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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. MARCH 11, 2009
mion
Editorial Views
Local Utility Crews
Showed Their Mettle
There's nothing like a power outage to
increase one's appreciation for electricity.
Thousands of area residents got a fresh sense
of appreciation following the March 1 winter
storm that brought down trees onto power
lines and poles and wrecked electric systems.
Power outages lasted from a matter of a few
hours to a few days, depending upon the cir
cumstances. In Commerce, where the system is
small and easily accessible, power was restored
within a few hours for most customers. In the
rural areas — eastern Jackson County and all of
Madison County — it was a matter of days for
many people.
That it was restored as quickly as it was is
a tribute to the diligence and organization of
the electric companies. As most residents sat
at home grumbling about the inconvenience,
scores of utility workers worked through the
storm and into the next few days restoring the
utility systems.
Homeowners' lives regained normalcy as
their individual electrical systems came back
on. But employees of the Commerce Electric
Department, Jackson EMC and Georgia Power
didn't relax until every customer's power was
restored. We owe them a debt of gratitude for
their diligence, competence and dedication to
their customers. They worked in the snow, at
night, in the cold and mush so we might once
again take it for granted that a flip of a switch
will light the room.
The electric systems in America are reliable
to the point that occasional power outages
are considered newsworthy, but they are not
immune to interruption by human error and
by acts of nature. In the rare occasions when
the power does fail, we can also take for
granted that electric system employees will
work nonstop to restore electricity as soon
as possible. Like the reliability of the systems
themselves, that is a comfort.
Variance Vote Shows
A Lack Of Discipline
Monday night's vote by the Commerce City
Council demonstrates its fundamental weak
ness. The council has little regard for the integ
rity of the ordinances it passes.
Case in point: A couple proposes to enlarge a
dining room, but needs a variance in the side
yard setback to do it. The city's planning com
mission, doing its job, looks at the ordinance,
sees that such a variance is not warranted
and recommends that the council reject the
request.
But the council looks just at the individual
case. Members see no harm in allowing the
ordinance to be violated — after all, none of
the neighbors are opposed.
The result is that when the next person
applies for a like variance and the neighbors
do mind, the city will have no choice but to
grant it. Monday night's vote set a precedent.
Essentially, it amended the ordinance without
considering anything but the individual case
brought before the council.
That kind of reaction undermines the zoning
ordinance, land use plan and sign ordinance.
The city is drafting a new sign ordinance, but
it should have saved its money. The Commerce
City Council has proven yet again it lacks the
discipline to enforce any of its ordinances.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written
by Mark Beardsley. He can be reached at mark@
mainstreetnews. 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 BEARDSLEY..Editor/General Manager
JUSTIN POOLE 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 Jefferson, Georgia
30549.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of
Georgia, $38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most
rates discounted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE
COMMERCE NEWS. P.O. Box 908, Jefferson. GA
30549.
Man Proposes, God Disposes
Just about the time I
think I know for sure
what I'm going to do,
I get a big fat reminder
that I really have no
idea what's coming
next. As my mother
says, "If you want to
hear God laugh, tell
him your plans."
Most of the time,
this works out pretty
well — at least for me — because often
what I think I know I'm going to do is
something on my chore list: wash the
dishes, vacuum the house, or paint the
porch, for example.
But on the Sunday of the Big Snow,
I thought I was going to my retire
ment party at the library. I had raced
home through the rain to change
into my party clothes as quickly as I
could; I was trying to get there early,
so I wouldn't miss seeing anybody.
And I was vaguely aware as I entered
the house that the rain had turned
to sleet. But five minutes later, when
I came back outside, the sleet had
turned to snow, and by the time I
made my way to the library parking
lot, the snow was getting signifi
cantly deeper, and it was clear that we
wouldn't be having a party after all.
Inside the library, though, the coffee
was all brewed, the refreshments were
all beautifully laid out, flower arrange
ments graced the tables, the valiant
Friends of the Library were smiling at
me, and a cake that looked to be the
size of a ping-pong table exclaimed, in
pink icing, "Have a blast!" And we had
to abandon all this and go home —
quickly, while we could still get there.
Once I made it safely home, I didn't
know what to do with myself. I kept
seeing those smiling faces. It was as if
we'd been some sort of strange, silent
accident. I stood in the middle of the
living room floor and looked around
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
as though I might find
helpful instructions
written on the walls.
This is how it is
sometimes in real life.
/ (L When I talked with
K some friends once
- 1 ™ about what we could
put on our tomb
stones that would
stand the test of time
and always be true,
one of them suggested, "Things Have
Not Turned Out As I Planned."
