Newspaper Page Text
June 15, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
An old observer
takes the podium
ne of the last items on the County Com
missioners meeting agenda, after the
Commissioners Comments, is the item
Public Comments. Those in attendance
at the meeting are given the opportunity to come up
to the podium, state their name and where they live,
and for four minutes anyone can “address” the five
elected commissioners on any
subject the speaker has deemed.
Well, after 50 years attend
ing county commission and
city council meetings, I finally
took advantage of the meeting
agenda item of public com
ments. Here is my verbatim
comment:
“Mr. Chairman, you told
me once that you weren’t
interested in anything I have
to say, so you might want
to leave. I’ve been in this
county for 50 years. That’s
right. Fifty years. I’ve seen a lot of change. You have
too. Have the changes been good? Have the changes
been bad? That’s public opinion. Public opinion
makes that decision whether it’s good or bad. But
I’ll tell you what happens. Actions speak louder
than words. How many times have you heard that
one? Well sitting here tonight by my commissioner,
I approve 100 percent. And the reason I approve
100 percent is simply because we are a government
by the people and for the people. And that’s it. Each
one of us in this room and every person in this
county is a citizen of Monroe County, and we have
a right to know what has been going on and what is
going on. And I’m going to back up on this. When
Mr. Hedges was hired and when Lorri Robinson
was hired, I said and wrote, ‘Hey we’re going to have
a new day in Monroe County.’
Well, the first thing Mr. Hedges told me was he
didn’t go to lunch. Will and I wanted to invite him
to lunch, but he said he didn’t go to lunch. But I saw
him at lunch a lot of times. But anyway, we’ve got
an opportunity in this county like never before. I’ve
been here 50 years. I’ve been under county com
missioners that y’all don’t even know about. And I
think you’re in the right direction, and I don’t envy
you one bit of the problems and the opportunities
that we are facing.
We look to you as county commissioners, and
even you Greg, to lead this county in a way that it
should be led. We’re depending on you. And yes,
when we don’t depend on you, then yes we can vote
against you. Have a great day.”
Nope, the chairman didn’t get up and leave. Kept
his seat behind his curse breaker sign and superman
doll.
Here are some unattributed commissioner
comments: “I’m fat and sassy”; “I’m a little slower
tonight”; “You have your directions”; “at least for
now”; “Here’s the negative thing”; “Is everybody
clear on it?” “Help me understand”; “That’s out of
my pay scale” and the most ridiculous comment,
“Not every act of God is our fault”.
BACK TO the agenda and Commissioner Com
ments, Commissioner George Emami took ad
vantage of the agenda item addressing his fellow
commissioners in regards to County Manager Jim
Hedges stating that he’s (Emami) had enough of
Hedges’ “spending and manipulative ways”.
For the next 10 or so minutes the chairman and
three other commissioners watched agog at the
comments Emami was making. The county manag
er sat patiently but obviously surprised. He stormed
out as soon as the meeting adjourned without
acknowledging the comments.
Commissioner Emami has received many positive
acknowledgements supporting his comments and
having the “audacity” to speak up.
OVER AT the Forsyth City Council, they passed
an ordinance that now makes it against the law to
leave a local restaurant without paying for the food.
Local pickleball aficionados got a wish come
true with the city council approving eight taxpayer
paid pickleball courts at a cost of $260,000 moving
from the county recreation department building to
planned city park renovations.
The one question that seems to be on a lot of For
syth citizens’ mind is why won’t the city “do some
thing” about the blighted “senior living apartments
on Highway 41 that construction started on four
years ago”. According to reports, the city manager
told council last summer “she thinks Ingram (the
owner) would have to demolish and start over if he
seeks to resume the project.”
Just a few Forsyth Council Member unattributed
comments: “Let’s build a class act facility”; I’m all
for it”; “Okay, That was my question”; “What you
can’t see”; “the guru of pickleball”; “We caught hell”;
NO TIMELY nor correct answers to last weeks’
The Question. So here’s this week’s The Question: A
plant made a “rare flowering” recently in Forsyth.
What is the common name for the plant? First cor
rect answer after 12 noon Thursday gets the goodie
certificates for dozen Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen
Blizzard, slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, Big Peach
car wash, slice of Jonah’s Pizza and single tip at
Scoops.
Don Daniel founded this newspaper in 1972. Email
him at mediadr@bellsouth.net.
^Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Reader: Hedges likes to hedge the truth
To the Editor:
want to start by thank
ing Mr. Emami for
standing up to Mr.
Hedges. We need
more accountability for
the County Manager. He
says there is $7 million in
the account. Well, leave it
there. We owe $6 million
for the twelve firetrucks Mr.
