Newspaper Page Text
April 6, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Did city police
break the law?
I have very serious doubt as to whether the City of
Forsyth will make public their “Internal probe at
Forsyth Police Department after complaints on
Proctor response”. I am surprised Chief Eddie Harris,
Mayor Eric Wilson and City Manager Janice Hall, the et
als, haven’t come out of their
shells and revealed what hap
pened and ultimately how such
an incident could have been
prevented and what corrective
action is being taken. Bet is that
it is going to be ignored, put on
the shelf and or buried in the
“no comment” section of city
government.
After all, the Forsyth Police
Department is a public agency
which in my opinion, they are
trying to ignore!
What the Forsyth Police De
partment did is against Georgia
law. Here’s the way a response from an individual should
be handled: “No law enforcement agency shall implement
a policy of practice which mandates minimum waiting
period before initiating a missing person report with such
agency; provided, however, that it shall remain within the
discretion of the law enforcement agency to determine
what action, it any, is required in response to such a report”.
In other words, the Forsyth Police Department violated
the law and now it is going to be interesting how Forsyth
will compile their notoriety of being less than a transparent
government.
I AM sure you are getting used to Daylight Savings Time.
Well, if our U.S. Government, specifically the US Senate
and House can get together, the Sunshine Protection Act
will take effect in the fall of2023 which will eliminate the
government mandate of springing forward and falling
back. Just a note, we have had Daylight Saving Time since
1918.
DO THEY make stick shift automobiles any more? You
know with first, second, third gears with a reverse gear.
Of course the car had to be equipped with a clutch on the
floorboard next to the brake pedal. Also, on the floorboard
there was the headlight dimmer.
One thing I learned about stick-shift driving was it
was easy to “double clutch”. I didn’t do that often because
“double clutching” burned rubber and when I had to buy
my own tires, I quit double clutching.
A bit of info from The Wall Street Journal: In Europe,
80% of cars sold have manual transmissions. In the U.S., it
is only 1%.
WRITING OF The Wall Street Journal, every Friday
there is a special section titled “Mansion” which reports
on homes for sale. I have yet to find a home for less than
$1 million and that price for a home is on the low end. For
example, a 1-bedroom home located on less than one acre
and in a “posh” neighborhood, might be listed for a couple
of million.
GOING BACK to last week’s column, there are 14 condi
tions that exist that do not allow Forsyth’s off-duty officers
or extra-duty employment that will not be authorized or
worked without written permission from the Chief. Guess
permission is not needed by the city manager.
YOU KNOW we should have the most professional local
law enforcement officers with the professional training
offered at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Surely
our local officers can receive and do receive basic and pro
fessional training at GPSTC.
OVER AT the county, eight checks were written total
ing $594,829.83. Here are few: Victim aid D. Kreiger trial,
$3,000; Forsyth CableNet, $3,779.06; Georgia Department
of Corrections, $ 1,116.48 for inmate detail; Great Outdoors
Turf Care $1,015 for weed and ant control, Jerry McMillan,
South Water Division II, $47,960.30; Jonathan Banks Ero
sion Control, $39,037.50 slope and matting at landfill; Ma
con Water Authority, $58,727.92; Office Depot, $5,517.21;
Superior Court ofMonroe County; $10,166.08 to replenish
jury account and Jeffrey Floyd Account; H20 innovation,
$37,480.08; and Verizon Wireless, $1,919.61.
MUST NOT have any turkey hunter readers of this col
umn since there were answers to last week’s question which
was when does turkey season open. It opened this past
Saturday and closes May 15.
So, here’s The Question for this week: an Atlanta man was
arrested in High Falls why? First correct answer after 12
noon on Thursday gets the certificate for a dozen Dunkin
Donuts, Dairy Queen Blizzard, fried green tomato appe
tizer at Whistle Stop, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, single
dip at Scoops, Forsyth Main Street and Reporter t-shirt,
Big Peach Carwash, and a slice of Jonas pizza.
HOPE YOU didn’t miss the Tams’ concert on the square
Saturday night. If you did I am sure Frank Wilder, Main-
Street director, has some more down town entertainment
lined up.
FEBRUARY’S BUILDING permits has to have set a re
cord: 74 were issued for everything from new construction,
pool, renovation and pole barn.
I took the long way home from south to north and came
to the conclusion that new homes and subdivisions are
sprouting in cow pastures where cow paddy mushrooms
used to grow. We are finally being discovered from north
Macon and Henry County.
