Newspaper Page Text
June 13, 2018
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Council yawning at
rundown properties
T riple bypass heart surgery and total knee
replacement has kept me from Forsyth City
Council and Monroe Commission meetings
for two months. But now I have recovered
enough to venture back into the local political world,
again on the outside looking in. Asked after both
meetings if I had noticed anything different, my re
sponse was “no”, explaining the county commissioners
are still micromanaging and the Forsyth council is still
playing issue dodge ball and ego tripping.
Seems the Forsyth Godfathers are attempting to
build a new city hall/city government complex, having
decided to build on land next to the police depart
ment. The site has a view of one of Forsyth’s most con
demned and delapidated structures. Guess the council
and mayor will get used to the downtown embarrass
ing buildings.
At the council meeting the other night, councilman
Julius Stroud commented that one of the first things
you see coming downtown from the interstate is the
condemned Ann’s Deli building. And the second thing
you see downtown is the old abandoned Big Star and
Farmers Furniture building next to United Bank.
Councilman Stroud’s comment and question were met
with some ho-hums and ignored.
The city has the power to do something about those
two properties and a couple more but just blatantly
ignore their power, city codes and the laws they are
sworn to enforce.
Here are some unattributed comments by council
members:
“We are not a big city”.
“Birthing center next to a
liquor store makes no sense”.
“Over 2,600 registered voters
and just over 400 voted”.
“I hear what you all are say-
• »
mg.
“To muddy the water a little
more”.
“A community garden”.
“People are going to vote for
those things that are tangible”.
“I was just trying to be re
spectful”
The other day, I made an
open records request of
Forsyth City Manager Janice
Hall asking if the grace period for issuing tickets to
cars parked closer than 12 inches to the parking space
lines expired, how many “complimentary” tickets were
issued during the grace period and if the grace period
is over, how many tickets have been issued so far? Still
waiting on the answer.
Found this interesting when the employee shortage
in the police department was being discussed, Chief
Harris commented “sometimes I have get out there
and patrol”. You make your own comments on that.
OVER at the Commission meeting, there was an
extended discussion as to what qualifications were
necessary for a finance director: high school graduate,
someone with a college degree, someone with a degree
in finance, someone with experience, salary range, etc.
You get the idea that all five commissioners had their
personal idea about a finance director.
Here are a few unattributed commissioner com
ments:
“Examine the parameters”;
“In my mind and perspective”;
“I wanted to make sure”;
“Educate us a little bit”;
“This is not what I do for a living”;
“For the official record”;
And the best one yet! “We don’t have the same situa
tions as Atlanta!”
THERE’S a new sheriff in town and it is A1 Shack
elford, sworn in Friday to be our sheriff until Novem
ber’s special election. I know A1 and his wife, she being
a native Monroe Countian and he from North Caro
lina and of course calling Forsyth and Monroe County
home.
A1 has some big shoes to fill until November try
ing to keep the “re-elect me” herd in the pasture. I
am gonna say this about A1 without hesitation: He is
a law enforcement professional. It is a credit to Mon
roe County that former sheriff and now United States
Marshal John Cary Bittick hired A1 when he came to
Monroe County and has supported him as interim
sheriff.
Wonder when a decision is coming down whether
those employed by the sheriff’s department and run
ning for the high sheriff’s job have to resign to seek to
run.
THE WINNER of the AR-15 in The Reporter sub
scription contest was Jim Conner and Dena Wheeler
was the first to identify him in The Question. Dena
gets a certificate for a Dairy Queen Blizzard, dozen
Dunkin Donuts, Jonah’s cookie, Whistle Stop fried
green tomato appetizer, slice of Shoney’s strawberry
pie, Forsyth Main Street t-shirt, sandwich, chips and
drink at The Pickled Okra.
You are going to have to go back to last weeks’ Clas
sifieds on Page ID. Here’s The Question for this week:
The only ad under the “Sales” heading was for what?
First correct answer gets the certificate
DON’T FORGET to listen to The Reporter on Majic
100 on Sunday mornings at 7 and watch on Forsyth
Cablevision.
