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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JANUARY 30. 2003
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
What if you dialed 911, disorient
ed from a medical problem or just
from the stress of an emergency sit
uation, and couldn’t communicate
your address? Would it be worth a
penny to you to have a system that
already knows your address? Do we
need an enhanced 911 system?
What happens when, and it will
happen, the court orders Pickens
County to board out prisoners or
construct a new jail to ease over
crowding in our tiny jail?
Who will pay the bill when we
ending up paying $$’s every day to
a county like Cherokee who has jail
beds for rent? If we continue to
ignore the problem will it go away?
If your house in on fire, or you
have a medical emergency, would it
be worth it to have a well-equipped
fire and EMS service? T o
have one located closer to your
home? Would it be worth a penny?
Water is probably the most pre
cious and limited resource of our
time. Do we need to locate addition
al sources now?
These are questions we must all
answer for ourselves. I for one
believe we need an enhanced 911
system, I believe we will be
REQUIRED to either pay to house
prisoners outside the county or
maybe just turn them loose, but we
will not be allowed to keep stacking
them in the same place.
I believe each of the public safety
issues addressed by the commission
er to be valid and necessary.
How do we pay for it? Property
tax increases? Special Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST)?
I prefer the latter. Property taxes
are high enough and aren’t paid by
all residents or “end users” of the
services.
With the budget proposed by our
new governor, property taxes will be
increasing anyway because of
changes in the homestead exemption
and the Homeowners Tax Relief
Grant (HTRG).
The SPLOST can only be imple
mented for 5 years and then we get
to vote again or let it expire. Each
year independent auditors will scru
tinize all expenditures, every
invoice and make sure they are per
mitted by the specific items listed on
the referendum.
What other tax gives us such spe
cific control?
As a resident of Pickens County
and as the Mayor Pro-tem for the
City of Nelson I fully support this
vote for public safety. The cities will
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not receive revenue from this tax,
only the county, but our city resi
dents will benefit from the proposed
improvements just as county resi
dents will.
You may or may not agree with
my opinions but please vote on
March 18. Voting is more than a
privilege; it’s our duty. We have an
obligation to those who secured this
right for us, to those who have
served, and those who continue to
serve.
Eric Wilmarth
Dear Editor:
This week’s article about the City
Council’s tentative decision to
approve annexation for building a
176-unit apartment complex in
Jasper is disturbing on several lev
els. First, the Council and Mayor
have publicly stated many times that
residential development along 515 is
not appropriate.
Why have they suddenly changed
their viewpoint?
The 515 corridor has many high-
value properties that will eventually
generate many jobs and much tax
revenue for Jasper.
There are few other properties in
Pickens County that have this much
potential for creating as much
employment and revenues.
On the other hand, the taxes (if
any) received from the proposed
apartment development will most
likely never offset the costs of pro
viding services for it including the
obvious roads, water and sewer, and
traffic control and the not-so-obvi-
ous education, social, medical,
police and emergency.
Speaking of police and emer
gency services. Although your arti
cle cited several disadvantages of
the project (traffic, education, envi
ronmental, etc.), there is another
hidden downside that the City
Council has probably not consid
ered.
High-density rent-controlled
properties developed in counties
surrounding Metro Atlanta in the
last few decades have absolutely
destroyed the quality of life in these
formerly pristine rural areas.
All the City Council needs to do
is to understand what has happened
to other outlying counties after
developers began building low-
income housing there.
The most common reason that
these counties approved this type of
housing was to help low-income
wage earners who could not find
decent housing close to their jobs.
Fair enough.
However, because the rents are
controlled, this type of housing
eventually attracts those who earn
even less or nothing whatsoever.
As this type of renters poured in
from neighboring counties to fill the
new apartments, crime and taxes
rose while businesses fled.
The stories of former residents who
witnessed the decline in these coun
ties and were eventually forced to
move away from their once-beauti-
ful communities are truly hair-rais
ing and eye-opening.
This letter is not intended to criti
cize the Council and low-income
development proponents.
Nor is it to instill fear and mis
trust among Jasper and Pickens
County residents. I’m sure that those
who support this type of develop
ment have the best intentions for
providing needed housing in our
area. However, I’m also sure that the
unintended social and economic
consequences of this type of devel
opment are not what the City Coun
cil or Mayor have in mind.
If economic growth is what the
citizens of Pickens County want,
they should learn from the mistakes
of neighboring counties and vow not
to repeat them here.
The Council should consider
alternative methods for providing
low-income housing that will make
economic sense while improving the
quality of life for all who live and
work in Pickens County.
Ed Lackey
Dear Editor:
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
is censoring the voice of the majori
ty of Americans on the Pledge of
Allegiance issue and must be held
accountable.
It has been months since the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals issued its
ruling banning the Pledge of Alle
giance from our schools because of
the words “under God.”
Despite overwhelming public
support for the Pledge in its current
form, the 9th Circuit has conducted
a series of lengthy delays to avoid
the question of re-hearing this case.
