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THURSDAY. MARCH 24. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters to t/ie. Editor
Letters welcomed - No letter more than 450 words; Send
to news@pickensprogress.com or Pickens Progress 94 N.
Main, Jasper, Ga. 30143; All letters must have a full name
that will be published, and contact info. (Email Address or
Phone Number), which will not be published.
To the Editor:
You may already be re
ceiving complaints from oth
ers in our Cove Lake
neighborhood about the
abysmal lack of mail delivery
service in a portion of Pick
ens County.
We have a fairly new con
tract employee who, we un
derstand was hired by the
USPS in Philadelphia to be
our mail carrier. We cannot
find out how these contrac
tors are hired or what their
obligations are. We don’t
know if or how they are vet
ted. Our local postmaster ap
pears clueless and unable to
give us any answers.
The 800 consumer/com
plaint number goes unan
swered and calls are never
returned from the USPS.
We’ve all had mail go miss
ing (in our case, our mort
gage payment disappeared
and two credit card bills were
never received—not good for
one’s credit rating—and a
mess to straighten out.)
Packages, instead of being
left at the door, are being left
on the ground near the mail
box on the street in every
kind of weather; many of us
have had packages go miss
ing after we’ve been notified
by email that they had been
delivered.
Often the neighborhood
goes without mail delivery.
This week we haven’t had
mail for five days. Prescrip
tions, bills, tax info—noth
ing. After a meeting this
morning with the postmaster
in Jasper, the two men,
homeowners in Cove Lake,
were allowed to bring home
their own personal boxes of
mail with the assurance that
the rest of us would receive
our mail this afternoon. Did
n’t happen.
We have sent complaints
to the office of Andrew
Clyde, our congressional rep
resentative. If enough of us
fill out the paperwork and
mail it to his staff, they can
undertake an inquiry. We
hope to have him attend a
meeting with us and a rep.
from the Post Office, but that
may be far in the future. Is
there anything you can sug
gest, or help with, to help us
resolve this frustrating and
potentially illegal problem
that we are having? By the
way, most of us are now driv
ing several miles to a post of
fice to post our outgoing
mail.
Most sincerely,
Susan B. Brogdon
To The Editor:
A recent letter to the editor
touched on NATO. After
reading it a couple of times I
conclude that the author
doesn’t have the means to
fact-check the topic and re
sorts to making things up.
For example, he writes
“the leaders of Europe have
followed the wishes of their
people and disarmed.” No,
they haven’t. Members of
NATO, which include most
of Europe, are asked to spend
at least 2% of their gross do
mestic product every year on
defense.
France, Germany, and the
Great Britain alone spend
180 billion dollars a year on
defense. That’s hardly dis
arming. He goes on to write
“Europe has relied on the
USA to protect them under
our mighty nuclear
weapons...” I guess he does
n’t know that Great Britain
and France also have nuclear
weapons.
Say what you will about
NATO but remember this.
Every NATO country sent
troops to Afghanistan to help
the United States fight the
Taliban and A1 Qaeda after it
was attacked. Thousands of
non-US NATO troops were
wounded or died over the
years fighting along-side the
US in Afghanistan.
Robert Barr
To the Editor:
Knowing the Board of
Elections chairman position
was being vacated, I immedi
ately became curious about
who was being considered to
serve Pickens County resi
dents. Certainly, it would be
someone with relevant ac
complishments and vetted by
us residents.
So, I and some friends
went to the commissioners’
meeting on March 8th. Soon
after the meeting began,
Chairman Stancil called for
an early executive session.
Traditionally, these are to
Report from the Capitol
State Representatiue Rick Jasperse
Well, we are past day 28
of 40, which was our
Crossover Day. It is the last
day a House bill can be sent
to the Senate for their
scrutiny and the same for
them to the House. It was a
long day in the House cham
bers voting on many different
items that fellow legislators
had brought before us. I pre
sented and passed two bills:
one for our used car dealers
and the dealer tags they use.
It will fix the number of tags
they can use to the number
they earned on January 1,
2020 before Covid. My sec
ond bill names roads and
bridges across Georgia for
special Georgians. I’m work
ing personally on naming the
bridge in Talking Rock for
N.C. Low. We all know cof
fee is a big thing on a day like
that, and I found a new
friend: coffee-flavored Coke
Zero.
Both the Senate and
House worked until late in
the evening last Tuesday to
get their work done. I will go
over a couple of bills, but if
you want the complete list,
use my contact info below;
and I’ll send you the whole
list with an explanation of
what the bills do.
In 2019, the Georgia
House passed legislation to
allow limited in-state licens
ing, production, and distribu
tion of low-THC oil cannabis
(Medical Marijuana) for
Georgians suffering from
certain chronic or terminal
illnesses. This program has
launched, but production has
not started; and thousands of
eligible Georgians have been
left without access to this al
ternative medicine. The
process has stalled due to
lawsuits and threats of law
suit. As such, we passed leg
islation last week to ensure
that we get this medicine into
the hands of those who des
perately need it. House Bill
1425 would cancel the origi-
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nal 2020 competitive appli
cation request for medical
cannabis licensing proposals
and would direct the Medical
Cannabis Commission to
take all necessary steps to
purchase or obtain necessary
quantities of low-THC oil or
other similar products from
an available legal source. The
commission would also take
all necessary steps to provide
for low-THC oil dispensa
tion, including the develop
ment and issuance of
dispensing licenses for inde
pendent pharmacies and des
ignated research universities.
We have experienced produc
tion delays, but this measure
would jump-start low-THC
licensing and production to
finally provide treatment and
relief for suffering Geor
gians. We needed to get this
done.
Just for fun, I will name a
few bills in one sentence, so
if interested, contact me
below: A bill to establish a
tax credit for contributions to
foster care support organiza
tions. A bill to allow a sheriff
to be compensated by supple
ment for official services but
up to two courts. A bill to
help those who retrofit vehi
cles for wheelchairs with
their ad-valorem taxes. A bill
to exempt timber equipment
from ad-valorem taxes like
other agricultural equipment
is. A bill requiring training
for those who are part of re
gional development commis
sions. A bill that would
require Georgia income tax
be paid for royalties for en
tertainment work done in
Georgia. A bill that would
provide an insurance pre
mium discount for those who
fortify their homes to resist
catastrophic events. A bill
that would require that fees
paid to the solid waste trust
fund be put in the trust fund.
And lastly, House Bill 1464
which updates Georgia’s
laws regarding the investiga
tion of election fraud and
election crimes.
I encourage you to reach
out if you have any questions
or concerns regarding legis
lation that has been discussed
or passed so far. You can
reach my Capitol office at
404-656-7153, or you can
email me directly at
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov.
As always, thank you for
allowing me to serve as your
State Representative and leg
islative voice here at Georgia’
Capitol.
discuss personnel and legal
matters. Upon returning to
regular session, new business
on the agenda was presented.
To our surprise, Chairman
Stancil announced that Mr.
Joe Walker was to replace
Mr. Josh Tippens as the
chairman of the Board of
Elections for Pickens County.
Mr. Tippens has resigned
to pursue election to the Dis
trict 1 commissioners open
ing replacing the retiring
Jerry Bames. Chairman Stan
cil and Commissioner Bames
voted to appoint Mr. Walker
to the position.
Frustrated by the lack of
information on Mr. Walker’s
appointment, we approached
Mr. Stancil after the meeting
and asked him where can
leam more about Mr. Walker.
Mr. Stancil offered us a
generic response that he has
been in the community for a
long time with the repeated
inference that he himself
does not know him. Mr. Stan
cil further stated that Mr.
Walker has served on the
wine and liquor board. In my
research that is true as far
back as 2005.
