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The Monroe County Reporter • April 18, 2018
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ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
All hail vo-tech schools
O ver the last couple of weeks, there have been several
reports, specifically in The Wall Street Journal and
Georgia Trend magazine, about alternatives to college
for upcoming high school graduates. I digress for a
couple of paragraphs. My step-dad was the founder and first
director of the then-called Swainsboro Area Vocational and
Technical School which is now called a college.
Back in 1963, Swainsboro, Emanuel and the surrounding
counties were facing a shortage of qualified workers in a society
which was changing from agricultural to industrial. Finding
qualified workers who could weld, repair small engines, fix air
conditioning, lay bricks, become hair dressers and wanted to go
into nursing were non-existent.
The local board of education named Dad as the director to
make the necessary progress to open a school that would provide
an education for those who were used to low-paying, menial
jobs with no future often staring at the rear end of a mule. I don’t
know what the enrollment numbers are but the college contin
ues to provide a workforce from which industry and businesses
can recruit. Many of the students have a job even before they
graduate.
One of the industry recruitment tools the local Swainsboro
chamber of commerce used and uses was the availability of a
trained workforce as well as the ability to train students for the
desired industrial jobs.
The one-building campus now consists of eight buildings on
almost 30 acres. As a tribute to honor Dads efforts, his name is
permanently on display over the auditorium entrance, “Maurice
D. Boatwright Auditorium”
Now back to some more trade school info: There are now
22 technical colleges across the state that are offering a broad
spectrum of courses and careers to those graduating seniors that
don’t want to be indebted to a college loan or put the financial
responsibility on their parents.
The Georgia Trend lead into the story “Not Your Daddy’s Vo-
tech School” was “Georgias technical college system is preparing
students for careers and making sure industry has a ready supply
of employees.” That was the same objective when SAVTS opened
in 1963.1 am sure Dad is proud and smiling. He is buried less
than a mile from the school and I
am sure looks over it every day!
Central Georgia Technical Col
lege has a campus here in Forsyth
and I assume provides the type of
curriculum necessary for students
to become a success without a col
lege degree.
“YES, WE have no bananas!” I
discovered reading The WSJ that
the world’s most popular fruit is the
banana. Again, I digress for a couple
of paragraphs.
I know what you are going to
say when I tell you I am not a fan
of bananas or banana puddiri
Just haven’t ever liked the taste
and assumed at an early age that bananas were monkey food.
Another reason, banana puddin’ was always a Sunday special
with leftovers being served for a couple of weeks.. .just kidding, a
couple of days.
So, this may surprise you if you haven’t purchased any bananas
lately: The price that stores pay for the elongated, yellow-pealed
fruit has soared to record highs. But the good news is many
retailers have been hesitant to pass their rising banana prices on
to you banana lovers.
ABOUT ONCE a month, I have to take my collected loose
change to the machine that gives me “real money” for all the
pocket change I have chunked into the piggy bank I keep on my
kitchen counter, filled mostly with pennies, nickels, dimes and
few quarters. I like the surprise of the total. Fun!
When was the last time you bought something for a penny
or even a nickel? There is some Washington “swamp” talk to do
away with the penny and nickel; the U.S. Mint quit minting them
because it costs more to make the nickel and penny than they are
worth.
TODAY AFTER 12 noon is when Forsyth voters will find out
who has qualified to seek the city throne of the deceased former
councilman Dexter Ring. Early voting begins April 30 through
May 18. The “real” voting is going to be held May 22.1 am sure
Will and staff will make sure you know what is going on with the
candidate(s) and election.
THE FIRST correct answer to last weeks The Question was
Matthew Robichaux is the new person working for the Forsyth
Convention & Visitor’s Bureau. Winners get the certificate for a
Jonahs cookie, a dozen Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen Blizzard,
Whistle Stop fried green tomato appetizer, slice of Shoney’s
strawberry pie, The Pickled Okra sandwich, chips and drink and
a Forsyth Main Street t-shirt.
Here’s The Question for this week: Monroe County Magistrate
Judge Buck Wilder was pictured in overalls instead of a judge’s
robe on the front cover of The Spring Home & Garden section
for doing what? First correct answer after 12 noon gets the goody
certificate.
