Newspaper Page Text
March 29, 2023
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Why does chairman
oppose hospital?
W e are not supposed to be surprised to what
extent elected officials will sometimes at
tempt to go once elected under the guise of
representing those who elected them. Two
perfect examples are personified by Forsyths mayor and
the local school board chairman.
First, under the guise of getting rid of Forsyths polluted
water dumping it into the Ocmulgee River, the mayor ad
mitted the plans for the dumping the pollutant were kept
under wraps for two years “to avoid opposition”!
As I have stated before, transparency in government is
often tainted by opaqueness. Wonder what the mayor was
afraid of? Guess he thought if he kept his mouth shut, he
would be re-elected to his throne. Another wonder, did
he and the city manager share their scheme with other
council members? If he did and they knew, many citizens
I have heard from have said they
should all resign from the trust
they assumed and violated. A
recall is most appropriate.
The mayor has been appointed
as mayor to several state organiza
tions and he takes pride in saying
“I am representing the citizens.”
His concept of openness is surely
the citizens can tolerate a few “little
deceptions.”
What’s really going to get inter
esting if the county rebukes the
city’s attempt to lay the pollutant
carrying pipeline on county
property on the way to the river. You know the mayor and
county commission chairman are business partners in
the ambulance business. And from street talk and Waffle
House discussions, the mayor and chairman are both still
upset for not getting the county ambulance business at
Monroe County Hospital. That’s the reason the county is
no longer supporting the hospital.
LET’S GO over to the Monroe County School board
where the chairman, Flip-Flopper Stuart Pippin, and three
other board cohorts changed a policy after Pippin had
previously voted for the policy. It is becoming obvious
that Flip-Flopper Pippin is controlled by three of the four
board members. You have to read last week’s Reporter for
the full story. Simply stated, board member Greg Head
had proposed, and the BOE passed 4 to 3, a new rule that
would have prevented the school superintendent and a
member of the school from serving on the health board
together.
A week earlier, Flip Flopper Pippin voted a “yes” he
agreed but then a week later, he changed his vote and the
school board chairman and any school board member can
be appointed to the health board. Sad that Flip-Flopper
Pippin didn’t stand up for his conviction.
OVER AT the Forsyth City Council, it was voted “to not
move forward on the $230,000 mosquito program.” It was
approved at a previous council meeting but got flopped.
At the same council meeting, Forsyth’s “Still-New Police
Chief” told the council how and what he was doing to
make the Forsyth Police Department a top-rated and cer
tified department. He also told his bosses on the council
that the police department issued 1,540 traffic tickets in
2022.
HERE ARE some unattributed county commis
sion comments: “I guess”; “I’m good”; “I was trying
to get clear”; “One last thing”; “I just want to make it
clear”;“You’ve got your marching orders”; “One last thing”;
“Let me back up”; “I don’t want anything to fall through
the cracks”; “If you guys bless that”; “It is what it is”; “I just
told you the truth”; “It would only be fair”; “Correct me if
I was wrong”; “Since we are pissing away”; “We don’t have
any money left over”; “I feel you brother”; “If there is more
manna from heaven.”
IT WAS check writing over at the Monroe County
Finance Department with 96 checks written totaling
$683,612. Here are a few of the biggies: T&T Uniforms,
$8,664; Towiliga Accountability Court, $17,500; Jeff Smith
Ford, 2023 Ford Explorer, $38,985; United Grading,
$362,527.19; Walthall Oil, $49,606.32; Peoples Janitorial
Supply, $5,649.83; Edmunds & Associates, $28,072.44
information technology; City of Forsyth, $18,425.12
for utilities; Medical Dental/hospital services/inmates,
$20,318.62 and $17,713.50 paid to Charles Abbot Associ
ates for building fees and other contractual services.
No checks paid to commissioners for travel or meal
reimbursements. Filing an open records request for com
mission travel and reimbursements.
THE ANSWER to last week’s The Question was Stuart
Pippin but there were no correct answers. So, here’s The
Question for this week: A fourth one of these is planned
for the city of Forsyth, according to this week’s Reporter?
First correct answer after 12 noon on Thursday gets
the goodie certificate for a dozen Dunkin Donuts, Dairy
Queen Blizzard, Whistle Stop fried green tomato appetiz
er, Big Peach Car Wash, single dip at Scoops, slice of Jo
nah’s Pizza and a slice of Shoney’s famous strawberry pie.
AND THIS from Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictio
nary: Love: A temporary insanity curable by marriage or
by removable of the patient from the influences under
which he incurred the disorder.
By popular request, this from George Carlin: If you have
a legal problem, guess how you determine whether or not
you need a lawyer. You see a lawyer. Isn’t that weird? One
more from M. Carlin: If you vote once, you are considered
a good citizen. If you vote twice, you face four years in jail.
GOT AN opinion you want to share and printable in
this column? Contact Donald Jackson Daniel at media-
dr@bellsouth.net. Also, you can answer The Question at
that email.
