Newspaper Page Text
5A
OPINION
®he £ntics
gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Shannon Casas Director of Content | 770-718-3417 | scasas@gainesvilletimes.com
Submit a letter: letters@gainesvilletimes.com
The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right
of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
LITERS
Residents can
unite with
new disabled
community
My name is Jane Grillo. I live in White County.
I attended the Oct. 25 Hall County Board of Com
missioners meeting to listen to the debate over
the rezoning of the parcel on Bogus Road to clear
the way for a residential housing program for
adults with disabilities called Flourish.
I have a personal interest in this project
because I work as a job coach and parent mentor
in White County and I can tell you about the strug
gles families face to find a place for their adult
children to live, work and be part of their com
munities after they finish their school careers.
I also have a personal stake in programs such
as this since I am the parent of a 17-year-old son
with significant developmental disabilities.
It was hard to sit and listen to the residents of
Bogus Road stand up and express their concerns
about this project. They were, after all, talk
ing about the people I know and love and have
worked with for the last 12 years of my career
and, the 17 years I have known my son.
The residents were understandably upset at
the outcome of the commission’s vote to allow the
requested rezoning and allow the project.
My hope is that the creators of the Flourish
project and the leaders in the neighborhood
might be able to come together and look at this
project as the beginning of building a community.
The residents have already started doing this
just by their gathering of names for the 60-plus
signature petition they presented in opposition to
the project.
Perhaps that same spirit of community will
bring people to the table to discuss ways that they
can now live together peacefully with their new
neighbors.
It is just the kind of future I wish for my son.
Jane Grillo
Sautee
To submit letters: Send by email to letters@
gainesvilletimes.com (no attached files)
or use the contact form at gainesvilletimes.
com. Include name, hometown and phone
number; letters never appear anonymously.
Letters are limited to one per writer in a
month’s time on topics of public interest and
may be edited for content and length (limit
of 500 words). Letters may be rejected from
readers with no ties to Northeast Georgia
or that address personal, business or legal
disputes. Letters not the work of the author
listed or with material not properly attributed
will be rejected. Submitted items may be
published in print, electronic or other forms.
Letters and other commentary express the
opinions of the authors and not of The Times.
Your government officials
Georgia state government
Gov. Nathan Deal, 203 State Capitol, Atlanta
30334; 404-656-1776; www.gov.georgia.gov
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta
30334, 404-656-5030; www.ltgov.ga.gov
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, 214 State Capitol,
Atlanta 30334, 404-656-2881, fax 404-656-
0513; www.sos.state.ga.us; Elections Division,
2 MLK, Jr. Drive SE, Suite 1104, West Tower,
Atlanta 30334-1530, 404-656-2871, fax, 404-
651-9531
Attorney General Chris Carr, 40 Capitol Square
SW, Atlanta 30303; 404-656-3300; law.ga.gov
School Superintendent Richard Woods, 205 Jesse
Hill Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta 30334; 404-656-2800;
www.doe.k12.ga.us; askdoe@gadoe.org
Labor Commissioner Mark Butler, 148 Andrew
Young International Blvd. NE, Suite 642, Atlanta
30303-1751; 404-656-3045, 877-709-8185;
www.dol.state.ga.us
Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, 2 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 704, West Tower,
Atlanta 30334; 404-656-2070; oci.georgia.gov;
inscomm@mail.oci.state.ga.us
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, 19 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Room 226, Atlanta 30334;
404-656-3600, 800-282-5852; agr.state.ga.us;
info@agr.state.ga.us
Public Service Commission, 244 Washington
St. SW, Atlanta 30334-9052, 800-282-5813,
gapsc@psc.state.ga. us, www.psc.state.ga.us.
Chairman Chuck Eaton, District 3; Tim Echols,
District 2; H. Doug Everett, District 1; Vice
Chairman Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, District 4;
Tricia Pridemore, District 5
Hall County government
Board of Commissioners, 2875 Browns Bridge
Road, Gainesville, P.O. Drawer 1435, Gainesville
30503, 770-535-8288, www.hallcounty.org.
Chairman Richard Higgins, rhiggins@hallcounty.
org; District 1, Kathy Cooper, kcooper@
hallcounty.org; District 2, Billy Powell, bpowell@
hallcounty.org; District 3, Scott Gibbs, sgibbs@
hallcounty.org; District 4, Jeff Stowe, jstowe@
hallcounty.org.
