Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, March 24, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-MARCH 30,20ll
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided there were
no environmental issues that would keep two more reactors
from being added to Plant Vogtle.
After fourteen years here, Burke County Extension Agent
Roosevelt McWilliams accepted a position in Twiggs County
as the Extension Coordinator for Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
Entomologists said that a brood of 13-year cicadas would be
emerging in the area over the next several weeks. The insects
had been living underground since 1998.
25 YEARS AGO-MARCH 28,1996
It was learned that the local community would have to
raise $500,000 in matching funds in order to build a branch
of Augusta Tech in Waynesboro. $240,000 in seed money
had already been appropriated by the state for the project.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was looking into the
theft of more than $1,600 in cash from the Burke County Tax
Commissioner’s office. Tax Commissioner Cynthia McManus
gave the GBI a list of eleven names of people who were in
the office when the money went missing.
50 YEARS AGO-MARCH 24, 1971
William (Bill) Jones, Harold Keith McGee and Olin Adrian
Woodruff became the first Boy Scouts from Sardis to attain
the rank of Eagle. They were presented with their awards by
First District U.S. Congressman G. Elliott Hagan.
Daitch’s Department Store, located at 627 Liberty Street,
was completely destroyed by fire Sunday morning. R.C.
Lovett’s and Allied Department Store, the two adjoining
businesses, suffered significant smoke damage.
Sharon Mead, a senior at Waynesboro High School, died
from a gunshot wound at a picnic. Sheriff Ralph Elliott said
that a 22 cal. target pistol accidentally discharged, hitting the
17 year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lovett Mead.
70 YEARS AGO-MARCH 29,1951
New officers of the V.F.W. post included Emory Daniel,
commander, Q.U. Lively, vice-commander and Herbert Mo
bley, junior vice-commander.
Well known author and commentator William L. Shirer was
scheduled to speak at the Waynesboro High School audito
rium. The appearance was sponsored by the P.T.A.
PFC James Bareheld, son of Mr. and Mrs. R.S. Bareheld,
was wounded in action on the front lines in Korea.
He was reportedly on a hospital ship and expected to
recover.
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Cte €mt Ciiisrn
9
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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DOYOUYMT
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BEEN MOVED
TO MAY?
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Recently I have had several
discussions with various Burke
County officials about COV-
ID-19 protocols and the merits
of county policies designed to
keep both the public and county
employees safe.
I’ve mentioned before that in
my day job I work in a county
office and I believe if one of
these groups must be inconve
nienced, I believe it should be
us — the folks that make our
salaries off of the taxpayers —
rather than the public.
I was in a particular county
office this week, and I heard one
of the staff tell a resident that
they could pay for the service
in cash, but it would have to be
the exact amount. This office
is in the new judicial center, so
the gentleman had to leave the
building to go find someplace
he could get the exact amount
of cash to complete the trans
action.
Now, I don’t know if this
policy is due to COVID-19 or
not, but it’s not well thought
out. Common sense would
dictate if you’re going to ac
cept cash, you should be able
to make change, and if you’re
worried about handling other
people’s money, you should
invest in hand sanitizer.
Speaking of the judicial cen
ter, if you haven’t had the
chance to visit it, you should. It
is a testament to what can hap
pen when officials are spending
other people’s money.
Its major flaw is its park
ing, or the fact that most of its
parking is behind the building
while its entrance is located
on the front. There is a back
door but only a select few are
allowed to use it. I don’t know
that this is so much by design as
it is the instructions of Augusta
Judicial Circuit Chief Judge
Carl Brown.
I’ll grant you that judges
have serious and what can be
dangerous jobs and therefore
deserve security, but I’ll also
remind you that they’re elected
and work for the public.
At the risk of angering some
of my fellow county employees,
I’ll point out that some of them
— and their elected bosses —
are adding to the parking woes
by parking in front of the down
town businesses along Sixth
Don Lively
"Granddaddy said to never
plant anything in the garden
until after Easter."
It was my fine sister-in-law,
Miss Debbie, giving me the
reminder.
Granddaddy, of course, is
Daddy to me. Other than my
siblings and me, pretty much
everybody else in the family
including adult in-laws still
refer to him as Granddaddy,
over twenty years after he went
to Heaven.
I had mentioned at dinner that
I was thinking about planting
my little tomato garden over
the weekend.
As I can be at times, I was
skeptical.
