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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
Named the best weekly editorial page in the nation for 2007, 2008
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher ~
Mike Buffington, editor • Email: Mike@mainstreetnews.com
our views
Fire training
flap a lesson
in scrutiny
T he jackson
County Board of
Commissioners
turned down building a $1
million fire driving course this
week after a nasty public back
lash to the idea. Instead, the
project has been scaled back
to $621,000 by expanding an
existing paved area.
Whether or not the course
is needed is debatable. What’s
not debatable is the fact that
the entire fire training facility
process has been a lesson in
how small ideas in government
often become bloated projects
that consume millions of tax
dollars.
When it began, the idea was
for a small “burn building” that
cost a few hundred thousand
dollars. Taxpayers approved it
via a SPLOST referendum.
But the project stalled and
by the time another SPLOST
came around, it had grown
into a training facility costing
several million dollars. Voters
did approve that SPLOST, but
we doubt very many really
understood how the small proj
ect had ballooned.
Whether or not Jackson
County needs such a facility
has been a hot debate in the last
couple of years. Some taxpay
ers have had second thoughts
and point out that training is
available around the state with
out county taxpayers having to
pay for a local facility. Others
believe the facility would be a
strong addition to public safety
in Jackson County.
It should have been no sur
prise that there would be a
backlash to the driving course
idea. Given the past contro
versy on the training facility
and today’s tense economic
climate with tight government
budgets, the idea of spending
a pile of money on a driving
facility was bound to get ham
mered politically.
That the project is moving
forward at all is something of
a victory. In the current politi
cal climate, anything beyond
the basics that governments
do will face intense scrutiny by
taxpayers.
The Jackson Herald
Founded 1875 • The Official Legal
Organ of Jackson County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher & Editor
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
News Department
Angela Gary Associate Editor
Jana Adams Mitcham Features Editor
Brandon Reed Sports Editor
Kerri Testement Reporter
Sharon Hogan Reporter
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...I wish adults would figure
out that what we learn is more
important than test scores!
letters
Says Bear Creek rules discriminatory
Dear Editor:
Jackson County is taking the lead in the
development and operation of the access
park and ramp for the Bear Creek Reservoir.
This 5-acre park and launching facility, which
includes bathrooms and a guardhouse, is
being financed by the four county Bear
Creek Reservoir partners (Clarke, Jackson,
Oconee, and Barrow). Its current cost is
over $300K.
What most Jackson citizens have not real
ized is this facility and the reservoir waters
will be open to fishermen only. In other
words, if any other citizen would like to park
in the public launching area to enjoy the res
ervoir scenery, or if a non-fishing citizen puts
a canoe or kayak on the water just to paddle,
they can be removed. This includes Jackson
County’s own Olympic kayak hopeful Cannie
Ash (“Hoschton teen has Olympic dreams,”
06/10/09).
I find it incredible that our county would
support restricting a young kayaker from a
county-funded facility while allowing fisher
men.
On July 22 at its 9:30 a.m. meeting, the
Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority will
vote on this discriminatory set of regulations.
I hope every citizen who might one day like
to enjoy the reservoir either as a park visitor
or a boater; who supports achievement-
oriented young Jackson citizens like Cannie
Ash; or who finds such discrimination unfit
for our county, will express their opinion at
this meeting. More information is available
by emailing protectjackson@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Babs McDonald
The drought ends, but will return
THE RAINS finally came this year, even if
not on a biblical scale, and environmental
officials in state government now proclaim
that Georgia’s historic drought has officially
“ended.”
“Our water supplies
are flush,” observed
Carol Couch, direc
tor of the state’s
Environmental
Protection Division,
as she discussed the
factors that justified
her decision that the
devastating dry period
was over.
For the short term,
that is probably an
accurate assessment.
Rainfall has been near normal levels for
several months in North Georgia, where
the drought was most severe, and South
Georgia has received heavier rainfall than it
typically does. Those factors combined to
give Georgia its second wettest spring in 115
years, according to state climatologist David
Stooksbury.
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s attitude seemed to be
that with water levels rising and the situation
back to normal, Georgians would never had
to worry about a drought again.
“We have become more educated about
water conservation and have taken signifi
cant steps towards ensuring a long term solu
tion,” Perdue said. “I believe Georgians will
continue to use our water resources wisely
under this new outdoor watering schedule.”
That would be a good thing if it actually
happened, but it’s not likely because the state
has now eased off on the water usage restric
tions it imposed over the past two years to
try to keep North Georgia from running out
of the precious liquid.
During the three years that Georgia was in
the grip of this drought, our elected leader
ship did a lot of talking about what needed
to be done to ensure a future supply of water
but didn’t do much to put those words into
effect. We missed an opportunity to take
actions that might have minimized the effects
of future droughts.
The General Assembly could have passed
legislation that would require builders to use
more water-efficient plumbing fixtures in
their new construction projects. Those bills
were throttled by the real estate and develop
ment interests.
Legislators also could have passed a mea
sure that would provide incentives for hom
eowners and businesses to switch their cur
rent plumbing fixtures to low-flow devices as
they were replaced, but that didn’t happen
either.
The state for a long time has needed to
develop a comprehensive water manage
ment plan that would anticipate future needs
and spell out how they would be addressed.
Instead, lawmakers adopted a state water
plan that contains a lot of policy statements
but has no force of law. It’s essentially a plan
to one day have a plan.
