Newspaper Page Text
April 12, 2023
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Forsyth police
staying busy
■y A "Tlien I opened The Reporter 50 years ago in
% / downtown Forsyth, the first office was in the
\i \l basement of the Trio offices across from the
▼ ▼ old post office. Our second office was between
Chambers Sporting Goods and the law offices of Ham, Mills
and Freeman. We worked late on Monday and Tuesday nights
getting the newspaper ready for the printer.
Those nights we worked late, a Forsyth policeman would
come by and check on us. I learned that every night, a police
man would walk, that’s right walk, his beat, checking the doors
of all the businesses on the square and around town when we
had a defined downtown to make sure they were locked. There
were no regular times but it was checked several times during
the night.
I give you that background because it was one example
of “policing” The patrolling (walking a beat) of downtown
changed when the city got police cars. Officers could stay in
their patrol cars and shine a light on
the business fronts. They quit walking
a downtown “beat” They patrolled in
the comfort of their cruisers., Don’t
know if they walk the downtown beat
in this day and age or not.
The other night, Forsyth Chief
Woodrow Blue gave a report to the
city council on the activities of his de
partment and I followed up by asking
for a report of his department’s activ
ities. One report revealed that the
department has answered 19,926
dispatched calls since January of
last year, 12 months.
Looking at the report, 1,540
citations were reported between Jan. 1,2022, and Dec. 31,2022.
For example, 24 citations were issued for nuisance/odor/noise;
90 expired registration and 124 for no insurance and a lot of
other automobile citations, including 118 for improper left or
right turns.
AS YOU have read, the Forsyth City Council again gave the
developer of the Senior Living Center Forsyth Station another
30-day extension before the city declares the property blighted,
thus forcing the developer to either demolish the structures,
restart the development or at least clean the property up.
Declaring a litany of excuses as to why he had not complied
with the council’s first 30-day extension, by a vote of five-to-
one, the council approved another extension. Only one council
member had the audacity to vote against the extension.
CITIZEN EMOTIONS ran high when it came to Forsyth
council’s vote against the Dollar General store. One argued
against the location saying, “I pray in the name of Jesus you
reject Dollar General. I pray you vote against Dollar General
in the name of Jesus.” I guess his prayer was answered with the
rejection vote.
Here are some unattributed council member comments:
“The last thing I’ll say...“I say that to say this”; “These are
tough seats to sit in sometimes.” “My idea”; “That’s what irritates
me the most. That’s the number one thing.”
I APPRECIATE this note from Debbie Melton who was
invited to attend the luncheon I sponsored to celebrate The
Reporter’s 50th birthday. “Dear Don, This is a little late but I
wanted to thank you for giving me the job at The Reporter all
those years ago. Because you were flexible with my hours I was
able to finish my degree. I am still working for the Muscogee
County Schools so I couldn’t come during the week. “I hope
you are doing well and again, I appreciate the opportunity of
working with you.”
ONLY SECONDS apart were the answers by Phyllis Walker
and Dian Tucker to last week’s The Question identifying Dollar
General as the business rejected by Forsyth. Both Phyllis and
Dian will be receiving a certificate for a Dairy Queen Blizzard,
Whistle Stop fried green tomato appetizer, slice of Jonah’s pizza,
slice of Shoney’s strawberry pie, Bib Peach Car Wash and a
single dip at Scoops.
Here’s The Question for this week: What Monroe County
business is getting a $21 million addition? First correct answer
after 12 noon on Thursday gets the certificate.
A MOST interesting email from Maureen Duran: “Mr.
Daniel: it seems to me that combining the Bibb-Monroe Co.
line dispute with the water issues of Monroe should be consid
ered. Bibb needs the tax revenue while Monroe County needs
a permanent solution to the water issues. How can Monroe
County continue to allow development of any kind until this
is resolved? And how much money has been wasted trying to
resolve the Line dispute? Are the 2 counties splitting Bass pro
tax revenue? Thank you in advance for your consideration.”
THE COUNTY also met last week and it was one of the
shortest meetings in a long time after awards were presented to
the Hubbard Alumni Association and a Volunteer firefighter
who had served the county for 30 years. Here are a few unat
tributed commissioner comments: “We to do some good stuff
tonite”; “I know you all have heard enough”; “I’ll get one in a
minute”; “Is everybody clear?”; “I think they were appreciative”;
“If we could throw our hands up. It’s a cluster mess”; “I haven’t
had a chance to wrap my brain”; “They are bamboozling our
residents”; “Just real quick”; “Is everybody clear”
Over in the county finance department, 18 checks totaling
$60,751.41 were written with the biggest, $18,536.28 paid to
county attorneys Vaught/Sundeen. A United Bank county
credit card was paid $3,350.80
THIS PASSED on to me from a friend: “When something
goes wrong in the circus, they send in the clowns to distract the
audience.
