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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. OCTOBER 7 2010
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Letters to the Editor
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Dear Editor:
On behalf of the PHS ’Nettes
softball team, I would like to
thank Officer Jim Van Alstine of
the Pickens County Sheriff’s De
partment for his immediate atten
tion given to Coach Ann Wall
that sustained an injury on the
field. His professional manner
and courteous behavior was no
ticed by the team in the dugout as
he stayed with Coach Wall and
’Nettes Athletic Trainer Kyle
Rasco until paramedics arrived.
Thank you for a job well
done.
Sincerely,
Selina Fields, Sec./Tres.
PHS Softball Booster Club
Dear Editor:
Ladies and gentlemen: the
time between today and the elec
tions in November may well
stand as one of the most critical
periods of our lives as Ameri
cans. The philosophical differ
ences between conservatives (be
they Tea Partiers, Republicans,
or a bit of both) and liberals has
been more clearly defined than at
any time in the past century. Let
ters published in this paper and
elsewhere have shown those dif
ferences again and again; there is
probably nothing to be gained by
rehashing them one more time.
If you are a member of the
producing class who has tired of
having Washington determine
how much of your income they
should have, and to whom it
should be given, get out and vote
your beliefs. Screaming at the
TV doesn’t accomplish much be
yond getting you hoarse.
Send money, both to local
candidates that you believe de
serve your support, and those in
other parts of the country in
volved in critical or symbolically
significant races. I’m on a fixed
income, and my checks have
gone to states that I haven’t vis
ited in decades.
Let’s get this old wagon back
on the right course. God bless
America!
Mark Buchheim
Pickens County Tea Party
Dear Editor:
Another voice of reason.
The editorial by Lamar Paris,
Union County sole commis
sioner, Progress Sept. 30, 2010,
provides an excellent perspective
of the sole versus multi-commis
sioner question facing Pickens
County voters. The insights that
Mr. Paris shares in his editorial
clearly illustrate the void in the
Citizen Advisory Committee
(CAC) recommendation. If CAC
had taken an objective look at
both sides of this issue, rather
than electing to only promote a
multi-commissioner agenda, the
citizens of Pickens County
would have been better served.
The question of which form
of governance Pickens County
will have going forward is one of
the most important questions on
the ballot this November. I urge
all voters to carefully look into
this issue, make their own deter
mination about what they believe
best for Pickens County and then
vote.
I have studied the issue thor
oughly and have determined that
a move to a multi-commissioner
form of governance will only in
crease the size of our local gov
ernment, add layers of
bureaucracy, and raise our taxes.
The sole commissioner form of
governance is working - it is ef
ficient and responsive to the peo
ple of Pickens County.
Therefore, I’m voting “No” to
the multi-commissioner form of
governance.
Clayton Preble
Forward Pickens
Dear Editor:
Pickens County is blessed to
have one of YoungLife’s major
camp properties residing here.
YoungLife’s Sharp Top Cove
camp is home to over 5,000 ado
lescents from across the country
from May through August. Every
camp experience for kids at
Sharp Top is built around having
religious experiences and being
introduced to the Gospel and the
Person of Jesus Christ. The camp
hosts other Christian organiza
tions throughout the remainder
of the year.
As a reminder to citizens of
Pickens, the 69-year-old
YoungLife organization is an
IRS dually approved 501c3 Reli
gious and Charitable Organiza
tion. But that doesn’t seem good
enough for Mr. Dobbs and his
Board of Assessors. Unfortu
nately, Mr. Dobbs and his Board
have been charging property tax
to YoungLife as if the IRS ex
emptions did not exist.
I am told that the Georgia
Statutes, legal precedents and
case law clearly show that Dobbs
and the Board are “grasping at
straws” for tax money not due to
them. The Salvation Army camp
adjacent to YoungLife operates
the same way and rightfully so,
they receive a full tax exemption.
Why does Dobbs treat
YoungLife differently? He refers
to YoungLife as “that Texas cor
poration.” That sounds prejudi
cial to me. His futile fight seems
personal. That’s no way for a
county official to run his office.
YoungLife employs 21 people
from Pickens. A recent review of
YoungLife’s payroll and ex
penses shows that YoungLife
contributes over $750,000 into
Pickens economy yearly.
The YoungLife law suit
against the Tax Assessor and
Board began in 2007. The
Board’s legal expenses must be
quite large. YoungLife is com
mitted to take this case all the
way through appeals and to the
State Supreme Court to see jus
tice done. The legal costs to the
county going forward will be
huge. None ofYoungLife’s other
22 major properties around the
country have been taxed like this.
