About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2018)
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 gainesvilletimes.com EDITORIAL BOARD General Manager Director of Content Norman Baggs Shannon Casas
