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PAGE 16A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 30. 2010
Continued from Page 1A
Amendments
information for this article was
gathered.
Jasperse also provided some
assistance to the Progress fol
lowing the meeting.
For more information about
the amendments, you can visit
the Secretary of State’s website
at www.sos.ga.gov/elections.
If you would like to read the
bills and resolutions for yourself,
visit www.state.legis.ga.us and
type in the bill’s number in the
top right-hand comer of the
homepage.
You can cast your early ballot
at the Pickens County Elections
Office, Monday through Friday,
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until October
29th. The office is located in the
Pickens County Administration
Building at 1266 E. Church
Street, Jasper, Ga., 30143.
Constitutional
Amendment 1
(HR 178)
“Shall the Constitution of Geor
gia be amended so as to make
Georgia more economically
competitive by authorizing legis
lation to uphold reasonable com
petitive agreements?”
The current Georgia Constitu
tion prohibits or severely re
strains “non-compete” contracts
between companies and employ
ees, because they are said to sti
fle competition. The constitution
prevents the Georgia General As
sembly from passing legislation
that would strengthen contract
law in this area.
These “non-compete” con
tracts, which are voluntarily
signed by both parties involved,
limit what employees can do for
a reasonable amount of time after
they leave employment with that
company. The non-compete con
tract may involve “trade secrets”
and could, for example, prohibit
the employee from selling to the
company’s customers after they
leave employment.
Under this constitutional
amendment, judges can modify
an agreement’s provisions to sat
isfy legal requirements. Support
ers of this amendment believe
this will allow companies to
tighten up contracts with em
ployees and protect their trade
secrets. Opponents say it may in
hibit a person to practice his or
her profession in competitive in
dustries.
Constitutional
Amendment 2
(SR 277)
“Shall the Constitution of Geor
gia be amended so as to impose
an annual $10.00 trauma charge
on certain passenger motor vehi
cles in this state for the purpose
of funding trauma care?”
If passed, this amendment
will allow for an additional $10
tag fee on vehicles. The fee
would go to fund trauma hospi
tals and care around Georgia.
Currently Georgia’s trauma
death rate is as high as 20 percent
above the nation’s average be
cause of a lack of a viable trauma
network.
There are, for example, no
“level 1” trauma centers, the
most comprehensive classifica
tion of trauma facilities, in south
ern Georgia. With traumatic
accidents, the first hours are the
most important for providing a
patient a chance for survival.
The tag fee is expected to
raise over $80 million. This
money would be directed to the
Georgia Trauma Commission
who would be responsible for
distribution and management of
funds. Opponents see SR 277 as
a tax increase with no sunset pro
vision, no forseeable end to col-
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Pickens GOP members discuss low turnouts
in face of ever-growing TEA party
Steve Gooch presents state senate campaign to local republicans
Steve Gooch, a candidate for state senate, told Pickens Repub
licans last week that more tough questions need to be asked about
the state budget.
lection of the tax.
Constitutional
Amendment 3
(SR 821)
“Shall the Constitution of Geor
gia be amended so as to allow the
Georgia Department of Trans
portation to enter into multi-year
construction agreements without
requiring appropriations in the
current fiscal year for the total
amount of payments that would
be due under the entire agree
ment so as to reduce long-term
construction costs paid by the
state?”
It was recently ruled that the
Georgia DOT could not start
multi-year contracts, which
would obligate future revenues
collected by the state. The recent
ruling stated the entire amount
for the project must be collected
before the contract can be
awarded. As a result, road con
struction in Georgia has slowed
significantly.
The amendment allows the
GDOT to issue multi-year con
tracts on big projects without
having the money already col
lected, but also allows for cancel
lation of multi-year contracts if
there are insufficient funds.
There would be no increase in
the amount of funds collected
under this amendment. There is
enacting legislation being pro
posed for the 2011 legislative
session that would put limits on
the amount of revenue that can
be tied up in these multi-year
contracts. Opponents prefer the
“pay-as-you-go” method now on
the books.