County Administrator, Jock Connell, jconnell@
hallcounty.org
Planning Commission, 2875 Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville, 770-531-6809.
Tax Commissioner’s Office, 2875 Browns Bridge
Road, P.O. Box 1579, Gainesville 30503, 770-
531 -6950, taxcommissioner@hallcounty.org
Public Works, 2875 Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville, 770-531-6800, krearden@
hallcounty.org
South Georgians are hurting
Am I my brother’s
keeper? Absolutely. My
sister’s, too. Particularly, if
they are my readers. When
they hurt, I hurt.
I have been blessed to
write a weekly column that
has been running in news
papers throughout the state
of Georgia for the past two
decades. There are readers
I have never met face-to-
face but who I consider my
friends, thanks to their emails and let
ters and to the editors who give me the
opportunity to correspond with them.
This past week, I have been in touch
with a number of people in south Geor
gia whose towns were in the direct and
devastating path of Hurricane Michael.
I can’t imagine what they have been
through and are still going through. It is
a cliche but one that fits the situation —
I guess you had to be there.
Homes have been destroyed, lives
have been lost and livelihoods wrecked.
As I mentioned last week, I had planned
to brag on Georgia’s olive industry, a
gem unknown as of yet to many Geor
gians, but highly regarded by some of
America’s top chefs.
I had interviewed Jason Shaw, who is
involved in the olive business in Lake
land, near Valdosta. Shaw, also a state
representative, talked to me on his trac
tor (that was a new experience!) while
trying to harvest the family corn crop
before Hurricane Michael’s arrival.
That particular corn is used to make
grits. I hurried through that interview
because the last thing I wanted on my
conscience was boogering up anything
having to do with making grits. South
erners are a forgiving bunch,
but I think not having grits to
go with their sausage and eggs
is pretty unforgivable.
Not only did Rep. Shaw
and I talk about olive oil,
we talked about life in rural
Georgia. It can be a good life,
but not an easy one.
There are truly two Geor
gias. There is the Metro
Atlanta Georgia, where the
biggest issue going on these
days is whether or not fat cat develop
ers and politicians can talk Atlanta
taxpayers into contributing $1.7 billion
over 30 years to develop a rundown
area of the city called The Gulch. In
addition, there is the usual tiresome
Chamber of Commerce blah-blah about
upcoming Super Bowl Roman Numeral
Whatever, as if the fate of the free
world hangs in the balance.
Beyond that self-absorbed world,
there is the Other Georgia. No billion-
dollar tax giveaways, no millionaire
knee-jerkers playing irrelevant games
— just hard-working folks trying to eke
out a living in an area where quality
health care is not a given, high-tech
communications almost nonexistent
and where population decreases are
the norm. That’s the other Georgia.
And now comes Hurricane Michael,
as if they needed more challenges.
Losses in the agriculture industry could
reach $3 billion, according to state
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black.
Black says timber losses alone are
estimated at $1 billion, with a million
acres destroyed. Cotton crops, pecan
orchards and peanut fields wiped out.
An estimated 2 million chickens killed.
We are talking a recovery that could
take years.
If this incomprehensible disaster
missed you because you were safely
north or east of the Gnat Line, just
remember that there is always a tor
nado or flood or wildfire lurking some
where, ready to strike. The next time,
it could be any of the rest of us. We
are much better at predicting natural
disasters, but we haven’t learned how
to prevent them from happening.
Please take a moment and see what
you can do to help. Call your local Red
Cross or other relief agencies and find
out what they say are the most basic
needs. I suspect drinking water is a
priority. Many churches and businesses
and civic organizations are collecting
money for relief aid. Volunteers are
needed, as well. There is something you
can do, even at a long distance.
Rep. Jason Shaw, whose family and
property were spared much of the
damage, has been in touch with his col
leagues in the hurricane-ravaged area
and says it is heartening to see how
total strangers are reaching out to the
victims. Somehow, it seems to take a
tragedy to bring out the best in us.
As for me, I am feeling a special hurt
today because I have a lot of readers in
southwest Georgia who are hurting as
well. I wish I could think of something
that would bring a smile to their face.
