Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 16
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5. 19*2
Opinion
Looking for numbers
Some Georgia residents who
were not registered to vote made
it a point to get to the voter regis
trar headquarters to sign up be
fore the deadline which was at
the close of the business day
Monday.
Here in Foryth County at mid
morning Monday there was ONE
person filling out the form. How
ever, by the end of the day as clos
ingtime neared the registrar’s of
fice reported a brisk amount of
business as people filed in the
beat the deadline. That’s good
news.
In Forsyth County voters have
more than the presidential elec
tion to plan for.
On March 3 the ballot voters
must decide on two major local
issues:
•Selection of one of the seven
local candidates running for the
unexpired term of County Com
missioner Barry Hillgartner and
•Approval or rejection of a
$19.6 million bond issue that
would fund three new schools
and renovate and repair all other
existing schools in the county.
These local issues coincide
with the statewide election we
call Presidential Preference
which will be on a separate
ballot.
At present taxpayers pay .5 of a
mill each year, a total of about
$500,000 for the measure voted
on in ’79. Should the March 3 is
What do YOU think?
The Forsyth County Zoning Commission has made recommendation
against location of a private solid waste landfill in the county. What kind
of influence do you think this will have on the County Commission’s final
decision?
Your name: __
Your phone number:
Forsyth County News
P.O. Box 210
Cumming, Ga. 30130
Forsyth County News
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Street Opinion
Are you in favor of a private landfill locating in Forsyth County?
7
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Donal Fitzpatrick
We don’t need them here, no way. No pri
vate landfill. .
sue pass, 1 mill would be added
to the property tax that the
school board will levy between
1994-2016. It is a substantial
hoist
The .5 mills charged to the tax
payers for the 1979 bond issue
will run out around Year 2000.
Up to that point taxpayers would
pay 1.5 mills, after that it would
drop to 1 mill continuing at that
figure until Year 2016.
This would mean for exam
ple, in the case of the 1 mill levy
a homeowner with a $50,000
home would pay $18.96 annually;
a homeowner with a $75,000
home would pay $28.56 annually
and the homeowner with a
SIOO,OOO home would pay $38.04
a year for the school
improvements.
In light of the fact that the last
school bond issue passed in the
county was in 1979, it’s important
as far as updating the buildings
goes.
Forsyth county residents who
weren’t qualified to vote but
made it to the registrar’s office in
time Monday are among those of
us who will be making the deci
sions on these issues.
The next major step is getting
the qualified voters to the polls to
cast their ballots. With the fact
that three issues will be on the
ballot, one or the other should
provoke voter response.
PUBLISHER-CHRIS BOND
MANAGING EDITOR-JUDY H. GREEN
ADVERTISING-HARRIET H. VINCENT
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR-GRAHAM B. KIMBROUGH
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Allen Tuggle
No. People are not in favor of it We need a
recycling system to help alleviate the land
fills. It is artpgly situation.
OH, RELAX...
THIS TIME
I KNOW
MUT I'M PWKi 1
I tried to telephone the President
There was the smiling, round face of my
favorite TV journalist, Charles Kuralt, talk
ing to us live from Omaha, Nebraska where
a fascinating, more than state-of-the-art
phone system was about to field thousands
and thousands of calls from Americans who
wanted to respond to the President’s State
of the Union Address on Jan. 28.
CBS was giving us a chance to sound off,
and Dan Rather along with Connie Chung
and Charles, were telling us the questions to
be asked.
As soon as the toll-free number was given,
I began dialing. For an hour I used the redi
al, but only got a busy signal. Dan explained
that the system was overwhelmed, and be
fore the program was halfway over, seven
MILLION attempts at calling had been
made!
My husband and T watched with interest
as the results of this “instant” poll were
flashed on the screen.
During the hour-long program, well over
300 thousand calls were received. Thou
sands more, like mine, never got through.
Oh, if only that many people were as eager to
rush to the voting booths around this
country!
They showed, on a map of the U.S., where
the calls were originating, and approxi
mately how many calls were coming from
which areas. Around the Great Lakes, and
up in the northeast the map was covered
with little red dots. The west coast and part
of the south responded strongly as well.