Also, the same three-judge panel
that issued the original ruling has
proceeded to reject “Friend Of The
Court” briefs from several leading
conservative-minded organizations,
including: American Legion, Ameri
can Center for Law and Justice,
Christian Legal Society, Claremont
Institute Center, Wallbuilders,
Alliance Defense Fund, and Grass-
fire .net.
Interestingly, Grassfire.net’s brief
was filed on behalf of more than
50,000 citizens who co-signed the
brief. Nonetheless, the court refused
to even hear the voice of more than
50,000 citizens who care deeply
about this case and our nation.
Last summer, this case was head
line news. But now, this issue has
dropped off the media’s radar. The
9th Circuit Court and specifically
this three-judge panel has succeeded
in diffusing public opinion through
delay tactics and by rejecting input
from conservative organizations like
Grassfire.net. This type of biased
conduct should not be allowed in
our judicial system.
Sincerely,
Donnie R. Low
Dear Editor:
I read Edwin Marger’s letter. I
think he did a very nice job defend
ing the Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). I am
also a resident of this county and
would like to add another service I
think needs enhanced. That of help
ing the animals of this county.
This county needs: the service of
an animal shelter, some laws, an ani
mal control unit and an enforcement
office to help people with their ani
mals.
The whole state of Georgia just
voted for a license plate that will
hopefully help bring in revenue for
animals to be spayed and neutered.
Some people in this state must care
about animals.
As I read the articles in this local
paper, it seems like, for some rea
son, commercial and retail business
es are not being attracted to this
area, but people are.
All this means more services
needed, more schools, more roads
and MORE ANIMALS! What is
going to happen? Who is going to
help? Speaking for those who can
not speak for themselves, they can
only suffer from: overexposure,
hunger, thirst, disease, parasites,
abuse, bee bees in their skin, being
torn to pieces by other animals,
being hit or part of them run over by
a vehicle and die alone.
Pickens Animal Rescue can’t be
expected to do it all!
Annette Brooks
Letters Welcomed
“Letters to the Editor” is an
important public forum in the com
munity and the Progress welcomes
and encourages these letters. Letters
concerning any matter of general
local interest will be considered for
publication. Letters addressing
issues will be accepted but not those
expressing a personal grievance
directed toward another individual.
All letters MUST BE SIGNED with
address and phone number given
where the author can be reached to
verify information. Opinions
expressed in letters and signed
columns are those of the author and
do not necessarily represent the
views held by the Progress.
Card of Thanks
The family of Charles E. Brooks
would like to express their heartfelt
appreciation for everyone who
called, sent cards, visited, brought
food, sent flowers or made Hospice
donations during Charles’ illness
and passing.
A special thanks to Georgia
Mountain Hospice staff, Cagle
Funeral Home personnel, the pall
bearers, the Revs. Joey DuBois,
Lamar Frady and Moss Fountain
and the singers for all their many
talents and expressions of love.
We were very fortunate to have
so many friends who remembered
us in prayer. May God richly bless
each of you.
Elaine P. Brooks
Greg & Jenny Brooks
Julieann Brooks
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PT Cruiser Limited
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Town & Country LXi
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300M
37K Miles
$16,988.00
1998
Convertible JXI
88K Miles
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Durango 5.9 RT 4x4
Dakota CC 4x2
Dakota QC 4x4
Ram 1500 R.C. 4x2
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Wrangler 4x4
26K Miles
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1999
Wrangler 4x4
35K Miles
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Wrangler 4x4
34K Miles
$15,292.00
1999
Wrangler 4x4
31K Miles
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1999
Wrangler 4x4
38K Miles
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2002
Liberty Sport 4x2
20K Miles
$15,990.00
2001
Cherokee Sport 4x2
27K Miles
$13,489.00
2001
Cherokee LTD 4x2
20K Miles
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2001
Cherokee LTD 4x4
56K Miles
$12,892.00
2000
Cherokee Sport 4x2
27K Miles
$12,987.00
2000
Cherokee Sport 4x2
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Cherokee Sport 4x2
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2000
Cherokee Sport 4x2
53K Miles
$11,991.00
2000
Cherokee Sport 4x2
26K Miles
$12,489.00
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Cherokee LTD 4x2
55K Miles
$13,242.00
2000
Cherokee Sport 4x2
40K Miles
$13,671.00
2000
Cherokee Sport 4x4
53K Miles
$12,791.00
1999
Cherokee LTD 4x2
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Cherokee Ctry. 4x4
124K Miles
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2000
Grand Cherokee LDO 4x4
50K Miles
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35K Miles
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39K Miles
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45K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LDO 4x4
28K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LDO 4x4
31K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LDO 4x2
27K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LTD 4x2
33K Miles
$18,884.00
1999
Grand Cherokee LTD 4x2
50K Miles
$16,477.00
1999
Grand Cherokee LTD 4x4
47K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LDO 4x2
40K Miles
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Grand Cherokee LTD 4x2
46K Miles
$17,822.00 C
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Grand Cherokee LDO 4x4
47K Miles
$16,483.00
1999
Grand Cherokee LTD 4x2
47K Miles
$17,484.00 C
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Grand Cherokee TD 4x4
37K Miles
$18,979.00
1999
Grand Cherokee LTD 4x4
38K Miles
$19,978.00
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