Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, May 26,1996
The Forsyth County News
Opinion
This is a page of opinions- ours, yours and others.
Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the
writers and artists and may not reflect our views.
- t _
We want your questions
on Forsyth growth
Growth is a central theme of almost any conversation most of us have these
days here in Forsyth County. The county is the ninth fastest growing in the nation.
Housing permits continue to be issued. The water supply, for now, is running low.
The schools are growing and more schools are either being built or are on the
drawing board. Every part of this county is being affected by growth.
Over a three-week period, in our Friday edition, we attempted to bring to you
views from three different organizations - one government and two private - who
we consider decision makers and players in the growth game. We will continue to
bring you messages from some other groups who have a stake in what is happen
ing here in our county. These columns will continue to run in our Friday edition.
But, in the meantime, we want to know what pressing questions the public
wants to have answered about growth. We invite you to send us your specific ques
tions that you would like answered by our commission, the Forsyth Council on
Quality Growth and the Forsyth Federation of Homeowners, which are the three
groups who have written their views on growth in this newspaper so far. Make the
questions as brief and to the point as possible. The deadline for submitting these
questions is Friday, June 7. Submit them to Editor, P.O. Box 210, Cumming, Ga.
30128. Or fax them to us at 889-6017. Your name does not have to be included.
After we have compiled a broad range of the questions we receive, we will
pose these to the decision makers and players and have them respond in an article
which will appear sometime in June.
We know growth is in the forefront of the minds of many and we want to get
some straight answers on how these people will deal with and react to the growth
concerns.
Candidates questions requested
During the month of June, The Forsyth County News will be interviewing can
didates in all of the local races. We want these candidates to answer a series of
questions that will be tailored to their specific race. We also want to get an idea
front our readers as to what questions they may want answered by some of the can
didates. We invite our readers to also write in or fax in with suggested questions.
Make sure you direct the question to a specific race when submitting it. This dead
line is also June 7. Write to the Editor, P.O. Box 210, Cumming, Ga. 30128, or fax
them to us at 889-6017. Your name does not have to be included.
A Memorial Day Meditation
Monday is the day marked on our calendars to observe Memorial Day. The
actual date of Memorial Day is Thursday. May 30.
On this day we take time out to remember those who served and lost their
lives in a war defending the United States of America. Included below is a poem
brought to us by the American Legion Post #307 titled “A Memorial Day
Meditation” written by Walter G. O’Connell.
Today we gather, young and old,
lb honor heroes ever bold
In love of country, shedding blood,
Oft dying in some clime of mud.
We come to watch a mother’s tear,
For someone special she holds dear,
Roll down its path on grief-stained face
Where pain and pride contend with grace.
In Flanders Fields still poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
Where gallant men, beneath the sod,
Await the bugle call of God.
Your quarrel with the foe is done;
You ran the race: your crown is won!
We caught your torch: we hold it High:
We’ll do so ‘till the day we die!
Like Moses with his mighty staff
You fought the wrongs on right’s behalf;
You showed by deed to all the world
Our Flag's true strength when once unfurled.
This day our country sets aside
To honor you with pray’r and pride;
The memories of life’s young spring
Are roses now that make hearts sing!
Now go to sleep and slumber on;
Your troubles here below are gone;
Your rifle has been put to rest;
You marched to Heaven with the best;
With patron saints to welcome you,
All spangled in red, white and blue!
You lived a patriotic role,
And set for us an awesome goal!
And so, today, we gather here
To honor those we hold quite dear,
> to conjure up the joyful past
And strain to make each mem’ry last.
. We march our p’rade a country mile
And call to mind a parting smile.
This solemn gathering each year
Consoles old hearts with warming cheer.
Dear Father of the good and brave,
Give us the strength that we behave
The way our honored dead have done
And run the race that they have won!
To love our country, neighbor, too.
And recognize our debt to you.
"Sometimes we forget
what the national debt
Jjp really is.. ."
y7\ )
~ Hg fit I . Lz
nXfS J!
The Olympic learning experience
Way back at the dawning of the
Atlanta/Georgia Olympics era (circa 1991),
word came down from the mighty chiefs:
No taxpayer money would be spent on the
Games. None. Zip. The Olympics would
be privately financed. One hundred per
cent.
Billy Payne promised. So did Gov. Zell
Miller.
As time passed, the pledge was modi
fied. Or perhaps clarified. No taxpayer
money would be spent on the Games them
selves, just for such items as security, traf
fic control, a little sprucing-up. You know,
“outside the fences” requirements, they
said.
After all, at the end of the magnificent
events, the Olympic Games committee
would hand over to the city of Atlanta or
the Atlanta Braves or whomever a state-of
the-art baseball stadium. Free. Gratis.
As the Games are set to open, taxpayers
are about to receive another learning expe
rience. There is no Olympics free lunch.
The Games will cost us plenty. To be sure,
the Centennial Olympics may be worth
every cent. Still, we should be prepared for
the bath we are about to take.
Letters
What’s answer to water shortage?
