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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
TTii'jr 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.
Bureaucracy slowing
mail service to soldiers
WASHINGTON "Long
standing problems hampering
mail delivery need to be
resolved," begins a draft
report by the General
Accounting Office (GAO), the
congressional watchdog.
While fighting escalates in
Iraq, morale-boosting mail
does not get through. But the
Pentagon's bureaucracy seems
to lack the will or competency
to deal with a problem dating
back to the Korean War.
The mail scandal promises
a repetition in this year's elec
tions of the 2000 difficulties
recording votes by overseas
military personnel. Repub
lican Sen. Kit Bond, up for re
election in the swing state of
Missouri, is leading efforts to
correct the problem. At Bond's
urging. Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist on April 2
went to Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld, who
assigned the task to Under
Secretary David Chu. "The
last thing we need is inade
quate mail delivery to Iraq."
Frist told me.
Actually, this is one mili
tary problem that can be
solved quickly. Funds and
expertise are available to end
the military mail scandal. But
in recent meetings and a
tedious memorandum, the
Defense Department perma
nent bureaucracy persists in
denying that any problem
exists. At a moment when the
Pentagon's leadership is con
ducting a bitter urban war. the
problems of soldiers getting
mail from their loved ones and
being able to cast their votes
can get short shrift.
The problem is nothing
new. After Desert Storm in
1991, the military burned tons
of undelivered letters to sol
diers. A year ago, the Air
Force Times reported backed
up mail to the Iraq war zone
would fill three football fields
stacked 10 feet high.
According to the GAO. the
Military Postal Service Agency
cannot even calculate the depth
of the problem: "The timeliness
of mail delivery to troops serv
ing in Operation Iraqi Freedom
cannot be accurately assessed
because the Department of
Defense does not have a reli
able, accurate system in place
to measure timeliness."
No government agency,
says the GAO. has been
assigned "to resolve the long
standing postal problems seen
again" during current Iraqi
On your payroll __
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
RO. Box 3177, Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 887-4342
Mayor Pro-Tem, Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Rd., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
John Pugh
10813th St, Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Charles Laughinghouse, Rost 1
3550 Rosewicke Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2810
David "AJ.” Pritchett, Post 2
4840 Chesterfield Court Suwanee, GA 30024
(404) 392-6983; office, (770) 886-2809
a. JscK Most 3
6130 Polo Club Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-9226; (770) 886-2807
March Kroeger, Poet 4
9810 Kings Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506
office, (770) 886-2806
FddhTnyinr, Poet 5
4195 Morningside Dr., Cumming, GA 30041
(770)886-2802
u *
operations. The report reveals
that all mail destined for Iraq
during 2003 combat was held
in Kuwait for 23 days, a peri
od not included in official
measurements of delivery
time. Besides, the GAO adds.
Army postal personnel in Iraq
"were largely untrained in
establishing and managing
military personnel." The
report noted "repetition of
delayed mail delivery from
one Gulf war to the next.”
On March 31, the Defense
Department's inspector gener
al reported that glaring inade
quacies in 2000 absentee mili
tary voting have not been cor
rected. On that day, the
Pentagon abandoned a $22
million pilot plan to test
Internet voting for overseas
personnel. That continues
reliance in the 21st century on
hand-counted ballots without
automation. On March 31,
Sen. Bond wrote Rumsfeld
that "failure to act in a timely
manner will continue to
impact negatively morale and
the absentee vote in the
November election."
Actually, the problem could
be solved by automation devel
oped by private companies now
being utilized by the U.S.
Postal Service. Senior civilian
Defense officials say the money
is there to make this happen
and that it will happen. Yet,
nothing is happening. Edward
A. Pardini, the career deputy
director of the Military Postal
Service Agency, takes the posi
tion at staff meetings that noth
ing has to be done because
there is nothing wrong with the
present system.
In contrast is this statement
by the president of the United
States: "At a time when these
young people are defending
our country and its free insti
tutions. the least we at home
can do is to make sure that
they are able to enjoy the
rights they are being asked to
fight to preserve." The presi
dent was Harry Truman, the
time was 1952, and the war
was in Korea. The world's
only superpower has ignored
this scandal for half a century.