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him
at mediadr@bellsouth.net.
^Reporter
FROM THE FORMER SHERIFF by John Cary Bittick
Bittick: Leaving was most difficult decision
I t is with immense
emotion and gratitude
that I inform you of
my decision to retire
as the Sheriff of Monroe
County, Ga., effective
midnight on Saturday, June
9,2018.1 have accepted the
appointment by the Presi
dent of the United States to
the office of U. S.
Marshal for the
Middle District
of Georgia. The
Monroe County
Sheriff’s Office
family and the
citizens of our
community are
very important
to me, and I have
not made this
decision lightly. In fact, it
has been one of the most
difficult decisions that I
have made in the course of
my career.
• To the people of
Monroe County, I want
to express my heartfelt
gratitude for the oppor
tunity to be your Sheriff,
and I am humbled that you
allowed me to serve for
over 35 years. I sincerely
thank you for your trust
and your generous sup
port of me and my family
throughout my career and
beyond. From assuming
the Office of Sheriff at 28
years old to the present, the
relationships that I have
formed over these
years will not be
forgotten. I will,
of course, remain
active in our com
munity, and I look
forward to serving
you in a new
capacity as U.S.
Marshal. However,
I will truly miss
being your Sheriff.
• To my fellow law
enforcement officers and
staff, it has been a privilege
to serve with you by my
side. The Monroe County
Sheriff’s Office is one of
the best law enforcement
agencies in the State of
Georgia, as well as na
tionwide, and I would
like to commend you for
your professionalism and
unwavering dedication to
a higher duty. Although
law enforcement’s reward
is not tangible, it comes in
the knowledge that each of
you has made a difference
in your community and in
countless lives. I know that
you will continue to serve
and protect the citizens of
Monroe County with the
highest level of integrity
and dedication. It has been
an honor for me to be your
colleague, your friend,
and your extended family
member. I wish each of you
well and ask that you con
tinue to provide the level of
commitment necessary in
making this transition as
smooth as possible.
• To the Momoe County
Commission (both past
and present), I am proud
of the many changes and
improvements that we
made during the past 35
years. Working together,
we provided the citizens
of our community with
an efficient, effective, and
professional law enforce
ment agency. Thank you
for sharing in our mission,
believing in our vision, and
working alongside us to
help us achieve our goals. I
leave my position confident
that the Sheriffs Office will
continue to effectively pro
tect and serve our beloved
community.
During this time of
transition and reflection, I
am reminded of a speech
by Gen. Douglas MacAr-
thur, who recalled an army
barracks ballad that pro
claimed most proudly that
old soldiers never die; they
just fade away. While I do
not plan on fading entirely
away just yet, like the old
soldier of that ballad, I now
close my career as Sheriff as
an officer who tried to do
my duty, as God gave me
the light to see that duty.
The former Monroe
County sheriff, John Cary
Bittick is the U.S. Marshal
for Middle Georgia.
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
The rain falls, but the memory floods
T his morning I sit at my
brother-in-law’s computer
in northeast Ohio. The night
rains have stopped, the sky
is a beautiful blue and the sun now
bursts through a nearby window.
Today my mind is
filled with long-ago
memories; some are
wonderful memories
of my early childhood
days, some are sad
memories of friends
and relatives I once
knew many years ago
but today are long
gone with the passing
winds.
Two weeks ago my
wife and I jammed our
luggage and my guitar
into the back of our car
and set out to visit our
hometown of Hartford, Ohio. It was
here, in this small town, lost to the
world, where Karen and I grew up.
There are no street lights in Hartford
and very few stop signs. The school
we both once attended is no longer
sitting in the middle of the town as
it once did when we were children,
but a beautiful town center has since
replaced the school. This tiny school
that once held all 12 grades is where
Karen and I met. I was in third grade
and Karen was in first grade. During
her younger days Karen was bounc
ing around in her family barn, swing
ing from rafter to rafter watching
her older brother milk their one cow
named “Bossy’ Meanwhile, I roamed
our 25-acre rented farm doing small
chores and playing softball with my
brothers and sisters. I knew Karen
because her brother was in my class
all through school.
