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A4 | THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2025 The Eatonton Aessenger www.msgrnews.com 00 Opinions All letters to the editor must be signed and include a phone number for verification purposes. Send letters to editor@msgrnews.com by noon Monday. Taking another look at Sonny Perdue In this job, you need a strong digestive system. Chances are that some where along the line, you might be eating a little crow for past opinions. Not that it has kept him awake at night, but I haven’t been particularly kind to George Ervin Perdue, aka, Sonny, in the past. But after a decade or so, I have decided to take another look at him before I bite into the bird. I decimated the equiv alent of a Brazilian rain forest during his two terms as governor, starting with his dismantling of a program that encouraged schoolteachers to seek national certification (on Dick Yarbrough Columnist their own dime), and then promising a 10-percent salary increase if they did. My son-in-law, a high school science teacher with a PhD, was one of the first in Georgia to become nationally certified. He spent a lot of hours on the effort, thinking the state would keep its word. He knows a lot about science. He has a lot to learn about politics. Rescinding the initiative was simply a slap at Perdue’s predecessor Roy Barnes, who had created the program. Not a good start to our relationship. Then there was Go Fish, Georgia, a $23-million boondoggle disguised as an economic develop ment initiative created in the middle of a recession while schoolteachers were being laid off. The facility was built in the middle of Perdue’s Houston County, one of life’s little political coincidences. Perdue never saw a photo-op he didn’t like. I remember him riding around the Capitol on a motorcycle in a too-tight black leather jacket, driving a school bus for reasons that escape me, and donning a funny hat while reading to some young tykes who seemed more interested in the silly thing on his head than what he was reading to them. My all-time favorite, though, came when Perdue, a veterinarian by trade, gave an elephant a physical. In public. I am told the elephant was greatly embarrassed by the spectacle, even if the governor was not. There was land he purchased in Houston County. Through political maneuvering, Perdue’s personal attorney, who was also his floor leader in the House, pushed through a last-minute change in the tax law that got the governor a significant tax break. The governor said he only learned of this later when the accoun tant preparing his taxes happened to mention it. Yeah, right. On the plus side, his handling of the old state flaggers was classic. With one foot firmly planted in the 19th century, flaggers claimed credit for Barnes’ reelection defeat on having changed the Georgia state flag, which incor porated the battle flag of the Confederacy. Perdue promised a referendum, allowing citizens to choose. The flaggers thought the battle flag would be one of the choices. They thought wrong. The choices were either a modified version of the first national flag of the Confederate States of America, with the Georgia state seal displayed inside a circle of 13 stars, or the Barnes flag, uglier than homemade sin. Voters »Show up, speak up!« Public meeting schedule for Eatonton and Putnam County PUTNAM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 1 p.m. - 2 nd Tuesday 706-485-1884 PUTNAM COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION 6 p.m. - 2 nd & 3 rd Monday 706-485-5381 EATONTON PUTNAM WATER SEWER AUTHORITY 4:30 p.m. - 3 rd Wednesday 706-485-5252 EATONTON CITY COUNCIL 7 p.m. - 1 st Tuesday & 3 rd Monday 706-485-3311 PUTNAM COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 6 p.m. - 3 rd Tuesday • 10 a.m. - 1st Friday 706-485-5826 PUTNAM PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION 6:30 p.m. - 1 st Thursday 706-485-2776 PUTNAM BD. OF ELECTIONS & REGISTRATION 4:30 p.m. - 1 st Tuesday 706-485-8683 * These dates and times are based on regular government meeting schedules. For any called or special meetings, please see our legal page. MORE PERDUE » A6 michaelpramirez.com - Newark + Airport The Eatonton Messenger Letters to the Editor President/Publisher amsmith@msgrnews.com A. Mark Smith Matt Smith Ian Tocher General Manager Editor matt@msgrnews.com ian@msgrnews.com Editor's note: Letters to the Editor from our readership are always encouraged; however, Smith Communications, Inc. (SCI) reserves the right to limit letters to no more than 500 words and adheres to a policy held by several newspapers nationwide to limit the number of letters on any particular subject, and to request that letter writers limit submitting comments on any one subject to once per month. Letters providing new information, ideas, commentaries, or opinions will always be welcome and considered. Contact Collins about what's coming ESTABLISHED 1861 Vice President Michael Smith Vice President JoAnn Smith Managing Editor