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6A
OPINION
Sttnes
gainesvilletimes.com
Wednesday, November 21,2018
Shannon Casas Editor in Chief | 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
County should
enforce its
Shop Small in Gainesville
and support local businesses
comprehensive
growth plan
On Nov. 5, a proposal for a 279-house development on
121.25 acres was presented to the Hall County Planning
Commission.
There were several local residents that were there
and wanted to speak in opposition to this development.
Some were allowed, but then things got heated, and the
rest were not allowed to speak.
It was obvious that the decision was already made
prior to the meeting. It was approved unanimously.
Now, let’s look at what was approved: 279 homes
on 121 acres. By the time you figure in internal roads,
protected creek buffers, planned amenities, etc., this
equates to roughly 1 /10-acre building lots. Many homes
in Hall County are as big as these lots would be.
This is the exact reason that Hall County developed a
“Comprehensive Growth Plan” (also required by state
law, I believe).
This comprehensive plan is in place and should be
adhered to and enforced by not approving proposals like
this one that do not meet the plan guidelines.
In several areas of this proposal, it is highlighted that
this proposal is “not consistent with the Hall County
Comprehensive Plan!” But yet, it was approved?
If the Hall County Planning Commission members
are not going to adhere to the established guidelines of
the existing plan, why do we need this group?
A county clerk could just rubber stamp the proposals
and send on to the county commissioners to handle.
We realize sometimes minor variances may need to
be approved. But, this proposal is so far outside of the
plan, it is ridiculous.
The citizens in the surrounding area are upset that
this is happening, and citizens in the rest of Hall County
should be concerned too! We are not trying to stop
growth, but we do not want this type of development
moving into our rural countryside, especially since
they do not seem to be concerned about traffic impact
on small county roads, emergency response capability
(internal roads), impact on schools, property values, etc.
If we continue to allow proposals like this to be
approved, we are setting a very dangerous precedent
that could allow high-density developments like this (2.3
houses per acre) to start popping up anywhere in Hall
County. Developers would anxiously start moving in and
building just what and everything they can that does not
meet the county’s comprehensive plan. Which is the rea
son it was developed!
Please, if you do not want something like this pop
ping up near you, please call your county commissioner
and ask them to deny this request on Dec. 13 at the Hall
County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Make this and all development proposals adhere to
or come reasonably close to the established comprehen
sive plan!
Joey Johnston
Chestnut Mountain
Trump restores power to the people
From 1789 until 1799, a European country con
ducted a revolution, which in many ways provided
the rest of the Western World their form of a repub
lic democracy. That is the form of government we
embrace today. That revolution was known as the
French Revolution.
What was the cause of the revolution? There were
several minor reasons that this correspondence will
not address. However, what I will do is provide the most
important factor that caused the bloody revolution.
The monarchy (the government) and the noblemen
(the ultra rich people who were able to buy the monar
chy’s decisions) were overly oppressive to the working
class people of France. It became so bad, the citizens
forgot their major differences and became French
men and nothing else.
In our country today, for many years, the ruling
class (the government) and the noblemen (the ultra
rich who buy the government’s votes) have abandoned
the working class, and the working class have seen
their wages decline and their expenses increase.
Consequently, the working class voted in an out
sider (Trump), not of the ruling class, who could not
be bought by the ultra rich, because he was rich him
self and did not need their money to buy his influence.
They voted for this person as he promised to assist the
working class to correct this imbalance.
What this outsider is trying to do is remove power
from the ruling class and restore it to the people. The
ruling class cannot let this happen so they must destroy
this person any way they can. Since the noblemen (the
ultra rich) control the press and control the ruling class
(the government), they have attacked in full force with
innuendos that have been proven incorrect time and
time again. However, their plan is if you throw enough
stuff against the wall it will eventually stick.
This is the danger you and I face. It does not matter
whether you are Republican, Democrat or indepen
dent, because if the government and the ultra rich are
able to demolish anyone that threatens their power,
anyone, including you if you get in their way, will be
destroyed.