Constitutional
Amendment 4
(SR 1231)
“Shall the Constitution of Geor
gia be amended so as to provide
for guaranteed cost savings for
the state by authorizing a state
entity to enter into multi-year
contracts which obligate state
funds for energy efficiency of
conservation improvement proj
ects?”
Currently the Georgia Consti
tution does not allow the state to
enter multi-year contracts with
vendors, which would finan
cially obligate future General As
semblies. This amendment
would allow the state to enter
into multi-year contracts, no
longer than 25 years, with com
panies to implement energy effi
ciency and conservation
improvement projects.
The state would borrow the
money up front to pay for the
retrofitting, but would ultimately
pay for the improvements over
time from savings generated by
lower energy costs. Opponents
feel the state should not borrow
money.
Constitutional
Amendment 5
(HR 136)
“Shall the Constitution of Geor
gia be amended so as to allow the
owners of real property located
in an industrial area to remove
the property from the industrial
area?”
This amendment applies to
just two counties in Georgia. In
the 1950’s under a local constitu
tional amendment - a practice no
longer used by the General As
sembly - land in Chatham and
Jeff Davis counties was estab
lished as industrial property that
could not be annexed into a city,
so that property owners could
avoid increased taxes imposed
by cities.
This amendment will allow
property owners in those areas to
remove their property from spe
cific industrial areas, allowing
annexation into local cities. A
constitutional amendment is
needed to annex these properties,
because the law was established
under a local constitutional
amendment.
Statewide
Referendum
(HB 482)
“Shall the Act be approved
which grants an exemption from
state ad valorem taxation for in
ventory of a business?”
If passed, this act will exempt
business inventory from the one-
quarter mill the state receives
from property taxes. Under this
act, all tangible personal property
that makes up the inventory of a
business will be exempt from
state ad valorem taxes.
If approved, the act becomes
effective on January 1, 2011.
This is part of the 2010 Graves
Jobs Act to make Georgia a more
competitive place for businesses
to operate, in the hope of increas
ing employment in our state.
By Dan Pool
Even with some heated pri
mary races earlier this year, the
Pickens Republicans have seen
dwindling numbers at their
monthly meetings. At most
meetings the candidates, spouses
of candidate and party officials
have outnumbered those who
could be identified as just party
members or members of the pub
lic.
While the withering atten
dance has been commented on
occasionally, it became a topic of
party discussion last Thursday
when one of the very small num
ber of attendees asked, “Who is
in charge of the dynamite? Is that
what it takes to get people to
come out to these meetings?”
In a discussion, Pickens GOP
president Larry Toney said he
felt the declining attendance may
be due to the exploding growth
in the local TEA party. “The
TEA party will draw 200 candi
dates,” he said. “Maybe it’s be
cause they don’t sponsor
candidates.”
Most Republican meetings
are focused on giving candidates
for local and statewide office the
chance to address party mem
bers.
Toney said that while the
local Republicans and TEA par
ties aren’t officially linked, they
do support one other. “We are
not mirror images,” he said. “We
are complementary.”
He said the TEA party draws
the public, while the Republican
meetings draw the candidates.
“The TEA party brings the en-
Continued from Page 1A
SAT scores
drop
low score.
Qualls said Pickens has al
ways finished in the middle of
the pack with other nearby sys
tem, and he feels local schools
are still preparing students for
college just as well as other
counties do, but there will con
tinue to be lower scores here as
long as more students try the
SAT.
“We have never discouraged
kids to take the test, and we
never will,” he said. “But I guess
we’ll have to live with lower
[average] SAT scores.”
Superintendent Mike Ballew
said, “We would like to do better.
We want to do better every year.
The same as with all other tests
at other levels, we’ll look at the
results and see where we can im
prove.”
The high school once offered
an SAT prep class that could be
taken as an extracurricular activ
ity. But the number of students
taking it dropped to the point that
it is no longer offered. However,
there are many online resources
students can access that serve the
same purpose. Students can use
computers at school to access
these resources free of charge.
Continued from Page 1A
Town Hall
meetings
despite several fixed items cost
ing more such as insurance, re
tirement plans and the costs of
feeding an increasing number of
inmates.