“Well, something has gone very wrong with this country and
the clowns are everywhere”
FOUND THESE in “The Illustrated Dictionary of Snark”
and sometimes reminds me of the meetings of Forsyth’s mayor,
city council and county commission chairman and commis
sioners: “I see you have set aside a special time to humiliate
yourself in public” And this applicable to the commission
chairman: “I’m really easy to get along with once you people
learn to worship me”
WANT TO submit a printable comment or answer The
Question? Contact Donald Jackson Daniel at mediadr@bell-
south.net.
^Reporter
A SMARTIAN PERSPECTIVE by Joe Evans
Is it time to re-think the 17th amendment
A big part of my job as a
banker was managing
risk, and a fundamen
tal element of bank risk
management is staying aware of
and prepared for things that could
potentially break the bank. Thinking
about possible doomsday banking
scenarios was not nearly as much
fun as helping a young couple buy
their first home, but without effective
risk anticipation and risk manage
ment, there would be no bank to
make them the loan.
That same principle
should apply in politics.
When I think about
bank-breaking risks to
our country, an eco
nomic crisis triggered by
out-of-control Federal
debt is near the top of the
list. It was striking to me
that over the course of
last year’s hotly contest
ed US Senate race, how
little time was spent talking about it.
For that matter, there wasn’t much
attention paid to foreign policy or
national defense either. I guess these
topics just didn’t seem as important
as deciding which bathroom Mary,
who used to be Fred, should use.
To me, the absence of attention in
a Senate race on “bank-breaking”
issues is concerning, but not surpris
ing thanks in large part to the 17th
amendment to the US Constitution
which was ratified in 1913.
Our Founding Fathers knew gov
erning for the long haul would not
be easy. They wrestled with the chal
lenge of creating a government that
would be responsive to the people
but with safeguards to keep short
term political emotions from causing
us long term harm. The United
States Constitution that resulted
from their efforts was masterfully
created with this in mind.
One of their great constitutional
concepts for balancing the
short-term with the long
term was the creation of
two legislative chambers
with significant structural
differences between them.
Members of the House
of Representatives would
be popularly elected for
concurrent two-year
terms to always keep it
in touch with the pulse
of the public. The down
side to this, however, would be the
temptation to stay focused on the
emotionally charged issues of the
moment and never address longer
term challenges.
The Senate was designed to pro
vide a balance. To make it more a
chamber of stability and longer-term
thinking, Senate terms were set at six
years with only a third of the terms
expiring in any one year, and Sena
tors would be picked by the state leg
islatures instead of by direct popular
vote. James Madison described the
Senate thus constructed as a “pro
tective fence” around the House of
Representatives.
The 17th amendment changed
that, and now we directly elect
senators just like members of the
House. I was not around in 1913
when the 17th amendment was rat
ified, but I am sure folks at the time
thought they were creating a “new
and improved” Senate. Fast forward
to today with political campaigns
super-charged by slick advertising,
sound bites, social media, and un
limited spending and, thanks to the
17th amendment, we have a Senate
that is just as short term focused as
the House with significantly dimin
ished ability to deal with the coun
try’s “bank-breaking” risks.
Repealing the 17th amendment
would be a positive step toward
restoring the political balance our
Founding Fathers intended. Impos
sible? The 18th amendment that cre
ated Prohibition was subsequently
repealed. Maybe we just need to be
as concerned about the national debt
as we are the national thirst.
Joe Evans ofSmarr was Chair
man and CEO of State Bank, which
merged with Cadence in 2019. Now
retired, he was given the Lifetime
Achievement Award from Ameri
can Banker magazine in 2018. He
remains on the board of Cadence.
EVANS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Georgia Legislative Report
By Rep. Robert Dickey
robert.dickey@house.ga.gov
Last week in my article I mentioned legislation that I
thought would be of importance to you. This week I want
to follow-up with some additional legislation that passed
both the House and Senate as well as some significant
legislation that was not approved.
I am very optimistic about our state as we
go forward. Our economy is strong, full
employment for those wanting to work, and
state revenues continue to be strong. I feel
we had a successful legislative session
addressing some of the most pressing needs
of our citizens. Education continues to be the
highest priority taking up 1 of the budget for
both K-l 2 as well as technical schools and
colleges and universities. There continues to
be challenges for educating our K-l 2 in
rural and poverty stricken areas of our state that I hope
we will continue to focus on.
This brings me to another issue of continuing disparities
between our urban/metro areas and our rural areas. Our
rural areas continue to have challenges with broadband,
education, healthcare, housing and available jobs.
Public safety is another area the Governor and
legislature have made a priority Our budget reflects
raises and retention bonuses for our front line public
safety officers.