Robert Novak is a nation
ally syndicated columnist and
a television commentator.
I m not an accountant, but I’m sure familiar with tax breaks!"
ok
O 7/z/ I
Tree law foes spread inaccurate information
(They still want to) pave
paradise and put up a park
ing 10t... Inaccuracies about
the recently revised Tree
Ordinance circulated. Its
opponents, apparently resent
ing any restrictions on their
clear-cutting of Forsyth for
maximum profit, created sce
narios where schools and
landowners would pay hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
to comply while, in fact,
it's somewhat weaker than the
previous Ordinance,, and
weaker than surrounding com
munities' ordinances.
* Regarding existing trees,
some claimed a "tree unit"
(used to quantify saved trees)
required a 13-inch diameter
tree, when in fact it only
required 5-7 inches.
* For planted trees, some
claimed it required two 6"
trees to equal a TU. Actually,
it takes only one.
* Some claimed developers
would have to pay S4OO/TU.
In reality, that provision was
in the old ordinance, and was
never used. Designed to dis
courage clear-cutting, it
applies only if entire sites are
cleared of all trees, and devel
opers won't plant any trees.
Intended as a penalty, like
fines for speeders, it discour
ages behavior the community
finds unacceptable. If develop
ers plant trees instead, the cost
is roughly one-fourth that
amount.
* Unlike other communi
ties, our new ordinance makes
it easier for developers to meet
tree-density requirements by
having to count only disturbed
acreage, not entire sites.
Fox Guarding the
Henhouse Award ... One
ordinance revision, pushed by
Commissioner Marcie
Kreager and largely unnoticed
during debates about complex
issues, was changing the Tree
Protection Commission.
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
a < U.S. Sen. Zell Miller
Russell Senate Office Building, Room 03
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3643; Fax: (202) 228-2090 «
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss > !
1019 Longworth House Office Building 1 . .J
Washington,D.C.2osls fl
(202)224-3521 |
< U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 10th District
2437 Raybum House Office Building,
I Washington, D.C. 20515
I * Gainesville: RO. Box 1015, Gainesville, GA 30503
I ■ Gainesville, (770) 535-2592; Washington: (202) 225-
1 5211; Fax: (202) 2256272
U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District >
1727 Longworth House Office Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515-1011 L . H
Washington: (202) 2254272; Fax: (202) 2254696 I 4
STATE LEGISLATORS j
H< Sen. David Shafer, 48th District
109 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404)651-7738
Sen. Casey Cagle, 49th District >
421 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 R Jh|
B Telephone: (404) 6566578; (tax) (404)
6516768
< Sen. Dan Moody, 27th District
(770) 495-3127;
Office (404) 463-8055
i A
Jim
Callison
Previously, two seats were for
laypersons interested in pro
tecting our trees; but Kreager
decided that was too many.
She insisted on only one
layperson, with the other seat
going to a developer, builder,
or grader. Wonder if they have
any financial interests in the
Tree Ordinance and efforts to
protect our rapidly disappear
ing trees?
How rapidly? 20 percent of
Forsyth's tree canopy was lost
over the past 20 years; but 15
percent occurred in just six
years (1993-1999), with an
average 3.5 percent annual
loss, which is increasing.
That's why many citizens
believe a stronger Tree
Ordinance is needed.
Is this any way to run a
state?... Georgia's Legislature
finally ended at midnight
April 7. As usual, lawmakers
postured for 30-35 days, pass
ing uncomplicated bills
then attempted to resolve
everything else in the last
days. Worse, much of that was
delayed until the final day,
which ends at midnight.
You've probably seen the
session's end, when the House
Speaker and Senate President
proclaim "Sine Die," pound
their gavels, and everybody
cheers and throws papers in
the air.
But before then, legislators
are so tired and confused,
they’ll vote for compromises
many haven't read; but which,
they're told by lobbyists,
"solve the problems." The
scary thing is, far-reaching
decisions are made in fact,
laws are made in that
atmosphere.
