loss
in taxes.
I don’t understand why so many
people act as if the world is coming to
an end when scandals in the world of
professional sports come to light. After
all, we are talking about games that, in
the final analysis, are insignificant. ’
Now it turns out that some high
schools are creating their own scandals
and supporters are in the midst of it.
It is no secret that sometimes athletes
pretend to live in one school district
when they actually live in another in
order to play for a certain ball team. It
has become so bad in the Atlanta area
that private detectives were hired in at
least two instances to follow football
players home from school to document
where they actually live.
Boosters of opposing teams hired
the private eyes and got the evidence
they wanted. Is nothing sacred any
more? And winning ball games seems
to trump integrity.
sy of waiting for baseball star Barry
Bonds, also black, to surpass Hank
Aaron as Major League Baseball’s all
time home-run king.
As it happens, I was there that night
in Atlanta in 1974, when Hank passed
Babe Ruth to claim the home-run title
for himself. I know Hank for both
his public and personal behavior. His
brother-in-law served with me in the
Georgia Legislature. Over the years,
I’ve had the privilege of being exposed
to the great Hank Aaron, and I’ve
heard intimate stories about him.
As Bonds chases Aaron, the nation
isn’t down on him because he’s black,
although that’s been suggested many
times. Instead, Bonds suffers because
of his perceived cocky and rude atti
tude, and because many believe he has
boosted his home-run prowess by using
illegal steroids.
Contrast that with Aaron. Here’s a
man I recall standing behind me with
his lovely wife as we all waited for our
cars to be brought to us at a function
at the house of a mutual friend. Hank
stood patiently, never expecting special
treatment and not accompanied by an
entourage.
Unlike Bonds or Vick, Hank Aaron
has earned superstar treatment for his
exemplary performance on and off the
field. Ironically, he experienced more
true racial discrimination than either
of the other two men.
So race is like life itself: Each case
must be considered on its own terms.
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 currently heads the
polling and political information firm
Insider Advantage. To find out more
about Matthew Towery and read fea
tures by other Creators Syndicate writ
ers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web site at www.creators.
com *