I gather that a lot of us were caught
off-guard by The Snow of '09. There
hasn't been a snow like that in these
parts for more than 25 years, so we
don't exactly plan for them. I know
people who were without heat, lights,
water, phone, and cable — not for
hours, but for days — and some of
them had sick children or vulnerable
older relatives to care for and worry
about. One friend has a husband who
must be on oxygen 24/7 (with the
pump powered by electricity, natu
rally); she commented to me that we
are "all so spoiled" by our modern
conveniences. But for many, there was
the silence and beauty of the snow for
consolation. They made snow angels,
ate snow ice cream, built a fire, read
books, cooked like the pioneers, and
went to bed carrying a candle. For
those of us who were sad to miss a
party at the library, I'm told that the
cake is in the freezer and will be resur
rected March 21 at the library's Plant
Swap — so we'll get cake and plants
at the same event! And for those who
planned and created the original party,
there's another true thing my mother
says: "No good deed goes unpun
ished!" I guess you can count on that,
but don't be too sure.
Susan Harper is the former director of
the Commerce Public Library. She lives
in Commerce.
Home: Where The Heart Is
In many languages
and pictures, individu
als across the globe
define their home as
the place that they
feel most comfortable.
We've all seen the
phrase "home is where
the heart is" painted
on everything from
coffee mugs to yard
art.
Comfort, in this form,
is oftentimes defined as a state of ease
and satisfaction; free from pain and
anxiety. The comfort I speak of can
be found by walking through a park
you played in while a kid, buying a
cup of coffee from your favorite local
bakery or sitting next to the fireplace
in your grandmother's home with a
full tummy. In any form, we all yearn
for the comfort of a place we've been
before. It's easy, it's recognizable, it's
safe, it's home.
While growing up in Philadelphia,
my home and heart were tied closely
to the very urban neighborhoods I
frequented. I spent many weekends
running the streets of Northeast
Philadelphia with my group of
friends. We'd play all types of sports:
hockey in the winter, baseball in the
spring, basketball
in the summer and
football in the fall.
If we weren't play
ing sports, we were
trying to sneak into
the Devon Theatre, a
cheap theatre only a
few blocks from my
parents' house, to
catch a glimpse of the
Tyson fight or a movie
our parents said we
weren't old enough to see. The parks
we frequented were safe and clean, or
at least that's how I remember them.
I'm not sure if the comfort I felt was a
result of being around my friends or
knowing that someone in the neigh
borhood was always watching over us.
Either way, my home was in the city
of brotherly love.
At the age of 13 me parents decided
to uproot my family and move to
the suburbs. At the time, I was furi
ous. I couldn't seem to make them
understand how comfortable I was in
my environment. Leaving the urban
playground I called home for this far
away place called Bryn Mawr occupied
all my thoughts and prayers. Although
Please Turn to Page 5A
Viewpoints
In
Rotation
4
BY HASCO CRAVER
It's
Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Some Delays
Work Out
For The Better
My personal philosophy too
often has been if you procras
tinate long enough, something
good may happen to spare you
from whatever you put off.
That's not a healthy view, but
it was vindicated to some degree
last week by the low bids for the
new Commerce High School.
Had the project been bid late
last spring as planned, or earlier
when originally scheduled, the
price would be higher. While
the delays can't be attributed to
procrastination, they were ben
eficial nonetheless.
It was early last year that the
Commerce Board of Education
planned a May or June start
ing date on the project. It had
decided to demolish the gym
and do without a gym during
the construction process, which
would have allowed a savings
estimated at $2 million for the
project.
Strong citizen objections led
to a change of heart and the
plan to build a second "prac
tice" gym — which is almost
completed. Next season's bas
ketball games — and maybe the
following — will take place in
the auxiliary gym.
What that also did was add
another delay onto the project
while the second gym was built,
during which time we officially
entered a recession, construc
tion dried up, steel and other
materials' prices fell and con
tractors became desperate for
jobs.
Steel for that auxiliary gym
was exceptionally expensive,
demonstrating what likely
would have befallen the entire
project had it been bid last
spring.
The citizens group People
Excited About Education in
Commerce, which formed
over the gym issue and later
expanded its objections to other
features in the design, didn't
get what it wanted from the
Commerce Board of Education
in terms of design changes to
the school. But members have
to know that their resistance
ultimately saved millions of dol
lars that can now be invested in
equipment and furnishings for
the school.
Of course last year's delay
wasn't the first, and it may not
be the last. Superintendent Mac
McCoy has often joked that
once construction began, the
Georgia drought would end.
Noting that it rained or snowed
four straight days after the bids
were opened, McCoy could be
proven right.
Nonetheless, I'm excited to see
this project inch toward the day
when the most-used building
in this community won't be an
ugly 1950s structure that is out
dated and worn out. What hap
pens inside the walls is more
important than how the build
ings look, but our kids deserve
better.
It's way overdue, but at least
we can take consolation in the
fact that the delays — at least the
most recent ones — are letting
us get more for our money.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached
at mark@mainstreetnews.com