Throughout the coming school
years Karen and I came to know
each other well. But it wasn’t until
I began playing basketball for our
high school team that I became more
and more attracted to this gorgeous,
young cheerleader. For some reason I
finally realized I was becoming more
and more interested in visiting her
brother. As I became more and more
interested in this beautiful young lady,
she suddenly moved on to Bowling
Green State University in western
Ohio. I was now working
for General Motors in
Lordstown, Ohio and tak
ing classes at Youngstown
University. When I began
taking the long trips
to Bowling Green to
visit Karen we both knew
something was happen
ing. Needless to say, when
Karen graduated from
college, wedding bells
were soon ringing in our
small Methodist church in
Hartford, Ohio.
Today two of Karen’s
brothers and two sisters
are married and still remain in nearby
towns. My two sisters also live in
nearby neighborhoods.
The other day Karen and I ventured
down a lonely, dusty road I once
lived on. Our family house sat beside
a wandering tributary we knew as
Yankee Creek. Today my “mansion,”
as I once called our rundown house,
is no longer here. It died many years
ago as did many of my memories.
All that remains is the stone founda
tion our house once sat on and the
many bushes and trees that have
grown in and around the middle of
that foundation. But many of my
memories still linger of the deer that
often entertained my family and me
as they bounced peacefully past our
house and through the thick trees
that wrapped their limbs comfortably
around us. How dearly I remember
pushing my oldest brother, Gene,
in his wheelchair, down our long
driveway and up the dusty road we
knew as Anglin’ Road. Together we
would pause at the small bridge and
look down at the blue-gill and other
fish as they flipped their tails and
dashed under the narrow bridge we
sat on. Today, as I look down at the
muddy, stagnant creek that flows
under a newer, but less attractive
bridge, I am reminded of the treks
my four other brothers and I took
along that crooked creek. Today the
eyes of a much older man begin to fill
with tears of long-ago memories of
trapping, hunting and simply racing
through the woods that surround
Yankee Creek.
Yes, there were eight children in my
family and seven children in Karen’s
family. I guess you might say Karen’s
family was better off than we were
financially, but not by far. My family
and I grew up with no running water
in our house. However, we were
blessed with a small hand pump that
sat on the counter of my mother’s
kitchen. We had no electricity and
no bathrooms. Through rain, snow
or sunshine we ran to an outhouse.
We bathed in a round tub filled with
mostly cold water. We studied under
the light of a kerosene lamp. Truly—
we were blessed beyond words; we
were blessed with family love. We had
problems, but my memories of those
problems aren’t nearly as vivid as
those of the laughter, the fun and the
joy we shared in that old dilapidated
house I once called our mansion.
In a couple of days my wife and I
will return to Forsyth. Hopefully, the
traffic will be much better than our
trip to Ohio. With any luck at all the
rains will be moved on. Either way
Karen and I have been blessed with
wonderful memories of years gone
by. Our town we once lived in as chil
dren has changed very little. There are
still no street lights today. There are
still very few stop signs. Many of the
houses we knew as children are still
there. The same wonderful friends
are still in that same town; although
in faded memories. What wonder
ful memories! We are truly blessed!
Praise God! God bless!
Dale Likens is an author who lives in
Monroe County.
Austin (not long 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. Scott defeated Congressman Jim Marshall in 2010 after
Marshall went several years without hosting a Town Hall meeting
with constituents in Forsyth. Scott did attend a chamber event last
week but did not take questions from constituents and therefore
cannot be considered a town hall meeting. If you want an oppor
tunity 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. But Kemp, an ambitious
politician now running for governor, punted. He announced on Aug. 23, 2011
that he was rejecting the Scarborough survey because he can t be sure it’s the
original line. On March 10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line
and resolve the dispute. That was four 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 his job before he gets a promotion
to governor, call his office at (404) 656-2817 and let them know.