Newspaper Page Text
January 19, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Does county need
300-page law?
F ifty years ago, when the first edition of this newspa
per rolled off the presses, as the owner and pub
lisher I editorially advocated for the county com
missioners to begin making changes in Monroe
County government. Specifically I continually advocated
that the commissioners should
start planning for county
wide water, a county-wide fire
department and developing and
implementing zoning ordi
nances.
It didn’t take long to realize I
had kicked a hornets nest, be
ing accused of being an out
sider with, “stupid ideas”, with
adamant and vociferous voices
wanting to know why I would
advocate such ideas that could
and would not be implemented
“as long as I am in office.”
The reason I am bringing this
to your attention, Commis
sioner Eddie Rowland in a “Guest Column” in last week’s
edition commented, “I want plans developed to seamlessly
work through these issues with as little financial or social
inconveniences as possible”. I’m gonna make an assump
tion that the primary issue(s) the Commissioner was
referring to is the “new” and extremely complex building
and zoning ordinances being considered. It is a 300+-page
document that is—the best way to describe it-—scary.
When I read it, it was easy to determine that some gov
ernment controlled country wrote it to impose upon its
citizens a conformity that the government could control,
you know a communist country like China, Russia, you
get the idea.
As the front page headline blared, Monroe County broke
a new home construction record last year and predictions
are being made that 2022 will beat the growth of2021.
I suggest you go by the commission office and get a copy
of the proposed ordinance and then contact your local
commissioner and show up at commission meeting.
IT WAS “pay for my cell phone” time with over 20 coun
ty employees including the commissioners getting $480
each for cellphone stipend. The biggest check, $33,979.79,
was paid to AT&T for our E911 service. $33,505.31 was
the check amount paid to Georgia Power. This is one that
needs explaining: $23.85 for “class label-African American”.
Butts County Water and Sewer Authority got $23,816.25
for High Falls water. Child support enforcement received
a county check for $1,284.24 garnishment of eight county
employees’ wages. The City of Forsyth got a check for
$5712.92 for supplying electricity to several county users.
We purchased $13,295.60 to Gulf States Distributors for
“weapons” ammo. Hanson Aggregates got paid $38,024.24
for “road matter”. Here’s another that should be explained:
the Law Office of Mitchell Bluhm got a $1,251.70 check
for inmate dental. Monroe County Hospital received
$42,053.68 for I assume inmate dental and hospital services
for six months. Sports Phone solutions, which is a “parent
hotline”, got paid $249.
A total of 141 checks were written totaling $379,457,756.
THIS FRIDAY night is the Forsyth-Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Community
Awards. It is going to be held at Monroe County Confer
ence Center beginning at 6 p.m. Even if you are not a
member you can attend with tickets for members of The
Chamber $40 and non-members $50. Call the Chamber to
make your reservations, 478-994-9239.
Then a week later, Jan. 28, The Backlot Players will pres
ent “Spreading It Around” at the Rose Theater. If you can’t
make it on the 28th it will be performed the following
night and then on Feb. 4 and 5.
There will be two afternoon performances Jan. 30 and
Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at the same ticket prices.
THERE WERE no correct answers to last week’s The
Question. So, here is this week’s: who was the speaker at
MLK Jr. celebration held on the courthouse square on
Monday? First correct answer after twelve noon on Thurs
day gets a certificate for dozen Dunkin Donuts, car wash at
Big Peach, Dairy Queen Blizzard, single scoop at Scoops,
fried green tomato appetizer at Whistle Stop, slice of
Shoney’s strawberry pie, Forsyth Main Street and Reporter
t-shirt
DISAPPOINTED that the commissioners did not
re-appoint Dr. Craig Caldwell to the hospital authority.
Dr. Caldwell was an asset to the authority and the longest
serving member.
Here are some unattributed commissioner comments: “A
moment of silence for Alabama”; “I don’t think you all will
get too rowdy”; “I’m interested in the complaint”; “That’s
your marching orders”; “We are not going to get piddly”;
“ play this out”; “I’m not sparing with you”; “Use your
common sense”; “Some people are going to be grumpy”;
“screw you, I’ll do what I want”; “Tell me why - I’d like that
researched”.