This is something unique to Mr.
Dobbs and this Board.
Two world class law firms
confirm YoungLife has a solid
case. I wonder if Mr. Dobbs and
the Board have sought a “Second
Opinion” before stepping into
this so deep. Mr. Dobbs could
end this debacle today by simply
accepting YoungLife’s federally
granted position and save the
County a lot of money when they
need it more than ever. Citizens
of Pickens, please urge Mr.
Dobbs to do the right thing.
Dick Tash
Dear Editor:
The best possible reason for
voting for a multi-member
county commission is in a line or
two on the front page of the Sept.
30 issue of the Progress “...re
maining long term debt for the
county ... $924,000 for the Geor
gia State Trooper building”.
The debt was incurred by a
decision made by former Com
missioner Bill Newton. A deci
sion made without a public
hearing or notice in the Progress.
I submit that if we had a multi
member commission at that time,
there would have been an open
debate on the issue: “What
would be the costs/benefits?
Why is the county being asked to
build and pay for a patrol bar
racks for the state? What other
counties will benefit? Will the
building belong to the state or
Pickens County when the note is
finally paid off? If the building,
at that time, belongs to the
county, will the state pay rent on
the building?” These are a few of
the questions I would have asked
Bill Newton, if I had known
about it at that time.
A developer, builder or any
one who wants a favor from the
county tends to always prefer
dealing with a single person.
However, spot decisions made,
behind closed doors, may in the
long run not be in the best inter
est of the taxpayers.
Before you cast your ballot in
November, remember the
$924,000 long term debt that has
been incurred without your
knowledge and reduced only
slightly from the original debt of
over $1,000,000.
Sincerely,
Francis E. Stewart
Dear Editor:
The 4 districts which the CAC
designed for Pickens will be far
more restrictive to our citizens
than Dawson County’s 5 dis
tricts. To keep 1 geographic area
from exerting too much influ
ence, each Dawson commis
sioner must run for office from
the district in which they live.
However, citizens across that
county vote for all 5 commis
sioners on at at-large basis. That
makes voting out or recalling bad
commissioners difficult, but not
impossible.
It will be next to impossible
under the CAC’s choice for Pick
ens. The at-large chair is the
only proposed commissioner
which all of our voters would
have a say in, and that chairman
will only vote in order to break
ties. You and your vote will
never leave the “fenced in” dis
trict to which you’ll be assigned
in the case of the other 4 com
missioners. If the majority of the
county realizes that a bad com
missioner from 1 of the 4 dis
tricts needs to go, they will be
powerless to remove that indi
vidual unless they live in that dis
trict. To stay in office, that bad
commissioner will only need to
pander to voters in his or her dis
trict. The CAC’s proposal will
reduce your voice, while greatly
expanding the proposed board of
commissioners’ political control
over the county.
Citizens across the U.S. have
finally awakened to the fact that
we need to cage all government,
placing it on a choke collar if we
decide to allow it to stretch its
legs outside that cage. In a sole
commissioner format, citizens al
ready exert that control. Unless
you vote NO to the multi-person
commission on Nov. 2, you will
have elected to place that choke
collar on yourself, and roaming
outside your new district “cage”
won’t be an option.
Joe Kelly
Forward Pickens
Dear Editor:
The committee to study the
five-member county commis
sioner form of government was
only asked to do just that. They
were not asked to do a similar
detailed study of the sole com
missioner form of county gov
ernment. A balanced evaluation
of one form of government ver
sus the other was not expected.
However, there was an expecta
tion of a study of the five-mem
ber option without the taint of
possible self-interest.
Pickens County open records
document at 4 p.m., July 23
meeting between Phillip Ander
son, chairman of the five-mem
ber study team and the Pickens
County Sole Commissioner
Robert Jones. Part of that conver
sation entailed a suggestion by
Anderson that the position of
county manager would be of help
to Commissioner Jones in man
aging the county, and should
such a position occur, he wanted
to be considered.
Charles McCain
Dear Editor:
It’s been a long time since
I’ve written and expressed my
feelings in the Pickens Progress.
I’ve always valued every per
son’s feelings, ideas, concerns
and compassion for Pickens
County. One of my concerns is
some people want a multi-board
of commissioners. Personally, I
have never been in favor of that.
Most of the time more than one
commissioner creates a lot of ar
guments and confusion. Well,
I’m convinced and I feel most of
Pickens should be also. Commis
sioner Jones has proven that one
man can do the job and solve
problems at the same time.
