Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
Recreation needs discussed
BY SHARON HOGAN
A SMALL group of con
cerned Jackson County citi
zens turned out on Thursday
for a public meeting with local
officials to discuss the Jackson
County Parks and Recreation
master plan. Sixteen people
turned out for the meeting held
at East Jackson Comprehensive
High School.
Bob Betts, recreation master
planner consultant, reported that
in 2002 the county received a
grant that was used to fund the
master plan that was adopted
in 2003. Betts helped to cre
ate the original master plan for
parks and recreation in Jackson
County.
Included in that master plan
was the East Jackson Park and
the Hoschton Park, both of
which are currently under con
struction.
“We are here tonight because
we need to know where the
parks are needed and what
is needed to carry us into the
future,” Betts said.
It will take three more months
to update the master plan, Betts
reported.
Betts also said the county
needs to begin work to secure
permanent funding to build the
parks.
Betts recommended that any
park 50 to 80 acres in size be
located in an area where there is
concentrated growth.
Nicholson resident and for
mer Nicholson council member.
Paul Cartledge, said, “I guess
first we need to know what kind
of budget the county has. I have
had people ask me about tennis
courts and a skateboarding facil
ity at the East Jackson Park.”
Jackson County Board of
Commissioner member Dwain
Smith said, “We, the commis
sioners, have not decided how
the SPLOST (Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Tax) will
be split.”
Faye Seagraves, Nicholson
resident and former Nicholson
council member, said, “Tennis
courts and a skate park are really
needed.”
Jackson County Parks and
Recreation Director Ricky
Sanders reported that the next
phase of construction at the East
Jackson Park would be tennis
courts.
“A gym will be later on, that
is a big ticket item,” Sanders
said.
Betts said, “With a county the
size of Jackson, I was kind of
surprised there is not an indoor
facility.”
Margaret Ward, Nicholson,
said. “I just hope the commis
sioner look at funding for recre
ation. Recreation is important to
our young people and they are
our future.”
Keith Ariail said, “Everyone
has got to work hard to continue
the SPLOST and make sure
everyone knows this is a con
tinuation tax, not a new tax.”
Ariail asked that the county
consider purchasing the Holland
property to protect Hurricane
Shoals Park.
Ariail, a member of the
Tumbling Waters Society, a
group that raises funds to help
with the operation of Hurricane
Shoals Park, reported that the
society has been exploring the
possibility of a walking path
along the Oconee River from
Hurricane Shoals Park to Woods
Bridge Road.
“This would be a natural
walkway and dogs would be
allowed on the path,” he said.
“There is a need for a place at
the park where people can take
their dogs.”
Betts asked if the coun
ty would be open to looking
at other funding instead of
SPLOST funds.
Smith said, “Recreation is a
high priority for me.”
Betts added there are four
ways to fund recreation, includ
ing SPLOST, bonds, a dedicated
millage and impact fees.
Smith said, “We have really
got to look at what is needed
for the whole county. We can’t
just focus on one part, like East
Jackson.”
Betts reported Hall County
has some school parks.
“When the BOE (board of
education) purchases land for
a new middle school, they pur
chase an extra 25 acres for a
park,” he said. “The park is
controlled by the county.”
Smith said, “I am kind of
independent. I would rather not
be tied to the school system.”
Nicholson Mayor Ronnie
Maxwell said, “The City of
Nicholson is very appreciative
of any piece of the pie that we
get.”
Ward said, “I think we have
got to leave favoritism out and
put the entities where they are
needed, regardless of where it
is.”
Seagraves said, “I think you
need to finish what you have
started before you start some
thing else.”
Sanders reported that the
county is nearing the end of the
current SPLOST.
Betts reported the 10-year
master plan capital improve
ment projects totaled over $39
million.
Maysville resident Jeremy
Hayes said the awareness of the
availability of the county’s parks
is vital. Hayes advised his kids
have played and he has coached at
the county’s parks.
“The only real issue I had was
trying to schedule some soccer
practices,” Hayes said.
Smith said, “Keeping kids
involved in organized sports, from
4-5 years old up to 14-15 years
old, keeps a lot of kids out of
trouble.”
Ward said, “I think you need to
finish the projects you have started
and come back later with these
big plans.”
Ward also suggested holding the
SPLOST vote in a month when all
the kids are out at the parks play
ing sports.
“Parents will see the importance
of the parks,” Ward said.
Betts said that 95 percent of
the funding for recreation is at the
local level. “In ftmding the con
struction of a new park, you have
to set money aside to maintain the
park,” Betts added.
County manager Darrell
Hampton said, “You have got to
weigh what is needed.”
Sanders said, “We’ve got to
make sure we prioritize correctly.”
Sanders had maps available for
viewing of the Hoschton Park, an
aquatic center and a 90-100 acre
park.
Betts reported he would take the
information gathered at the pub
lic meeting and the information
gathered at a public meeting at
Gum Springs Elementary School
the week before and compile the
updated plan.
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POYTHRESS SPEAKS
David Poythress, a Democratic candidate for gover
nor, spoke at the “meet and greet” session Sunday in
Commerce sponsored by the Democratic Parties of
Banks, Barrow, Franklin, Jackson, Habersham, Hart
and Stephens counties.
PORTER SPEAKS
House minority leader DuBose Porter, a Democratic
candidate for governor, spoke at the “meet and
greet” session Sunday in Commerce sponsored by
the Democratic Parties of Banks, Barrow, Franklin,
Jackson, Habersham, Hart and Stephens counties.
Democratic rally held in Commerce on Sunday
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
A SMALL but enthusiastic
crowd of Democrats got an earful
of what’s “wrong” with Georgia
government Sunday, along with
a strong dose of why Democrats
seeking state offices would con
stitute improvement.