THIS is going to be an interesting election year with
four members of the board of education up for re-election.
What is going to make this election more interesting is that
school board member districts have changed. Maybe not!
Then one of our current state representatives, Susan
Holmes, is not going to seek re-election. And her present
district lines have changed and it will be interesting to see
who jumps in. Susan will be a difficult one to replace.
FROM “The Illustrated Dictionary of Snark” by Oscar
Wilde “He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his
friends”. Here’s one more: “The play was a great success, but
the audience was a disaster”. And this one by P.J. O’Rourke:
“Giving money and power to government is like giving
whiskey and a car keys to teenage boys”.
Contact Don Daniel, the founder of this newspaper, at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Strong zoning is critical to county
To the Editor:
would like to give a big thank
you to commissioners Ambrose
and Emami for taking time to
educate and ask for input from
the Monroe County citizens. It was
well worth the time.
Our county is going to be rezoned
and they are trying to give the
county comprehensive zoning laws.
Keeping our county “a nice place
to live” while we are experiencing
growth. Putting together that and
the letter to the editor from Darren
Latch and the article by Sloan Oliver
about critical thinking makes me
realize how important zoning is. If
you don’t have clear zoning rules,
it is hard to stop incompatible land
use in existing areas. Like building
a new housing development next to
an airport or a Crypto mine next to a
residential area.
Not everyone has critical thinking
ability to see for themselves what
isn’t compatible; that’s where zoning
comes in. I think that property own
ers should be able to do what they
want on their property within rea
son. They should use their common
sense and try to be a good neighbor.
Maybe look for property in a more
suitable area.
These zoning meetings are an
opportunity to speak up. You can
watch the meetings on Monroe
County Board of Commissioners’
Facebook page, at your convenience.
Share your thoughts on this subject
while you have the opportunity.
Catherine Crusan
High Falls
Are socialists taking over America?
To the Editor:
aul Alinsky was born in Chi
cago in 1909 and died in 1972.
He was a socialist activist
who is credited with various
articles and books detailing how to
build a socialist society. This is im
portant because his influence is alive
and well today via the likes of George
Soros, Barack Obama and many oth
ers on the political left. I suggest you
do your own research rather than
simply taking my word for it.
I feel it is important for all Ameri
cans to know that what is happening
today started many years ago. Our
votes are the only tools available to
thwart the leftist agenda. The threat
of a socialist society in America is
real and we all need to be as well
informed as possible. We must reject
these ideas loudly and clearly or our
country will follow the same path as
Cuba, Venezuela and other coun
tries who followed the socialist plan
below.
How to create a social state by Saul
Alinsky: There are eight levels of
control that must be obtained before
you are able to create a social state.
The first is the most important. 1.
Healthcare—Control healthcare and
you control the people. 2. Poverty—
Increase the poverty levels as high
as possible; poor people are easier to
control and will not fight back if you
are providing everything for them
to live. 3. Debt—Increase the debt
to an unsustainable level. That way
you are able to increase taxes, and
this will produce more poverty. 4.
Gun Control—Remove the abil
ity to defend themselves from the
government. That way you are able
to create a police state. 5. Welfare—
Take control of every aspect of their
lives (Food, housing and income).
6. Education—Take control of what
people read and listen to; take con
trol of what children learn in school.
7. Religion—Remove the belief in
the God from the government and
schools. 8. Class Welfare-Divide the
people into the wealthy and the poor.
This will cause more disconnect,
and it will be easier to take (tax) the
wealthy with the support of the poor.
Scott Sollenberger
High Falls
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
How did we get to this bad place?
O ur befuddled
Biden has been
president for one
year. It’s an insult
listening to someone so un
intelligible and pretend that
he makes sense or that he’s
actually in com
mand. Calling
Biden incom
petent is a gross
understatement.
