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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 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
Goals for 2010
T HIS past year was one
of the most difficult in
Jackson County’s his
tory From high unemployment to
business failures to struggling local
governments, it was a year that will
not be remembered fondly by most
people.
But even as we reflect on what
transpired in 2009, it’s time to start
looking ahead to 2010.
Here are some issues that need
to be addressed during the upcom
ing year:
1. Stabilize the finances of
the Jackson County School
System with major spending
cuts. As has been previously dis
cussed, the JCSS was in the hole
financially in 2009. The reason for
that is that system leaders have built
a high cost structure and were slow
to react to the economic downturn.
It may get worse in 2010 unless the
system takes some major action to
cut its costs. Taxpayers in the county
are threatening an uprising over high
property appraisals, especially in the
West Jackson area. If this movement
results in lower appraisals in 2010, the
school system’s income could suffer.
Cut now.
2. Make leadership changes in
the JCSS. Related to No. 1 above is
the real need to get some new blood
into the school system’s leadership.
When local elections roll around in
the summer of 2010, BOE incumbents
need to face opposition.
3. Wrap up Pendergrass
investigation. Although the District
Attorney limited the GBI probe into
the City of Pendergrass more than it
should be, whatever is done needs
to be wrapped up quickly. If there
was abuse of public money, that
should be dealt with. Jackson County
doesn’t need another lengthy on-and-
off investigation as was done with the
Darren Glenn mess.
4. Hoschton needs to decide
its future. The town has been strug
gling for several years from poor lead
ership and fiscal mismanagement. It
does not have the financial resources
to do everything and like many small
towns, has taken a hit during the
economic downturn. The town has
put off making tough decisions for
years; now with a new mayor and
council, maybe that won’t be delayed
any longer.
5. Finalize the county’s com
prehensive plan update. We
question the real value of so many
meetings and so much effort being
put into a comprehensive plan that
will only sit on a shelf once is it done.
While in theory it’s a good idea —
plan for the county’s future — in real
ity local governments often do what
they want to do anyway regardless of
what the plan calls for. Let’s get this
done and move on.
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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letters
Sheriff appreciates help during Christmas season
Dear Editor:
I’d like to take this means of thanking a few people
and organizations for always helping to bring a smile to
the face of a child at Christmas time. Each year, with
the help of schools and various organizations within
Jackson County, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
identifies children and families of need.
With the help of the following individuals and
organizations, the joy of Christmas was shared with
over 60 children and families. Toys, clothing, food
and monetary gifts were used to brighten the lives of
these kids, what a joyous sight to behold indeed. The
generosity of the Jefferson Lions Club, The Jefferson
Rotary Club, The Staghorn Homeowner’s Association,
Wal-Mart Company and their associates, employees
of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson City
Schools, Jackson County School System, Henry
Lance, Jerry Wright, Mr. and Mrs. Bobby Hooper, Mr.
and Mrs. James Wilhite and countless others who gave
of their time and efforts on behalf of this worthy cause
made a difference to these children.
I sincerely thank each one of you and know that you
will be richly blessed.
Sincerely,
Stan Evans
Jackson County Sheriff
Georgia politics: A year of quitters
YOU COULD call 2009 “the year of the quitter” in
Georgia politics.
It was a 12-month period marked not by the accom
plishments of politicians serving in elected office, but
dominated instead by the news of people who decided
to leave office or drop out of an
upcoming election campaign.
One of the first to give it up
was Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who
was assumed by most politi
cal observers to be the favorite
in the 2010 governor’s race to
replace a term-limited Sonny
Perdue.
On a sunny day in April,
Cagle summoned reporters to
a press conference outside his
suite of offices on the capitol’s
second floor and announced
that medical problems with his
back and neck had compelled
him to abandon his campaign for governor.
There was some truth to Cagle’s litany of medical
problems - he later underwent back surgery - but his
statement that he would run again for lieutenant gov
ernor, which requires a campaign of similar statewide
scope as governor, left many people shaking their
heads and asking questions that still haven’t been sat
isfactorily answered.
Another powerful politician who at one time was
considered a top contender for governor in 2010 or
some future election cycle was House Speaker Glenn
Richardson - but Richardson called it quits as well.
He first tried to kill himself with an overdose of drugs
in early November, a suicide attempt he blamed on
depression stemming from a divorce from his wife and
other family issues. After Susan Richardson went on
TV and said that Richardson’s problems also involved
a romantic affair with a female lobbyist, Richardson
was forced to resign both as speaker and as a member
of the Legislature.
Speaker Pro Tern Mark Burkhalter, who was in line to
replace Richardson in the House’s top job, decided he
didn’t want to be speaker after all and indicated that he
too may resign from the Georgia House soon.