I AM going to miss Dr. William C. Cummings! I considered
Bill a close friend and we had many conversations about—not
his religious beliefs—the growth potential, leadership and future
of Forsyth and Monroe County.
Bill was the vice-president of human resources of the former
Charter Medical in Macon. When the medical conglomerate
sank, Bill and his wife Anne invested in downtown Forsyth
and opened The Teft Banque Tea Room, a travel agency and
purchased The Rose Theater where they had “open air” concerts
since there was no roof on The Rose Theater building.
They didn’t go broke owning those three businesses on the
square, they just decided to do something else. Bill got back into
human resources consulting and wrote a Sunday column in the
Macon Telegraph.
My many conversations with Bill were always about the growth
and direction Forsyth-Monroe County was and was not going.
He was always positively optimistic with a tone of frustration,
both of us hoping to be around when the city and county woke
up to the potential they were not capitalizing on.
NOSED OUT! Saw where the county commissioners were go
ing to discuss purchasing a new canine for the Sheriff’s Depart
ment. Guess the old dog “got nosed out”!
LISTEN TO The Reporter On The Radio on Majic 100 Sun
days at 7 a.m. or anytime by clicking on the radio icon at mymcr.
net. You can also see on the show on Forsyth Cablevision.
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Low-income apartments kill home values
To the Editor,
have been following the P&Z
application from the developer of
a low-income and HUD apart
ment project at 5771 New Forsyth
Road and need to shed a little light
on this situation. The homeowners in
Cross Creek and in Riverside
Plantation did not move
into Monroe County and
invest their life savings and
a goodly portion of their
monthly income just to have
a developer come in and
destroy the property values
by building a future slum,
drug retailing operation,
and burglary headquarters
next door. When zoning
first came to Monroe County, it was
explained to us ordinary folks that it
was to protect property values and
control growth in the proper manner
for the benefit of all. A low-impact
office park or something similar might
be an appropriate high use of this land
that is adjacent to a very nice subdivi
sion that is home to stable, settled, and
responsible families.
According to the DataUSA website,
the median household income for
Monroe County was $48,744 and I am
sure that the figure that applies to this
subdivision is probably well over the
$80,000 mark. This means that resi
dents build, five in, and meticulously
maintain the type of homes
that cost over a quarter of a
million dollars to build and
they pay large amounts of
property tax, but seldom
require any county services
from the Sheriff’s Depart
ment, Fire Department, or
Road Department.
I have looked at the
information regarding the
type of resident that will
qualify for these apartments from the
text of another property managed by
the Vantage Group and one warning
really stood out: “This property may
also designate units for renters with
even lower incomes, from 60% of
AMI (Area Median Income) down to
30% of AMI” But wait, it gets worse:
“It is even possible that all units have
been set aside for those with extremely
low incomes (as low as 15% of AMI).
Even though the project is planned
for Monroe County, it is technically
adjacent to Bibb County, which has an
AMI of $36,519 according to a quick
look online. 15% of that figure is less
than $5,500 per year, or about 9% of
the Monroe County AMI.
These government-subsidized apart
ments could not be a worse fit for this
area and will cause property values to
drop like a rock, leaving the people
that paid their taxes every year strand
ed with homes that have to be guarded
24/7, and then have to be sold at
a devastating loss. I urge everyone that
has worked and paid their taxes in this
area to take time off from work, travel
up to Forsyth, and attend the P&Z
meeting on Monday, April 23, at 5:30
p.m. and then take time off from work
again on Tuesday, May 1, at 6 p.m. to
attend the County Commission meet
ing to make sure they fully understand
that this type of development is bad for
Monroe County and its citizens.
John Rickefson
South Monroe County
RICKETSON
Wasting away in Mang-o-Rita-ville?
To the Editor,
eautify Forsyth’s
“Public En
emy Number One”
continues to litter
Ensign Road with empty cans
each afternoon. In addition
to his favorite Mang-o-rita,
our perpetrators expanded
his (her??) tactics to grape,
lime and even pineapple.
Several cans have been
found at the entrance of
Meadow Park Estates. Could
our villain be residing there?
Inquiring minds want to
know.
A warning to you, Mang-o-
Rita Man: Eyes are watching.
Drink if you must, but use
your trash can, not Ensign
Road, as your depository.
Torn Perry
Forsytn
Tom Perry is chairman of
Beautify Forsyth.
