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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. APRIL 2. 2008
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Editorial Views
Gym Should Be Easy
Issue To Overcome
A compromise, apprently, is in the works regarding
the construction of a new Commerce High School, its
gymnasium in particular.
The construction plan was changed at the last min
ute. Supposedly, there is a cash savings of up to $1.5
million, at the cost of tearing down the gym and being
without a new gym for up to two seasons.
In a sense, it is remarkable that the only strong criti
cism of the building plan is the timing of the gym, an
issue that should be easy to resolve. Superintendent
James E. "Mac" McCoy reported Monday night that he
hopes to have details as early as the end of the week —
and no later than April 14.
While there have been reasonable suggestions that
the board of education might have better served the
public to involve the public more, that it should have
considered more designs and should have focused on
a more "green" design, the one major thrust of criti
cism has been the gym — and not the design but the
timing of its construction.
We look forward to seeing the compromise — and
then getting on with building a new high school.
Legislature’s Budget
Priority: Get Re-Elected
Two sentences in an Atlanta Jonrnal-Constitntion
story about proposed tax cuts before the General
Assembly say a lot about Georgia's fiscal manage
ment priorities.
Senate President Pro Tern Eric Johnson (R-Savannah)
said lawmakers are motivated because each lawmaker
faces re-election this year and legislators would love to
campaign by touting a big tax cut.
"Elections are marvelous things, and we're heading
into one, so there is an incentive to deliver a tax cut,"
Johnson said Tuesday.
There you have it, two sentences that define how
our politicians view the budget. Georgia's fiscal
policy is driven not by the needs of the people of
Georgia, but by the desires of the politicians, fore
most of which is getting re-elected.
Georgia faces a financial crisis as tax revenues lag
due to the economic slowdown, but its monetary
needs grow — so the legislature wants to cut taxes.
The state is inadequately funding health care, educa
tion and infrastructure development: No matter, an
election is coming up, so the legislature wants to cut
taxes. Georgia's drought demonstrates a need for
more reservoirs, money for transportation is insuf
ficient to maintain roads and bridges and Georgia
continues grow, so the General Assembly and the
governor propose to cut taxes.
Sadly, the taxes they're most interested in cutting
are those that affect not the budget they adminis
ter, but the budgets of governments below them.
Eliminating the auto tag tax through a constitu
tional amendment would hurt the state budget very
little, so legislators could brag during the summer
campaign about giving the public the right to vote
on what would be the largest tax cut in state history
without having to deal with the ramifications of that
budget cut.
It appears that the move to eliminate the auto ad
valorem tax has fizzled for now, but one can't be
sure. What is certain is that too many members of
the General Assembly are willing to sacrifice edu
cational funding stability so they can claim to have
delivered tax cuts. They're only too happy to elimi
nate a local method of funding education — after
which they would express outrage if school boards
respond by raising property taxes.
After all, that's exactly how this particular focus on
tax cuts got started.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written by Mark
Beardsley. He can be reached by e-mail at mark@main-
streetnews.com.
The Commerce News
ESTABLISHED IN 1875
USPS 125-320
1672 South Broad Street
Commerce, Georgia 30529
MIKE BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
MARK BEARDSFEY Editor/General Manager
BRANDON REED Sports Editor
TERESA MARSHALL Office Manager
MERRILL BAGWELL Cartoonist
THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal organ of the city
of Commerce and is published every Wednesday by
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at
Commerce, Georgia 30529.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of Georgia,
$38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most rates dis
counted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE COMMERCE
NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA, 30549.
How about we delay the construction of the math
wing for one to two years?
That works for me!
Readmission To Paradise
I know in my rational mind
(yes, yes, some people think I
don't have one, but we know
better, don't we?), I truly do
realize that the Golden Gate
is not the pearly gates and
San Francisco is not paradise.
But it's difficult to remember
this when the city is visited
by day after day of heavenly
weather, the cherry trees burst
into bloom, the ducklings ven
ture forth onto the ponds, the
beach comes alive with kites,
and the offshore fog lifts like a
veil to reveal the limitless deep,
deep blue of the Pacific.
This past weekend I got to
share all of this with some of
the people I love best in the
world — starting when my son
Chad picked me up at the air
port and took me to Sausalito
for lunch and a stroll along the
waterfront while we talked and
caught up with each other.
I've been lucky with my
sons. When Chad was in the
Marines, Dan kept me com
pany and shared my loneli
ness for his brother, whom
we didn't see for two years
while he was stationed in
Japan. Then Chad came home
and lived with me for a year
while Dan was in college in
Los Angeles. So even though
they're close in age, I've had a
good slice of quality time with
each of them as adults before
our lives sent us in three differ
ent directions. And now, on the
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
relatively rare occasions when
we three are together again, we
have a transcendently happy
time.
Which is what happened last
weekend. Chad and his wife
live in San Francisco. Dan and
his girlfriend drove up from
Los Angeles, and we all met
downtown and spent a day
together, having brunch, roam
ing around the most beautiful
of cities, watching intrepid
lunatics go kite-surfing in near
gale-force winds out at Ocean
Beach, and having jasmine tea
at Chad and Spring's apart
ment.
I stayed at the home of my
friend Deanna. She and I
used to baby-sit each other's
children, back when we each
had two very small boys, and
we're effortlessly comfort
able and at home with each
other, and inclined to laugh
together like loons. Back when
we lived three blocks apart in
the same neighborhood of San
Francisco, if she stopped by to
visit, I would walk her halfway
home — but then keep going,
because we were in the middle
of a conversation. So then
she'd walk me halfway back,
but again we'd keep going in
order to keep talking. We've
been known to walk back and
forth like that five or six times
before we could quit talking,
quit laughing, and both go
home.
