Newspaper Page Text
Board Would Allow Citizens To Create Future
Says Group Pushing Five-Member Panel; Newspaper Hit On ‘Conspiracy Of Silence’
from front page
considerable damage to Chat
tooga County.”
ALL VIEWS
By electing commissioners
from districts, Veatch said, a
more representative form of
fioven_lment would be created.
e said he doubted that one
person could represent the
views of all the people in the
coung.
“Common sense’’ would in
dicate that a sole commissioner
is going to pay the most atten
tion to areas where the most
voters live, often to the detri
ment of...outlying areas,”
Veatch said. A multi-member
board elected by districts
would allow outlying areas of
the county to have more voice
in their government, he said.
Public meetings would
allow residents to know what is
going on in the county, Veatch
continued. It is not now possi
ble to ‘““cover” decisions that
are made inside a sole commis
sioner’s head.
The current commissioner
(Jim Parker) has said he has a
q%od working relationsl;ifi with
e News, he said, and e%:ad
ly said he can influence what
meetings are covered. That
couldn’t happen with a multi
member board, he added.
NO POWER
White said a five-member
board would discourage
‘“‘power-building” and citizens
would have better representa
tion than under a sole commis
sioner form of government. A
board would provide checks
and balances, EVhite added.
The county is ‘“torn apart”
every four years with the elec
tion of a sole commissioner,
Wright said. Staggered terms
for a board would helJ)
eliminate that problem, he add
ed. He doesn't like a sole com
missioner being able to conduct
““meetings’’ eight hours a day.
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Veatch said meetings are
held by the sole commissioner,
contracts are signed by the sole
commissioner, and there is no
record of who attends the
meetings.
The decision to spray what
Veatch called “poison’ on the
county’s roadsides was made
without any record of that
meeting, Veatch said. Under a
board, a meeting on the issue
would have been public and a
record kept, he said. It was not
covered by the news media and
no one knows what was done
except by the participants,
Veatch said.
17 COUNTIES
Out of 3,110 counties in the
United States, 17 are still
governed by a sole commis
sioner, Wright said. He
described the sole commis
sioner form as ‘“‘more like a dic
tatorship.” When the current
commissioner decided to spray
what Wright called “‘poison”
on the road, it didn’t have the
approval of most people in the
counw.
“We just don't know, do
we?”’ Veatch remarked.
If the county had a board,
people of the county could have
stopped the contract signing to
spray weed-killer on some road
sides before a contract was
signed, Wright said.
erifht. who has unsuc
cessfully run for sole commis
sioner twice on a Republican
ticket said he had always ad
vocated a board of
commissioners.
Most people who favor the
multi-member board concept
have been consistent in their
views, Veatch said. The News
probably does have an opinion
on the issue, he contended, but
it refuses to state it openly. In
stead, the newspaper manipu
lates and creates news to per
suade people to the
newsp:ser's point of view, he
asserted. :
TAX INCREASE
The newspaper has defend
ed the current administration,
Veatch said, and has chosen
not to report that the county
has had a $351,000 tax increase
during each of the fast two
years and this year. It has in
stead chosen to label that in
crease ‘‘as an increase in the
levy or something else.”
A total tax increase of $1
million..will become. public
knowledge when the revised
1990 tax bills are sent out and
when the 1991 tax bills reach
Chattooga property owners, he
said.
Only with the cooperation
of the local press could a
million-dollar tax increase re
main ‘‘a secret,” Veatch charg
ed. “This is a very dangerous
situation.”
He quoted Johnny Helms,
chairman of the Pauldin
County (three-member) Boarg
of Commissioners, as saying
that he wants to reduce his
duties as chairman and turn
them over to a fulltime profes
sional manager.
Doing so would modernize
the county, Veatch quoted
Helms as saying. A commis
sioner can be popular and make
a few decisions ** ‘and the next
thing you know, you're in over
our l":ead,‘ ” Veatch quoted
{lelms. His statement in large
measure describes the current
RANDY
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Valentine’s
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Sweetheart
—Sandra
situation in Chattooga County,
he asserted. o v
NOT EQUIPPED
Helms went on to say that
he was unequipped for the
challenges of operating a bi
corporation, Veatch said, anfi
recommended that Pauldin
County go to the form o%
government that would be
close to what is proposed for
Chattooga County.
