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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 7 2010 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
A lot o f ideas, no rancor
Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians
all appear on TEA Party stage
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Candidates addressing the TEA Party’s packed house forum Thursday, (l-r) Steve Gooch, Dan Barber (standing), Jerry Nally, mod
erator Bert Loftman, Rick Jasperse, Chuck Donovan and Joseph Mann.
By Dan Pool
There may be a huge chasm
of partisan hatred in Washington,
but little animosity was seen as
candidates from all parties took a
single stage here Thursday.
The stage was set for political
fireworks with two Libertarians,
two Democrats and two Repub
licans at a packed-house TEA
Party sponsored forum at Chat
tahoochee Tech.
But all candidates remained
cordial and the usually vocal
TEA party crowd was respectful
of all the candidates as they
spoke.
It should be noted that the Re
publicans and Democrats there
are going head to head on the
November ballot, while the Lib
ertarians offered one U.S. Senate
candidate and a Lt. Governor
candidate.
Republican Steve Gooch and
Democrat Joseph Mann are
vying for the District 51 State
Senate Seat; with incumbent
State Rep. Rick Jasperse, a Re
publican, and his challenger De
mocrat Jerry Nally facing off for
the House District 12 seat.
The Libertarians, Chuck
Donovan for U.S. Senate and
Dan Barber for Lt. Governor
took advantage of the lack of
their opponents to stump for their
third party in general.
Before the self-proclaimed
conservative TEA Party mem
bers, Democrats were quick to
identify themselves as moderates
or in the words of Mann, “a
mountain Democrat” who he de
scribed as pro-life, a believer in
the second amendment. “I’m a
Democrat like Zell Miller, like
your grandfather and I have more
in common with y’all than most
realize.”
Each of the candidates was
given time for brief opening re
marks and closing remarks and
was asked to respond to several
questions created by the TEA
Party and sent to them in ad
vance.
Dr. Bert Loftman, a Pickens
resident who has previously run
for both the U.S. Senate and
house, served as moderator.
Following are some of the
comments from each candidate
arranged here by race;
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North
Georgia
Politics
www.northgapolitics.com
State Representative
District 12
• Rick Jasperse, the incum
bent representative, joked about
his five months experience since
winning office in a special elec
tion. Prior to this Jasperse served
as county agent for Pickens
County before retiring.
Jasperse said as a county
agent he learned to work and to
listen to small farmers, home-
owners and kids.
“I learned to listen, evaluate
and then do it,” he said. “I’m a
follow through guy.”
On immigration, Jasperse said
Georgia has the third highest
population of illegal immigrants
in the nation. He said Georgia al
ready has tough laws, but these
may be strengthened in the up
coming legislative session.
On state finances, Jasperse
said the Georgia legislature has
done a lot to make cuts, slashing
$3 billion from the budget last
year and eying another $1.5 bil
lion in cuts for this year. “Don’t
mistake Georgia government for
the federal government,” he said.
• Jerry Nally, the Democrat
opposing Jasperse, struck a pop
ulist, blue collar theme in all his
remarks. The electrician from
Bartow County said, “My don
key shadow looks like an ele
phant.” Nally said it didn’t
matter to him if it’s the CEO of a
corporation or a Waffle House
waitress, he would represent all
equally.
Nally expressed strong sup
port for term limits where young
people could see more opportu
nity to run for office.
Nally said he would do away
with state income taxes and
thought more could be done to
utilize the $10 million in fees
paid in Georgia to hold taxes
down.
State Senate
District 51
• Steve Gooch highlighted his
experience as both the final sole
commissioner for Lumpkin
County and the first chairman of
the board of commissioners for
that county.
Gooch also serves as the 9th
district representative on the
DOT board.
Gooch said he is seeking to
take conservative values to At
lanta. Gooch and Mann dis
agreed directly on how to best
control state spending with
Gooch advocating a zero based
budgeting approach. He said
starting every budget at zero and
then building up will work as it
worked on the county level and
is the only way to really control
spending at the state level.
On immigration, Gooch said
Washington is weak on the issue.
The best way to handle illegal
immigration is work with the
local sheriffs to see that people
here illegally are deported.
Gooch was adamant that the
water issues in Georgia must be
worked out to allow develop
ment to continue. He said it is es
sential to fight any efforts to cut
back on Georgia’s access to
water in North Georgia as it will
hamper any future growth.
Gooch expressed support for
the Fair Tax.
• Joseph Mann affirmed that
as a homebuilder he is tied to
conservative roots but offered
some different ideas in the race
on several points. He said that
zero-based budgeting does not
work as it has been tried before
in Georgia and failed to control
spending. He said there is still
room for cut backs.
Among the key points he
made was on immigration, the
companies that hire illegal work
ers need to be cracked down on.
As a builder Mann said he sees
how this hurts other businesses
who pay citizens an honest wage.
He said those who rent to illegal
immigrants should also be sub
ject to penalties. “If you crack
down on employers and those
renting to them, then it’s Adios,
amigos,” he said.
Mann said the state and coun
ties would benefit from switch
ing the sales tax collection
system so that counties collect
the revenue and then send a por
tion to the state, rather than the
current way with the state is han
dling the collections. He said the
coimties would do much better at
tracking down the estimated
yearly $1.5 billion in non-pay
ments than the state does.
Other Candidates
• Lt. Governor candidate
Dan Barber, Libertarian, said
with 30 years experience in auto
repair, he is not a politician but
“knows how to fix things.”
Barber tied most responses to
their basic party platform of min
imal government. He said the
water issues for the state could be
solved by privatizing utilities and
the management of lakes. He
said there are some federal de
partments that should be elimi
nated entirely. He supported the
Fair Tax, but thought rather than
most proposals which call for a
23 percent tax, he felt about five
percent would be better.
• U.S. Senate candidate
Chuck Donovan, Libertarian,
made a strong appeal for people
to not be afraid to vote Libertar
ian. He noted their small govern
ment approach closely resembles
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the TEA Party philosophy.
The airline pilot, who previ
ously served in the Marines, said
his “operative words are repeal,
abolish and eliminate.’ He
thought about one-third of the
current government operations
could be eliminated, starting with
the Department of Education.
Donovan said he supported
the Fair Tax and opposes current
attempts at social engineering
and lifestyle modification
through the tax system.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
NOTICE is here given that, pursuant to the pro
visions of O.C.G.A. § 36-60-13 (g), as amended,
a public hearing will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Mon
day, October 11, 2010, in the Commissioner’s
Conference Room at the County Administrative
Building, 1266 E. Church Street in Jasper, Geor
gia, regarding the financing of a facility for use as
a county community center (the “Project”). The
Project will be financed pursuant to a Lease-Pur
chase Agreement (the “Financing Agreement”),
between the Association County Commissioners
of Georgia, as lessor/seller, and Pickens County,
Georgia, as lessee.
All persons residing in Pickens County, Georgia
having questions concerning, or views on, the pro
posed financing of the Project or the Financing
Agreement may appear and be heard at said pub
lic hearing.
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