Hedges and Mr. Jackson
claimed we needed due to
mechanical issues. And
do not forget the new fire
stations for High Falls and
Smarr. Where was this
money at the budget meet
ing? The BPCC voted not
to continue supporting the
hospital with $200,000 due
to budget restrictions.
I contacted the Screven’s
County Board of County
Commissioners after the
meeting where it was
agreed to sell them four of
our defunct or inoperable
firetrucks. Well, they were
surprised to hear that these
firetrucks were inoperable
as they were advised they
were surplus due to Monroe
County updating their fire
trucks. So, are they surplus
or are there actual issues
that are irreparable per Mr.
Hedges and Mr. Jackson?
Were the commissioners
sold a false narrative just so
Mr. Jackson could have new
firetrucks?
After the fire at the Smarr
Fire Station, Mr. Hedges
advised in response to
my inquiry during public
comments that the insur
ance monies were sufficient
to rebuild the Smarr Fire
Station and the insurance
monies for the firetruck was
also more than the trade-in
value. Well, where is this
money? How much was
actually paid out? I ques
tioned a commissioner and
was advised monies were
not as much as Mr. Hedges
implied and the county
would be paying a substan
tial amount of the cost.
Where are the firetrucks?
According to Ahrens-Fox
press release, all twelve have
been delivered. When I con
tacted Mr. Jackson and Mr.
Hedges, I was told that they
are awaiting equipment that
is on the West Coast. Well,
that was the excuse Febru
ary 18,2022.1 have reached
out again and met with
silence. At the March meet
ing, I mentioned the fact
that the firetrucks have not
been received. I inquired
as to if there is a penalty
for failure to produce as
promised. I was advised that
the county had taken pos
session of two firetrucks for
training without equipment.
How do you train without
the equipment?
In the public comments
after a meeting, I called
out the fact that there
was a committee that
had met with E-One and
HME regarding purchas
ing firetrucks. Mr. Hedges
adamantly denied even after
I pointed out Mr. Jackson
had admitted to having a
committee. Guess what?
Ahrens-Fox press release
thanks the committee.
My husband and I spoke
with Mr. Hedges personally
to review the bids for the
firetrucks in October 2021.
At that time, Mr. Hedges
advised that he had not
moved to Monroe County
due to his wife not wanting
to move. He advised his wife
had since passed away and
he was now actively look
ing to move. I am sure Mr.
Emami can help you find
a home in Monroe County
and help sell your current
home.
Finally, what kind of
finance manager is Mr.
Hedges when he does not
know the difference be
tween a loan and a lease?
The firetrucks are under a
Municipal Lease Purchas
ing Option per the HME
press release. Mr. Hedges
says they are the same thing.
No, they are different, and I
only took three credit hours
of accounting. A typical
Municipal Lease Purchase
allows the current BOCC to
approve payment each year.
This is so a new BOCC,
unfortunately some are still
in office, is not obligated for
the purchase of the prior
BOCC. This is also a safety
net should the equipment
not perform as promised,
etc. There are penalties for
canceling the lease.
I know I rambled on, but
these are just a few examples
of Mr. Hedges false narra
tives. He tends to say what
ever suits his needs or wants
at the moment. The BOCC
needs to review his actions
and hold him accountable.
Mr. Tapley needs to stop
with his bullish tactics and
do what is right for the citi
zens of Monroe County.
Laura DeWitt
Forsyth
Here's a school shooting solution
To the Editor:
was on the road in Newnan when
I got back in my truck and heard
on Fox News via satellite radio
about the horror of the school
shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 19
children and 2 teachers were mur
dered by an obviously imbalanced
person. As a Life Member of the NRA,
I am acutely aware of the problem
that needs to be addressed and feel
that the NRA has not been proactive
enough in this area. Support for the
Second Amendment is very
strong in the U.S., as it should
be. However, that support can
eventually be undermined
by the actions of a few indi
viduals that are mentally ill or
disturbed.
Estimates state that there
are over 400 million guns in
the U.S. under private ownership. If
guns were the problem, you’d sure as
hell know it. A gun is a tool, just like
an axe, and without a human being to
manipulate it, the axe or gun would
just be an inert object. So, the most
pragmatic place to begin in solving
this epidemic of insanity lies in identi
fying and isolating that miniscule sec
tor of persons that cause the problems.
I once perceived Red Flag Laws to be
an encroachment on my rights that
could easily be abused by persons that
were seeking revenge, such as a
rejected girlfriend, business dispute, or
any other disagreement. Drop a dime,
tell a lie, rile up law enforcement, and
voila!, you are guilty until such time
that you can prove yourself to be in
nocent. Sad, but true.
If any legislation aims to institute a
Red Flag Law, here are the bare mini-
mums that must be included to make
it effective and preserve our rights: 1.