The Summerville News
“pu?‘)orts" not to have a view
on the sole commissioner vs.
board issue, Veatch charged
again, yet it wrote a story on
the expected cost of holdin,
elections for future boarg
members. The story in this
past week's edition of the
paper could have easily stated
that the election costs would be
reduced under a board of com
missioners form, Veatch
insisted.
The information came from
Jon Payne, Chattooga Coun
t{’s superintendent of
elections.
Veatch asked that the
newspaper make its views
known on the issue so residents
of the county can better
understand what is written in
its news pages, Veatch con
tinued. He said he “strong}i'
objects” to the newspaper tell
ing 'Feople not to vote.
he newspaper actually
wrote that people who are unin
formed on the issues shouldn’t
vote. At the same time, it en
couraged all voters to become
informed on all issues facing
them in every election.
DELIBERATE?
A situation exists in the
county where there have been
‘“‘very substantial’ tax in
creases, Brown asserted, and
there is one person — whom he
did not identify — who is
“reluctant” to issue revised
1990 tax bills and bills for rural
land that is still under review
g:;icor to the March 3 election,
ause he would be blamed for
those bills.
If the county had a five
member board, the tax issue
would have already been
resolved and the county
wouldn’t be operating on bor
rowed money and paying in
terest on that money, Brown
said.
Veatch said an unidentified
Leadership Chattooga speaker
had said he went to one of
Absentee Ballots Now
Available For Elections
Absentee ballots are now
available for the March 3
presidential preference primary
and the referendum on a five
member board for Chattooga
County.
The ballots may be obtain
ed daily at the office of the
county’s voter registrars in the
main courthouse. That office
will also be open from 9 a.m. to
noon Saturday on this comin
weekend and on Feb. 22 ang
Feb. 29 for the convenience of
voters who may want to obtain
the ballots.
Re%strars will be at the
Super D store in Trion from 3
until 6 p.m. Friday to register
new voters. The deadline has
already passed to register for
the March 3 elections.
REASONS
Voters may obtain an
absentee ballot if they:
— Will be out of their
Rgecinct from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
arch 3.
— Will not be able to vote
in person due to a physical
disability.
— Are an election official
who will perform election
duties that day.
— Cannot vote on March 3
because it is a religious holiday
which the voter observes.
— Cannot vote in person
because the voter must remain
at his place of employment
that day for the health, life or
safety of the public and the
place of employment is within
the voter’s precinct.
Elsie Echols, chief
registrar, said in the case of a
voter residing temporarily out
of the county or a ph({:]lcally
disabled person residing in
Chattooga County, an applica
tion for an absentee ballot may
be made by the mother, father,
grandparent, brother, sister,
aunt, uncle, spouse, son,
daughter, niece, nephew,
randchild, son-in-law,
gaught,er-in-law, mother-in-law,
father-in-law, brother-in-law, or
sister-in-law of the age of 18 or
over.
Mrs. Echols also said that
voters who vote absentee or
show up at the %(;lgs on March
3 must, for the first time, pro
vide their birth date and social
security number to poll
officials.
She said plans call for her
office to computerize all its
records in the future and the
South Georgia’s poorest coun
ties to determine how a better
standard of living could be
achieved for its people.
- The speaker said he was
o 'st;unnege to find,’ " Veatch
" said, that leaders of that coun
ty wanted it to stay that way.
What he called an ‘‘entren
ched power group” in Chat
tooga County feels in a similar
manner, Brown said, and the
AR A e e A AR
Main Points I
Here are some of the main points made by Get Involved,
alocal golitical action committee, in favor of converting Chat
tooga ounty’s government to a five-member board:
The board would hold regular public meetings to receive
public comments and to make public decisions.
* Five commissioners could come up with better ideas than
a sole commissioner.
* The board could hire a professional manager to handle
the daily affairs of the county.
* The commissioners would be elected by districts, rather
than countywide, thereby providing better representation.
* The cost of a board would range from cheaper to $20,000
more than the cost for a sole commissioner.
" * A board could better handle the county’s landfill and tax
re-evaluation problems.
‘* The cest of holding elections for a five-member board
could be less costly than for a sole commissioner.
N T AR AR AN AN NN
unnamed group likes things as
they are now.
FEARFUL
Wright said some in the
count{ have it made for the
rest of their life and don’t want
to see Chattooga grow. They —
whom he did not identify — are
fearful that the county would
Erow under a five-member
oard, he said.
A board would be a positive
thing for the county, Brown
said, because it could better
control the county’s destiny.