Legislators talked a lot about building sev
eral new reservoirs, but that’s an expensive
proposition at a time when state revenues are
down by 10 percent. Reservoirs also disturb
the natural flow of waterways and lose much
of the water they impound to evaporation.
The one thing legislators did do on the
water issue was pass a bill that prohibits local
governments from placing more restrictions
on usage unless they can first secure approv
al from the state - a law that encourages
more consumption rather than less.
We also had the spectacle of Perdue going
before the TV news cameras in the middle
of the drought to tell Georgians they would
be allowed to fill up their swimming pools
again if they wished - never mind that North
Georgia was in danger of drying up at the
time.
“The hallmark of the Perdue Administration
is always the same: when confronted with
any problem, first, deny it, then when deny
ing won’t work any longer, claim that you are
solving it,” House Minority Leader DuBose
Porter wryly observed. “Then just forget all
about it, and wait until your term ends.”
Porter added: “Georgia is going to have
another drought. Sonny Perdue is leaving us
no more prepared for the next drought than
he prepared us for the drought that has just
mercifully ended.”
On that point, Porter is probably correct.
You hear people on talk radio everyday who
will claim that global warming is a hoax, but
it’s real and it could cause future droughts
that are longer and more devastating than
the one we just endured.
Over the past three years, our elected offi
cials should have started implementing some
serious measures that might help us survive
future shortages of water. Unfortunately for
us, they weren’t willing to do the job.
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol
Impact's Georgia Report. He can be reached
at tcrawford@capitolimpact.net.
Getting out in the
woods is good for boys
Y OUNG boys ought to get out in the woods more.
Cell phones, Gameboys, video games, television
and Facebook seem to dominate the lives of so
many boys today.
What happened to running
through the woods, building
tree houses and generally get
ting filthy while having fun?
There’s been a great cultural
shift over the last 50 years as
young men have slowly with
drawn to the indoors as their
base of entertainment. The rise
of electronic entertainment
coupled with parental fear of
allowing kids to roam around
unsupervised has greatly
altered how boys interact with
the world around them.
I’m reminded of the indoor
trend this week as I’m spend
ing some time up in the mountains of Northeast Georgia
with 20 young men from our Jefferson Boy Scout troop at
Summer Camp. Most of these boys have been camping
before; but for some, it’s the first time they’ve been away
from home for an entire week.
It’s also the first time many have had to do some things
for themselves.
Mama ain’t around to pick up dirty clothes; the boys
have to do that for themselves.
They have to eat what they’re served in the mess hall;
picky eaters lose weight because nobody’s going to bring
them a Twinkie or a bag of chips.
Boys take turns waiting tables, setting out silverware,
pouring water and then — horrors — sweeping up the
crumbs their buddies left behind. (We’ve had boys who
didn’t know how to hold a broom until they encountered
one at summer camp.)
They have to get to class on time, traversing up and
down the hills; they’ll average five to eight miles per day
just walking.
If it rains, they have to “be prepared” with ponchos for
their body and tarps for their tents.
And they have to sleep outside, hot or cold, worried or
not about snakes and bears and all kinds of night noises
that are not muffled by the hum of air conditioning like
back home.
But somewhere in this experience, these young men
begin to find something out about themselves.
Those prone to homesickness learn they can survive
on their own for a few days without a parent hovering
around them.
They start the process of learning to be responsible for
their belongings; they have tent inspections every morning
and all their gear has to be stored a certain way. For boys
who have never picked up behind themselves, that is a
learning curve.
They learn that they don’t need an Xbox or Gameboy
to have fun with friends. The first night in camp this week,
they all sat around whittling sticks with pocketknives (no
digits lost so far.)
A couple boys waded in the creek looking for frogs or
snakes or who-knows-what. Others dug some worms and
went to the lake to fish.
They learn self-discipline; to get up early, get dressed,
and line up on the parade field for flag-raising.
This kind of camp is a unique blend of structure and
freedom. We expect them to take care of their gear, tuck
in their shirttails, get to class on time, shower at night and
generally behave.
But we don’t hold their hands and they have a fair
amount of free time to roam through the woods or poison
oak (they learn real quick what that looks like!) If they get
lost, well, they’ll find their way back to camp.
And for older Scouts who’ve been to camp before, we
exert even less supervision. They’re pretty much expected
to take care of themselves unless it is a real emergency.
Several years ago, we had an experienced Scout who
woke me up one night to say he’d accidentally bmshed
his teeth with Hydrocortisone cream instead of toothpaste.
“Am I going to die?” he asked.
Me: “Well, how do you feel?”
“It taste horrible.”
Me: “OK, go up to the medical hut and tell the nurse
what happened; if she says you’re going to die, come back
and wake me up again and I’ll think of something.”
He didn’t wake me up, survived, and became an out
standing Eagle Scout.
Sometimes, you just have to let problems find their own
balance.
Of course, living in the woods for a week isn’t for every
one. Some boys decide that the bugs and the getting up
early and all the walking and the nondescript food and the
sleeping with the crickets — and the self-discipline it takes
to do all of that — just isn’t for them. And that’s OK, too.
But for those boys who connect with the woods, and
the discipline it takes to be successful in that environment,
it can be a rewarding and enriching experience.
What the boys experience on the surface at a Scout
summer camp are the physical things — the moldy tents,
the swimming in the lake, the shooting of a rifle, the sound
of the cannon going off at flag-raising and flag-lowering.
They don’t understand yet how the experience affects
them on the inside.
But what we adults see when sitting around the camp
fire at night are boys who are starting their journey to
becoming men.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can
be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
mike
buffington