DEAR EDITOR,
As a homeowner ana taxpayer of Forsyth
County, I am very concerned about our recent
water situation. I have enjoyed living in
Forsyth County for the past 12 years and my
husband was born and raised here. I under
stand that growth can be positive, but with
that growth there has to be some planning
involved. My question to you is, when all
these building pennits are issued for all of the
numerous subdivisions going up in our coun
ty, what kind of planning was done to ensure
the current residents of the county would have
access to essential resources? It is only May,
and we arc on a total water ban, that is, if you
are one of the lucky residents to have any
water at all. The person I spoke with at the
water department on May 22, 1996 said that
the new water plant will help for a while, but
if the growth in the county continues at the
rate it is going it will not be long before we
will be in the same situation that we are cur
rently in. You cannot expect the citizens of
Forsyth County to exist without water. I ask
you and your fellow commissioners to please
put this water situation, and other critical
issues as your top priority and issuing build
ing permits for another five hundred home
subdivision at the bottom of your agenda.
Lynn Schupp
Cumming, Ga.
i
Valujet should be
held accountable
DEAR EDITOR,
With the crash of ValuJet 592 and the dis
crepancies brought forth by the media, there
appears to be a either a lack of management
control or, more serious, management
involvement in forsaking safety for profit. It
would appear that an investigation by a quali
fied independent organization, associated with
the FA A and NTSB, of the everyday opera
tions of ValuJet by their management person
nel. If any discrepancies should be found, as
are being brought forth in the media, that all
parties involved, providing services, are
responsible in any way, from the CEO on
BH|
KI Shipp
The Georgia Department of
Transportation says it is spending millions
of dollars on Olympics-related enterprises,
ranging from landscaping to improving
highways and bridges. Some of these pro
jects should have been scheduled,
Olympics or not.
But the hurry-up deadlines imposed by
the Games plus a shortage of labor have
sent their costs upward. Moreover, quickie
design changes in road plans to accommo
date Olympics traffic may exacerbate the
commuters’ daily driving horrors during
and after the Games.
Twelve state agencies are providing
3,000 law enforcement officers for the
Games. Five additional agencies will fur-
down, should be held accountable. If any acts
were to be determined negligent, malfeasance
of duty, or criminal in nature, either by omis
sion or cover up, then these parties should be
held accountable to the people and the stock
holders.
It’s time these over priced profiteers, who
extravagantly increase their salaries and bene
fits, attempting cost cutting reorganization at
the cost of labor, be held accountable. Let
them either join the ranks of the unemployed
or be incarcerated for illegal acts and not
allowed to move on to another corporation to
exploit! For too long their acts have gone
unchecked in the name of business. This time
it cost the lives of 110 people, their customers.
How many more injuries or deaths does it
require before our politicians accept their
responsibility to initiate an open investiga
tion?
Robert Skrypek
Cumming, Ga.
Stop new
development now
DEAR EDITOR,
Tom Ross had a great column in the May
17 edition. Our illustrious elected (and
appointed) county officials have struck again.
i i
Letter policy
Do you agree? Do you disagree? The Forsyth County News welcomes our readers’ opinions on
issues of public concern. Letters must be signed and include full address and a daytime and evening
phone number for verification. Names and hometowns of letter writers will be included for pub
lication, without exception. Telephone numbers will not be published.
Letters, which are routinely edited and often condensed, should be limited to 350 words. The
same writer or group may only submit one letter per month for consideration for publication.
Deadline for submitting a letter to be considered for publication is noon on Wednesday prior to the
Sunday publication. Letters to the Editor are published only on Sundays.
We don’t publish poetry or copies of letters sent elsewhere, and generally don’t publish letters con
cerning consumer complaints. Letters should be mailed to:
Forsyth County News
P. O. Box 210 Cumming, Ga 30128
or hand deliver letters to the business office, 121 Dahlonega St or fax to: 770-889-6017
Letters unsigned and incorrectly identified will be withheld.
nish 2,000 support personnel. State offi
cials estimate the cost at $26 million. That
is said to be a very conservative projection.
Two-thirds of the Olympic venues are on
state-owned property.
At the federal level, Sen. John McCain,
R-Arizona, says the Pentagon is prepared
to spend nearly $220 million on sending
troops to Atlanta to help with the
Olympics. Only $63 million of that amount
will be expended on security, says McCain,
the lone outspoken critic of public spend
ing on the Games. The rest of the Pentagon
funds will be used for “other things”
such as providing chauffeurs for athletes
and helping prepare venues.
By the time the final expense sheets are
turned in, the public costs of the Olympics
Games may be much higher.
Will it be worth it? It should be. The
Clinton administration, for political rea
sons, is interested in seeing that the Atlanta
Games are a dazzling success.
The Games should pour hundreds of
See SHIPP, Page 13A
Not only is our school system becoming
unraveled as we speak, but now our water sys
tem has a shortage problem. First our school
board presses for a bond issue to build new
schools and upgrade older facilities. Now six
months later, they are at it again, our schools
are overcrowded and we need to do more. All
this leads to is the constant building of new
homes.
If the county is growing so rapidly, that
none of the county facilities can keep up with
the growth, then the natural thing to do is to
STOP the growth immediately. If new water
plants need to be built, new schools, new
boundaries, STOP NOW. Catch up and then
allow growth. If there was ever a question on
water capacities, then tap-ons should have
been halted until the system could handle it. If
the school board could forecast overcrowding,
then stop the new building until it could with
stand the sudden influx of new students. All
this is costing the current county residents
tons of money. Why shouldn’t the builders be
paying fees to help with the school, water,
police, fire, etc., before the new houses are
sold. This is done in other parts of the country
and it works.
The builders are making their money and
See LETTERS, Page 13A