And I promise I will. I owe them that.
They deserve it. Bless them, one and all.
Dick Yarbrough is a North Georgia
resident whose column regularly appears
Saturdays. Contact him at P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online at
dickyarbrough.com; or on Facebook.
DICK YARBROUGH
dick@
dickyarbrough.com
’’You act like you expect us to have candy left over!"
JIM POWELL I For The Times
GOP fails to cultivate female candidates
BY LOUISE A. FLAVAHAN
The Baltimore Sun
This year, 529 women filed to run in
congressional races, a number that shat
ters all previous records. To date, 262
women are still in the running for those
seats. Three-fourths of these women are
Democrats.
There are a host of reasons as to why
these numbers are so uneven across
party lines, but it mainly comes down to
this: The Democratic party has invested
tremendous time and resources into cul
tivating women to run for office in ways
that the Republican party has not even
considered. Groups like Emily’s List and
Emerge have been incredible pipelines
for women that have been building a
female bench for the Democratic Party
for decades.
And then there’s this: the blatant pater
nalism of the GOP. Take a moment to
consider the framing of the Republican
narrative of Christine Blasey Ford’s
testimony:
“We believe her. We believe that
something happened to her. That she is
a victim but more importantly that she
continues to be victimized and misled by
the Liberal Political Machine. We know
better. We know better for her, and we
must intervene. And although we say we
believe something happened, we do not
trust her or any woman’s voice or experi
ence enough to believe she knows who
attacked her. Despite her assertion of 100
percent accuracy. ”
It is the same narrative used by the
right regarding abortion:
“These women, and especially these
young women, are victims of the abortion
ists. They are being misled. The Liberal
Political Machine backing the abortion
ists is misleading these poor women. We
know better for them, and we must inter
vene. But we will not trust these women’s
voices and experiences as they assert a
need for full access to women’s health
care services.”
It is in the context that Sen. Chuck
Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judi
ciary Committee, said recently that
there are no Republican women on the
Judiciary Committee because “it’s a lot
of work (and) maybe they don’t want to
doit.”
That could help explain why only six of
the 23 women in the Senate right now are
Republicans.
Meanwhile, in addition to building its
female bench, the Democratic party has
continually made efforts to be responsive
to errors made in legislating women’s
issues — to learn more and to be more
inclusive. There is a reason that then-
Sen. Joe Biden championed the Violence
Against Women Act just two years after
his role in the Anita Hill debacle and not
Sens. Orrin Hatch or Arlen Specter.
Do the Dems always get it right? No.
Are they better in this regard than their
Republican counterparts? Yes.
The failure to cultivate female can
didates is to the Republican party’s
own detriment, as well as the country’s,
because women in the Senate produce
more bi-partisan legislation than their
male colleagues, and not by an insignifi
cant margin.
A 2015 study from Quorum showed
that in the seven years preceding the
study, the average female senator co
sponsored 171 bills with a member from
the opposite party. Meanwhile, the aver
age male senator co-sponsored just 130
such bills.
Studies from Rachel’s Network, a
philanthropic association committed to
environmental issues, show that, regard
less of party, women vote for legislation
supporting clean air, clean water, renew
able energy, climate action and public
health much more often than their male
counterparts.
And, according to the National Demo
cratic Institute, when women participate
in peace processes, the chances of reach
ing an agreement at all improve, and that
peace is 35 percent more likely to last 15
years or more.
Data like this is clear: When women
lead, when they are given seats at the
table and an opportunity to make their
voices heard, we all win. And if the last
several weeks have shown us anything, it
is how outmoded the Republican party,
and especially its aging leadership, are
in recognizing this reality. It needs to
change. And it needs to change now.
Because Democratic men and women
like me are going to need more strong
women in the Republican party (and
Republican men who understand their
value) to work with in the very near
future to start building a new way for a
new day.
Louise A. Flavahan is a senior public
policy analyst to former Sen. Barbara
Mikulski in her work at the Krieger
School of Arts and Sciences within Johns
Hopkins University.
£hc (Times
EDITORIAL BOARD
Founded Jan. 26,1947
345 Green St., Gainesville, GA 30501
gainesvilletimes.com
General Manager
Norman Baggs
Director of Content
Shannon Casas
Community member
Brent Hoffman
