Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 18A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, February 15,1998
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.
Is out-of-court resolution
of civil service issue in
the best interest of the
county’s taxpayers?
L he art of compromise and the art of negotiation is possibly
" something Forsyth Countians would benefit from in the
ongoing standoff between Sheriff Denny Hendrix and the
Board of Commissioners.
An offer by attorney Phill Bettis to arbitrate the issue of
T
Civil Service between Hendrix and the board was a citizen’s positive
move to help point to the right direction - that being a solution to a
standoff which will take the parties - and their financiers, the taxpay
ers - into court. Bettis is to be commended for stepping to the fore
front and offering his time - free of charge to each of the parties
involved we understand - in an effort to resolve the issue.
Hendrix, who had earlier declined the consideration of arbitration,
now says he would arbitrate if Superior Court Judge Stan Gault
appoints the arbitrator.
In his legal action against the county, Hendrix maintains the com
mission is trying to wrestle control of the Sheriff’s Office through the
pocketbook. He says the board is also attempting to keep him from
employing his own legal counsel, currently Ed McCrimmon.
Commission Chairman Bill Jenkins has said he would have pre
ferred to have the matter settled out of court. He says he doesn’t
understand why the sheriff is so steadfast in his thinking.
“The board has been more than fair,” said Jenkins. “Anything we
can do to help the sheriff, we have.”
The dispute started when the board voted to terminate McCrimmon
as the Sheriff’s department counsel after not approving pay raises for
Sheriff’s Office employees because Hendrix did not turn in employee
evaluations as mandated by Civil Service policy. Hendrix maintains
his employees are not covered by Civil Service for this purpose.
Can negotiation resolve the issue? Can mediation be successfully
utilized in establishing needed cooperation between these officials? Is
arbitration still a viable means to get the matter resolved without keep
ing the courts tied up and the county counting its legal pennies?
What do you think?
....about the closure of Hwy. 369 for road work? Which detour
route will you take?
r
Forsyth County News
P.O. Box 210
Cumming, Ga. 30028
Letters
Chamber supports
special sales tax
DEAR EDITOR,
The Cumming Forsyth County
Chamber of Commerce represents over
850 business members in our community.
Our Mission Statement includes
“Promoting planned growth, providing ser
vices to the business community, and
improving the quality of life for all the citi
zens of the community.” The chamber and
the business community understand that as
this community grows, capital improve
ments must be made to support the resi
dents and businesses already located in our
community. Our growing community
requires and expects improved roads, water
and sewer services, additional recreational
facilities and libraries. We believe, too,
that it is important to preserve the histori
cal heritage of our county and city.
The chamber of also understands that
governments have limited methods avail
able to finance these necessary improve
ments. We appreciate and applaud the
efforts of our elected officials to complete
such projects without putting an excessive
burden on our property taxpayers. The
Chamber of Commerce supports the
Commissioner’s plans to improve our
roads, water and sewer systems, recreation
and other facilities as necessary to sustain
our quality of life.
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners has acted responsibly in
maintaining an attractive tax structure in
the county that attracts businesses to our
Forsyth County News letter policy
The Forsyth County News welcomes your 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 publication, without exception. Telephone
numbers will not be published. Letters should be limited to 350 words and may be edited or con
densed. The same writer or group may only submit one letter per mdnth for consideration. Letters
must be submitted by noon Wednesday for Sunday publication. We do not publish poetry or
blanket letters, and generally do not publish letters concerning consumer complaints. Unsigned or
incorrectly identified letters will be withheld. Mail letters to the Forsyth County News, P. 0. Box
210, Cumming, Ga 30028, hand deliver to 302 Old Buford Road, or fax to (770) 889-6017.
ares. The chamber knows that the property
tax revenue generated by our businesses
helps to balance our tax base and not undu
ly burden our homeowners. A temporary
sales tax can generate the necessary funds
to complete many of the capital improve
ments necessary to serve our citizens, and
at the same time provide relief for our
homeowner taxpayers. A major portion of
our sales tax dollars, up to 45 percent are
generated from out of county residents,
allowing those who use our roads and
other infrastructure the opportunity to help
fund these improvements.
The Board of Directors of the
Cumming Forsyth Chamber of Commerce
unanimously supports and endorses the
extension of the Special Purpose Local
Option Sales tax for the projects outlined
in the county's request.
Patrick Topping, President
Mary Helen McGruder,
1998 Chairman
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Newt’s gone natural, presidential
Gingrich for president? Get serious.
A year ago, his conservative pals in the
House were trying to throw him over the
side. His poll numbers were lower than
Nixon’s.
Ah, but that was a year ago. Look
what has happened now. It’s The New
Newt, the presidential Newt. Gingrich
’9B is a far different model from
Gingrich ’97. He has made peace with
the mutineers. He has muted his often
strident voice. His positive poll numbers
still aren’t spectacularly high, but they
are 20 percent ahead of last year. And
his campaign fund-raising is on a roll. At
the end of 1997, he had raised nearly $3
million, a million more than he had
amassed a year ahead of his last
Gingrich for president? Why not? If
Bill Clinton can win and hang on to the
Oval Office, you have to figure just
about anybody can do it.
Os course, Gingrich is not just any
body. He is the speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives, the grand
marshal of the Republican Revolution, a
politician whose place in history is
already assured.
But his career as speaker is coming to
a close. Unless some brave soul changes
the rules, Gingrich will be forced to give
up the speaker’s seat in 2002. His side
kick, Rep. John Linder. R-Duluth, made
certain of that shortly after he arrived in
Washington in 1992.
