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THURSDAY. APRIL 1.2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Letters to the Editor
To the Editor:
Wow if you’re looking for
work and do not want to
work for over two years. You
need to come to Pickens
County and become the su
perintendent of education.
Just think you become as
sistant superintendent and
then interim superintendent
and now you become the su
perintendent.
So, if your friends on the
BOE want to remove you
they will pay you $400,000
severance pay to go away
quietly.
We have firemen going
into burning buildings for
less than $12 an hour. But
where has the new superin
tendent been waiting for his
turn to watch two superin
tendents leave quietly? Or
has that been the plan from
the start, wait a while and
your friends at the BOE will
get you the job?
They are saying to fix this
it is “in the best interest of
students and staff and to
move the system forward.”
Really where are the citizens
of Pickens county who may
not have children in the “sys
tem” but are paying over in
some cases $1,700 in educa
tional taxes yearly? This is
the worst fiscally irresponsi
ble behavior I have ever seen.
I am glad to see that the BOE
thinks this is the pocket
change they can spend as
they please.
Do you think the current
superintendent is not going to
ask for the same salary and
severance package as his
predecessors? The group that
is seeking a recall of the BOE
has the right idea and I hope
they succeed. The swamp has
come to Pickens County in so
many ways it is hard to de
scribe.
Frank Leist
To the Editor:
Thank you to all 84 mil
lion who voted for Democ
rats last year. You have
finally killed the proverbial
goose that laid the golden
eggs. I went to Bojangles.
The dining room was
closed—not because of
Covid-19, but because they
are unable to find enough
people to work there. So
many are receiving benefits
from the government while
not being employed, there is
no reason for them to go to
work. Wow.
The Democrats appropri
ated $1.9 trillion for Covid
relief and plan to find the
money to pay for it by raising
taxes. The unintended conse
quence, and there are always
unintended consequences, is
that capitalists will just move
their manufacturing opera
tions back offshore to avoid
the new taxes. Then, there
will be fewer manufacturing
jobs here—the ones that fuel
the service industries like Bo
jangles with customers who
have money to spend. Too
bad you didn’t think this
through before you voted.
Your next chance to fix
things comes in November
2022. I hope you really think
about whether you want the
one meal from killing the
goose or the many meals
from receiving the golden
eggs the goose would have
layed otherwise.
William Miller
To the Editor:
The Georgia Forest Watch
(GFW) is the only organiza
tion devoted exclusively to
the protection of national
forests in our state. GFW
works to encourage ecologi-
cally-appropriate forest and
recreational management
practices. We protect the
headwaters of rivers Geor
gians rely on, wildlife habi
tat, and old growth forests.
These efforts benefit the 2.9
million visitors to the Chatta-
hoochee-Oconee National
Forests (CONF) and help
protect drinking water re
sources for millions.
For most of us the CONF
is located just miles away.
While COVID-19 has forced
us to limit or cancel certain
events, GFW has been able to
focus on increasing our ca
pacity to offer virtual re
sources, completing the
revision of the strategic plan
through 2025, and strength
ening our position to build on
our 34 year history of advo
cating for the protection and
conservation of the Chatta-
hoochee-Oconee National
Forests.
The national forest is
under attack from wide
spread timber cutting, exten
sive erosion, loss of wildlife
and lost opportunities for
recreation. The largest threat
is the current re-interpreta
tion of the National Environ
mental Policy Act which
shuts down the public’s abil
ity to comment and advise on
unwise projects in the Forest.
Please become active in the
GFW or similar organization
and find out what is going on
in our local forests. Please
contact the Georgia Forest
Watch at gafw.org or 706-
867-0051. Follow us in Face-
book.
Andy Edwards
To the Editor:
In the Pickens Progress of
March 26 there were five ex
cellent letters to the editor
that deserve recognition: Mr.
Hugh Pendley for his discus
sion of the Nobel Prize win
ning novel, Doctor Zhivago
by Boris Pasternak. Young
people all over should read
this book to get an accurate
display of what Socialism
and Communism will do to
our form of government and
to our American way of life.
Mr. Jim Harvey has accu
rately shown all readers that
the lack of presidential lead
ership from bumbling Joe
Biden will lead to so much il
legal immigration that our
taxation revenue system will
not sustain our nation’s ongo
ing process, as well as the to
tality of all the world’s illegal
immigrants needs that arrive
at our doorsteps every day.
Biden will leave all our
Grandchildren with a finan
cial burden they will never be
able to pay off.
Mr. Dave Ray has accu
rately depicted the present
Democratic administration as
Community Responds
Growth coining?
March 25, 2021 editorial cartoon by local artist Dwight
Henderson.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Our editorial cartoon last
week gave commentary on
the tidal wave of growth
coming to Pickens County.
We posted the cartoon on
Facebook and it garnered
several comments. Here are a
few:
Julie Landrum - “I live
in Fannin County, and
well...good luck. Hope things
go better for you guys than
it's going for us.”
Jay Allen - “You don’t
want this. I’m from Roswell
Ga., which was a great little
town too. Moved from that
hellhole 20 years ago. You
haven’t seen crime yet, but
you build, it will come.”
Charles McComb - “We
need more business and com
mercial to take the tax load
off the homeowners. We're
empty nesters and been here
for well over 20 years and
still paying school taxes.
There should be some relief
on people in their 60s.”
Clint Brooks - “Y'all bet
ter hang on. They're coming
up [Hwy] 575 at 80 miles an
hour, everyday.”