We asked why wasn’t he
here and Mr. Stancil re
sponded that “we told him
that he didn’t have to be
here.” We further requested a
CV, resume or anything to as
sess this individual’s appro
priateness for this important
position. My friend asked
what political party he repre
sented and reflected our col
lective concern that he may
be a Democrat. Mr. Stancil
replied “He is an Independ
ent.”
The chairman’s position is
to be neutral to political party
alignment. Mr. Stancil,
clearly unappreciative of the
questions, cited defensively
that code does not require no
tification or approval by the
people. As result of that an
swer, the impression left by
Mr. Stancil on us county res
idents is clear. In his position,
we Pickintonian’s don’t mat
ter.
The issue is not the
“code.” The issue is the lack
of good faith and respect
foundational to executing Mr.
Stancil’s role towards the
people he serves. Pickenton-
ian’s deserve to know about
the people appointed to posi
tions of decisional influence
within our government. Es
pecially the Board of Elec
tions at this time and place in
our state history.
The unelected bureau
cracy must be checked by an
active Pickens County citi
zenry. I do not know whether
or not Mr. Walker is a good
choice. And that is the point.
“We the people” deserve to
be informed. See you at the
meetings.
Kimberly Bunker
Proud Pickentonian
To The Editor:
The people of Georgia
need to unite behind the his
tory of the state and prevent
its destruction and erasing by
interstate groups now de
stroying lives of children in
Georgia. Georgia is not
united around the lives of
children that now are being
killed by interstate groups
backing alcohol to get
money.
They also back abortion
for the same reasons. The
state needs to unite and stop
the killing of our history and
the children by interstate peo
ple that have little or no love
for the state and are responsi
ble for the five and six dollar
gas that now oppresses the
people of the land cruelly and
brutally robbing them of their
hard earned money. Stand up
for the state if you are a citi
zen or a stranger passing
through and stop the killing
of the children, the erasing of
state history, and the oppres
sive tyranny of high gas
prices. We have not been
united and we have fallen and
been taken over by strangers
Letters welcomed -
No letter more than 450 words;
Send to news@pickensprogress.com
or Pickens Progress 94 N. Main,
Jasper, Ga. 30143; All letters must
have a full name that will be pub
lished, and contact info.
(Email Address or Phone Number),
which will not be published.
that easily watch us be killed
by the evils of men and
women. Georgia founded the
nation in AD 1776. We must
now save the United States
from those who hate the state
and kill her children.
Sincerely,
Billy Joe Parker
Ga. Prohibition
To the Editor:
The should-not-be-an-
issue of abortion has reared
its incoherent head again, na
tionally and locally. The rel
evant facts and simple moral
reasoning should clear it up.
A pregnant woman’s bod
ily autonomy trumps every
other consideration. Bodily
autonomy means she gets to
decide what happens to her
own body, just like you do
with yours. The moral rea
soning chain looks like this:
1. All people have bodily
autonomy, just like you have
it.
2. Women are people.
Conclusion: Women have
bodily autonomy, just like
you have it.
Suppose there’s a two-
year old who will die without
a liver transplant or a kidney
transplant or a blood transfu
sion. Bodily autonomy
means the mother or father
(or anyone else) can’t be
compelled to donate parts of
their bodies to keep the child
(an actual person) alive. They
can consent to do it, but
aren’t required to consent.
For exactly the same rea
son, a pregnant woman
can’t—shouldn’t—be re
quired to donate parts of her
body to maintain the life of
an entity (a potential person)
which is using her body with
out her consent. If she
doesn’t consent, the preg
nancy can be terminated
medically, either with drugs
or surgery (an abortion), or in
rare cases by inducing labor.
Consent is what matters.
That’s it. Other false com
plaints about “personhood,”
electrical impulses (“heart
beat”), “sanctity of life,”
claims about deities, etc., are
not relevant except that they
are mistakes that, when
made, should be debunked to
correct and simplify thinking
on the matter.
Remember: women, in
cluding pregnant women,
have the same rights over
their bodies that you have
over yours. The anti-choice,
forced-birth movement op
poses these basic human
rights.
Andy Kippenhan
o
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