Contact Don Daniel, the founder of this newspaper, at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
^Reporter
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
Biden-flation makes us all poorer
T hroughout history, perhaps
nothing has destroyed more
governments than food
shortages and economic
collapse. Except for war, it’s hard to
think of anything that creates more
panic than being unable to
afford basic necessities - like
food or fuel. Right now, the
United States is in danger
of falling into those condi
tions, yet Biden seems to
be unconcerned. Worse, he
doesn’t even notice it’s
happening. The Dems
think record inflation,
spiking gas prices,
and supply issues will
go away if they simply ignore what’s
happening. And why won’t they? If a
boy can become a girl by mere fantasy,
then inflation and economic disaster
can certainly be averted by wishful
thinking.
MY LAST article, I discussed Biderfs
inflation is the result of his horrendous
economic policies and his war on pe
troleum. President Trump accurately
called the Bidenflation an “economic
disaster of epic proportions.” - an
understatement. Unfortunately, most
Bidenflation is on necessities - energy
and food. According to the Bureau
of Labor Statistics, since Biden took
office, energy is up 26%, gas (in central
GA it is up over 100%). Meat and
poultry are up 13%, and used vehicles
are up 41%. Consider inflation’s cost to
businesses - labor costs have increased
dramatically, if you can even find peo
ple willing to work. Even high earners
are worried about rising prices. Those
making $40K or $50K, the income of
many in Monroe County, are terrified
at their shrinking paychecks. Prices
are rising far faster than wages.
LET’S REVIEW Econ 101: Use the
example of a closed economy with
$100 dollars in circulation and 100
widgets to buy. Each widget will cost
$1. If suddenly 100 more dollars enter
circulation (printed by government),
those $200 are chasing the same 100
widgets. Assuming demand for wid
gets remains the same, each dollar is
less valuable, and the price of widgets
rises to $2. Prices will also rise if the
supply of widgets decreases while the
money supply and demand remains
constant.
TWO RECENT examples of supply
and demand: April 2020 we were all
“locked down”, not going to school,
church, work, etc. - we were driving
less. Demand for gas decreased but
supply stayed the same. What hap
pened to gas? Prices dropped to $1.67/
gallon (Georgia’s average), 35 cents
lower than one month prior. Next,
with all those people at home,
not at the factory producing
goods, supplies dropped. Aaid
with tens of millions of people
sitting at home, they began
home improvement projects
- i.e. buying items such as
lumber, flooring, etc. De
mand for home improve
ment items rose while
supplies shrank because
nobody was producing.
What happened to prices at Home
Depot, Lowe’s, etc.? They sky rocketed;
2 x 4’s tripled in price - demand rose,
supplies shrank.
REGARDING CURRENT infla
tion, Biden and his media insist “It’s
not me, it’s Putin, it’s COVID” that’s
responsible. Know this, whatever they
(Biden and Democrats) say isn’t the
cause, most certainly IS the cause. So
what is the root cause of Bidenflation?
LAST WEEK, Biden told us govern
ment spending simply isn’t the cause
of inflation. He never tells us how
that’s true. He just says so and expects
you to believe him. They think were
morons. Biden actually said that his
historic spending will reduce the
deficit and inflation. (Try telling your
spouse that your $20,000 credit card
charge actually reduced your deficits.)
Even though Joe has never been mis
taken for a genius, he knows perfectly
well that government spending is the
cause of inflation. Inflation is a func
tion of the money supply. It’s nothing
more than the number of dollars in
circulation chasing goods available
to purchase. The more money in
circulation, the less each single dollar
is worth, and prices rise.
RIGHT NOW, through govern
ment regulatory action, Biden has
reduced the supply of widgets (i.e.
gas) while demand has increased
(lockdowns have ended and people
are driving more). More importantly
to our inflation discussion - in the last
year, the U.S. government, with Biden’s
insistence, has printed more money
than any government in world his
tory. So, Biden greatly expanded the
money supply; he reduced the supply
of gas while demand for gas increased.
Therefore gas prices WILL rise, as
we’ve seen. Our supply and demand
and money supply scenario can be
applied to every item in the economy.
Prices have risen because the Federal
Reserve has greatly expanded the
money supply. More dollars in circula
tion means every dollar buys less than
before. The result is higher prices or
Bidenflation. It’s not complicated.
TO BE fair, the HUGE expansion
of the money supply didn’t begin with
Biden. It began back in 2008 when
the Federal Reserve gave themselves
emergency power to print endless
amounts of money calling it “quantita
tive easing (QE).” What is QE? No
body really understands. It’s bureau
crat doublespeak that allows the Fed
to print endless amounts of money,
making every dollar less valuable. QE
has been ongoing since 2008, but on
steroids with Joe.