Under what he termed the cur
rent ‘‘inadequate”’ form of
government, Brown said the
county could be prey to outside
interests ‘‘with enough
money ..."
Counties in the nation
birth date and social security
number will be int,e%}'al parts of
a voter's record. No specific
date has been set to com
puterize the records, she
indicated.
THREE BALLOTS
Voters will have a choice of
three different ballots: a
Republican Party ballot which
also contains the referendum
question on the five-member
board; a Democratic Party
ballot which contains the
referendum question; and a
ballot that contains the
RN AR N AN A A A bt
°
Five-Member Board
° °
Fails In Sampling
The effort to change Chattooga County's form of county
government m:ly" be in for rough sledding on March 3 if an
informal poll taken Monday is accurate.
Members of the Summerville-Trion Rotary Club cast secret
informal sample ballots on the issue.
Of 29 ballots cast, 24 voted for the sole commissioner form
of government and five cast ballots for the five-member board
progosal.
ommissioner Jim Parker, who is a member of the club,
did not attend the meeting Monday.
Meanwhile, the club said it favored giving the president
of the United States line-item veto power. The vote was 23-1.
Not everyone who voted on the first issue voted in the second.
Currently, the president must veto an entire bill; club
members wanted him to be able to veto specific items within
a bill and not have to veto the entire bifieictself.
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where citizens choose to con
trol their own futures is where
the future is the brightest and
where changes have the least
effect, Brown asserted.
Veatch took issue with the
Feb. 6 Viewpoint column in
The News. It is not always
possible to find the right per
son to make a sole commis
sioner form of government
work, Veatch responded.
To many colonists in the
18th century, all they needed
was the “right”’ king to make
ever{thing all right in the New
World, he said.
“I don't believe in
enlightened despotism,’’
Veatch said.
DISLIKES INPUT
The current commissioner
has said he was elected to make
the decisions and the people
should stay out of it, Veatch
said. The current sole commis
sioner dismisses public input,
he said.
There is a problem with one
person making major decisions
about a $6 million budget,
“‘poisoning’’ of roadsides, sign
ing contracts and so forth,
Veatch said. A more
referendum question alone.
Presidential candidates to
be listed on the Democratic
ballot are Edmund G. Brown
Jr., Bill Clinton, Tom Harkin,
Bob Kerrey, Paul E. Tsongas
and uncommitted.
The Republican ballot will
include President George Bush
and Patrick J. Buchanan.
The referendum question
will be: ““Shall the Act be ap
proved which creates a five
member board of commis
sioners of Chattooga County?"
followed by a ““Yes™ and ‘‘No.”
democratic form of %wem
ment envisioned by Veatch
could be compared to having a
community's leaders and its
citizens in a circle where input
is shared by all.
The sole commissioner form
of government may have been
adequate in Colonial times, he
said again, but it's “greatly out
of touch with the needs of the
19905.”
Wright disagreed with an
assessment by the county’s
election superintendent on the
estimated cost of future elec
tions for a five-member board.
“The last sheriff’s election cost
less than $5,000,” he said.
S3O EACH
Brown said the estimate by
Payne would cost S3O per
voter. Plans need to be reach
ed that would reduce those
costs, he said.
Veatch said a story on
those cost in the Feb. 6 edition
of The News could have as easi
ly read, ‘‘election costs to
ci;op." It would be relatively
easy to color-code voter
registration cards, he said. He
had tried to call Judge Payne,
Veatch said, but he was in Bir
mingham, Ala. picking up
absentee ballots ‘‘at taxpayer
expense.” He suggestecfl tzat
they could have as easily been
mailed to Summerville.
The current election scheme
for the Chattooga Board of
Education would not hold up if
challenged and the registration
cards of voters would have to
be color-coded in that instance
anyway, Veatch said.
CHEAPER?
The worst case scenario on
the cost of a five-member board
would be that it may be
cheaper to up to $20,000 per
year more expensive, Veatch
contended. He said he didn't
understand what he said were
assertions by the current com
missioner tfi]at the cost of a
county manager would be more
than what the commissioner
makes.
If the county had had a five
member board, it could have
saved the some SIB,OOO it must
pay to have landfill monitoring
wells surveyed at the Penn
Bridge Road site, Wright said.
He a%so said it woulcfn't cost
$30,000 to have a person from
outside the county explain
“how to recycle.”