After all, Easter can occur as
early as March 22nd and as late
as April 25th.
There are 33 days between
March 22nd and April 25th.
With that span, how can Eas
ter be a good barometer of when
to plant tomatoes?
I responded...
"Well, I'm pretty sure we
aren't going to get any more
frost this year."
Miss Debbie looked at me
like she was speaking to one of
her 4th graders.
"Granddaddy said to never
plant anything in the garden
until after Easter."
The implication was clear.
Don't do anything stupid.
Trust Granddaddy on when to
plant.
Usually I write about Daddy
close to Father's Day, but lately
I've been thinking about him a
lot. This month marks the an
niversary of the last time that I
saw him here on Earth.
I suppose that every man bom
and bred in the Blessed South
thinks that their father was the
wisest man since Solomon, but
in my case, it's actually true.
Daddy had a way of teaching
lessons without saying much.
When I was still a young
and dumb kid, still feeling my
oats and making my share of
mistakes, I came home late
one night drunker than Hogan's
goat. All I remember is stepping
through the front door into the
living room and falling flat on
my face. My folks had gone to
bed, but Mama must have heard
and Myrick streets to avoid
the long walk to the judicial
center parking lot. These are
the spaces that would typically
be used by customers visiting
those businesses; businesses
that provide local jobs, generate
sales tax and pay property taxes
— which are used to pay the
salaries of those same county
employees.
If it’s examples of bad public
policy you’re after, our State
capital is always full of them
this time of year with the Geor
gia Legislature in session.
House Bill 352 is a particu
larly bad idea that deals with
property tax issues. That county
job I have is with the tax asses
sor’s office, so I would like to
think I have some knowledge
on the subject.
While the bill addresses sev
eral things in the code govern
ing property tax, its biggest
change is making the position
of Chief Appraiser — the indi
vidual responsible for mnning
that county office — an elected
position.
Currently, state law dictates
that appraisal staff is hired
DIRT FARM WISDOM
the commotion because within
minutes, she was standing over
me giving me a "come to Jesus
talk", but in my drunken state
of intoxicated inebriation, I
wasn't comprehending much of
the sermon. The only religious
thought I was having at the time
was silently asking God to go
ahead and take me rather than
make me endure Mama's rant
ing and the hangover that I was
sure to have the next morning.
Mama finally gave up.
"This is not over! You're
so drunk you can't even hear
me. We'll talk about this in the
morning!"
Daddy had a better plan.
Somehow I made it to my
bed,but around 5am,he started
pulling on my big toe, which
was his preferred way of wak
ing up my brothers and me,
though on this particular morn
ing , I was the only one he woke
up. By 5:15am, I was sitting in
the seat of one of Daddy's big
Ford tractors, harrowing up
one of the many large fields on
our farm.
If you have ever harrowed
land, you know that the ride
is loud and bumpy and jerky
and not in any way suited for
a young lad with a big head, a
and overseen by the appointed
board of assessors. The objec
tive is to insulate this office
from the politics and influence
of elected officials. Now, how
ever, a group of Republican
state house members believes
that Georgia counties would be
better served if they could elect
their chief appraiser.
I understand the logic — the
idea being that elected officials
are beholden to their constitu
ents — which is precisely why
we should not have elected
chief appraisers.
If I’m Burke County’s chief,
and I need votes, what do you
think happens to our tax values,
especially if you are a good
friend of mine. Or maybe you’re
my mechanic or preacher or
girlfriend.
And what happens to your
values if we are not friends?
This is one issue best left
alone, and I think we can all
agree on that.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook.
lurching stomach, and vision
distorted by bloodshot eyeballs.
That tractor seat is where I
spent the next ten hours, with
one short break when Mama
brought me a can of Vienna
sausages, a honey bun, and a
Mountain Dew. She just handed
me the paper sack from Shell
Bluff Grocery, sadly shook her
head, and drove away.
Not one word was ever said
by Daddy or Mama about my
crapulence the night before.
No words were needed.
Nothing either one of them
could have said would have
driven home the error of my
ways the way that miserable
day of labor did.
After ten hours of earthly hell
while jolting around breathing
diesel fumes and wishing God
had answered my plea from
the living room floor the night
before, I finally got home and
convinced Mama and Daddy to
let me go straight to bed.
No lectures.
No rants.
Not even a condescending
smirk.
I'd learned my lesson.
I'd love to report that I never
partook of spirits after that day,
but that would indeed be a