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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 29. 2016 Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: As a practicing cardiolo gist in the Piedmont Hospital System in Jasper, I took no tice of an article in the No vember 2nd edition of the Pickens Progress regarding the financial support being given to the PMH Cardiac Rehab Unit by the Volunteer Auxiliary through their an nual Love Lights Program. The article stated that the Auxiliary has committed, for the third year in a row, to di rect their Love Lights pro gram donations to the Cardiac Rehab Unit at Pied mont Mountainside Hospital. These donations will be used for the purchase of new car diac exercise equipment. This new equipment will be used by recovering patients who are in a cardiac rehabil itation program. The Piedmont Mountain side Hospital Cardiac Rehab Unit serves a large commu nity from Pickens, Cherokee, Gilmer, Fannin, and Dawson counties. Consequently, this new exercise equipment will have a positive impact on many of our patients as they work to complete their car diac rehabilitation programs. I want to express my thanks to the volunteer Aux iliary for all the work they do on behalf of the citizens of our community. Having a cardiac rehab unit right here in our community is a bless ing to all of us. The volunteer Auxiliary is to be com mended for their commit ment to the wellness of the citizens of our community through their support of the Cardiac Rehab Unit at PMH. Dale Cannon, MD Cardiology Piedmont Mountainside Hospital Dear Editor: Kill Baby - Rob Grandma We are well familiar with people on alcohol and mari juana who are driven by the vices that control them to take grandma's social secu rity check and deprive a baby of food causing it harm or death. When these type ad dicts get into government be cause of wealth, skill, and talent, government will take on their nature that comes from love for self and not love for others. We see this today in the aborting of children and the recent withholding of cost of living raises for the elderly. This year there was a small raise but it was immediately taken away by government to raise the premium. This year we saw the legalizing of mar ijuana that kills and robs the families of the addicts. We saw the legalizing of homo sexuality and its deadly AIDS. The government poured these evils out to kill and rob as it took from the elderly and killed the baby in the abortion clinics. Govern ment by addicts that exists to increase government's wealth while deserting government's duty to defend the baby and grandma. We see this in the gas stores along the highways that sell alcohol and send men and women out to kill on the roads. The alcoholic drinks should be removed from these murderous stores that help to kill over 10,000 people on the road with DUI. This is because addicts to al cohol flood our governments and the nature of the addict is a love for self. The love for the people under their control is absent. A woman in the govern ment of Waleska, Georgia was pushing alcohol and drawing people into voting for it while unknown to offi cials she was stealing from the city. She had talked the government and voters into legalizing alcohol for the money while alcohol was killing, injuring, and leading the children into addiction and crime. The woman was caught and indicted but her criminal act-legalizing alco hol-remained. The govern ment chose to destroy lives to collect money. All over Geor gia and the nation you will see the girls turned into bar keepers as they sell beer and wine across the counter. This is because of the flood of drunks in our government and their love for self, money, and alcohol. They rob grandma and kill baby. The American people stand by and let the bad peo ple coming into government parade evils in front of their children and mistreat their elderly. Billy Joe Parker Georgia Prohibition Dear Editor: Trade and the Balance of Payments The USA is running a negative current account bal ance of about $500 billion dollars per year. Almost 3% of GDP. This is a big OOPS. This does not mean much to most people but it is really important. Before your eyes glaze over, I promise to make this clearer. Mr. Trump has put his finger on this real problem that has been wreck ing parts of our country and sending lots of Americans into the poor house. The theory starts out pretty simple. Your country should make the products that it is good at. It should then trade those products with other countries which are good at what they do. That way everyone is better off. But if trade does not bal ance over time, then one part ner ends up with the short end of the stick of money and the other country is enriched. Trade which is not balance over time is not fair. It is cer tainly not “free.” Tariffs are the tools that have been used to address this imbalance and the “free traders” of the liberal left just hate tariffs. That is why when Mr. Trump speaks of tariffs going up, the liberal estab lishment has to go breathe in and out of a brown paper sack. It is also true that if you quickly ramp up tariff rates, other countries will do the same and trade then is very rapidly diminished and everyone loses. So the solu tion to negative trade bal ances should be “Creeping Tariffs” to allow for orderly adjustments over time. Take China for instance. For each year our current ac count balance with China is negative we should add 1% additional tariff on their goods and services imported to the US. This would be ad ditive over time. With the passage of a few years, the trade balance will seek an equilibrium and we will im prove the well being of our citizens and still maintain trade with other countries if they in turn figure out what to buy from us. Trade is only “fair” if it is balanced over time. Big tar iff moves are destructive. Little steps will allow adjust ments to be made without wrecking the world or us. Tariffs are like good whiskey. A small shot makes the day a little better but a whole lot all at once will wreck your day and for sure the next morning. Gary Pichon Letters Welcomed “Letters to the Editor” is an important public forum in the community and the Progress welcomes these letters. Letters ad dressing issues will be ac cepted but not those expressing a personal grievance directed toward another individual. Letters OVER 450 WORDS in length will not be consid ered for publication. All le tters MUST BE SIGNED with address and phone number given where the author can be reached to verify information. Send your letter to news@pickensprogress. com Nelson’s personnel woes continue By Ralph O. Dennis Contributing writer When will the story end in Nelson? The revolving door of police chiefs and city man agers and clerks continues. When Miranda McDowell resigned as city manager she consented to stay on in a part-time capacity to help with the budget, checks and other accounting functions. But, like everything the small town has tried to bring stabil ity, this also failed. At their work session De cember 15, they adjourned into an executive session. The goal of this session was to review the applications they had received to fill the vacant city manager slot. When they