Craig said the jail is seeing
more inmates being kept longer
as the state is not picking up in
mates who have been sentenced
to state prisons in a timely man
ner. More people are also staying
in jail following an arrest as the
bad economy has hurt many peo
ple’s ability to post bail and, also
related to the economy, there are
more child support issues.
Craig said he will discuss the
finances, the operations or any
issue anyone who comes wants
to present. “There is no modera
tor,” he said. “It’s just me field
ing questions.”
Craig held a similar commu
nity-wide forum last year to dis
cuss his budget when he had to
raise the expenditures. The meet
ing was well-attended and in
cluded many different topics of
discussion.
Craig said he didn’t envision
the community meeting to be as
big, but he hoped to be able to
focus on any issues particular to
a specific part of the county at
those meetings.
ergy and we bring the candi
dates,” he said.
Toney noted that despite a
paltry attendance at monthly
meetings, the Republicans can
turn people out for the elections.
He noted that in the primaries
in Pickens County, there were
16,000 registered voters. Of
these 4,200 voted a Republican
ticket in those races while only
400 voted a Democratic ballot.
“If that doesn’t tell you this is
Republican country ...” he said.
While the total turnout for the
primaries in July was only 25
percent of registered Pickens
voters, that was the best in the
9th district. Toney noted that the
district including Bent Tree saw
a 39 percent turnout in the pri
maries, which is amazing com
pared to general turnouts.
Steve Gooch, a Republican
seeking a state senate seat, said
the scarce numbers at Republi
can meetings with growing TEA
party presence should serve as a
wake-up call that the local GOP
parties are not satisfying the
needs of voters.
“It tells me they are looking
for something that we are not
providing or communicating,” he
said.
He said in Lumpkin County,
where he has served as both a
sole commissioner and chairman
of the board commissioners, the
Republicans also only draw a
handful of attendees, while the
TEA Party there draws 200-300.
Gooch said the TEA party in
fluence should make Republi
cans more honest. The TEA
party energy may unseat some
long-time politicians, of both
major parties. “We may see some
good Republicans defeated by
TEA parties, but they probably
need to go home,” he said. “They
have stayed in Washington too
long.”
Gooch said to re-capture the
energy of the TEA party, the
GOP must get back to good
Christian basics.
Gooch will face Democrat
Joseph Mann in the November 2
election to replace State Senator
Chip Pearson in District 51.
Addressing the party mem
bers present, Gooch said he grew
up on a chicken farm in Lumpkin
County and worked on that farm
all his life.
He was elected the sole com
missioner of Lumpkin County
and later, when that county tran
sitioned to a multi-member
board, he was elected the chair
man of the board of commission
ers.
He said when first elected as
sole commissioner, Lumpkin
County was in dire shape finan
cially. In the final days of the
previous administration the out
going administration had written
$5 million in checks with only $ 1
million in the bank. Gooch said
he was able to turn it around
within two years.
He was recognized for this
revival by Georgia Trends mag
azine in 2003.
Gooch would not endorse ei
ther a multi-member board or
sole commissioner for Pickens,
but said it is important to elect
people to a board who don’t run
on a single issue.
If he is elected to the state
senate, Gooch said he would
support strong fiscal responsibil
ity, starting with a zero-based
budget, where all budgets start at
zero and are then built up. He
said you must go line-by-line on
budgets to trim excess. Even
though it is a time-consuming
and tedious job to examine every
expenditure in a state govern
ment, it must be done.
He said asking tough ques
tions can eliminate a lot of waste
at the state level, but he isn’t sure
anyone is asking those questions
now.
Gooch, who works in real es
tate, said he fully imderstands the
importance of getting the hous
ing market going again in North
Georgia.
“Jobs is the biggest thing,” he
said. “We have got to figure out
ways to get the housing market
turned around.”
Gooch closed by affirming
that he is solidly pro-life and
supports the second amendment
right to bear arms.
Also speaking at the meeting,
State Rep. Rick Jasperse pre
sented an explanation of the dif
ferent amendments on the
upcoming ballot, see related arti
cle. Candidate for the Public
Service Commission Tim Echols
spoke on the need for strong fis
cal responsibility and a represen
tative for Sam Olens, a candidate
for attorney general, spoke.
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