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS —Thursday, April H, 2004 F
So legions of lawyers and
well-paid industry lobbyists
descend on the Capitol
(dubbed "Gucci Gulch"), try
ing desperately to persuade
legislators how to vote in
those frantic final hours.
On the other side of the
Gold Dome, unpaid volunteers
congregate. Wednesday, 40 of
them, representing Georgia's
major environmental groups,
(Sierra Club, Georgia
Conservancy, Upper Chatt
ahoochee Riverkeeper,
Georgia Wildlife Federation,
and Georgia Garden Club)
nervously watched two bad
water bills, hoping to defeat
them.
One (SB 460) would have
allowed small streams to be
piped and paved over, and
meager. 25-foot stream buffers
ignored, allowing develop
ment to streams' edge
killing aquatic life and stream
banks' filtering capabilities. As
Georgia realizes the true value
of water, and the need to pro
tect it to avoid huge expenses
to clean it, such a bill seemed
senseless.
Who would push this bill?
Our own (former) state Sen.
Casey Cagle.
Political Double-Speak
Award... Cagle's cronies
argued the legislation applied
only to small streams, decep
tively calling them "dry ditch
es." Opponents argued many
streams run dry during
droughts, then wet when rains
come. And all rivers, even the
mighty Chattahoochee, begin
as small streams.
Supporters argued
landowners with small streams
have property rights to pipe
them, pave them, and build up
to them. But if they exercise
those "rights." and destroy
aquatic life, natural flow, and
streams' abilities to cleanse
themselves, they damage
property rights of everybody
Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th District >
(770)466-1507; MVI
Office (404) 463-1368
< Rep. Tom Knox, 14th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 504
* * 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
- k (404) 6566188, or (770) 887-0400, law office
Rep. Jan Jones, 38th District >
412 Legislative Office Building,
Atlanta GA 30334 1* * B
(404)656-0137
Rep. Jack Murphy, 14th District
Legislative office Building,
Room 612, Atlanta GA 30334
(404) 656-0325; (770) 781-9319, home
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow
96 Barker Rd., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 887-9640; acrow@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
PaulKreager
9810 Kings Rd., Gainesville, GA 30506
(770) 889-9971; pkreager@lbrsyth.kl2.gaus
Nancy Roche
7840 Chestnut Hill Rd., Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 8896229; nroche@lbrsyth.kl2.ga.us
Rebecca K. Dowell
2030 Commonwealth Place, Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 8446830; rdowell@lorsylh.kl2.gaus
Chairman Jeffrey Stephens
RO. Bax 169, Cumming, GA 30028
(770) 889-1470; jstephens@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
downstream. The classic prop
erty rights conundrum: do we
allow individual property
owners, obsessively pursuing
their rights, to destroy the
property rights and values of
others?
This was the second ses
sion Cagle pushed bills harm
ful to Georgia's waters.
Luckily, environmentalists
killed the first one in last
year's session. That near-miss
resulted in formation of the
Georgia Water Coalition, the
largest collaboration of con
servation groups in the state's
history, which successfully
lobbied this year for establish
ment of a statewide water plan
(determining how much water
we have, how it should be
used, by whom, when, where).
This year's legislation was
progressively weakened until
a harmless version (which
Cagle himself described as
"gutted by environmentalists")
passed at 11:59 p.m. The other
bill, which would have
allowed inter-basin water
transfers, including water
from our own Etowah and
Chattahoochee basins sucked
out to feed Gwinnett's devel
opment frenzy, was success
fully held in committee, and
died there.
So Georgia's water protec
tors breathed another sigh of
relief. Still, one wondered,
there must be better ways for
legislators to make far-reach
ing decisions preferably
after reasoned, informed
debate. What a concept.
These days, two old jokes
seem especially wise:
* Making laws is like mak
ing sausage; you don't want to
see how it's done.
♦ Our form of government
is the worst ever invented
except for all the others.
Forsyth County resident
Jim Callison writes a monthly
column.
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