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Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
January 28,2021
From the Staff
Three-to-two is no way to run a
school system
Following the school board’s sacking of
Superintendent Rick Townsend, not tech
nically tenninated but having his contract
“modified,” there has been an outpouring
of frustration against some members.
Critics want a recall, which is more
complicated than it should be and not
likely to go anywhere. But the public’s
anger is clear and justified. We agree com
pletely that a change is needed but exactly
what needs to change is a much harder
question.
Ironically, it is this voting in and out of
board members that led to the musical
chairs in the school’s high-paid, top post.
Starting with the first appointed super
intendent, Kimsey Wood in the 1990s,
through Rick Townsend now, no superin
tendent has worked out their full final con
tract for Pickens schools. That track record
says a lot and it’s not good.
Lee Shiver in 2005, Carlton Wilson,
2019 and now Townsend in 2021, were ei
ther terminated or forced aside in
Townsend’s case. Others have left in ad
vance of impending board turnover.
The last three hirings/firings show the
mayhem a three-to-two board split pro
duces. Carlton Wilson was hired in 2017
by a three-to-two vote; Wilson was fired
two years later by a three-to-two margin,
after the board changed. And now
Townsend has fallen victim to three votes.
A change in the health or residency of
just one board member and moving trucks
could be needed again at the central office.
Central to the widespread frustration is
the board’s silence. With no official com
ment, the public is left to form their own
theories.
Board members will incorrectly claim
they would like to discuss it further but are
restricted because it’s personnel and in ex
ecutive session. Hogwash, we say.
We editorialized before, and we’ll state
again, there is no gag order on any elected
official because they went into executive
session - First Amendment rights take
precedent. There is no law restricting an
elected official who wants to explain their
vote on any topic. In fact, openness and
transparency is encouraged. Officials may
need to show some digression but explain
ing to your constituents what you are doing
is a bedrock of a democracy.
As for personnel, once people start
working for tax dollars, they forego some
privacy and in this case, when the decision
could cost taxpayers into the six figures, si
lence should not be an option.
We never heard why three members of
the board wanted to oust Wilson in 2019
and now we don’t know of any reason that
Townsend is seeing his employment “mod
ified.”
This is a complete dereliction of the
duty by the board members.
Anger at them appears justified. But
would changing some board members re
solve the revolving door or speed it up?
Abetter approach is for the public to de
mand answers. Why were these two super
intendents, both of whom have staunch
supporters, relieved of their duties? Neither
Wilson nor Townsend were given official
negative reviews prior to the actions. There
is no known blemish on their superintend
ent work records.
An old saying on public transparency
springs to mind, “a little sunshine is the
best disinfectant.”
Interim-Superintendent Tony Young is
by all accounts a solid choice to lead the
system. He’s completely qualified, served
as assistant superintendent, a graduate of
the local schools and impressive universi
ties. We urge the board (all the members)
to settle on him until there is a bona fide
and public reason that a change has to be
made.
We haven’t seen any evidence that the
turmoil at the top affects student perform
ance. The local graduation rate is the high
est among similar systems and we do well
in all statewide rankings.
But, the turmoil is expensive. Paying
people to walk away is fine for profes
sional sports teams, not for local school
systems.
It’s time for some answers from the
board.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
Py Caleb Smith
Romance advice
from the Simple
Man
As a reader, with Valen
tine’s Day approaching I
would ask if Simple Man has
any particular tips to woo my
special someone? As I gather
from your column you are a
married man and your wife
puts up with all your tom
foolery. So what gives? Heck
you spent a very’ romantic
New Year s Eve as I recall
from a column watching
Columbo and gorging on
junk food, but my old lady
says that ain’t what she con
sider romance.
Sincerely,
Needing love in Ludville
Dear Lud,
What a great question.
The first thing you need to
know about women; they
love being needed. Nothing
brightens their day more than
to know how essential they
are to the running of the
household. If you could see
the way my wife’s eyes light
up whenever she see’s I’ve
tracked mud across her
freshly cleaned floor, or the
piles of dirty laundry I leave
lying around, you would
know just what I’m talking
about.
Now, women are also very
complicated creatures. Any
one who has ever asked his
wife where she wants to go
for dinner knows they have a
biological aversion to being
simple. So, they will of
course pretend that they hate
it. The eyerolls, exaggerated
sighs, and occasional, good-
natured swipe of a frying pan
are all part of their secret lan
guage.
As to what I have planned
lidtfns Cmmtji fpMigwss
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
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www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
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One Year’s Subscription: $39.59 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
Cherokee, Dawson and Gordon counties; $50.29 in all other Georgia
counties; $59.92 out of state.
for Valentine’s Day, it’s a
doozy. I plan on waking her
up at the crack of dawn to go
gather worms for a day of
fishing. Since it’s Valentine’s
Day, and I’m a romantic, I’m
even planning on holding the
flashlight for her while she
grubs through the pile of rab
bit leavings. That’s where the
biggest worms are to be
found after all.
