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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”-
Henry W a i d Beeche r
Over the last 20 years, I’ve written this kind of column sev
eral times. Time to do it again.
Most of the population growth in this
area comes from new residents moving
in. That influx of “newcomers” creates
an interesting dynamic for the commu
nity, especially as it sometimes chal
lenges long-held local views and ways
of doing business.
I should preface this by saying that to
some, I’m still a “newcomer.” Although
I moved to the area as a child 59 years
ago, that’s piddling compared to some
local family roots. By comparison, my
wife, Alex, is the sixth generation of her
family to live in the area. There are oth
er families I know whose local roots go back to the late 1700s.
That kind of deep roots isn’t all good. Sometimes, commu
nities get set in their ways and refuse to change. A “this is the
way we’ve always done it” mentality often blinds community
leaders to new opportunities. Community “elites” resist any
thing that might challenge their privileged position.
So, I’ve always appreciated the energy and ideas that new
residents bring to the community. By challenging the status
quo, they often force local leaders to rethink old assumptions
and they often bring a more diverse plate of ideas to the table.
• ••
But sometimes, new citizens bring more hot air than light
to an issue.
I say that because our reporters cover a lot of government
meetings each month, from county governments and city gov
ernments, to school boards and other government agencies.
From that vantage point of sitting through so many meet
ings, we get to see a parade of local leaders and local citizens
as they interact with each other.
It ain’t always pretty.
Increasingly, local government meetings have become fo
rums where new residents display an appalling lack of knowl
edge about an issue, or make self-serving declarations. And
the level of citizen arrogance has increased, too, as some new
residents seem to think they’re the smartest person in the room.
• ••
Typically, I use this space to comment, often critically, about
how local governments are acting. This week, I’m going to
switch that up and give some very candid advice to newcom
ers who show up to comment at a public meeting.
If you’re easily offended, don’t read the rest of this column:
Advice to newcomers
1. Don’t tell a local government board that you moved to
the area from Gwinnett County to get away from growth.
What you really did is move to one of the fastest-growing sub
urban regions in the nation. If you wanted to get away from
growth, you should have moved much further away from the
sprawling Metro Atlanta area. And let’s be clear, you are part
of the problem—your moving to the area added to the growth;
don’t expect to move here and then slam the door behind you.
Nobody asked you to move here, either.
2. Don’t complain about local taxes and say they’re
higher than where you came from. I’ve seen this a lot over
the last few years and most of the time, that isn’t really tme.
Before you moved here, you should have researched the local
tax rates for your new home; that’s easy to do online these
days and is often part of the various real estate websites that
list homes for sale. If you’d done your homework before you
bought a home here, you shouldn’t be surprised at the local tax
rates. To complain after the fact says more about you than it
does local governments.
3. As an adjunct to the previous comment, senior citizens
who move here from Gwinnett County shouldn’t expect
the same kind of tax breaks. While the local senior citizen
homestead exemption amount should be raised, those who
want the local schools to give a 100% exemption from school
taxes for seniors, like Gwinnett County does, are comparing
apples to oranges. Gwinnett is a huge county with a massive
tax digest. Gwinnett can afford to give large senior tax breaks
because it has so much industry and commercial development
to help carry their tax burden. The local school systems have
much, much smaller tax digests and don’t have the broad base
of industrial or commercial like Gwinnett has. That’s one of
the trade-offs of moving from an urban community to a sub
urban or exurban area — you should have known that before
you moved.
4. Don’t be condescending to local government officials
by saying, “this is how we did it where I came from.” No
body really cares how “they” did it. If you liked “how they
did it,” then why did you move? As one local official recently
noted to me, a lot of people want to say how things are done
elsewhere, but nobody ever takes the time to ask why things
are done the way they are here. Before you spout off at a gov
ernment meeting, ask questions and leam a little about the
local government history and institutional structures. Maybe
some things do need to be changed and new ideas are good,
but often there are reasons for how things are done that may
be different.
5. Don’t assume all local government officials are cor
rupt. I’ve seen this a lot this year during the heated debates
over higher property assessments. There’s a populist strain of
thought among the public today that all public officials are on
the take. Maybe some are and over the last four decades, I’ve
written about local officials who I believed were doing unethi
cal or illegal activities. But for the most part, local government
officials aren’t corrupt; sometimes they may make bad deci
sions, but that doesn’t make them corrupt.
6. Don’t go to a government meeting and demand to
know how that government is spending your money.