GHSA playoffs unfair to public schools
To the Editor,
he Georgia High School
Association’s lack of com
mitment to competitive
balance in high school ath
letics directly affects public schools
across the state during Class 3A and
4A state playoffs. Since the 2016
reclassification, the eight Atlanta-
area private schools in 3A and 4A,
representing 7% of all schools, won
40% of state titles (23 of 58 competi
tions). Since 2000, these eight private
schools have won 240 state titles
while competing in 3A and 4A.
While this tremendous disparity
continues in 3A and 4A, Sen. Jeff
Mullis (R-Chickamauga) sponsored
Senate Bill 456, which requires
GHSA split all sports in Class 1A. 1A
public school Gordon Lee is in Sen.
Jeff Mullis’s district. Last fall, Gordon
Lee lost to a private school in the
volleyball playoffs. Not unusual since
no 1A public school has won a state
championship in volleyball. AJC
high school sports reporter Todd
Holcomb was the first to report this
on April 9. During the 2016 reclas
sification, Gordon Lee moved down
from Class 2A to 1 A. Senate Bill 456
can be found at www.legis.ga.gov/
Legislation/20172018/174279.pdf.
During the 2012 GHSA reclassifi
cation, two of the 1A sports not split
into both public and private playoffs
are soccer and volleyball. In an un
usual move, GHSA
recently split the
playoffs for these
two sports. The
previously stated
reason why these
two sports have
not been split
in 1A is due to
inadequate school
participation rates.
The timing of
GHSAs decision
and Senate Bill 456
are not random
events.
Last Nov. 30,
the Alabama High
School Athletic As
sociation approved
a new competitive
balance plan that
only affects private schools. This
plan is based on a private school’s
success rate, by sport, in state tour
naments and was adopted by a bi
partisan group of public and private
school administrators. If a private
school has significant success in state
tournaments during a three-year pe
riod by sport, that school will move
up a classification in that sport.
On March 14, the Tennessee
Secondary School Athletic Associa
tion (TSSAA) voted to completely
split public and private schools
into separate divisions. This ap
plies to all competitions.
Twenty-one years ago,
the TSSAA took the first
step by placing private
schools into a separate
division if these schools
offered need-based
financial aid. The March
2018 TSSAA proposal to
completely split public
and private schools was
submitted by Memphis
private school Harding
Academy. The proposal
passed unanimously and
will go into effect during
the 2019-20 school year.
GHSAs lack of com
mitment to competitive
balance in 3A and 4A
and Sen. Mullis’s decision
to create additional par
ity in 1A speaks volumes for where
priorities lie. Both the public/private
1A split in 2012 and GHSAs 2016
decision to push 2A private schools
out of 2A, proves there should be
separate public and private school
playoffs in all sports and in all clas
sifications, not just the two lower
classifications. Unfortunately for 3A
and 4A public schools in 2018, it will
be wash, rinse, and repeat.
Alan Henderson
Wafkinsville
MP teams often lose to At
lanta area private schools
in the playoffs, such as this
loss in the state semis to
Blessed Trinity in December.
Austin (never in) City Limits
Monroe Countys congressman Austin Scott (R-Ashburn) held
his last Town Hall with his constituents in Forsyth (at right) on
Aug. 20, 2014, which was 1,337 days ago. Scott defeated
incumbent Congressman Jim Marshall in 2010 after Marshall
went several years without hosting a Town Hall meeting with
his constituents in Forsyth. If you want an opportunity to let
Scott know what you want him to do in Congress, call his
Washington office at (202) 225-6531 and let him know.
Kemp dawdles on county line
When Brian Kemp became secretary of state on Jan. 8, 2010, Terry Scarboroughs
survey of the Monroe-Bibb county line was on his desk. The law says it s his job
to do something with it. But Kemp, an ambitious politician who announced on
March 13, 2017 his intention to run for governor, punted. He announced on Aug.
23, 2011 that he was rejecting the Scarborough survey because he can t be sure
its the original line. Unfortunately, the law gives him no such option. So on March
10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line and resolve the dispute.
That was three years ago. The Reporter is devoting this space each week to
counting the number of days Kemp has been on the job, and yet not done his job.
If you want Kemp to do the job which hes sought three times before he gets a
promotion to governor, call his office at (404) 656-2817 and let them know.