After that, it’s a quick
jaunt to the gas station for
some coffee and beef jerky
for our lunch, then off to the
lake. Depending on how
good they’re biting, we’ll
probably fish for about 10 or
12 hours. I know that’s a
short day, but we’ll need to
get home in time to clean the
fish so she can fry them up
for our Valentine’s dinner.
In the past, I admit that
I’ve felt pangs of guilt,
watching her wrestle with
cleaning the fish in the dark
while I’m cozy in my arm
chair. That’s why, just last
month, I installed a motion
activated spotlight over our
cleaning table.
That’s part of what makes
me such a good husband; I’m
always trying to make her life
a little easier.
Granted, the timer is
pretty short so every three
minutes she’ll have to stand
on the table to wave her arms
in front of the sensor, but I
can’t be expected to do
everything now can I?
[Caleb Smith is a long
time, award-winning, colum
nist for the Progress. Look
for his books at the Progress
office or on Amazon.]
School
GOOD BYE
TD THE
H AH HER
HANK AARON
2021
OTHER VOICES
If you’ve already broken all your New Year’s
Resolutions, don’t fret, regroup
Forming good habits is hard but very worthwhile
By Mary Migliaro
No one captures the futil
ity of making New Year’s
resolutions more accurately
than Bridget Jones. “New
Year’s resolution: drink less.
Oh, and quit smoking! And
keep New Year’s resolu
tions,” she sighs in the open
ing scene of Bridget Jones’s
Diary. We all know the feel
ing.
Much like Bridget Jones,
I normally began every New
Year’s Day issuing my own
resolutions that mainly cen
tered on health and wellness
(eat better, lose weight, get in
shape). I would also respond
to the multitude of infomer
cials for exercise equipment
and diet plans and believe
that this new piece of equip
ment was just what I needed
to jump-start my fitness
quest.
Upon receiving the equip
ment, I would use it once or
twice then become bored
with it. They make it look so
much easier on TV! Now my
home gym looks like a used
equipment center. Ugh!
I would always beat my
self up for not having enough
discipline to maintain my
resolutions, but I have found
out that many of us are like
that. In fact, many resolu
tions are set up for inevitable
disappointment and eventual
bum-out. On average, 80 per
cent of New Year's resolu
tions fail by the second week
of February.
Causes of failure include
not being specific enough,
setting unreasonable goals
and expectations, and no ac
countability. For example,
vaguely resolving to “exer
cise more” or “lose weight”
doesn’t provide enough mo
tivation throughout the year.
Having specific markers
and bite-sized goals discour
ages walking away from at
tainable achievements.
Good habits, especially
ones drastically different
from typical lifestyles, are
hard to get started and even
harder to keep. Research
shows that on average, it
takes approximately 66 days
for a habit to become auto
matic.
So, if you want to work on
your resolutions, here are
some tips to making and
keeping them:
1. Just pick one thing.- If
you want to change your life
or your lifestyle don’t try to
change the whole thing at
once. It won’t work. Instead
pick one area of your life to
change to begin with.
2. Plan ahead. - To en
sure success you need to re
search the change you’re
making and plan ahead, so
you have the resources avail
able when you need them.
3. Anticipate problems. -
There will be problems so
make a list of what they will
be. Once you’ve identified
the times that will probably
be hard, work out ways to
cope with them when they in
evitably crop up.
4. Pick a start date. - You
don’t have to make these
changes on New Year’s Day.
If you really want to make
changes then pick a day
when you know you’ll be
well-rested, enthusiastic, and
surrounded by positive peo
ple.
5. Go for it. - On the big
day go for it 100 percent.
Make a commitment and
write it down on a card. You
just need one short phrase
you can carry in your wallet.
Or keep it in your car, by
your bed and on your bath
room mirror too for an extra
dose of positive reinforce
ment.
6. Accept failure. - If you
do fail and sneak a cigarette,
miss a walk or shout at the
kids one morning don’t hate
yourself for it. Make a note
of the triggers that caused
this set back and vow to leam
a lesson from them.
7. Plan rewards. - Small
rewards are great encourage
ment to keep you going espe
cially during the hardest first
days. After that you can
probably reward yourself
once a week with a maga
zine, a long-distance call to a
supportive friend, an after
noon nap, etc.
We all need help and en
couragement with New
Year’s resolutions. These tips
will hopefully help us keep
them this year and in the fu
ture.
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is
an educator and parent men
tor. She can be reached at
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
If you spot a
mistake,
contact our
editor.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Jan. 19 50 34 .03
Jan. 20 48 35 .26
Jan. 21 43 35 .00
Jan. 22 52 32 .00
Jan. 23 55 39 .00
Jan. 24 55 41 .18
Jan. 25 60 46 .61
"I wish you would stop tinkering and let me fix this!"