Josh Lurie Reporter T. Michael Stone Reporter Bailey Ballard Sports Reporter Lance McCurley Advertising Manager Heather Harris Advertising Representative Dianne Phillips Advertising Representative Lily Smith Advertising Representative Amy Manville Classified Representative Haley Fowler Legal Advertising/Circulation Becky Meyer Business Manager Cassandra Fowler Lakelife Editor Lynn Hobbs Dear editor, Gas may be dropping but groceries are still up. The cost of goods will skyrocket because of the president’s tariff plans. Shipping in and out of Los Angeles has already slowed down by a third. It’s simple math; less cargo volume first equals fewer jobs for dock workers, then truck drivers, and then workers in small businesses. Without a steady inventory stream, small businesses will falter and fail, big indus tries will shrink, and we are all left holding the bag. Americans are rightly worried, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck or working two jobs. Consumer confidence is down. President Trump’s 2026 budget request seeks to make permanent his 2017 tax cuts that primarily benefitted the wealthy. Don’t forget that there’s nothing extra in it for the middle class. It just makes those 2017 levies permanent. But he wants big increases for Defense and Homeland Security. He vows not to touch Social Security, Medi care, and Medicaid. Do the math. Our already massive national debt will increase, and we peons will get to keep our current tax rate while prices for everything and unemployment explode. To give the president the big, beautiful budget he wants, the GOP Congress must cut Medicaid and slash long-standing service programs that primarily help the least among us. Bottom line: these plans will put most Georgians in a bad spot. We all deserve a government that works for all — not against us in ways that benefit the already rich but hammer the rest of us into oblivion. Contact District 10 Representative Mike Collins and ask him to look out for us and honor his oath to the Constitution to represent all of us. Regina A. Smith Athens Dedication Battle B. Smith, Editor and Publisher, 1956-1988 Micky Smith, Editor and Publisher, 1989-2003 Mark Smith Jr., Executive Editor, 2004-2019 The Eatonton Messenger (USPS 166-520) is published every Thursday by Smith Communications Inc., 100 N. Jefferson Ave., Eatonton, GA 31024-4027. It is the official organ of the County of Putnam and the City of Eatonton and is a member of the Georgia Press Association and the National Newspaper Association. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of The Eatonton Messenger and individual writers only. Subscription Rates One Year Two Years Putnam, Morgan, Greene counties $37 $70 Other Georgia counties $50 $90 Out of Georgia $55 $99 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Eatonton Messenger, P.O. Box 4027, Eatonton, GA 31024 Periodicals Postage Paid at Eatonton, GA 31024 Advertising, news and information: 706-485-3501 Fax: 706-485-4166 Advertising email: sales@msgrnews.com News email: editor@msgrnews.com Instructions for letters to the editor: Letters to the editor are due by Monday morning for that week's paper. Letters may be emailed to editor@msgrnews.com or delivered to The Eatonton Messenger, 100 N. Jefferson Ave., Eatonton, GA 31024. Letters sent anonymously will not be printed. A phone number for verification must be included; the phone number will not be published. Eatonton City Council Members John Chip Mylle James A. Michael Janie B. Marie Teresa Reid Walker Mangum Gorley Smith Reid Rainey Doster Mayor Mayor Pro Tem Ward 1 Ward 2 Wards 2 & 3 Ward 3 Wards 1 & 4 Ward 4 706- 706- 706- 706- 706- 706- 478- 706- 485-3311 485-7804 485-7195 485-8984 485-0306 816-6800 288-3846 484-0693 Putnam County Commissioners B.W. “Bill” Sharp Tom McElhenney Chairman District! 706-752-8431 762-205-4731 Richard Garrett District 2 706-749-5573 Steve Hersey District 3 706-485-0935 Jeff Wooten District 4 706-752-8432 Putnam County Board of Education Members Doris Clemons District 1 706-485-1142 Simone Jones District 2, Vice Chairman 706-473-0738 Steve Weiner District 3, Chairman 706-485-5087 Charles Trumbo District 4 Carol Ann Guthrie District 5 706-766-6012 Member, Georgia Press Association National Newspaper Association outhern Newspaper Publisher Association A prize-winning newspaper in Better Newspaper contests 1999-2016 ner of 23 top GPA awards in 2016 PLACE for GENERAL EXCELLENCE 2013, 2014 and 2015 Georgia Legislators snpa MEMBER SOUTHERN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION Senate Dist. 25 Sen. Rick Williams (R) 327-B Coverdell LOB Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-0082 rick.williams@senate.ga.gov House Dist. 124 Rep. Trey Rhodes (R) 228-A State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-5099 trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov House Dist. 144 Rep. Dale Washburn (R) 401-H Coverdell LOB Atlanta, GA 30334 Office: (404) 656-0152 dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
