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PAGE 4A
t Reporter
June 29, 2011
2010 winner: Editorial Page excellence
2010 winner: Community Service excellence
2010 winner: Layout and Design excellence
2010 winner: Photo Essay excellence
2010 winner: Editorial Writing excellence
2010 winner: Investigative Reporting excellence
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
OUR VIEW
On the Porch
Commissioners: Petty is as petty does
Paper offers county
free help wanted ads
The Reporter doesn’t want the commissioners’
pettiness to mean even one Monroe Countian
misses a chance at a job during these difficult
economic times. Therefore we are offering to run
job openings for the county government at no
charge for a full year. That will keep opportunity
easily available for local residents and we’re glad
to do our part in helping the county get through
its tough budget crunch. Our “donation” will allow
Commissioner Jim Ham to continue spreading
gravel for the parking lot for his Summer Bash
and any other things he deems worthwhile.
I t will be more difficult for the
county to fill job vacancies,
and harder for out-of-work
Monroe County taxpayers to
find jobs, after county com
missioners made their latest ham
handed stab at settling their petty
grievances with the county’s legal
organ.
Commissioner Larry Evans pro
posed changing the county’s person
nel policy last Tuesday to no longer
require that job vacancies be adver
tised in the Reporter.
Evans said it’s a good way to save
the county money (about $88 per
month out of the county’s $20 mil
lion budget). So apparently commis
sioners don’t mind spending $1,000
per year to make sure jail inmates
can enjoy Dish Network, but they
think that’s too much to spend to
help Monroe Countians who need a
job to find one.
To say this is about saving money
is like saying we can balance the
federal budget by sewing one less
star on the American flag.
No, we suspect the real reason
commissioners are cutting out
advertising in the Reporter is, well,
why don’t you guess? County com
missioners have made no secret of
their resentment of the Reporter’s
habit of reporting thoroughly on
the activities of county government.
That’s also known as doing our job.
The feedback we get is that the
people of Monroe County appreciate
our coverage.
For instance, when the Reporter
was informed that the state of
Georgia had filed liens against
the home of commissioner Evans
for being 20 years overdue on his
income taxes, we had the audacity to
let taxpayers know. When chairman
James Vaughn and commissioner
Jim Ham replaced the board of
assessors while their own personal
property tax appeals were awaiting
a ruling, we let the taxpayers know.
When commissioners illegally closed
a meeting to the public under the
guise of litigation — though no law
suit on the county line issue existed
— we let taxpayers know.
So we’ll let the taxpayers decide
whether they think this newspa
per’s reporting and editorial stances
played a part in this decision.
The sad part is that while com
missioners’ intent may be to harm
this newspaper, they’re really only
harming county government and the
people they claim to serve. Residents
of Monroe County are best served
when job vacancies are well publi
cized, so they can be filled with the
most qualified candidates available.
That’s why the county’s policy for
decades has been to post vacan
cies in the Reporter. And it makes
even more sense now. The Reporter
has never had a broader circula
tion, reaching 10,000 readers each
week in print and 14,000 per month
through its website.
People pay money to
get this newspaper’s
thorough coverage of
Monroe County news,
local sports, features,
profiles and upcoming
events. The Georgia
Press Association
recently recognized
the Reporter’s ascent,
naming it one of the
top 3 newspapers of its
size in the state. The
improved quality of the
paper has meant there
are even more readers
who see the county’s
ads for job vacancies.
Until now.
Now, commission
ers refuse to use this
easy and affordable
community paper, instead hoping
to fill vacancies by posting on their
own outdated website and bulle
tin boards. Quick: When was the
last time you went to the county’s
website, the Department of Labor’s
website, or read one of the county’s
bulletin boards?
Our point exactly.
County commissioners like to
boast of supporting local businesses,
sometimes awarding jobs to Monroe
County businesses even if they’re
not the low bidder.
But in this case, commissioners’
only purpose seems to be to inflict
harm on a locally-owned small busi
ness.
Would our county commissioners
be so petty as to diminish access to
public information for the commu
nity just to “get at” the newspaper
that reports their actions?
Sadly, that’s certainly the way it
appears.
The bell tolls
“Are the papers there yet?”
The phones start ringing
early on Tuesday here
at the Reporter and
we’re glad that’s
the most-
asked
question.
Demand
for our
product
means we can
stay in busi
ness and per
haps even make
payroll (joking,
only joking, my
dear staff!). Seriously, we’re
glad that so many read
ers anticipate their weekly
reunion with their hometown
paper, as if with an old friend.
But, we’re always looking
for ways to make life easier
for customers. And such an
opportunity has arisen out of
a bit of frustration.
As regular readers may
recall, the best six years of my
grandfather’s life were spent
here in Forsyth coaching
the Mary Persons Bulldogs.
Coach Barney Davis loved
coaching basketball, track,
and especially football at
MP in the 1940s and 1950s.
In his twilight years, even
as his mind was blurred by
Alzheimers, he continued to
wear his MP letterman’s jack
et and bragged to his barber
that he coached the
Bulldogs.
Anyway, for years
our family has wanted
to do something to
honor our family
patriarch, a World
War II veteran who
loved to coach young
men (including
his four sons),
loved Mary
Persons High
School and loved the game
of football. So we bought an
1880s bell at an antique mar
ket in Milledgeville and
hired a craftsman to
build an 8-foot bell
tower. While grand-
daddy died in
November before
we could show
him the bell, we
decided to offer the
Barney Bell to the
school system to
erect, at our expense,
somewhere near the
football stadium.