Approximately 100 people
listened as candidates for gov
ernor, lieutenant governor,
school superintendent, secretary
of state and others split their
time between damning eight
years of Republican governance
and explaining how replacing
Republican office holders with
Democrats would save the state.
The “meet and greet” ses
sion was sponsored by the
Democratic Parties of Banks,
Barrow, Franklin, Jackson,
Habersham, Hart and Stephens
counties. Candidates spoke from
the front porch of the residence
of John and Gail Cox on Little
Street, while various booths in
Spencer Park sold baked goods
or promoted individual candi
dates.
Russell Edwards, running
against Rep. Paul Broun for
the 10th Congressional District
emceed what he repeatedly
called “a speech-a-thon.”
Three Democratic candidates
for governor — former gover
nor Roy Barnes, House minor
ity leader DuBose Porter and
David Poythress — highlighted
the event.
Needless to say, two-term
GOP governor Sonny Perdue
came in for repeated jabs in a
rally where competing candi
dates referenced their opponents
in the Democratic Primary only
in the vaguest terms.
“Who said there aren’t any
good Democrats in North
Georgia,” said Poythress, a for
mer secretary of state and labor
commissioner, who suggested
Georgia could balance its bud
gets with the “hundreds of mil
lions of dollars” uncollected
by the Georgia Department of
Revenue.
Poythress identified a platform
of improving education (“stop
blaming teachers for everything
BARNES SPEAKS
Former governor Roy
Barnes, a Democratic
candidate for governor,
spoke at the “meet and
greet” session Sunday in
Commerce sponsored by
the Democratic Parties of
Banks, Barrow, Franklin,
Jackson, Habersham,
Hart and Stephens coun
ties.
wrong with education”), job cre
ation and a “fair” system of taxa
tion in which the Department of
Revenue is overhauled.
Barnes also stressed educa
tion, arguing that Republicans,
in the eight years since he was
defeated by Perdue, “have taken
away the hope of a generation
with their education cuts.” He
charged that the upcoming state
budget will pay for just 137 days
of education.
Apparently making education
his centerpiece, Barnes com
plained that Georgia has come to
“rationing” public education.
Barnes also claimed that
the Republican-led state has
“allowed big banks to run wild,”
and told the crowd that anti-pred-
atory lending legislation he got
approved in 2002 was repealed
by the Perdue Administration.
“There is no consumer protec
tion,” Barnes said.
He also charged that local
property taxes have increased
for Georgians because the state
property tax credit was elimi
nated and school boards were
forced to raise tax rates by state
funding cuts.
“It’s not right, it’s not fair and
it won’t stand if I’m elected gov-
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emor,” Barnes said.
“Isn’t it great to have a yard full
of Democrats in North Georgia,”
Porter asked.
Porter’s theme was that he
— unlike Barnes and Poythress
whom he did not name — had
“stayed around to fight” after
Republicans won control of the
state government. He said it
would “take the power and will
of the governor” to reverse what
the Republicans have done to
Georgia.
Porter said he became involved
with a Title 1 elementary school
in Dublin that, by reducing class
sizes, supporting technology and
improving parental participa
tion, went from one of the worst
schools in the state to one of the
best.
“If you give me the power of
the office of governor, I will do
that in every school in the state,”
he said.
Porter proposed to improve
transportation, including rail ser
vice from Athens to Atlanta.
“For the price of the fish pond
in Perry (a reference to Perdue’s
“Go Fish” program), we could
have brought passenger rail to
Georgia,” he sated.
Like Poythress, Porter sees
the Department of Revenue as a
problem and said on his first day
in office he would ask for the res
ignation of its director. Had DOR
done its job, Porter claimed,
Georgia “would hot have had
to furlough a single teacher and
we would not be talking about a
shorter school year.”
Plenty of other speakers took
their shots at the Republicans.
“Let’s not forget that the
Republicans were in charge
when the people were put on the
street,” encouraged Edwards.
“I’m the good doctor, not the
one who is running against him,”
said Dr. Tim Riley, seeking the
Georgia State Senate seat vacat
ed by Ralph Hudgens. He was
referring to Edwards’ opponent,
Broun, who is a physician.
Carol Porter, DuBose Porter’s
wife and a candidate for lieuten
ant governor, ripped incumbent
Casey Cagle for the “hawks”
system she said features at-large
committee members who could
swoop in and control the vote
of any committee. She blasted
Republicans for “doing the exact
opposite of what they run on.”
“They are trying to phase out
public education,” she alleged,
adding that Georgia leads the
nation in the percentage of its
residents in jail.
“It is morally wrong to keep
cutting education and lock
ing everyone up,” Porter said.
“We’ve been a prison colony
once before. Let’s not go back
to that.”
R.J. Hadley, running against
Johnny Isakson for the U.S.
Senate, said: “In the last decade,
the other side has shown us noth
ing but failure.”
Candidates for secretary of
state — Gail Buckner, Angela
Moore, Michael Mills and
Georganna Sinkfield — all hint
ed that the lack of a paper bal
lot to confirm electronic election
results suggested the possibility
of fraud.
Candidates for state superin
tendent of schools Joe Martin
noted that he’d ran unsuccess
fully against Linda Schrenko.
“The voters gave her eight
years. The judge gave her eight
more,” he joked, referring to
Sherenko’s prison sentence.
Brian Westlake, also run
ning for state superintendent of
schools, told the crowd that the
Republicans had begun mak
ing cuts to education eight years
ago.
“They didn’t start with the
recession,” he said. “We were
cutting education while giving
big tax cuts” to try to attract
industry.
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