Susie Tlacil - “I really
hope the commissioners
focus on rural growth and not
large developments. Two-
plus acre lots, ag growth, etc.
We are currently the first
county north of Atlanta that
has any property zoned ag.
We need farms. Farms feed
people.”
Jessica N Jason Math
ews - “No we’re not. Not
everyone is for growth. We
were a simple small town,
now look. Good grief.”
Robert Cantrell - “Used
to be a good place to live.
Not anymore.”
Bobby Fisk - “Consider
ing our rushhour traffic now,
how does the ‘leadership’
hope to deal with the extra
traffic? Are they going to up
taxes again for tunnels?”
Harry Miller - “The
growth is causing way too
much traffic and congestion.
The people are not natives
and it shows. Friendly as a
full tick that has dropped off
a dog.”
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Babies-6th Grade
“Lunatics in charge of the
asylum.” Mr. Ray is correct
when he points out that the
recent coronavirus relief bill
is largely an effort to bail out
poorly managed Democratic
cities and their underfunded
and comipted pension plans.
Our Georgia taxes will also
be part of the payments from
the relief bill that will be used
to bail out these Democratic
dens of incompetence. So
cialism and Communism will
not work for our nation.
It is clearly apparent that
Mr. Stephan Lovell is a con
cerned American and a
Christian man. I am in com
plete agreement with his arti
cle. After Judas Iscariot
betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces
of silver he immediately felt
the weight of his sin and ulti
mately hung himself. It must
also be written that the exist
ing Jewish leaders of Judaea
at the time was a man named
Caiaphas. The Jewish lead
ers, led by Caiaphas, were as
complicit in the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ as Pontius Pi
late (Prefect governor of Ju
daea) and the Roman
Emperor Tiberius.
Mr. Gary Pichon is an in
dividual that I enjoy reading
and expect to view a thought
provoking and concerned ar
ticle from him. Thank you
Mr. Pichon for accurately in
dicating that a semi auto
matic AR-15 or a MAK-90
rifle is not a belt fed fully au
tomatic weapon. It is not a
weapon of war and does not
deserve the negative press
from disillusioned socialist
Democrats. Our 2nd Amend
ment rights can never be
taken away thru legislation or
executive orders, especially
from a deranged president
and his socialist vice presi
dent. Uninformed haters of
firearms need to consult men
and women that have honor
ably served our nation, if
they tndy want a true and ac
curate description of
firearms. Present and ex-mil-
itary can give you the truth
regarding firearms.
Greg Land
To the Editor:
Before they call it quits
and leave our city, I certainly
hope Georgia Power has a
plan to repair and restore the
streets of Jasper to the state
which they found them.
The taxpayers waited
decades and paid millions of
dollars for street re-paving,
only to have the recent up
grades destroy our roads,
leaving numerous potholes
and trenches, making driving
hazardous.
The final outcome of the
Georgia Power invasion will
be interesting to follow.
Maybe the mayor, city
manager or city council will
let the voting taxpayers in on
their game plan - if there is
one?
Steven B. Daniel
To the Editor:
After reading the Pickens
County Progress article of
March 11, 2021, on the
salaries paid to the Jasper
Firefighters and to the Police
force, I must say I was
shocked to learn how low
their pay scales are. How can
the safety forces possibly sur
vive on starting salaries of
$11.67/hour for firefighters
or $15.00/hour for the police
force? A beginning salary of
$25.00/hour would be a great
starting level and is still
below what each of them is
worth.
These individuals place
their lives in jeopardy every
day, and they certainly de
serve a salary that shows how
much they are valued and
how much they are appreci
ated for protecting their com
munity.
I hope serious considera
tion will be given to pay
raises for the safety forces so
they can earn a salary that is
commensurate with the job
they do for the protection of
their community.
In addition, the conditions
at the fire house with the
mold issue is disgusting - see
Pickens County Progress
issue of March 18, 2021. The
city should be ashamed that
the firefighters had to pay for
an evaluation of the fire
house out of their own pock
ets.
Jasper is a wonderful city
with many great programs
for its residents. I hope some
of the city’s money will be al
located/diverted to increasing
the safety forces’ salaries.
These individuals do a won
derful job and deserve pay
salaries that will place them
on a livable level, and they
deserve safe working/living
conditions.
Georgia Dann Neel
Letters Welcomed
“Letters to the Editor” is an im
portant public forum in the commu
nity and the Progress welcomes and
encourages these letters. Letters ad
dressing issues will be accepted but
not those expressing a personal
grievance directed toward another
individual. Letters OVER 400
WORDS in length will not be consid
ered for publication. All letters must
have a full name with address, e-
mail and phone number given where
the author can be reached to verify
information. The contact informa
tion is never published.
Letters may be e-mailed to
news@pickensprogress.com. Call
706-253-2457 to discuss this further.
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dish A
The Joy House
Annual Banquet
Tuesday, April 27,2021
Hors d'oeuvres at 5:30 PM
Program Begins at 6:30 PM
The Mill at SharpTop Cove
Young Life Camp
RSVP Steve Lowe
steve@thejoyhouse.org
706.253.7569
Dress: Business Casual
thejoyhouse.org
i
Would you be willing to serve The Joy
House by filling a table of 8 for our
iJon-
Annual Banquet?
\tiuusel
Contact Steve Lowe for more information
Restoring iMr
Lives and Famllles^^fc W
at steve@thejoyhouse.org or
706.253.7569.