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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. PAGE 11A