_Veatch said Chattooga
County paid $351,000 for its
reevaluation program, while
Walker County (which has a
sole commissioner) paid
$195,000 and Dade County
(which has a sole commis
sioner) paid $185,000 for
evaluation programs in their
counties. The commissioner
signed the contract for the re
evaluation program, Veatch
said, but seems to want to
blame someone else.
There would be less buck-
Eassing with a five-member
oard than with a sole commis
sioner, he suggested.
MANDATES
A five-member board would
be better able to deal with state
and federal mandates than a
sole commissioner, Brown said.
Matters such as a landfill,
county water, tax reevaluation
and other matters could be
more easily handled by a board
and local contractors, than a
sole commissioner, he
continued.
A sole commissioner is so
pressed for time that he must
search outside the county for
“‘experts’” to solve problems
that could best be solved local
ly, Brown added, ‘‘and that,
frankly, is a real crucial issue.”
Another *‘critical problem,”
Veatch said, is his view that
‘‘certain issues’' in the county
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The Summerville News, Thursday, February 13, 1992 . .
remain secret because the local
press doesn'’t care and the com
missioner doesn’t discuss them
in public “‘due to a conspiracy
of silence.”
SECRET?
Veatch said there had been
no discussion in the press of
the landfill problems tfiat Polk
County lis experiencing
although the same eniineering
firm is reprwentinfi(c attooga
as represented Polk. The com
missioner said the only thing
he knows about it is what he
read in a Cedartown paper,
Veatch continued, and the
editor and publisher of The
Summerville News have yet to
cover the issue,
The Polk landfill has been
presented as a model for Chat
tooga, Veatch said, but Polk
can’t open it due to two viola
tion notices from the Georgia
Environmental Protection
Division.
Because of the ‘‘good work
ing relationship” between the
press and the current commis
sioner, taxpayers in Chattooga
County are unaware of the
Polk problems, Veatch said.
Veatch said ignorance has
been professed regarding out
of-county iarbage being haul
ed into Chattooga County's
current landfill.
Veatch also said Georgia is
TR AT A A AAT T
Regi V
egistered Voters
Following is the number of voters listed after the 1991 purge
of the list and the total registered for the March 3 election and
referendum:
PRECINCTS 1991 VOTERS 1992 VOTERS
ALPINE 553 595
CLOUDLAND 219 233
COLDWATER 144 149
DIRTSELLER 104 106
DIRTTOWN 408 441
HAYWOOD 71 74
LYERLY 571 596
PENNVILLE 425 438
SEMINOLE 81 83
SUBLIGNA 203 209
SUMMERVILLE 3,764 3,993
TELOGA 268 284
TRION 1,976 2,098
TOTAL 8,787 9,299
TR AN A A A AN AN N NN
B&PW Meeting Set Tuesday
0. G. Morehead will ad
dress the Chattooga County
Business and Professional
Women's organization at 7
{).m. 'l‘uesdaFY in the communi
y room of Farmers and Mer
chants Bank, Summerville.
H&R Block has E
the experience *{;
b 1 ST P
We prepare all kinds of income tax returns, from
the simple to the complex. Whatever your tax
situation, we can handle it.
R R A RAR TR B RS,
H3R BLOCK
31 NORTH COMMERCE ST.
857-2483
Open Weekdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m.-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Master Card, VISA, and Discover Card Accepted
the only state in the union
which still has sole commis
sioner form of government.
Why can’t Chattooga County
handle a multi-member board if
other counties in the nation can
handle it? Veatch asked. He
suggested that countz' officials
sit down and work out a way to
make elections for a gve
member board less exl;‘)ensive.
He said he felt The Sum
merville News “likes things
just like they are.”
“SOMETHING WRONG”
Lewis said he'd like to see
the countiug‘row. He felt there
is ‘‘something wrong"' if Chat
tooga is one of 17 counties left
with a sole commissioner form
of 7overnment.
t is a ‘“‘dinosaur form of
county government’’ Veatch
said.
Besides Ponder and Wright
being officers of Get Involved,
Douglas Hedgecock of Sum
merville is secretary, Veatch
and Brown indicated.
The group meets at 7:30
.m. each Friday in the
?ellowshi hall of Living
Waters Nfinistries. Highway
100, Summerville. Veatch and
Brown said they would
welcome more people becomin
active in local government, ang
attending the group’s
meetings.
LaFayette members of
B&PW will be guests of the
Chattooga organization, along
with Faye Fricks, who will in
itiate new members in both
clubs.
9-A