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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 2010
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
Arizona law
misguided
T HE move by Arizona
to crack down on ille
gal immigration has
set off a firestorm of protests
around the nation. Calls to
boycott the state have grown
louder and caught Arizona
leaders by surprise.
This is a complex subject,
one that is void of the tradi
tional political lines. One can
be concerned about illegal
immigration, but also not sup
port Arizona’s actions.
Indeed, there’s something
fundamentally anti-American
about that state’s call for law
enforcement officials to ask
for “papers” from those sus
pected of being illegal immi
grants. Americans should be
able to move about freely in
their country without having
to produce “papers,” as if an
internal passport is needed.
To those who think police
won’t abuse the new law, just
think of how some of our local
police already abuse the law
to raise money for their small
town governments. Arizona’s
action will open the door in
that state not just to profil
ing, but also to an increased
amount of law enforcement
abuse.
But one has to feel for the
problems Arizona faces. Its
border with Mexico is a sieve
through which much illegal
activity is taking place. Even
more than illegal immigrants
is the problem of drug smug
gling through that porous bor
der.
Arizona is right in its call for
the federal government to tight
en border control. But politi
cally, neither party really wants
to do that for fear of alienating
the growing Hispanic voting
bloc in the country.
As a sign of protest, Arizona’s
new law has brought the ille
gal immigration issue to the
fore — again. But it likely isn’t
constitutional and is a mis
guided effort.
Until the federal government
decides to address illegal
immigration by tightening the
border, these problems will
remain with us.
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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"Flowers are blooming...birds singing...even the sun is shining
brighter since the General Assembly session is over!"
u We know being a mom is hard sometimes,
but you sure make being a kid easier!"
Some good people are leaving office
BEFORE we get caught up in the drama of the primary
election campaigns, we should stop and take note that
some good people will be leaving their current elected
offices after this year.
Politics attracts its share of
scoundrels and troublemakers,
but there are still some politi
cians in public office who actu
ally try to serve the public. I
want to mention a few of them.
Public Service Commissioner
Bobby Baker in recent years
has been almost the only PSC
member who stood up for the
consumers who get their elec
tricity and natural gas from the
state’s biggest utilities.
The PSC is dominated by
members who will eagerly vote
to approve whatever the utility lobbyists request. This
majority also has a tendency to exempt large business
and industrial users from the negative effects of their
decisions - instead putting the burden on residential
and small business customers.
Baker questioned the fairness of this approach to
utility regulation. He also supported efforts to change
PSC rules so that utility lobbyists and lawyers could no
longer meet privately with commissioners while they
are in the process of deciding a rate increase.
This pro-consumer stance nearly always resulted in
Baker being on the losing end of commission votes. His
lonely stands also brought him verbal abuse and taunts
from other PSC members.
Nor surprisingly, Baker decided he did not want to put
up with this for another six years. His retirement from
the PSC is a discouraging development for Georgia
consumers.
While he doesn’t get the media attention that goes to
more powerful legislators, Sen. Don Thomas of Dalton
has had more of an impact on the everyday lives of
Georgians than just about any other lawmaker.
He quietly but firmly worked for the passage of legisla
tion that outlawed smoking in most public places. As a
family physician, Thomas knew that cleaning up the air
we breathe would be a good public health move.
Thomas also tried for years to change the state law
that allowed people to ride in pickup trucks without
being required to use seat belts. Thomas faced power
ful opposition from House speakers like Tom Murphy
and Glenn Richardson, but he persevered.
The good doctor finally succeeded in getting his seat
belt legislation passed during this session. He now
will retire from public life to look after his wife, who is
battling cancer, and spend more time with his grand
children.
Sen. Jeff Chapman of Brunswick, who’s leaving the
Senate to run for governor, was a conservative law
maker who really believed in conserving. Throughout
his Senate tenure, Chapman fought hard to protect the
natural beauty of Jekyll Island and the Georgia coast
from the encroachments of developers.