There’s no way in a few minutes any local government can tell
you how it spends all its funds. If you want to know how local
governments are spending tax dollars, read this newspaper’s
reporting—we cover it. If you want to know the nitty-gritty,
get a copy of their budgets and read the line-item details. Get
a copy of their annual audits and knock yourself out. All local
governments have financial reporting laws they have to fol
low and I seldom have any problem in getting financial details
from any of our local governments. Don’t expect anyone to
spoon-feed you several hundred pages of data during a meet
ing. If you want to know, invest some time and energy in read
ing those details, they’re readily available.
7. Don’t move here and then complain the local com
munity doesn’t have the amenities you’re accustomed to.
That’s especially tme for all you fonner Gwinnecians who
move here; this ain’t Gwinnett County with all the same
stores, restaurants, cultural and recreational activities found
there. Gwinnett has nearly 1 million people, the local com
munity has less than 100,000. It’s different and you shouldn’t
go to a local government meeting and complain that there’s
“nothing to do here.”
8. Finally, take time to learn how government works.
I’m increasingly appalled at the lack of knowledge citizens
have about how governments work. It wasn’t always this way.
Years ago, people seemed to have a basic understanding of
how governments function and interact; today, there appears
to be a group of people who never attended a civics class. The
level of ignorance I’ve seen from some citizens over the past
few years is troubling. I suspect some of that is due to social
media where people spend vast amounts of time-consuming
misinformation rather than taking time to read reliable sources
of information. Still, if you’re going to comment at a public
meeting about an issue, actually understand the issue first and
how local governments operate. Don’t embarrass yourself by
putting your ignorance on public display.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet Newspapers.
He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
Concerned about Jefferson zoning issue
Dear Editor:
Regarding Mike Buffington’s article enti
tled “Jefferson council facing controversial
zoning isuue,” I attended the Sept. 11 Jef
ferson City Council’s work session. I was
concerned about the proposed zoning mod
ification requests made by Mr. Rob Alexan
der. What I observed at the meeting caused
additional concern.
In his opening comments, Mr. Alexan
der offered lengthy personal family his
tory regarding ownership of the land, a
long-standing and unwavering family com
mitment of service to the Jefferson Board of
Education, and an honest review of his own
outstanding professional credentials. But
this begs the question: Why re-state what
was already well-known to all of the City
Council members?
In 2009, the city council approved rezon
ing requests allowing for the development
of a 55+ multi-family housing communi
ty. An undisturbed buffer zone was clearly
designated to protect neighboring home-
owners from encroachment. Family homes
on Storey Lane were purchased, and an ac
cumulation of life savings invested, based
upon these written representations.
If these conditions are removed, the nat
ural tree canopy would be destroyed rath
er than preserved. Family right to privacy
and safety would be compromised. The
value of the homes on Storey Lane would
probably be greatly diminished. (During
the entire meeting, no one even suggested
that existing home property values would
be preserved.)
With these conditions removed, owner
ship of the proposed condominium-style
townhouses does not guarantee owner-oc
cupancy, does not prohibit private conver
sion to rental properties, cannot effectively
monitor or limit occupancy to one family
per unit, and will not discourage the capi
tal interests of real estate investment funds.
The decisions of the city council could
serve to protect against or accelerate de
terioration of this community and the sur
rounding homes.
During the council meeting, it was re
vealed that a letter was sent on Sept. 8 from
the Jefferson City School System stating
its opposition to the proposed rezoning
request. It was interesting to observe that
some city council members seemed pathet
ically more concerned about how the letter
was received (unsolicited or solicited) rath
er than meaningfully consider its content.
I was surprised when one city council
member commented that Mr. Alexander
had never submitted a formal plan of de
velopment to the Council for review and
consideration. So much discussion about
the construction of 55 beautiful town-home
condominiums, requests for exemptions to
prior rezoning requests, comments about
the possible impact upon the school sys
tem—so much talking and speculation in
endless cycles without even a specific plan
for development or defining accountability.
It was difficult for me to hear the testimo
nies of homeowners on Storey Lane. One
person spoke of his discomfort knowing
that strangers residing in two-story condos
would have an unobstructed view of his
daughter swimming in their swimming pool
in his back yard. Other residents expressed
feelings of regret that they had purchased
their homes. For a moment, please consider
what it would be like to have exterior flood
lights from a two-story building lighting
up your home and back yard from sunset
to sunrise. Concerns regarding privacy and
safety, strong feelings of opposition to the
proposed rezoning, were all respectfully
expressed.