^Reporter
A MERRY HEART by Merry Harris
I M onroe Coun+y
&oard of Education
Chair man
Stuart Pippin's
Voting Record
NAY YAY
W9M
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
County broke promises on water line
To the Editor:
am very disappointed with our
commissioners. They are the
county leaders and in this case
they are not taking ownership of
the problem. They are casting blame
on prices going up and residents that
have private roads.
There are three lots on my private
road. Commissioner John Ambrose
came to my house on a Sunday
in 2020 before the project started.
He showed me on the right of way
contract where the fire hydrant
would go and my meter. I signed the
contract and my neighbor signed the
contract.
Of the three lots, one vacant lot
is in a trust in Florida. The owner
(Diane) was never contacted by the
county where she pays taxes. The
report above is wrong in saying she
said No to the water. They never
contacted her. They had her mailing
address but never contacted her.
I paid my $575 fee waiting on the
line to be installed. The contractors
came and went and Ambrose never
reached out to me that they were
skipping us because they didn’t get
the ok from the owner of the vacant
lot. I have spoken to the owner over
the holidays and she advised none
of the commissioners tried to reach
out to her.
The promise of water and a fire
hydrant was NOT kept. When the
commissioner said “we ran out of
money”, was not a proper answer.
You started a project, you need to
find a way to finish a project and
make sure all residents of Monroe
County have access to water.
I have power, AT&T, and fiber
internet at our home but not access
to county water. I am not sure what
grant was available or where all the
money was spent. Maybe an Audit
needs to be conducted on the water
project. I am very disappointed in
the lack of communication and the
abandonment the commissioners
have shown on this project.
Mark Mimbs
Forsyth
ON THE PORCH
Continued from page 4A
advice as “conversion therapy”. In
those lands, it is against the law to tell
someone they can believe in Jesus and
find freedom from sexual confusion.
And so not everyone will receive
that message. Covenant School prob
ably shared that message with little
Audrey Hale. In return she killed 3
teachers and 3 students in cold blood.
In old America, there wasn’t much of
a price to be paid for adhering to the
Bible and to Jesus. But that America
is gone. Jesus told his followers in
Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are you when
people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you
because of me.”
Let us take inspiration from heroes
at places like Covenant, and here in
Monroe County, who are standing for
God and His love no matter the hate it
incurs. In the end, Christ will make it
worth whatever we suffer for standing
for Him, and maybe our courage will
make America a better place for our
kids and grandkids than it is now.
Will Davis is the publisher of The
Monroe County Reporter. Email him at
publisher@mymcr. net.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Georgia Legislative Report
By Rep. Dale Washburn
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
The last day of the 2023 Georgia Legislative
Session is scheduled for Wednesday, March 29 which
is expected to be a long day with a lot of activity in
both The House and the Senate.
As usual, there is negotiating and
maneuvering taking place between the
leadership in both chambers relative to
some big issues such as The Mental Health
Bill (House Bill 520) and Certificate of
Need Regulation (Senate Bill 99).
The Mental Health Bill, House Bill 520,
is important legislation which is a follow
up to the massive Mental Health Bill that
passed last year. It has passed the House
and is a priority for House Leadership but
the Senate has not yet acted on House
Bill 520.
Senate Bill 99 , championed by Lieutenant Gover
nor Bert Jones, proposes that in a county of less than
50,000 people, no Certificate of Need would have to
be obtained in order to build a new hospital. If this bill
becomes law, the change would be significant.
The argument in support of Senate Bill 99 is an
argument for allowing the free market to work with
less regulation in counties with a population of less
than 50,000 people relative to new construction of
hospitals . The argument is that such a change would
allow more competition between providers of health
care which could improve accessibility to health care.
The argument against this type of reform is an
argument that a change in Certificate of Need Policy
would endanger small and regional hospitals in more
rural areas because competing hospitals could come in
and possibly damage existing hospitals and cause them
to close. The argument against that possibility is an
argument that health care providers that are “for
profit" would probably not be drawn to those areas
due to the lack of population and potential patients.
There is concern that “for profit" providers might
come into rural areas and offer only certain services
that can be more profitable rather than full services,
some of which might not be as profitable. If that
occurs, the loss in revenue to existing
hospitals could be damaging.
It is a complex issue and as with many
complex issues the arguments are based
on speculation and some degree of
assumption.
There are strong opinions that go both
ways and powerful lobbying forces on
both sides. The leadership of both cham
bers and the Governor are all involved in
the process and the legislative process. It
is going to be an interesting time over the
remaining days of this 2023 session as we watch this
battle conclude.
All Georgians deserve quality, accessible, reason
ably affordable healthcare. Healthcare, Transporta
tion, Workforce and Housing Supply are all big state
wide issues that we face. This debate on significant
Healthcare policy and potential legislative action will
be very significant.
I am honored to serve in The Georgia General
Assembly. Please email me at dale.washburn@house.-
ga.gov with your views on any issue or if I can answer
any questions.
Rep. Dale Washburn
404-656-0152
401 -D Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
dale.washburn@house.ga.gov
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