Chapman’s efforts angered many of his colleagues,
but he never backed down. Georgians who are still able
to enjoy the scenic charms of our barrier islands in the
years ahead will owe a debt of gratitude to Chapman
and the legislators who voted with him.
Two House members who are leaving the Legislature
to run for other offices are DuBose Porter of Dublin and
Austin Scott of Tifton.
Scott was a maverick Republican who often differed
with his colleagues on controversial issues such as
immigration and the state flag. He was not afraid to
speak the truth, even if it hurt a fellow Republican like
Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Perdue privatized state government’s computer and
telecommunications systems two years ago by awarding
fat contracts to AT&T and IBM, claiming that this move
would save money for the state.
In fact, the privatization cost Georgia millions of dol
lars at a time when legislators were desperately trying
to fill a gaping budget deficit. Scott was one of the few
lawmakers with the courage to speak out against this
financial waste.
As the Legislature cut state funding to K-12 school
systems by a combined total of more than $2 billion
over the past six years, Porter consistently pushed back
against the budget reductions. He argued eloquently
that cutbacks in public education would be harmful to
the state’s future - a message that was largely ignored.
You can’t blame any of these people for making the
decision to leave their elected offices, but it’s too bad for
the rest of us that they are. Georgians will miss them
very much.
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report. He
can be reached at tcrawford@caDitoIimDact.net.
A lack of
political
competition
F PEOPLE are fed up with
political leadership, it sure
didn’t show up in most local
elections.
With qualifying over, there is
only one Jackson County race
for the
District
5 seat
on the
board
of edu
cation
being
vacated
by Jill
McEver.
The
other
two
BOE
seats
had only
one person qualify in each.
Ditto for the county government;
there are no challengers to either
District 3 or District 4 seats with
incumbents Dwain Smith and
Bruce Yates both rolling back into
office unopposed.
This lack of political competi
tion raises some big questions.
Are people satisfied with the status
quo, or is there just a lack of quali
fied and willing people to run for
office?
Perhaps a large problem this
year is the lack of financial resourc
es. Who wants to take a seat on a
local government board when all
local governments are struggling to
stay afloat?
Although there are some small
signs that the economy has hit
bottom, local government finances
will be stmggling for a couple more
years.
In the local school system, the
federal stimulus funds will go away
after FY2011. That will be a huge hit
on the schools forcing more layoffs
or other spending cuts.
And for all local governments,
the Jackson County tax digest
looks like it will decrease this year.
Last year, only moderate cuts were
made in the digest values. In fact,
those cuts in values should have
been more and deeper given the
virtual collapse in real estate in the
county.
Here’s an example: Several prop
erties in Traditions of Braselton
have sold for far less than the
county’s appraised value. How
much?
Anywhere from 25 percent to 40
percent less than what the county
has on its books.
While that kind of drop isn’t
countywide — the East Jackson
area had less of a dramatic drop —
it does reflect just how high some
properties had been appraised
before the crash. If the county
does the right thing, a lot of proper
ty in central and western Jackson
County will have lower tax apprais
als this year. That will mean less
money for the county government,
the school systems and some city
governments.
That means that the FY2011
budgets could be tighter than this
year’s spending.
As for other political races, the
main one of interest locally will
be the State Senate District 47 seat
where four Republicans and one
Democrat are entered. (But essen
tially, the race is a Republican race
since no Democrat is likely to get
elected in that very conservative
district.)
With the dramatic last-minute
withdrawal of Pat Graham from
the contest, the race is now wide-
open. Graham was the early odds-
on favorite given her years in the
limelight as Braselton’s mayor.
With her withdrawal, the race
now appears to be mainly between
Kelley Gary of Hoschton and Frank
Ginn of Madison County. It’s too
early to tell, however, who has the
edge in that contest.
Mike Buffington is editor of The
Jackson Herald. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreetnews.com.