returned to the council chambers, Mayor Larry Ray announced that they had hired council mem ber Tina Monaghan as the city clerk. She was hired as the clerk, not the manager. Some residents have ex pressed dissatisfaction in this and the process leading to it. The position of city clerk was not advertised. The applica tions that had come in were for city manager. Why did the council make a sudden change? They say it is to allow time for Monaghan to receive the training for the job of city manager. Bill McNiff said, “I un derstand that the city has ap pointed Tina Monaghan as “interim city clerk.” Please advise if this is a paid posi tion and if so that she has re signed from the city council, as that is my understanding of what is required according to the charter, etc... In addi tion I would like an explana tion of who is running the daily business of the city in the absence of a city man ager. Do not tell me that the council is running the city. In the absence of a city manager the council needs to specify who is performing these functions.” A former council member, Edith Portillo applied for the city manager’s position by placing her resume in the payment drop box on the out side of city hall since no one was in the office. It was not in the box. There is suppos edly only one key to the box. She questioned the council at the December 15th meeting as to what could have hap pened. She received no re sponse. In an email dialog with city attorney Jeff Rusbridge, another former council mem ber, Duane Cronic, asked him to “Please address the following: under sec 2.2 of the Nelson City Charter it states: Powers and duties of the city manager. The city man ager shall be the chief admin istrative officer of the city, and shall be responsible to council for proper adminis tration of all affairs of the city. All department heads and employees will report to the city manager. To that end the council hereby delegates to and provides for the city manager to have the follow ing powers and duties: (he goes on to finish quoting the duties).” He continued, “There is no city manager in place to per form the duties required under this section. The city council had determined a clerk is to be hired, but not a manager. What have you done to remedy this current and on-going violation of the city charter and the vio lation of the council’s oath of office to uphold all city laws? It would be appropriate to con tact the council members IM MEDIATELY so that they could have a meeting and rem edy this situation as soon as possible.” Mr. Rusbridge replied, “The charter for the city of Nelson does not mandate or re quire the appointment or em ployment of a city manager. Instead, Sec. 4.15 of the char ter states: “The council may appoint a city manager” (em phasis added). If the council chooses to appoint a city man ager, then the powers and du ties of that person are gov erned by Sec. 2.2 of the City Code, as you cited.” Mr. Cronic’s response to this was, “I think you're missing my point. It was to ask "who" is legally in charge of these requirements with no one in this position? I understand the "council as a whole" however, that is not a workable solution. Should n’t you suggest there be a meeting to discuss how this authority is going to be put into a model for the workable daily operation of the city? If not, then people will be con cerned of "behind door" rolling meetings by council members to make daily deci sions, or certain council members making decisions for everyone, etc. It appears the idea of a city manager is not coming soon. The coun cil should be made aware that there should be temporary plans put into place to make sure things run smoothly until such time as a person could be named.” Now, former city manager and part-time consultant, Mrs. McDowell has submitted her resignation. In it she says, “Dear Nelson City Council: Please accept this letter as official notice of my resigna tion. As you know, over the past few weeks I have been as sisting with the city financials once a week after hours and actively assisting Mrs. Mon aghan during her interim city manager role. During the last week I have been contacted by citizens and acquaintances of Nelson in regards to concerns over proper protocols, proce dures and my role at Nelson. These conflicts could poten tially have a negative effect on my relationship with my cur rent employer. I agreed to con tinue to offer my services to the city in hopes to make the transition from one city man ager to another smooth, as to not cause the city to deviate on progressing forward with re pairing the financial status, positive image and overall well-being of the city. By doing this I am placing my reputation on the line by being ultimately responsible for the overall finances and ensuring that the policy and procedures of the city are being followed. I cannot allow myself to be in volved in any negative public ity as I have only done everything to the best of my ability to improve the city of Nelson; therefore, my uncer tainty of where the city is headed leaves me feeling that resigning immediately is the best option for me. Again, I really appreciate been given the opportunity to act in such an important role for Nelson. I hope going for ward the council can learn to work as a team, listen to each other and learn to value what each member brings to the table. That is the only way the city will see progress. You were elected by the people for a reason and that reason is not because they want to see neg ative newspapers articles. The voters want to see leadership and sound choices that give back to them and their fami lies, not just today but in the future.” When the council offered the clerk position to Mon aghan, it was with the under standing that she have her resume, background check and other documentation in to the city attorney no later than De cember 19, 2016. And, should she accept the position, she will have to resign from the council. Mrs. Monaghan holds a Master’s degree but not in a field related to running a city. This has been expressed as a concern to several residents. It is not known at this time whether or not she has com pleted the requirements and what her current status is. The Nelson Council has its regular monthly meeting on January 2, 2017, at 7 p.m. One of the items on the agenda is what to do about the police de partment. A public hearing has already been held on this and a final vote is supposed to take place at this meeting. The topic of the city manager or city clerk’s position is sure to be on the agenda. - Pekitis Garbert Fine Dining Chinese Restaurant 28 Bill Wigington Parkway Suite 103 Jasper, GA30143 (Kroger Shopping Center) Tel: 706-253-6828 Fax: 706-253-6808 n CLOSED ON MONDAYS A Finding Senior Housing can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be. aPlacc/orMom. (800) 929-3014 All Computer Services & Repairs On-Site Service Home or Office’ / Viruses, Pop ups, & Spyware / Computer Repair & Parts / Custom Build New o^j^j^kifTputers / Software Install / Network SLottflo & Security ■ Experience & Associates zing All of North Georgia 706-301-9148 24 hours a day - 7 days a week Forest Glen Apartments 504 Indian Forest Rd. 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