IN THE last year, Democrats and
Biden have passed two of the largest
spending bills in history, a $1.9 trillion
package last March and another $1.5
trillion last week. (Recall last year
everyone received $1,400 of “free
money’ Nothing is ever free; now,
everything costs more.) Those huge
spending bills are on top of Biden’s $6
trillion 2022 budget - spending levels
no government in human history has
ever attempted, largely because most
governments realize such spend
ing will destroy their economy. Not
Congress - they have run up deficits
that can never be repaid, unless every
dollar is made less valuable; which
they’re doing splendidly.
IN REAL numbers, according to a
Bloomberg article, inflation will cost
the average household $433 each
month or over $5,200 in 2022 alone.
If you’re a big democrat like Sena
tor Wamock or Stacey Abrams, that
$5,200 means nothing. However, if
you make $50,000, that $5,200 in ad
ditional costs is a disaster. That level
of inflation will dramatically change
your lifestyle. Bidenflation is making
us poorer.
FINAL THOUGHT: We can
thank Sanford Bishop (GA District
2) and Senators Warnock and Ossoff
for Bidenflation. They fully support
Biden’s catastrophic spending and
inflation.
Sloan Oliver ofBolingbroke is a retired
Army office who writes each week in
the Reporter. Email him at sloanoliver@
earthlink.com.
PLANT
Continued from Front
General recently took over
the rest of the plant for a
warehouse.
The county had bought
the water treatment plant
from the Monroe County
Development Authority
in 2009 for $750,000 with
plans to use it to have its
own water source from the
nearby Ocmulgee River. Af
ter buying the water plant,
the county learned that the
former textile company on
site had turned its water
withdrawal permit from the
river back into the state.
The county advertised in
the Reporter in April 2021
that the property was sur
plus and that it was taking
bids for the land. Camilla
Partners, which was cre
ated in May 2021, was the
lone bidder for a reported
$60,000.
But Woodford’s father in
law, former Monroe County
commission candidate John
Martin, told the Reporter
that Monroe County com
mission chairman Greg
Tapley showed up at the
closing and raised objec
tions to the bid for being too
low. Martin said that Tapley
called Jarrell and said that he
could make the deal stand if
he was given rights to hunt
ducks on the river-front
property, which includes a
pond, whenever he wanted.
Otherwise, Tapley said he
had a friend who would like
to bid on it even though the
bid deadline had passed,
according to Martin.
The buyers didn’t want to
allow Tapley hunting rights,
said Martin, and wound
up paying $103,750 for the
property instead of $60,000.
Attempts to reach Tapley
for his response to the ac
cusation were unsuccessful.
His voice mail box was full.
When the Reporter texted
him asking him to call, he
responded, “No”
The property includes
three parcels including an
access road by the plant to
the river property and a
dear-water well that holds
up to 5 million gallons of
treated water. The county
assesses the three proper
ties’ value at more than $1.1
million. But no taxes were
collected on the property
when it was owned by the
county.
Commissioner George
Emami said he knew the
property was worth more
but said the cost of doing
anything with the water
treatment plant on site was
so high that there weren’t
many good options. Emami
said it’s a good example and
why he has since persuaded
commissioners to use a
private company, Hudson &
Marshall, to auction off land
and vehicles to get more
revenue when they do so.
Former commissioner
Mike Bilderback, who had
been a big advocate of using
the water treatment facility
so the county had its own
source of water rather than
buying from Macon-Bibb,
said he is stunned.
“This is ridiculous,” said
Bilderback. “They have
screwed our county so
badly on that on so many
levels. Things like that clear
well are more valuable than
you can imagine, at least $5
million. And they sold it for
peanuts.”
LEGISLATIVE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
UPDATE
I support Greg Head
/oWfN _ i . ..
for school board.
p&kf\ Sponsored by the
1 (ML) ) Monroe County
To the Editor:
Republican Party
I support Greg Head for school board. He
Thursday, April 14, 2022
has done a great job. He stands for free-
6:30 PM
dom and is against the mask mandates and
supports kids being physically in school.
Old Mill Market
Melissa Mixon decided to run against
94 East Adams Street, Forsyth
Greg. I wonder why? She must not agree
with Greg's positions on these issues.
Come get an update on actions taken
during the 2022 Georgia Legislative session
Billy Nichols
LIGHT REFRESHMENTS SERVED
Forsyth