We also passed legislation to support our court system
and to thwart gang activity and hold our District Attor
neys accountable to prosecute the laws of the state.
Healthcare continues to be more and more expensive
for our state budgets to care for our most vulnerable.
Mental health care has been one area that we as a state
have not prioritized as much as physical health. We have
made a strong start addressing mental health care but
much is still left to be done.
HB 18 - This legislation is our amended FY2023
budget, which included Georgia’s one-time Property Tax
Relief Grant program. Eligible Georgia homeowners will
receive an $1 8,000 exemption for their assessed home
value on their 2023 property tax bill. The Georgia
General Assembly dedicated $950 million in surplus
funding in this amended budget to establish this one time
program.
HB 87 - “Completion Special Schools Act” - creates
additional educational pathways for at-risk students to
earn their diplomas. This bill would authorize the State
Board of Education to adopt policies to allow for comple
tion special schools. Students who are 1 8 years old could
self-enroll in courses at these schools until they are 22
years old. This legislation would allow students to attend a
completion school outside their zone if another school is
much closer than the options within their county’s zone,
making these programs more accessible and convenient to
students. HB 87 will improve educational opportunities for
struggling high school students and young adults to help
them cross the finish line to earn their high school diplomas.
HB 85 - This legislation would require health
insurance benefit policies in Georgia to cover biomarker
testing for diagnosis, treatment, management or ongoing
monitoring of a disease or condition, including cancer.
Biomarker testing analyzes a patient’s tissue, blood or
other biospecimen to look for genes, proteins and other
substances called biomarkers or tumor markers.
I also would like to mention some legislation that failed
to pass.
Sports Betting/Gambling - Sports Betting was
given a lot of consideration this session but failed to pass.
There was much discussion on whether or not legal sports
betting would require a constitutional amendment or
whether this falls under the purview of the Georgia
Lottery. Mobile or online sports betting is happening now
whether we like it or not but has no regulations. Some of
the legislation considered would make it legal and
regulated with 20% of revenue paid to the state.
School Choice - Senate Bill 233 would allow
parents to use $6,000 of state money to create educa
tion savings accounts for their children. The money could
be used for a range of things, including private school
tuition, tutoring or special services like speech pathology.
Originally the plan would have applied to any public
school in the state. The revised legislation
would apply to children who attend schools
that rank in the lowest 25% of the state’s
school rating system. Students in the Monroe
County Schools would not be eligible
because of Monroe County’s excellent
school system. $6,000 is slightly lower than
what the state spends on average per
student. Proponents of this legislation say this
legislation would help parents whose
children are struggling and cannot get the
education they need in public school.
CON - Certificate of need legislation, passed by
Georgia in 1 979, requires applicants wishing to build a
new hospital or offer a new medical service to demon
strate a need for it in the community. Conservatives have
long advocated for a complete repeal of the law, while
hospitals and health systems maintain removing it would
allow physicians to set up surgery centers close to
hospitals and siphon off patients as a result. Under
federal law, full-service hospitals must treat every patient
regardless of their ability to pay, a key argument in favor
of keeping the current legislation.
Expanded Mental Health Access - Last week I
mentioned that improved access to mental and behavior
al health services in Georgia did not survive this year’s
session. This bipartisan measure cleared the House with
overwhelming support but failed to pass the Senate on
Sine Die. Much of this year’s original bill centered on
studies designed to lay a foundation for future
decision-making, such as a review of the state’s crisis bed
space capacity and an assessment of the gaps in
Georgia’s behavioral health workforce. One part of the
legislation would create county-based coordinators who
would collaborate with a local criminal justice system and
community’s behavioral health providers to ensure
available resources are being used.
As Agriculture Chairman, I continue to ensure and
promote and protect our ag and forestry industries in
Georgia. I want to make sure Georgia agricultural industry
continues to be competitive and thrive not only on the
production side but in processing, value added agribusiness
and agritourism. I will always advocate for our Middle
Georgia communities to thrive, be a safe place to raise our
children and grandchildren, and to give them the best
education and opportunities to be successful for life.
Since this is the first year of the two year legislative
term, any legislation that did not pass is still in the hopper
for next year. I would imagine all of these bills will be
worked on for the 2024 session. I am enjoying being
back at the farm and back in Monroe County whether
for meetings, grocery shopping or dining at the many
great restaurants. Strawberry season at Dickey Farms is
starting off “berry" good, and I hope to see many of you
out and about.
Please contact me with any questions or additional
information about any legislation that passed or failed to
be approved this past session. It continues to be an honor
to represent you in Atlanta.
Rep. Robert Dickey
404-656-5099
228-B State Capitol
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
robert.dickey@house.ga.gov
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