Military and
economic threats
from China
go unchal
lenged; Russia
thumbs its
military at
Biden; Afghanistan sur
rendered and Biden claimed
a success; record inflation
level; supply chain prob
lems (empty store shelves);
authoritarian and uncon
stitutional Biden edicts; an
uncontrolled Deep State
imposing unconstitutional
mandates; Biden’s
DOJ investigates
parents who protest
school board meet
ings; Biden demands
censorship by Big
Tech; 1st Amend
ment violations;
uncontrolled
government
spending;
complete open
borders; anti-police poli
cies cause record homicides
(Macon’s 54 homicides in
2021 was a record); failure to
punish China for inflict
ing a virus on the world;
Biden calling you a racist for
disagreeing with him; ex
orbitant energy prices; and
Dems attempts to end the
Senate filibuster - Biden is
destroying the country and
the Dems actively support
the destruction. How did we
get here?
START WITH President
Trump. Trump’s overthrow
started the day he defeated
Hillary in 2016. The media
began an unrelenting nega
tive campaign against him.
Trump’s first year, the media
coverage was 92% negative,
largely centered on the lie of
Russian collusion. During
Trump’s entire presidency
he was attacked unmerci
fully with negative coverage
even when Republicans
performed well - such as
Trump’s policies that made
us energy independent. Yes,
Trump has negatives, mostly
centered on his character
- brash, braggart, unsophis
ticated, narcissist, mean
tweets, and in your face. He’s
exhausting because he’s un
relenting. People looked for
an alternate. They (actually
nobody) loved Biden; it’s just
See SLOAN • Page 6A
A Report from The General Assembly
By Rep. Dale Washburn
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
The Georgia Legislature completed it's first
week with four days in session, some bills being
introduced, The State of the State Message from
Governor Kemp and an emerging look at the priorities
of Speaker Ralston for legislation that will come from
The Georgia House.
There were a number of bills
introduced and assigned to committees.
The Chair of the committee to which bills
are assigned will make a decision as to
whether or not a bill will receive a hearing
and whether or not a vote will be cast by
the committee members on a “do pass'rec-
ommendation.
It should be noted that many bills that
are introduced will not receive a hearing. Some will
receive a “hearing only” without giving the committee
members the opportunity to cast a vote to pass it out of
the committee with a “do pass” recommendation
One of the bills introduced is House Bill 888, which
prohibits the teaching of Critical Race Theory in Geor
gia Schools. I strongly oppose the teaching of Critical
Race Theory and I enthusiastically cosigned that bill.
Governor Kemp delivered his State of the State
address to a joint session of The General Assembly with
State Wide Constitutional Officers and Members of The
Georgia Supreme Court present.
In his address, he reviewed the challenges his
administration has faced and his record of dealing with
those challenges. He also outlined some priorities in his
proposed 2023 budget which includes completing his
pledge for a $5,000 pay increase for Georgia
teachers. He also proposes pay increases for other
employees of our education system and raises for other
state employees.
In terms of legislation, Governor Kemp will support
legislation that prohibits the teaching of Critical Race
Theory and legislation that promotes what is known as
“Constitutional Carry" which makes it easier for
Georgians to carry a gun. I support “Constitutional
Carry “ legislation also.
Speaker of the House, David Ralston, has outlined
his priorities for this session. He has made mental health
and public safety priorities. Crime is a
serious problem across Georgia and
better mental health treatment and
strengthening public safety is important for
Georgia’s families and for a good business
climate in Georgia.
The Speaker has also expressed
support for “Constitutional Carry “legisla
tion as well as the need to allow Geor
gians to vote on a Constitutional Amend
ment that would allow an expansion of gambling in
Georgia.
In closing, the process of reapportionment for local
office holders will be done during this session. Members
of the current Monroe County delegation are working
with local officials to develop new maps and the
needed legislation to create the new districts that will
be in place in the next ten years.
I am honored to serve in The Georgia House of
Representatives and want to hear from you on any
issues of concern or if I can assist you with any problem.
Please email me at dale.washburn@house.ga.gov or call
my office in Atlanta.
Rep. Dale Washburn 404-656-0152
401 -D Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov