Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 5A
Updating citizens on county issues
Greetings fellow
citizens. It has been
a while since I last
wrote to you about
activities and issues
facing Banks County.
I’ve had some per
sonal changes over
the summer that have
affected my ability
to get another article
together for publica
tion. For this edition
of the Commissioners Comer I
want to write to you about the
following matters:
FIVE-MEMBER
COMMISSION
This issue that fundamentally
changes Banks County Gov
ernment is coming up for voter
approval in this fall’s election.
In previous Commissioners
Comer articles I have written
about it in some detail. In order
to get it on the ballot for the
Nov. 4 General Election, this
issue went through an approval
process from the Banks County
Commission, the Georgia
State Legislature and the U. S.
Justice Department.
The final step in giving
Banks County citizens more
representative and responsive
government is getting voter
approval in this election. On
its approval, the change to our
local government will result in
the following changes:
•The current board of three
commissioners will be expand
ed to five commissioners, all
serving, as do the current com
missioners, four year terms.
•One commissioner will hold
a full-time position as chair
man. The other four will serve
as part-time commissioners.
•Banks County will be
divided into four commission
districts.
•Each of these districts must
be represented by one of the
four part-time commissioners,
who must also reside in then-
respective district.
•The chairman may reside
in any district, representing the
county as a whole.
•All of the commissioners
will be elected by a county
wide vote of all eligible voters.
Currendy, the existing two
part-time commissioners (Mr.
Cain and I) already live in and
can represent two of the new
districts.
The two new part-time com
missioners will be elected in a
special election held early next
year, probably in March.
Thereafter, these two new
commissioners and the chair
man will be elected every four
years together in the same
year and the other two will be
elected every four years in the
same two year off-cycle that is
currently used.
I know this description
sounds complicated, but it is
the simplest process that could
be devised and mirrors that
which most other Georgia
counties have used.
Once in place, among the
benefits of this new arrange
ment of the Banks County
Commission will be:
•Better and more
equitable represen
tation
•More diversity in
decision making
•Easier commu
nications between
members
•Greater col
laboration and more
manpower to work
on projects
•More direct lines
of contact between constituents
and commissioners
•Gready reduces occurrences
of a lack of quorum at commis
sion meetings
Please look closely at this is
sue and see how Banks County,
as it grows, will be improved
by this change. I urge you to
help pass this measure with
your vote and support. You
will find it labeled “Special
Election” as the last issue on
the ballot.
COUNTY AND OTHER
OFFICES MOVED
As a follow-up to other brief
articles in the paper, I want to
write a little more expansively
on this subject.
Over the summer the new
Banks County Annex build
ing was completed and is now
occupied by several county of
fices and departments. Located
in the Annex are the:
•Commission Offices
•Water Department
•Planning & Building De
partments
•Tax Commissioner
•Tax Assessor
•Voter Registrar
•Technology Department
Additionally, Commission
and other large county meet
ings and hearings will be held
in a large meeting room in the
center of the building.
Two new roads have been
created to access the Annex.
Hudson Valley Road turns off
of Thompson Street by the
Banks County Health Depart
ment and after about l/10th
mile leads to Hudson Ridge
road that turns down to the An
nex building.
There are two parking lots
around the building that should
provide adequate parking for
most any occasion. This new
building greatly enhances the
ability of county citizens and
others to conduct their business
with the offices located there.
The Annex is located just off
of Thompson Street near the
Hwy. 441 bypass.
The courts and associated
offices have also moved tem
porarily to what is known as
the old Primary School build
ing down Evans Street past the
Golden Pantry. Those courts
and offices affected are:
•Probate Court
•Magistrate Court
•Clerk of Court
•Probation Office
•Superior Court
•District Attorney’s Office
The old Court House build
ing that housed all of the above
offices and departments is now
undergoing renovation to en
hance its capacity to house all
of these courts and associated
offices when they are sched
uled to move back next April.
Currently, because of a lack
of suitable space in the school
building, some court cases
are being tried in the Historic
Banks County Court House on
the square in Homer. If you are
interested, I recommend you
find time to go observe some
of the court activities in this
historic building, as this may
be the last time actual official
business is conducted there.
ANIMAL CONTROL
As I have written before, this
issue is one that I have worked
on for some time.
I have formulated a plan as
to how Banks County could
get a limited form of animal
control implemented with
modest cost. Briefly, county
ordinances enacted for the con
trol of animals would fall under
the jurisdiction of the county’s
existing Planning & Zoning
Department.
Existing regulations for prop
erty and conduct are enforced
under the supervision of the
county marshal. An additional
position for animal control
could be created to exist along
side the county marshal.
Under arrangements made
with private veterinary clinics,
both positions would coordi
nate work in a way that would
result in more comprehensive
coverage. I am not yet ready
to move this forward, however.
Our local, state and national
economic outlook is quite
unsteady right now. I don’t be
lieve that Banks County needs
to encumber any more expens
es than absolutely necessary
until things improve.
THIS YEAR’S
ELECTION
The General Election this
year is being held on Novem
ber 4th. Along with the change
to the Banks County Commis
sion above, there are a large
number of other matters on the
November ballot.
Of course, the principal thing
for you to consider on this
year’s ballot is the election of
the next President of the United
States.
We will also elect a U. S.
Senator for Georgia and a
number of other state and local
offices.
Finally, there are three
amendments proposed to the
Georgia Constitution. Take
time to find out about all those
running for election as well
as the issues involved. In the
United States, voting is the
only way in which the average
person has an ability to make
changes to the people who
represent them and the form of
government under which they
live.
You may even vote early in
the Voter Registrar’s office,
now located in the new county
Annex building. Please take
your right to vote seriously and
go vote in this year’s elections.
Joe Barefoot is a Banks
County commissioner.
joe
barefoot
Letter to the Editor
Upset with coverage of incident
Dear Editor:
Rita Bush is a kind, gener
ous, responsible, honorable and
caring person. She has always
given much of herself to the
kids in Banks County. She is
not my “daughter-in-law.” She
is a daughter to me.
My husband and I love her
deeply. The pain and anger we
feel at the unjust and horrible
treatment and comments she
and this family have received
and are still receiving at the
hands of The Banks County
News, Jennifer Schmid, and
other uninformed people is un
imaginable.
Our family is heartbroken
and sick-to-death of all of this
awful, untrue, cruel gossip. This
woman (Schmid) came onto
private property and cursed a
grieving mother and grieving
family and friends. She made
assumptions about a situation
that she knew nothing about.
This self-proclaimed “hero”
didn’t save anyone. If the police
seemed uninterested in her 911
call, common sense would tell
you it is because there was no
emergency.
She took the opportunity to
claim her 15 minutes of fame at
our expense. I am sickened by
the needless, insensitive com
ments that continue to circulate
in the community about Rita,
Tyler and our family. We have
suffered a great and grievous
loss.
Please, please let our family
grieve our loss in peace. If you
have never lost a son, grandson,
or husband, you can’t possibly
know the pain involved. It is a
terrible thing to bear on its own
without self-righteous judg
mental, uninformed people,
putting in their “two-cents”
about things they don’t know
about and couldn’t possibly un
derstand. Leave us alone. Leave
us to grieve in peace.
Sincerely,
Ken and Norma Bush
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Letter to the Editor
Doesn't understand 'point' of article
Dear Editor:
Could someone please explain it to me? I
was reading a newspaper article, front page,
about teenagers drag racing. No wait, not about
drag racing, it was about parents condoning
drag racing. No wait, it was about cops not re
sponding to drag racing. No, that’s not it either.
It must be about how rude people can be about
their private property. Not sure that was it ei
ther. This article “should” have been about how
a mother just buried her son a few hours prior
to the incident mentioned in the article.
I am not sure how many mothers have lost
their children but being a mom that worries
daily, sometimes by the minute, about the pos
sibilities of losing their children, this article
makes me sad beyond belief. I do not go to
church every Sunday, but I do believe in God
and his son, Jesus Christ. I have my children
pray every night to think of others and thank
God for their blessings, family and friends. My
husband and I constantly have to remind our
children, when they fight over some silly trans
former or a certain color crayon, “what’s im
portant?” They will stop to say, in a monotone
voice, “God and Family.” I will not lie, being
six and eight years old, sometimes it works and
sometimes it does not.
I am sure the person who wrote this article
has a deeper issue and used this particular in
cident to express it, but I feel, in my opinion,
that it was mean. I am not trying to be ugly, but
I would love to know what was gained from
all of this.
The big picture is that a mother lost her son,
granted he is in a much better place (look how
we treat each other down here). It would appear
Tyler is the lucky one. I am so sad that I have to
tell my children everyday not to be upset; some
people are just mean.
Will people stop drag racing? Probably not.
Will people stop loving this family because this
article was written? Probably not. Will people
still lose their children due to accidents? Abso
lutely. I read about how angry people were on
both sides. I don’t like it when children make
irresponsible decisions that could hurt them
selves or maybe result in death. I do however
believe that there should be a level of respect
for someone who gave birth to an amazing gift
from God, feed them, bathe them, make sure
they are warm enough, put them through school,
try and teach them the realities in life. One of
those realities is that not everyone is going to
be nice. As mothers, we ask the Lord above to
please watch over them today, keep them safe,
and guide them to make smart choices. Well,
news flash, they are children and everyone tells
us we have to cut the cord at some point. We
should let them learn things on their own.