Last week's trip also brought
me back in touch with friends
I hadn't seen in many years.
I went to a literary award cer
emony for a former professor
and colleague (and treasured
friend), never thinking that I
might see, among his many
other students and colleagues,
some who were near and dear
to me. But when I walked in
and sat down in the front,
in one of the few seats left, I
heard loud whispers: "Susan!
Psssst! Susan Harper!" I turned
around, and there, two rows
behind me, like a group of
naughty children, sat a whole
row of old friends, beaming at
me.
It's not often that we see
paradise, and it's rarer still to
get a second glimpse. It's just
lucky for me that Commerce
is heaven. This is called having
the best of both worlds!
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library.
The Story Of Flobbertown
A recent story in The
Commerce News mentioned
that East Jackson Elementary
School students, celebrat
ing Dr. Seuss' birthday, wore
Flobbertown School hats,
the destination for scholastic
underachievers, according to
the school's creator.
Of course you know there
really was a Flobbertown, or
nearly was. No less a person
age than Franklin Delano
Roosevelt himself proposed the
name, sort of. Roosevelt, you
know, frequently visited Warm
Springs, Georgia. He had had
polio and I suppose the warm
water felt good and was reput
ed to be therapeutic.
Anyway, on one of his trips
to Georgia, he happened to
pass through Commerce. The
Presidential party was halted
in the middle of town as a
train passed through. The train
kept going slower and slower
and finally came to a complete
stop. Roosevelt leaned out of
his car and yelled to one of
BY WILLIS COOK
the train crew: "What's the
holdup?" The man said, "Beats
me. I'm flobbered," meaning
he was in the dark. Roosevelt
burst into a loud laugh and
said, "Well, this must be
Flobbertown!" Several local
officials in the party thought
that would make a good name
for the city, coming as it did
from the President of the
United States.
The name was proposed at
a City Council meeting but
the council members couldn't
decide. One enterprising city
official, convinced that the
council would eventually
approve the name, had several
reams of official stationary
printed up with "Flobbertown
Georgia" on the top. Of course
it was never used but some
boxes are still stashed away at
City Hall. Ms. Johnson knows
where they are.
The Flobbertown campaign
lasted about a month but
created something of a stir.
The AP ran a short national
story about the train incident.
Someone wrote to FDR and
invited him to preside at the
official name-changing cer
emony. There is no record,
however, of the President's
response.
There is also no record of
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) vis
iting Commerce, so it is a mys
tery how he happened to use
the name in his last book. Of
course, he was second cousin
to Eleanor Roosevelt's niece's
childhood best friend, so he
Please Turn To Page 5A
It's Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
It's Not Too
Much To Ask
Kids For Sacrifice
Since I didn't graduate from
Commerce High School (though
both my children did), I have little
emotional attachment to CHS.
That gave me a different perspec
tive as debate arose over the design
of the new school, but I claim no
expertise at building layout and
functional utilization of space. That
said, I have no major issues with the
on-paper design of the school, but
I reserve the right to develop some
concerns later as more details arise
and more opinions are offered.
The only specific complaints heard
to date relate to the gymnasium,
and the fact that CHS may have to
be without a gym for up to two sea
sons, something that appears close to
being resolved. But, for the sake of
argument, what if the only workable
solution really was the one presented
and the gym had to be delayed?
First, if Jackson County could build
a huge new million dollar court
house in 11 months, Commerce
ought to be able to put up a first-
class gym in the same time, thereby
losing just one basketball/wrestling
season to construction.
If we can't, we've hired the wrong
contractor.
Second there was concern that the
"high school experience" would be
diminished for lack of a gym, that
it is unfair to the children to make
them practice and play elsewhere. I
don't disagree.
But our track team never gets a
home meet and doesn't have a prac
tice track. Our competitive cheer
leading team has won four state titles
and never had a home match. Our
baseball team goes off-campus to
play and practice. I think our basket
ball players not only could handle
even two seasons of inconvenience —
but would be willing to if asked.
We all want the best for our kids,
but we ought not to fear to ask them
to make sacrifices on occasion. On
the playing field, they sacrifice for
one another out of a sense of team
spirit; they'd do the same for CHS if
given the opportunity. They would
understand what was to be lost and
what their sacrifice of a season could
do for future CHS students.
On this count, both the administra
tion and the critics of the gymna
sium part of the school plan erred
similarly. Neither considered bring
ing the CHS student body in and
the athletic teams most affected,
explained the challenges and ask
ing them if they'd be willing to take
one for the CHS team. They'd have
missed an opportunity to build com
munity support, to include students
and missed a real teaching moment.
Parents want to protect their chil
dren's interests, but kids will under
stand the need for a sacrifice if it's
put to them as adults, if it's reason
able and if the opportunity for suc
cess is significant.
Right now, there is optimism that
the gymnasium issue can be resolved
in a way that leaves the gym on cam
pus until the new one is ready. If that
happens, it's because of public input,
interest and pressure — and it's good
for the kids. But it's not too much to
ask of students to sacrifice a bit for
the sake of school or community.
It appears that will not be neces
sary this time. That's good. But when
student sacrifice is truly needed, let's
not be afraid to ask our kids to help.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached at
mark@mainstreetnews. com.