Could a multi-board of com
missioners have agreed on the
plan that Commissioner Jones
took on to accomplish what he
has done for Pickens County?
Only to name his most recent
two accomplishments - We now
have a jail paid for and also an
administration building paid for.
The jail was paid off in approxi
mately 5 1/2 years and the ad
ministration building paid off in
approximately 4 years. We
couldn’t ask for anything better
than that.
Also, our new Sheriff Donnie
Craig and his staff have done a
fine job also. Sheriff Craig oper
ates off of a limited budget. He
manages it and makes sure the
money to operate his department
is well spent and accounted for.
Pickens County citizens can feel
safe with the professionals in
uniform taking care of crime and
protecting Pickens County.
To Commissioner Jones and
his staff and Sheriff Donnie
Craig and his staff, thank you
very much for what you do to
make Pickens County a nice and
safe place to live.
Jackie Mitchell
Dear Editor:
The silence when jobs leave
Pickens...
The sky above Pickens
County Airport was much quieter
this week as a result of Sharp
Mountain Aviation relocating to
Cherokee County. The fuel sales
of the thirsty helicopters used in
the flight training program, now
belong to Cherokee County. The
restaurants and shopping previ
ously frequented by the student
pilots here in Pickens, will see
yet another small decline in busi
ness. Luckily the helicopters
will still need to return to Pickens
County for maintenance. How
ever, it would not take a great
deal of effort for the small air
craft maintenance facility located
here in Jasper, Joe Aircraft, to re
locate to Cherokee as well. Si
lence is golden, but this is not the
kind of silence Pickens County
needs.
Tom Gray
Dear Editor:
It’s amusing when leftist that
have no idea about the free mar
ket or capitalism try to define the
term, like Andy Kippenhan’s
poor attempt. He says corpora
tions, capitalism and free market
are phony labels. If those are in
fact phony labels then how did
America become the richest and
most powerful country in the
world in a couple hundred years
when European and Asian coun
tries have been around for many
more centuries than the good ole
USA? Also, why are these same
countries moving to the right be
cause they know their Socialist
Democracy’s don’t work and
aren’t sustainable? Even the envy
of the left, Castro admitted his
model (Communism) doesn’t
work and is laying off govern
ment workers. Mr. Kippenhan,
what in fact does not work, is
crony capitalism which was the
catalyst of our crisis. Specifi
cally, politicians forcing banks to
make loans to people that should
have never received loans in the
first place. Example Freddie
Mac/Fannie Mae and the Com
munity Reinvestment Act.
Mr. Kippenhan implies the
so-called free market is for the
“accumulation for those already
rich”. I would like to ask him and
other mindless leftists how or
when has government ever cre
ated wealth and prosperity for the
general public? Also sir, name
me one person that ever got a job
from a poor person? I take it
from his comments those that put
capital at risk to build a business
doesn’t deserve to make enough
money to be comfortable or for
heaven’s sake become an evil
rich person? If so, then why
should people take the risk with
a chance of failure?
Mr. Kippenhan believes
unions should be empowered.
How many unions have ever cre
ated a single job or a millionaire
(other than by union corruption)?
Now compare unions to Mi
crosoft, Berkshire Hathaway and
Apple? Hmmm, all of these com
panies are evil corporations but
have created hundreds if not
thousands of millionaires and
countless others that live a very
comfortable lifestyle because of
these companies. If more unions
were empowered, productivity
would decrease, cost of goods
would increase and quality
would diminish. Want proof?
How about the auto industry
needing bailouts plus the video
of Chrysler workers drinking
beer and smoking pot on their
lunch break before going back to
work? (Bailout money put to
good use, huh.)
What is it about the free mar
ket and competition that scares
you so much? Were you just not
able to compete based on your
talents/abilities without the help
of bureaucrats and union thugs?
Herman Cain 2012!!
Bill Cagle
Dear Editor:
When I heard about the CAC
Commission being formed, I
asked to be on it. Even though
my first instinct on this was the
old saying, “If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it.” Some people I re
spect seemed to see value in a
multi-man commission, so I felt
I should be informed in the pros
and cons of the matter in order to
make a reasoned judgement.