Unfortunately, they do not make the best
choices and the worst fear ever is that we may
lose them forever. It is possible our cord could
have protected them from those wrong choices,
but we cut them anyway because it is ultimately
not in our control.
I am sorry if I did not get out of this article
what was intended. As I stated above, I am not
sure what it is supposed to be about. The only
thing I read in this article that caught my atten
tion was that a mother lost her son and nobody
seems to care. I am just sad. My heart hurts for
Tyler’s mother, and his family. There are pos
sibly other children in that family that just lost
someone they might have looked up to. They
have to try and understand why they will not
be able to see him or laugh with him at fam
ily gatherings any more. I am sad for the many
friends that were supposedly at this place (I
would assume to mourn together) over the loss
of a good friend.
I am from around this area and I know, in the
Commerce area alone, we have lost three of
our babies in a matter of three months. What
matters to me is that three families are without
their babies and whether we like it or not it was
meant to be by our Lord and savior. It does not
make the pain go away, and it does not change
the reason it happened, but all we can do is love
our children, teach them right from wrong and
hope that their “it won’t happen to me mental
ity” will not get the best of them.
To the family that had to bury their child and
is living the worse part about life, the death of
a loved one, I am truly sorry. I just don’t know
what the world is coming to. What are we all
thinking? We are all so angry for one side or
the other. Writing hateful things, calling every
one liars and other horrible things, it does not
make any sense. Whether any of it is true or
not, a mother, grandmother, grandfather, aunts
and uncles are reading all of this and suffering
for the loss of their baby at the same time. Why
as humans do we feel the need to just keep on
mentally torturing each other. That is all this is,
torture!
Please make it stop!! Let Tyler have some
peace! Let his family mourn for him the way
you would want to if this horrible experience
had happened to you. I would think, that every
horrible thing written from either side is like re
living his death all over again. Do unto others,
as you would have them do unto you. Is that
not a childhood rule of thumb we learn from
our parents?
In case anyone cares there is one more father
mourning over his lost children. Do you think
for a second he can be proud of who we have
become? We are still not listening to him!! I
guess that is what children do, huh?
Do I think drag racing is wrong, of course.
But do you think I would be able to get on my
soapbox about it during a death of a child? The
author of this article should have went to the
funeral’s burial site, push down the pastor, tell
everyone to suck it up because we are going to
discuss the do’s and don’ts of road safety. As
God’s children, until he calls us all home (in his
time, not ours) we will need to learn how to be
a little more compassionate.
The only thing this article might have taught
me was that we are the most hateful, and disre
specting people. I am at a loss that anyone, for
any reason, can use the newspaper to disregard
a mother’s suffering for the sake of making a
point. In case you have any doubt about the
point I was trying to make in my article, all I
can say is “I will pray for you!”
I tell my children all the time and I guess I
need to say it now “It’s not the time or place
for this dear.”
Unless I drive down and take a picture of
the burial site with Tyler’s mother bent down
crying and grieving for the loss of her precious
son, the article will probably never be printed.
Point made!!
Sincerely,
Cassandra Laws
Family: Married for 25 years to Jeff Taylor
Three Children and Their Spouses: Bart; Matt & Sandy; Belle & Chad
Three Grandchildren: Jessica, Charlie & Kadance
Community: Active member of Damascus Baptist Church for 20 years including Church Treasurer
and Secretary, Sunday School and Discipleship Teacher and VBS Director and
Teacher and a member of the Adult Choir
Involved in both Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts for many years, serving as Girl Scout
Co-Leader for 12 years.
Education: Honor graduate of Habersham Central High School completing the College Prep Program
Attended Truett-McConnell College under the Business Administration Program
Attended many Continuing Education job-related courses
Experience: Employed in the Tax Commissioner’s Office over 12 years - from 1995-2008
Served as Deputy Tax Commissioner for 3 years - from 2005-2008
Employed 5 years for the Banks County Board of Education as Nutrition Cashier and also
as Nutrition Program Bookkeeper
Employed by Bank of Banks
Remember...You are and have been worth my time and I will be worth your vote!
email: becky@bcrp.org • Cell: 678-997-5330
Please contact me. I want to hear from you soon!
VOTE FOR AND ELECT
BECKY TAYLOR
BANKS COUNTY TAX COMMISSIONER
VOTE NOVEMBER 4, 2008
Paid for by the candidate.