Someday, when the ruling class and the noblemen
become so oppressive to the working class, no matter
their political persuasion, we’ll become Americans as
the French became Frenchmen, and the French Revo
lution could repeat itself in this nation.
We will see!
Jim Threlkeld
Clarkesville
We’re all paying for Abrams’ loss
Do I have this correct?
About 3,800,000 citizens of Georgia registered to
vote and voted for a new governor. A bit over 6,000,000
citizens did not vote. Stacey Abrams ran for the office
but lost. Abrams clearly lost by about 60,000-plus votes.
So, she is suing all 10,000,000 of us — and we’ll have
to pay the legal bill for the defense of our Georgia Con
stitution and laws/statutes.
Sounds to me like we “hired” the right candidate.
Good job, voters!
Rick Frommer
Murrayville
Small businesses have
the power to fuel local
economies and lift up
communities.
When we shop small,
we’re supporting America’s
small businesses that cre
ate two out of three net new
jobs.
When we celebrate Small
Business Saturday — this
year on Nov. 24, the Sat
urday after Thanksgiving
— we honor the 30 million
small businesses that ignite our local
economies and enrich our communi
ties throughout the entire year.
Last year, Small Business Saturday
made a major impact on the U.S.
economy: 108 million consumers
shopped or dined small and generated
approximately $12 billion in reported
spending.
We are excited to see this shop
ping experience directly impact our
neighborhoods and communities by
adding jobs and dollars in to our local
communities.
We can feel the positive impact
Small Business Saturday has right here
in Gainesville, Georgia. With a metro
population of just under
200,000, Forbes has ranked
Gainesville 20th in the
nation for being the “best
small place for business
and careers.”
As we know, there is a lot
of opportunity in Gaines
ville, and Small Business
Saturday provides us the
chance to honor the city
and the entrepreneurs that
help make it thrive.
I plan to shop small as
well as dine small in Gainesville Nov.
24.
Recently, I met with Brenau Uni
versity President Dr. Ed L. Schrader
and we discussed the importance of
the Business Incubator located at the
Featherbone Communiversity. The
incubator not only assists existing
small businesses, but it also provides
direct assistance to startup companies
to establish their business enterprise
in this rapidly changing world.
Small Business Saturday is in place
to acknowledge established storefronts
as well as what might be located right
in your backyard, such as a small busi
ness located in the business incubator.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs
are all around us, and Gainesville
would not be where it is today without
them.
This year, Americans are seeing
more money in their paychecks fol
lowing President Donald Trump’s tax
cuts, and more than 6 million Ameri
can workers have seen a bonus as well.
This is positive news for small busi
nesses, especially during the holiday
season, as Americans can spend that
money on local Main streets and for
additional products and services.
As the holiday shopping season
begins, let’s recommit in honoring our
neighborhood champions, America’s
small businesses.
Saturday, Nov. 24 is Small Business
Saturday — a day to celebrate and
support small businesses for all they
contribute to our communities.
I encourage you to join me and the
more than 100 million Americans in
shopping and dining small on Small
Business Saturday as you begin (or
maybe complete!) your holiday shop
ping. Be sure to share your stories
and where you’re shopping via social
media using #ShopSmall. See you in
Gainesville as we #ShopSmall!
ASHLEY D. BELL
Regional Administrator,
U.S. Small Business
Administration
LISA BENSON I Washington Post Writers Group
With dust settling in governor’s race,
runoff election shouldn’t be forgotten
In an era when cam
paigns never really end,
some races get lost in the
shuffle. So far that’s been
the case with a couple of
important races here in
Georgia.
Early voting begins next
Monday for the Dec. 4 run
off election between Repub
lican Brad Raffensperger
and Democrat John Barrow
in the secretary of state
race, and the Public Service
Commission race between Republican
incumbent Chuck Eaton and Democrat
Lindy Miller.