The CAC Committee was
large, fairly representative of the
county and organized and dili
gently pursued their tasks. It was
discouraging to see no more than
a dozen people at any of our six
public hearings. Having thor
oughly examined the question, I
have reached the following con
clusions:
When the county grows in all
parts of the county and we have
a sufficient industrial or commer
cial base to support the additional
expense, I would re-evaluate a
multi-person commission. In
view of the fact at the present, all
departments are being asked to
cut their budget for the next year
by 2% and our current commis
sioner is doing an excellent job,
why pay more for less? I’m not
ready for the third tax increase.
Changing our form of govern
ment at this time just doesn’t
even make pretty good sense!
Lurline Argo
Letters Welcomed
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Opinions expressed in letters
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ily represent the views held by
the Progress.
Youth Success Academy Services and
On-the-Job Training Services
“Request for Proposal” (RFP)
The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission is issuing a “Request
for Proposal” (RFP) to provide Youth services in the following North
west Georgia counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin,
Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Pickens, Paulding, Polk,
Walker, and Whitfield. These youth services in Northwest Georgia
are identified collectively and individually as “Youth Success Acad
emy” through the Northwest Georgia Workforce Development Pro
gram.
The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission is also issuing a “Re
quest for Proposal (RFP) to provide On-the-Job Training services
in the following Northwest Georgia counties: Bartow, Catoosa, Chat
tooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray,
Pickens, Paulding, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield.
The Northwest Georgia Regional Commission has been selected
as the Grant Sub-recipient for Workforce Investment Act funds.
Youth funding is contingent upon availability of funds under Title I
of the WIA or other federal job training services for youth which pro
vide similar services if they should become available; however, it is
estimated that approximately $500,000-$750,000 in Title I funds will
be available to serve approximately 175-200 youth between 14 and
21. Selected contracts may be negotiated on a cost reimbursement
basis for governmental and private non-profit organizations and per
formance based for private for-profit organizations. OJT funding is
also contingent upon availability of funds under Title I of the WIA,
National Emergency Funds under WIA or other federal funding
sources; however, it is estimated that approximately $500,000-
$750,000 in Title I funds will be available to serve approximately
175-200 adults. If additional federal funds are received, these totals
may be increased at approximately the same unit cost. Selected
contracts may be negotiated on a cost reimbursement basis for gov
ernmental and private non-profit organizations and performance
based for private for-profit organizations.
A Bidder’s Conference for both the OJT and Youth Programs will be
held on November 3, 2010 in the Conference Room of the North
west Georgia Regional Commission, #1 Jackson Hill Drive, Rome,
Georgia 30161. The OJT proposal will be addressed at 9:30 a.m.
and the Youth proposal at 1:30 p.m. Technical assistance in the pro
posal process will be provided only at the Bidder’s Conference. A
copy of each question/answer from the Bidder’s Conference will be
available upon written request.
The on-line RFP will be available by November 3, 2010. The RFP
may be picked up at the Bidder’s Conference. To obtain proposal
format, all others may pick up a copy at Northwest Georgia Regional
Commission, #1 Jackson Hill Drive, Rome, Georgia 30161 or re
quest the RFP in writing. Requests for proposal formats by tele
phone (except FAX) will not be accepted.
Deadline to submit a proposal is 4:30 p.m., December 8, 2010. No
proposals will be accepted after this date and time. Proposals
should be mailed to P.O. Box 1798, Rome, GA 30162-1798 or de
livered to 1 Jackson Hill Drive, Rome, Georgia 30161. Local edu
cational agencies, community-based organizations, small minority
and/or women’s businesses are encouraged to apply. The North
west Georgia Regional Commission reserves the right to reject
any/all bids received or qualified, to accept other than the lowest
bid, to negotiate with responsive bidders for the best price or to can
cel, in part or in its entirety, the request if it is in the best interests of
the NWGRC to do so. Funding is contingent upon the availability of
federal funds.
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM/EMPLOYER
Auxiliary aids and services available upon request
to individuals with disabilities.
WmnOw Class
Pickens County Sportsman Club
will be offering a handgun safety &
informational course at the Scout Hut on
Pioneer Road in Jasper
(rd. between City Park and Piggly Wiggly)
Day 1 - Oct. 23 rd from 9-1
Day 2 - Oct. 30 th from 10-12 at the range
For Registration information call
770-428-6675
Cost $25. 00 - Must be 21 years of age.
Lanier Farmers
Livestock
8325 Jot-em Down Road
Gainesville, GA 30536
Serving North Georgia
Cattle Producers
for 19 Years.
Sale Every Tuesday
@ 12 Noon
770-844-9223
678-925-0122
Terry Bagwell
Hauling Available
All Major Order Buyers
with Competitive Prices.