The personal testimonies of homeown
ers stand in sharp contrast to the geometric
shape outlining the proposed land develop
ment that appeared on-screen to all persons
attending the Council meeting. It was as if
the affected, adjoining homes and families
were non-existent.
Regarding the proposed rezoning re
quests, I hold strongly to very tradition
al values and beliefs. I believe that words
are covenantal. Every person should hold
themselves accountable for honoring their
word, their commitments to others.
When that falters, then responsibility
rests with other responsible citizens. With
out such accountability, there are no pro
tective boundaries against personal ambi
tion. Without such accountability, a healthy
community cannot survive.
Sincerely,
Michael Miller
Pendergrass
Classic Georgia accent fading fast
Young Georgians are los
ing their distinctive South
ern accents according to a
study from the University of
Georgia and Georgia TechA
collaborative study between
the two schools has found
the classic Southern accent
is undergoing rapid change
in the state.
The instigator? Genera
tion X.
“We found that, here in
Georgia, white English
speakers’ accents have
been shifting away from the
traditional Southern pro
nunciation for the last few
generations,” said Margaret
Renwick, associate profes
sor in UGA’s Franklin Col
lege of Arts and Sciences
department of linguistics
and lead on the study. “To
day’s college students don’t
sound like their parents,
who didn’t sound like their
own parents.”
The researchers observed
the most notable change be
tween the baby boomer gen
eration (bom 1943 to 1964)
and Generation X (bom
1965 to 1982), when the ac
cent fell off a cliff.
“We had been listening to
hundreds of hours of speech
recorded in Georgia and we
noticed that older speakers
often had a thick South
ern drawl, while current
college students didn’t,”
Renwick said. “We started
asking, which generation
of Georgians sounds the
most Southern of all? We
surmised that it was baby
boomers, bom around the
mid-20th century. We were
surprised to see how rapidly
the Southern accent drops
away starting with Gen X.”
The UGA/Georgia Tech
team is the first to identify
the accent shift in Georgia.
“The demographics of the
South have changed a lot
with people moving into the
area, especially post World
War II,” said co-author Jon
Forrest, UGA assistant pro
fessor in the department of
linguistics.
Forrest noted that what
the researchers see in Geor
gia is part of a shift noted
by others across the entire
South, and furthermore,
other areas of the U.S. now
have similar vowel patterns.
“We are seeing similar
shifts across many regions,
and we might find people in
California, Atlanta, Boston
and Detroit that have simi
lar speech characteristics,”
Forrest said.
The analysis was carried
out with recordings of white
individuals native to Geor
gia, bom from the late 19th
century to the early 2000s.
The researchers focused on
the way the recorded speak
ers pronounced vowels.
The team found that older
Georgians pronounced the
word “prize” as prahz and
“face” as fuh-eece, but the
youngest speakers use prah-
eez and fayce. Former UGA
graduate student and co-au
thor Joseph A. Stanley, now
an assistant professor at
Brigham Young University,
implemented the statistical
modeling.
“Using transcribed audio,
we can use a computer to
estimate where you put your
tongue in your mouth when
you pronounce each vow
el, which gives us a quan
titative metric of accent,”
said Lelia Glass, assistant
professor in the School of
Modem Languages at Geor
gia Tech.
Marcus Ma, a Georgia
Tech undergraduate student
working with Glass, devised
a tool to streamline the tran
scription process.
“Changes to the diph
thong in ‘prize’ are the old
est characteristic pronuncia
tion in Southern speech, that
can be traced back well over
100 years,” Renwick said.
“The Southern pronunci
ation of words like ‘face’
emerged in the early 20th
century. These are distinc
tive features of the tradition
al Southern drawl.”
While this study used ar
chived as well as new re
cordings of white speakers
from Georgia, as linguis
tic patterns differ for other
ethnic groups, the team is
now pursuing the study of
cross-generational accents
among the Black popula
tion.
The study, “Boomer Peak
or Gen X Cliff? From SVS
to LBMS in Georgia En
glish”, is published in the
current issue of the journal
Language Variation and
Change.
The Jackson Herald
Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Founded 1875
Merged with The Commerce News 2017
The Official Legal Organ of Jackson County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher
Alex Buffington News Editor
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MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
PO Box 908
Jefferson, Georgia 30549-0908
Web Site: www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
Email: mike@mainstreetnews.com
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