We thought it might create a
new tradition of ringing the
Victory Bell after MP wins.
Coach Davis’ former players
and other MP alumni, people
like Ernest and June Ham,
wrote to the superintendent
and school board lobbying
them to accept the idea.
Alas, the school board was
not interested.
Nevertheless, we are still
very much interested in car
rying on Coach Barney’s
memory. So the Barney Bell
will now stand erect on the
sidewalk in front of our office
at 50 N. Jackson Street.
And when the Reporters
return from the press each
Tuesday, we’ll be ringing the
bell to let downtown deni
zens know their hometown
paper is at hand. It might
save you a phone call,
and perhaps even wake
up the echoes of those
long-gone golden years
at Mary Persons. And
who knows, after certain
Mary Persons’ wins,
you may even hear the
Barney Bell ringing all
the way down the
street at Dan Pitts
Stadium. Go Dogs.
The Barney Bell,
Thanks
for article
To the editor:
just wanted to send
a quick thank you
to reporter Richard
Dumas for writing
such a great piece on
me. The article was well written and I’ve already
gotten a lot of praise and responses from it. I hope
we can do more things in the future and if you ever
need anything more for the paper, feel free to email
or call me. Thanks again!
Jay McLuen
Forsyth
is published every week by
The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-tre asurer
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
publisher @mymcr. net
Richard Dumas
News Editor
forsyth@mymcr.net
Adam Ham
Webmaster
webmaster@mymcr.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising
Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Amy Haisten
Graphic Artist
graphics@mymcr.net
50 N. Jackspn St., Forsyth, GA 31029
Periodicals Postage Paid at
Forsyth, Ga 31029
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MONROE COUNTY REPORTER
P.O. Box 795, Forsyth, GA 31029
Official Organ of Monroe County
and the City of Forsyth
Phone: 478-994-2358 • FAX 478-994-2359
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Deadlines are noon on Triday prior to issue.
The comments featured on the opinion pages
are the sole creations of the writers, they do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Re
porter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Home bums, thieves steal the rest?
To the editor:
T his is for the two men who stole our stuff from
the storage buildings on Hwy. 83 at Wiggins
Storage between 3-4 p.m. on June 21. My
husband saw you two in a red Dodge and a
red Chevrolet truck with our belongings on
the back of them. He can even identify the two of you.
You rode past him in the middle of the day. We lost our
home in August 2010 due to a fire, and we tried to save
what we could and put it in storage. We want our things
back. If you will return our belongings, we will not press
any charges. You have our word. If not, then a reward
will be offered to anyone with information leading to an
arrest. Persons with information on the theft can contact
Inv. Travis White of the Monroe County Sheriffs Office
at 994-7010.
Bobby and Donna Hopper
Forsyth
Dickey: Vote for one peach of a tag
To the editor:
s a fourth generation peach grower and State
Representative District 136,1 would like to
encourage all of your readers to vote for the
design of next automobile vehicle tags. In
1930’s the Georgia Legislature approved a
statute (#40-2-31) which states that our vehicle tags will
advertise, popularize and otherwise promote Georgia as
the Peach State. The Georgia Peach industry is a very
important part of Georgia agriculture and our heritage.
All the finalists’ designs are wonderful designs and
fulfill this mission so you have eight good choices. The
link to the website is https://etax.dor.ga.gov/TagContest.
aspx. I appreciate Commissioner MacGinnitte and the
Department of Revenue giving Georgians this opportu
nity to choose what next vehicle tags will look like the
next couple of years. Our state has much to be proud
of - Let’s show off our state heritage as our vehicles are
traveling the highways across our great nation.
Robert Dickey
Musella
State Rep. Robert Dickey represents the southern end of
Monroe County in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Civil War Sesquicentennial
The South’s changing attitude toward July 4
O ne hundred and fifty years ago Independence
Day brought different reactions from persons
from Middle Georgia.
At Monroe Female
College, Julia Stanford
commented wistfully in her diary:
“Our great national day...on which our
forefathers signed the Declaration of
Independence.” However, she contin
ued, “owing to the involved condition of
our Country...few felt like celebrating
this annual festival.”
In Virginia with the Quitman Guards,
John Turner Stephens wrote to his wife,
Louisa Stephens, about the Federal
troops’ celebration of Independence Day at nearby
Philippi, Virginia. He said that the Federal soldiers had
fired their cannons. He counted. They fired thirty-four
times, one for each state in the old American union,
including the states that had organized the Confederate
States of America.
“They burn powder,’ he observed, “in honor of our inde
pendence and burn powder to deprive us of it.”
“I suppose,” he continued, “that the Congress of the U.
S. A. will vote any amount of men & money for our coer
cion.”
Joseph Clisby, editor of the Macon Daily Telegraph,
was concerned with the sentiment in
the Confederacy to abandon obser
vance of Independence Day. He dis
agreed with that idea.
He pointed out the role the South
played in the independence move
ment. “The Revolution is still our
heroic stage. Would you blot it out?”
he asked rhetorically.
He went on to say that the
Declaration of Independence was the
handiwork of southerners and held
that the Confederate states were
involved “in this second struggle for the maintenance
of the great principles of civil liberty established in the
Declaration.”
Clisby concluded, “Shall the South cease to claim
what is due the reputation of her noble ancestry simply
because Black Republicanism has been able to pervert
and prostitute their glorious handiwork?”
White Southerners continued to adjust their attitudes
toward Independence Day during the war years, and
many after 1865 ceased to observe it altogether.