Linder demanded that Republicans
agree to term limits for House committee
chairmen and the speaker. He probably
had no idea at the time that Gingrich
would wind up as speaker. However,
Linder’s rules stuck. As a result,
Gingrich goes into retirement early in
the next millennium.
Elimination of
public input
should be explained
DEAR EDITOR,
The Federation of Forsyth County
Homeowners is concerned about the abrupt
action taken by the county commission on
Feb. 10. Without any warning, and by a
change to the scheduled agenda, they voted
to abolish a practice of hearing citizen
input at a monthly public forum.
The process staffed several years ago
has provided commissioner constituents
the opportunity to speak out on issues of
concern to them. The process has routinely
involved a cross section of county citizens
who have looked forward to the opportuni
ty to express their concerns to the commis
sioners they elected.
We are faced with a decision which
abrogates the rights of concerned citizens
Dill
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So no wonder Newt is starting to act
presidential. He has even made up with
his most vocal and harshest adversary,
Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, the
renowned civil rights leader.
Gingrich and Lewis toured a photo
exhibit together last week. The pho
tographs recorded some of the defining
events of the civil rights movement.
“I don’t have it in me not to admire
him,” said Gingrich of Lewis. “He’s my
friend, he’s my brother,” said Lewis, who
just a year ago called Gingrich a liar on
the House floor.
Getting right with a civil-rights hero
is not the only sign Gingrich has the
presidency on his mind.
He has told Georgia Republican lead
ers to avoid laying out the red carpet for
other GOP presidential hopefuls.
As of last week, he had decided to
boycott the Georgia Republicans’
Presidents’ Day luncheon, where Oval
office aspirant Steve Forbes is to deliver
the keynote speech.
Gingrich has said he doesn’t care for
Forbes, one of the severest critics of the
Republican congress.
Sen. Paul Coverdell invited Forbes.
Coverdell is to kick off his re-election
campaign at the Presidents’ Day soiree
to be heard in a public forum. To see this
community effort so abruptly changed is
startling. The Federation of Forsyth
County Homeowners believes the commis
sion should explain why they chose to
abruptly eliminate public forums. We
believe they should return to a process that
has been moving forward for several years
to ensure that elected officials listen to the
concerns of the constituents that elected
them.
Prescott Eaton, President
Federation of Forsyth
County Homeowners
Water department
employees at risk
due to commission
DEAR EDITOR,
It is 9 p.m. on Sunday night. The tem
perature is 38, and traffic is speeding down
Old Atlanta Road with no concern for the
group of men peering into a ten-foot deep
hole beside the roadway.
Down in the hole, Mark struggles to
turn off a water line that has broken loose
from the main line. The cold muddy water
is rising close to the top of his waders as
he feels for the cutoff valve. Flashlights
shine into the bottom of the hole where
Mark has finally located the valve and is
trying to get a wrench in place.
Suddenly Mark jumps back as the side
of the hole collapses. Buried up to his
DEAR EDITOR,
Saturday. So what’s a speaker to do?
Gingrich will send his good wishes via
video.
Coverdell also wanted to invite Gov.
George W. Bush of Texas to the lun
cheon. Gingrich didn’t like that idea
either. Gov. Bush is considered by some
to be the odds-on favorite to win the
Republican presidential nomination ifi
2000. Alas, Bush had other fish to fry
and sent regrets.
That suited Gingrich just fine.
Before he goes into full presidential
campaign mode, Gingrich must deal with
his 1998 re-election campaign. He is
likely to face Libertarian and Democratic
challenges, neither of which is seen as
serious in the Republican bastion of the
6th Congressional District.
But former Cherokee County GOP
Chairman Chuck Lokey says he may take
on Gingrich in the July 21 Republican
primary. Lokey is one of a number of
Republicans who believe Gingrich has
gone soft on the Democrats and has
betrayed the Conservative Cause.
Lokey and his pals just don’t seem to
understand. Gingrich has not gone soft.
He has gone national. He is taking a
page from Bill Clinton’s playbook. He is
watching the polls. He is gauging the
wants of the people. He is trying to posi
tion himself just slightly right of center
on the political road the best spot
possible for starting a race for the presi
dency.
Bill Shipp is editor of Bill Shipp’s
Georgia, a weekly newsletter on govern
ment and business. He can be reached at
P.O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, Ga. 30144
or by calling (770) 422-2543, e-mail:
bshipp@bellsouth.net.
knees in heavy mud, he truggles free and
clambers out of the hole. Now the pump
stops pumping. Al responds politely and
unemotionally to bystander questions. The
pump is worn out and needs rebuilding.
There is another one at the shop and Al
and John leave to retrieve it. The hole is
almost full of water again.
Mark gets the original pump working
again, and with nearby residents holding
flashlights, Mark finally shuts off the
water. In the next 40 minutes, a new water
line is attached and spliced to the broken
line. The hole collapses again and buries
several wrenches. These are measurable
losses; an untold cost exists in flooded
septic systems and damaged yards.
In only three hours, the problem has
been fixed by the undaunted dedication
and determination of these three men from
the Forsyth County Water Department.
Sometimes, conditions are better, usu
ally, their are worse. At all times, condi
tions and worn out equipment conspire to
place these men at risk of injury. Safety is
foremost in everyone’s minds, especially
when there is a man “in the hole.”
As a concerned resident, I have several
questions: Why has the county commission
frozen hiring and budgets in the Forsyth
County Water Department?; and why would
the county commissioners knowingly put
men at risk due to worn out and faulty
equipment?
Thank you John, Al and Mark for a job
well done despite the challenges!
Lawrence E. Knotts
Cumming