There must be a strict requirement
that courts report any qualifying result
promptly to the FBI database, the
same one that background checks rely
on. Recent disclosures that informa
tion was sent in late or not at all is
disturbing. A database is a tool that is
only effective if it is inclusive, accurate,
and up-to-date. 2. If the Leftists claim
that the Second Amendment is not
absolute and has limits, then doctor-
patient confidentiality is not absolute
and serious potential dangers to the
public should be a required report to
a local judge, who can then decide if
it warrants escalating the report to the
database. 3. Any action taken under
the Red Flag Law by a judge should
automatically trigger an opportunity
for the person flagged to be granted a
hearing before that same judge within
24 hours. The person flagged
should have the right to be
represented by his (or her) at
torney, or the court should
appoint an attorney at no cost
to that person (with no means
testing) to insure that his (or
her) constitutional rights are
preserved. 4. Those persons
(judges included) that are determined
to have made an overt and patently
false report would be subject to crimi
nal penalties.
If the proliferation of mentally
unbalanced people living in tents on
the sidewalks of major cities (ie: New
York, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Chicago, etc) does not disturb you, it
should. Civilization there has com
pletely dissolved into a leftist Utopia
of welfare, no personal responsibility,
drug use, defecation and urination
on the sidewalks, and a disrespect of
law enforcement. 50 years ago, most
of these tortured souls would be in an
institution, which is a stark and harsh
reality to be corralled like cattle for
the remainder of their lives to protect
them from themselves and to protect
civilization from them. Now, the gov
ernment, in its infinite wisdom, prefers
to waste money on useless ventures
and to allow the rest of it to be stolen
by fraud instead of using it rationally
to solve the problem. Don’t believe
me? Go to Sen. Rand Paul’s website,
www.paul.senate.gov and click on
his most recent report of government
waste, $53 billion in 2021 alone, more
than enough to completely “harden”
every school in America to the tune of
a half-million bucks per school!
Strict and comprehensive back
ground checks before a gun purchase?
Absolutely, as long as the database is
accurate, up-to-date, and inclusive.
Universal background checks? That
is the most ridiculous and unenforce
able requirement ever concocted. How
would you like it if your brother calls
you on a Friday night and asks to use
your shotgun to go dove hunting the
next morning, and both of you are
automatically felons the minute you
hand over the gun to him? Criminals
do not go to gun stores to buy guns,
they steal guns or buy guns (usually
stolen guns) from other criminals.
Remember: When guns are outlawed,
only outlaws will have guns.
One thing that really irks me is the
leftists asking: Why do you need that
for hunting? This only showcases the
ignorance that rims rampant there
because the Second Amendment
has zero to do with hunting and
everything to do with my right of self
defense. Hunting is “fair chase” and
my Remington 30-06 is a semi-auto
(just like an AR-15), but is limited by
hunting laws to 5 rounds, one in the
chamber and 4 in the magazine. They
also ask: Why do you need a 30 round
magazine in your AR-15? The answer
is that the gun is only a tool for self-
defense and I choose not to be limited,
if and when the time comes to employ
that tool. I can pull the trigger once
and one bullet comes out. If I pull the
trigger again, one more bullet comes
out. It’s not an automatic machine gun,
it is a semi-auto, just like my deer rifle,
one trigger pull equals one bullet.
My choice, not yours. You don’t go
into Burger King and tell the fat people
that they can only have one french fry
and you don’t get to tell me how to
exercise my rights under the Second
Amendment. I am, after all, a civil
rights worker.
John Ricketson
South Monroe County
Juneteenth celebrated at Hubbard Middle School campus
Rosemary Walker
Texas was the most remote state
in the Confederacy and thus the
last state where Abraham Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation,
issued on January 1,1863, was
enforced. It wasn’t until June 19,
1865, when freedom was pro
claimed for the enslaved people
in Texas, and the day has been
celebrated since 1866, starting with
gatherings of freedmen in Texas.
Some of these Texans migrated
to other parts of the country and the
tradition spread.
One such gathering occurred at For-
syth-Monroe County’s “Telling Our
Story” Black History Museum at the
Hubbard Middle School campus last
Saturday evening, June 11. Museum
director, Rosemary Walker said this
year’s celebration was held early
because June 19 is also Father’s Day
this year.
Nearly a thousand people were at
the event which featured a bounce
house, a live band, and a DJ. There
was also plenty of hotdogs, sausage,
and barbeque. The museum was
also opened and there was a steady
stream of interested people look
ing over artifacts and photos from
Monroe County’s past.
Now a federal holiday since being
signed into law by Joe Biden on June
17,2021, the day is considered the
longest-running African American
holiday.