Mid-west and part of middle America was
relatively quiet. Didn’t take a rocket scien
tist (many of whom were calling in from Cali
fornia probably) or a political analyst to de
termine that the “hurt dogs” were yelling
loudest!
The questions dealt with:
•whether you felt you were better off than
Names: We’re stuck with the handle
With so much emphasis put on labels and
names nowadays, you’d sure think that
somebody would’ve given us a half-way
fighting chance when we were born.
I mean it would be sure nice if we could
pick our own names or have the option to
change the one given us once we reached
the age of accountability.
But no, someone else got that privilege
and we came into the world stuck with what
ever label that other person came up with.
The only way that is changed is if you be
come rich and famous or you go through the
courts.
Take poor Norma Jean Baker. A simple
name change (along with lots of hair bleach
‘fl’"
, x-
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Harve Grizzle
If we are going to have one (a landfill) I think
the county needs to be involved and regu
late
Joyce
Jordan
Columnist
you were four years ago;
•whether you feared you would lose your
job (they estimated 2,000 jobs are being
eliminated every day);
•whether or not you would be willing to
pay more taxes for free health care;
•whether you felt the President under
stands the problems of the middle class (es
timating that 80 percent of Americans con
sider themselves middle class);
•whether you think the media exagger
ates the bad news about the economy; who
you blame for the state of our economy:
•the Government, business management,
or Japan;
•whether you’d be willing to pay more
taxes for improvement of education in your
community;
•whether you think our children’s future
will be better, worse, or the same. (There
was one other question, concerning Gov.
Clinton, which I didn’t feel should have
been included).
Since I dialed and redialed and couldn’t
get through, I expounded my views as my
husband and I discussed the questions and
watched the TV screen for the results.
Most callers felt they were worse off than
fouryears ago; a majority feared losing their
jobs; a slight majority would pay more taxes
for free health care and better education;
overwhelmingly they blamed the Govern-
ing) turned this plain lass into a glamorous
blonde bombshell everyone remembers to
this day as Marilyn Monroe.
Then there was John Dorchendorf who
made it as a singer after shortening his last
name to Denver.
Of course some of us did try name changes
early in life and sometimes that backfired
because the nickname stuck and the person
became permanently, Bubba, Punkie,
Dumpy, Tootsie, Twinkletoes or Snookums.
Don’t laugh, I know a kid who graduated
high school and still to this day is called
Punkie.
Of course you folks out there who were
given classy names like Penny Jacqueline,
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Ed Wright
I think the county needs some control over
it
0
ment for our economic woes and felt that the
President does not understand middle class
problems; felt the media did not exaggerate
the bad economic news; and felt the future
would be worse for our kids.
It was interesting, and exciting to think
what would happen if we could vote that
easily, or talk to the President and Congress
and candidates. If a revolution comes in this
country, it should come in the voting booths,
not in the streets. If all eligible voters exer
cised this privilege and duty it would make a
difference. I imagine the politicians were
watching those phones light up and were
glad it wasn’t voting day!
Charles Kuralt, in his easygoing, sensible
manner, summed the results of this unique
program up by saying it looked as if the
American people believed they were going
to have to help themselves out of hard times,
not depending on the Government
Those of us whose parents survived the
Big Depression already knew that, and most
of us have lived our lives that way. This time
it’s different, and I don’t have any answers,
just opinions.
I know there are lots of people helping
others, all over our country, and that’s good.
I know hard times make strange bedfellows,
and that many walls and prejudices have
fallen, and that’s good. It’s a tough way to
build character, but it does that, too, in some
cases, and that’s good. It seems as if the
American people have more character than
our leaders sometimes!
If we’re looking for someone to lead us out
of hard times, maybe we’d better begin by
looking in the mirror.
(J oyce Jordan is a columnist for The Forsyth
County News. Her column appears in each
Wednesday edition.)
Wilma
Martin
Guest Columnist
Mary Lou, Penelope, or Linda will never
understand the trauma of going through life
Please see WILMA, Page 8A
M& U'" M
Tootie Watson
I am not very informed on the local contro
versy but we’ve go to put it somewhere. It
j would not bother no.
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