Given how much attention the
secretary of state’s office got in the
governor’s race, this should be an espe
cially important race for both parties.
The runoff should be attracting a lot
of attention, but so far, not so much.
Before Stacey Abrams’s non-conces
sion or “acknowledgement” speech
last Friday, the spotlight remained on
the governor’s race.
A lot of Republicans appear to
believe, based on their track record,
that the runoff races are in the bag.
And while Abrams exhorted Demo
crats to turn out for the runoff candi
dates, the headlines from her speech
were about her plans to form a new
organization and file a federal lawsuit
alleging gross mismanagement in
Georgia’s elections.
Barrow doesn’t have the same
appeal Abrams has to women and
African-American Democrats, and
Raffensperger doesn’t have Brian
Kemp’s folksy appeal to the Repub
lican base. Getting voters to the polls
will be a lot harder for the runoff, but
this race will have a lot to do with their
respective parties’ future over the next
few years.
The spark which ignited the modern
Republican Party in Geor
gia was Paul Coverdell’s
runoff victory over Wyche
Fowler in the 1992 U.S. Sen
ate race, just weeks after
Bill Clinton had carried
the state in the presidential
election. The party has reli
ably turned out its voters in
a few runoffs since, but the
circumstances this year are
the reverse of what they
were in 1992.
This year it’s the Demo
crats who have something to prove
after a narrow loss. Their two runoff
candidates have different bases of
support, which could be a benefit in a
low-turnout race. Barrow’s race has the
greatest symbolic significance for the
Democrats, but Miller gives their best
chance in years to regain a place on
the PSC, which should be a major goal.
There’s also the early voting factor.
Each county can decide whether it
will have early voting and how many
polling places it will open. It appears
from a quick check that all the Metro
Atlanta counties will be voting early,
but the Secretary of State’s office
doesn’t have a compilation of what
counties around the state are doing. If
some smaller counties have decided to
forgo early voting next week, or have
sharply reduced the number of polling
places, it could make a difference. This
won’t be a big election compared to the
general election, and a few votes could
count.
Another race that has gotten lost in
the fuzz after Election Day is the 7th
District Congressional race between
incumbent Republican Rob Woodall
and Democratic challenger Carolyn
Bourdeaux.
Bourdeaux said Friday she will ask
for a recount in the race, in which she
currently trails by 419 votes out of
280,441 votes cast. It’s rare for recounts
to overturn election results, even with
margins this narrow. Assuming Wood-
all survives the recount, however, he
will still have a target on his back for
the next two years.
It took two whacks — Jon Ossoff’s
close call in last year’s special election
and Lucy McBath’s even narrower
victory over Karen Handel this month
— for Democrats to capture what had
been a reliably Republican district
next door in the 6th Congressional
District.
On paper, the 7th looks like an even
more promising pickup opportunity for
the Democrats, and there will likely
be a sense of urgency about taking
the seat before the next congressional
reapportionment gives Republicans
the opportunity to draw a more favor
able district map.
McBath, incidentally, was part of
what in another year would have been
a much bigger story, and perhaps is
still the most historically significant
result of the last election. There will
be nine new African-American Demo
crats in the next Congress, and all were
elected from majority-white suburban
districts. This amounts to a sea change,
all the more remarkable because it
happened when racial tensions are
said to be on the rise.
The 6th District’s 62-13 white-
black split was one of the narrowest,
demographically, far narrower than
the 79-3 percent split in Illinois’ 14th
District, which was won by Democrat
Lauren Underwood. With those victo
ries, African-American Democratic
women will be representing the dis
tricts once held by Newt Gingrich and
Dennis Hastert.
Tom Baxter is a veteran Georgia
journalist who writes for The Saporta
Report.
TOM BAXTER
tom@saporta
report.com
She Sfmts
Founded Jan.26,1947
345 Green St.,
Gainesville, GA 30501
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