The pressures of the upcoming race for governor
forced other elected officials to quit before serving out
the full terms of office they had promised voters they
would serve.
Eric Johnson, an influential state senator for nearly
20 years, resigned from the Senate in late summer
because he said he wanted to devote his full attention
to running for the Republican nomination.
Because of the way Georgia’s election laws are writ
ten, Johnson was able to leave office while insuring
that the people in his Savannah-area district would still
have someone representing them. A special election
was held a few weeks after the resignation and Earl
“Buddy” Carter was elected in plenty of time to replace
Johnson in the Senate for the 2010 General Assembly
session.
There was no such luck for those Georgians who
voted in 2006 for Karen Handel as secretary of state
under the erroneous assumption that she would serve
the full four years of her term.
Just three days before Christmas, Handel abruptly
announced she was quitting at the end of the year so
that she could show she was “all in” for the primary
election campaign to decide the Republican nominee
for governor.
Handel’s move was understandable. Disclosure
reports indicate that she has not been as effec
tive in raising campaign money as her opponents:
Johnson, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine,
and Congressman Nathan Deal. If she remained in
office as secretary of state, she would be prohibited
from raising campaign funds during the three months
or more that the General Assembly would be in ses
sion, starting on Jan. 11.
Handel is now free to keep soliciting contributions
during the months of January, February, and March, but
she has also given some of her opponents ammunition
they can use in the primary campaign. It is not hard to
imagine a debate involving the Republican candidates
where Oxendine or Deal turns to Handel and asks: “If
you’re elected governor, do you intend to serve the
entire four years of your term?”
No matter how Handel responds to that question,
her opponent will be able to say that she has already
proved she will not honor the most basic commitment
a politician makes when running for office.
There’s an old saying that quitters never win and win
ners never quit. We’ll find out in the 2010 election year
if that’s really true.
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com
that covers government and politics in Georgia. He can
be reached at tcrawford@capitolimpact.net.
Welcome to
the real world
I F there was a common theme to
2009, it was just how poorly local
governments had prepared for
the economic downturn. While many
in the private
sector saw
the storm
clouds
gathering
in early
2008, many
local gov
ernment
continued
to put their
head in
the sand
and pre
tended the
economy
wouldn’t
affect them.
Welcome to the real world.
The truth is, until the economic
downturn hit, local governments had
become fat and lazy. Government
came to operate on the idea that it
would always have more money. No
government official, hired or elected,
ever thought about cutting spending,
only how to spend more.
And why not? That’s all they’d ever
known. The growth in housing led to
a higher tax base and higher property
assessments, all of which generated
more revenue. A growing population
and easy credit led to more sales
tax income every year. Times were
a’booming.
But rather than cutting taxes dur
ing the boom, public officials just
increased spending. They added
employees. They upped wages. They
added benefits. They took on debt.
Then came the crash in 2008. But
unlike private businesses that quickly
adjusted or failed, local government
kept on spending. The downturn
wouldn’t last, they thought.
But it did and in 2009, local govern
ments were forced to begin doing
something they’d never had to do: Cut
expenses.
Oh the horrors! To hear some offi
cials tell it, the world would collapse
without their continued high spending.
Spoiled babies. The truth is,
Jackson County has far too much gov
ernment for its own good. Out of nine
city governments in Jackson County,
at least four should be abolished. The
only service these governments do
is to employ bureaucrats without one
iota of benefit to citizens.
All local governments decry such
criticism, of course. Every govern
ment defends its growth in spending
as being “necessary” to deal with the
county’s growth in population.
But that’s not the real story. Local
governments have grown at a faster
rate than the population has grown. In
reality, local governments were using
that as an excuse to fatten their own
salaries and benefits and to “grow
government.”
Now they’re stuck. Too much
expense, too little income.
But here’s the upside: Cutting off
the easy flow of money is forcing
local government to make cuts. They
scream about it. They paint pictures of
Armageddon. They threaten to raise
the millage rate. But in the end, most
local governments are making real
cuts to real spending.
And that’s a good thing for taxpay
ers. Cutting back local governments
won’t cause the world to end. Sure,
some bureaucrats may not get their
bonuses and they may have to pay for
more of their insurance and benefits.
And some public officials may have
to work harder than in the past since
they won’t have secretaries for secre
taries to fall back on.
So how is that different than for
people in the private sector who have
felt the major part of the sting in the
recession?
Local governments got fat and lazy
during the boom years. Now they’re
having to do what the rest of us have
long had to do — adjust, cut back,
make do.
Bureaucrats, welcome to the real
world.
Mike Buffington is editor of The
Jackson Herald. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreenews.com.
mike
buffington