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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 12, 2009 — PAGE 5A
Opinions
Thanks to all who worked
tirelessly during and after storm
I am writing to say
thank you to all of the
citizens and employees
of Madison County who
worked so tirelessly to
help our county endure
the recent winter storm.
Our county is blessed
with an outstanding vol
unteer fireman workforce
that worked day and night
to help clear roads and
responding to emergen
cies.
Thank you also to all
Madison County government
employees who stepped up
and worked together during
this crisis. I appreciate the
effort of the road department
that was not only challenged
with clearing obstructions
from every road in the coun
ty but also with maintain
ing all the county vehicles
throughout the snowstorm.
Chairman’s
Report
By Anthony Dove
Thank you Emergency 911
staff who had to process
the massive number of calls.
Thank you to the many other
departments who respond
ed during the storm such
as EMS, the building and
grounds department and law
enforcement.
Thank you also to Jackson
EMC and Georgia Power
for your hard work. Georgia
Power had two line tow
ers and Jackson EMC had
around 80 poles broken in
our county; the towers and
poles had to be replaced in
extremely difficult condi
tions. From an initial 24,000
outages in Madison County
alone, power was restored
to almost every home by
week’s end.
Thank you to all the pri
vate citizens and organiza
tions that reached out to
help those in need during
this week. For example,
citizens in the Sanford area
served people and power
crews hot meals in the
Sanford Community Center
during the week. I witnessed
many other examples of
people helping each other
throughout the week.
If you have other exam
ples of outstanding service
in your community, please
send your stories via email
to adove@madisonco.us
or call 706-795-6300. My
main prayer was that all
the workers and citizens get
through this unusual event
unharmed.
I know when people are
without power they are cold,
they are hungry, they want a
hot bath and they lose their
food in the freezer; they
want someone to blame.
If you would like to
blame myself for any rea
son, please contact me at
the above information with
your concerns. I am very
open and accessible to your
opinions and suggestions.
When man thinks he is in
control, a power far greater
than he will humble him
every time.
Anthony Dove is chair
man of the Madison County
Board of Commissioners.
Thanks to all who
helped get power back on
Dear Editor:
I would like to say a big
thank you to all those that
helped get the power back
on. My family was out
from Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
until Wednesday at 8:20
p.m., not fun with four
children, but I knew they
were out there doing the
best they can.
For those that want to
complain about the power
crews: If you don’t think
those guys were doing a
good enough job getting
the power on, I’m sure
they would like to have
been at home under a blan
ket instead of working in
the middle of the night in
the freezing cold, dealing
with snow and mud to get
power on for people that
don’t even appreciate it.
As for me and my family
we appreciate every per
son who helped get the
power back on. We are
such a spoiled people. We
have a roof that doesn’t
leak, lights in every room,
a little box on the wall
that keeps our homes as
warm as we want, run
ning water, and more food
than we need, all while
there are people who go
to sleep cold and hungry
every night.
Thank God for his bless
ings on us.
Sincerely,
Wes Bond
Thanks to Jackson EMC
for restoring power
There is a phrase that says
March comes in like a lion,
and while that was definite
ly true of our weather last
weekend, it was also true
at the State Capitol as we
continued to tackle many
tough issues for the people
of Georgia. From measures
to protect small businesses to
updating our election laws,
our days at the State Capitol
are getting longer as we
approach the crucial Day 30
for legislation to be adopted
this year.
Not surprising, property
taxes were again a big issue
this week. The House con
sidered Senate Bill 83 that
would provide an annual
cost-of-living increasing in
Georgia homeowner’s home
stead exemption. Under the
House version of the bill,
homeowners would see a
homestead exemption for
the year beginning January
1, 2009, of $2,000 and
beginning January 1, 2010,
homeowners would see
their homestead exemption
increase by an amount equal
to the cost-of-living index.
If there were no increase in
the cost-of-living index then
homestead exemptions would
not increase. I supported this
measure because I believe
we need to continue to find
ways to help keep homeown-
ership affordable, especially
in today’s economic climate.
election.
In addition to the utility rate
hikes approved by the Senate
and House already this session,
a number of other tax increases
are still on the table this ses
sion. This Thursday, March 12,
was the 30 th day of the session
and the deadline for legislation
to pass in either the House or
the Senate and still be consid
ered by the other body before
the end of the session. So time
may be on the taxpayer’s side.
Among the measures passed
by the House and sent to the
Senate last week were:
•HB 45, which requires
Georgians to provide docu
mentation of U.S. citizenship
when registering to vote.
•HB 86, which would require
county election boards to tabu
late and report the totals of
absentee and advance ballots
by precinct.
•HB 280, which addresses
the state’s shortage of math
and science teachers. Under
the legislation, new educators
in Georgia public schools who
certified in math or science
would receive higher pay.
•HB 304, which would
March comes in like a lion
By Tom McCall
Unfortunately, this bill did
not receive the required
majority to pass the first time
we voted, but a House rule
will allow us to vote on this
measure again. I will support
the measure when it comes
up for a vote again and I urge
you to encourage other legis
lators to do so as well.
One thing that happens
when we see the high level
of unemployment we have
today is a surge in small busi
ness creation. This happens
because as people are laid
off or lose their jobs, many
take the initiative to start
their own businesses. Most of
these are classified as a lim
ited liability company also
known as a LLC. This week
the House passed a measure
to give more protections to
these new small businesses.
House Bill 308, the Georgia
Limited Liability Company
Act, will among other things
protect these small compa
nies from being forced by
creditors to dissolve.
In the wake of last year’s
historic elections we realized
that there were some areas of
Georgia’s election laws that
needed to be modified and
this week we addressed those.
House Bill 45 will require
that anyone applying to reg
ister to vote in Georgia must
first provide proof of citizen
ship. Acceptable forms of
proof of citizenship include
birth certificates, passports,
U.S. naturalization papers,
Bureau of Indian Affairs card
numbers, tribal treaty card
numbers, or tribal enroll
ment numbers. The House
approved this measure by a
vote of 102-63. House Bill
86 has to do with Georgia’s
early voting. This measure
requires that all absentee bal
lots be counted by precinct
instead of simply added to
the county total. This is an
important bill because it
helps us to pinpoint accu
rately how many are voting.
This measure was approved
by a vote of 159-0.
There were two separate
bills approved by the House
this week that I sponsored.
House Bill 564 provides a
new charter to the City of
Nicholson. House Bill 528
would require any developer
who manages communities
of a certain size or with cer
tain annual fees to provide
an annual audit to homeown
ers on how those fees were
used.
In the House Agriculture
Committee, we passed
House Bill 381 relating to
food safety inspections. HB
381 will require represen
tatives of the local county
board of health to contact
the Georgia Department of
Agriculture, and when appro
priate, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture Food Safety
and Inspection Service if
they suspect violations in
food processing plants. We
also passed SB 80 that will
give the department greater
authority over food safety
inspections.
We have adopted a new
calendar for the remainder of
this legislative session. Under
our new calendar, legisla
tive day 30 - also known as
“crossover day” - will be on
Thursday, March 12, and we
will conclude our business
for this session on April 3.
I will continue to keep you
up to date on our actions as
the legislative session pro
gresses. As always, if you
have any questions or con
cerns, please do not hesitate
to contact me at your Capitol
office at (404) 656-5115.
Rep. Tom McCall (R).
Elberton, is the District
30 member of the Georgia
House of Representatives,
which includes the southern
half of Madison County, all
of Elbert County and the
eastern portion of Jackson
Powell .cont’d from 4A
prohibit a tax appraiser from
entering your property until
he has given reasonable notice
as to why he is entering your
property.
•HB 312, which would incor
porate provisions of the federal
SAFE Mortgage Licensing
Act of 2008 into state financial
institutions law.
Meanwhile, a proposal to
increase the homestead exemp
tion from $2,000 to $4,000
by statewide referendum, SB
83, failed to receive the neces
sary two-thirds approval in the
House.
Rep. Alan Powell
(D-Hartwell) represents
the 29"' District (Franklin,
Hart and Madison coun
ties) in the Georgia House
of Representatives. Contact
him at 507 Coverdell Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334;
by phone at 404-656-0202 or
by e-mail at alanpoweU23@
hotmail.com. For more infor
mation, visitwww. alanpowell
net.
Dear Editor:
I would like to say thank
you to Jackson EMC and
the power companies that
helped out with getting
the power back on in this
weather. We are happy to
have Jackson EMC as our
power company. You all
do a great job. May God
bless you all.
Sincerely,
Ray Studdard
Danielsville
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VOTE FOR
PHILIP
CROYA
Danilesville City Council
Hello, my name is Philip
Croya. I have lived in and
around Danielsville all of my
life. I am the Assistant
Transportation Director for Madison County Schools. I am
working on a bachelor’s degree in business. My wife
Janet works as a Certified Pharmacy Technician in
Danielsville. Our son Keegan attends Danielsville
Elementary School. If elected I will do my best to serve
the residents of Danielsville. I will listen to your concerns
in all city matters. Our goal is to make Danielsville a
better place for us and all our children. I am asking for
your vote on March 17, 2009. You can vote now, until
March 13 from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. On March 17 City
Hall will be open 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
I look forward to a chance to serve our city.
Thank you for your support,
Philip Croya
Madison County
Board of Commissioners
NOTICE
ROAD CLOSING
The Road Department will supervise the
closing of Booger Hill Road at The
Plantation Pipeline crossing area.
This work on the pipeline will take place
from March 19, 2009 until the work is
done. The work may take 7 days.
Any questions, please call: 706-795-6260 or
706-795-6300.
Charles Temple
Madison County Road Department
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