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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. APRIL 16. 2009
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Pirates must be
stopped by force
Some of you may be tired of my oft stated opin
ion that when you ignore history, it is sure to repeat
itself. Well, it is happening again.
The first major crisis faced by this nation fol
lowing the two wars for independence was a
battle with African pirates. The first time, they were
operating along the Northern cost of Africa in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Of course, the pirates had been there for a long
time by then. They were seizing European shipping
and taking white, Christian men captive and selling
them into slavery. All victim nations, including the
U.S. in the later period, were paying the pirates to
not attack their ships. But the attacks continued.
The first major construction project of the new
U.S. Navy was a fleet of warships to fight the
pirates. Even that did not curtail the criminal action
until the U.S. Marines landed at Tripoli and overran
the pirates’ fortifications.
Another part of this story is the same. The pirates
were justifying their actions by quoting the Koran,
the Bible of radical Muslims.
In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
asked Tripoli’s envoy to London, Ambassador Sidi
Haji Abdrahaman, how the Muslims justified mak
ing war upon nations who had done them no injury,
the ambassador replied:
"It was written in their Koran, that all nations
which had not acknowledged the Prophet were
sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faith
ful to plunder and enslave: and that every Muslim
who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to
paradise,’’
Does that sound familiar to you: radical Muslims
today are making the same argument. And it will
take the same kind of effort to put an end to the
crimes against all nations currently occurring in the
Somali area. Just as it happened over 200 years ago,
paying the pirates will only increase their activities.
Only by destroying their ability to commit their
crimes will the crimes stop.
The U.S. Navy, with help from a number of
European nations, seized the pirates' ships 200
years ago, and the U.S. Marines went ashore and
eliminated their base of operations. That was the
only way to stop the criminals from their raids on
international shipping then, and it is the only way
to do it today.
The immediate answer is to designate shipping
lanes in the pirates’ area of operation. Require any
ship using those lanes to register with a responsible
international agency listing their ports of origin,
destination, direction of travel and the dates they
will be using the lanes. Then make it clear that any
unregistered ship of any size entering the desig
nated shipping lanes will be seized or destroyed.
The combined maritime nations ought to have
enough ships, helicopters, drones, radar and other
equipment to enforce that rule.
Then send U.S. Marines and the special forces of
other nations to raid the pirates’ bases of operations
on the mainland, freeing the ships and hostages
currently being held and destroying their bases of
operations.
These people are driven by criminal religious
teachings. They will not willingly stop their crimes.
The only answer is to stop them by force.
Frank Gillispie isfounder of The Madison County
Journal. His e-mail address isfrankgillispie671@
msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://
frankgillispie.tripod.com/
When looking at tax problems, structural issues need attention
Beyond today’s strife between the
commissioners and the assessor board,
there must be some consideration for the
bigger picture — the structural problems
between the two boards.
Consider that the BOC, which sets
county government tax rates, is elected.
The tax commissioner, who is in charge
of collecting those taxes, is elected. But
the board in charge of overseeing the
establishment of county property val
ues — perhaps the most important and
certainly the most subjective part of the
taxing process — is appointed by the
BOC. Therefore, the only control county
citizens have over those who ultimately
oversee property values conies indirectly
through the BOC.
Some complain that the BOC is butt
ing its nose in where it shouldn’t with
the assessors. But in controlling who
serves on the BOA, the commissioners
are the ultimate check on the assessors.
And conflict between these two groups is
inevitable whenever there are significant
assessment problems, such as perenni
ally late digests, which undermine the
revenue process for the county, the cities
and the school system.
Consider too, that under our current
arrangement certain incentive problems
can arise. An assessor board that serves
at the pleasure of the BOC could — at
least in theory — face some political
pressure to inflate values. A board, such
as the BOC, that sets tax rates will
always prefer to see revenues increased
without raising millage rates. And during
the housing boom, that’s exactly what
we had. Digests skyrocketed statewide,
while tax rates remained relatively steady.
Citizens saw their taxes go way up, while
tax-levying boards across Georgia could
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
say, “Hey, it ain’t us, we’re keeping the
rates the same."
This year, the state legislature addressed
that problem, agreeing to freeze values
for at least the next two years. But with
values falling anyway, that’s just a token
move now, hardly the brave step it would
have been five years ago when the mea
sure would have had real teeth.
I think any evaluation of today’s prob
lems must come under the umbrella of
this bigger structural issue, the fact that
the BOC shouldn’t really be involved
in the assessment process, but is nev
ertheless, inextricably linked because it
is charged with appointing people to
oversee assessments.
All that said, here are a few thoughts
on today’s ordeal: New BOC chairman
Anthony Dove has angered some of
those who don’t want the BOC in the
assessors' business. But the new chief
appraiser started on Monday, April 13,
and there's no telling when that post
would have been filled without his inter
vention. Will the hire prove a good move?
Well, only time will tell. But the resigna
tion of the lone appraiser III in the office,
coupled with a lengthy stalemate on
the chief appraiser’s search, necessitated
decisive action by somebody. The chief
appraiser’s search resembled a mdderless
ship in a stormy sea a few weeks ago, but
that ship has now reached its port.
While united now in fighting their dis
missals, the board of assessor members
have certainly not been a harmonious
bunch. Their acrimony is cited as one of
the reasons for their removal.
But it’s necessary to point out that the
BOC table hasn’t exactly been a place
for group hugs in recent years either.
And the commissioners faced the public
buzzsaw last year, when a “kick-em’
all out" mentality from people fed up
with all the fighting nearly wiped several
members off the board. Commissioners
would certainly argue that citizens need
ed to pay attention to who was right and
who was wrong during those contentious
moments at the BOC table in recent
years.
Ironically, the BOC, in wiping out
everyone from the BOA table — while
not addressing who was right and wrong
among the assessors, who were deeply
divided — is taking the same “kick ‘em
all out” approach that nearly did them
in during the elections. A harder look at
each BOA member for their individual
performances would be fairer, but far
more complicated and less expedient.
While county commissioners worked
much harder than most folks realize to cut
expenses while setting the 2009 budget
they were also short-sighted last summer
when they agreed to cut the salary for the
chief appraiser's position. Later, when
the search for a chief appraiser bogged
down, the BOC recognized that they
needed to consider boosting that salary.
So, the assessor members seem justi
fied in saying that they got some mixed
messages on the importance of the chief
appraiser’s post from the BOC.
That said, the assessor board could
have presented two or three options from
the list of applicants they had for chief
appraiser, while also acknowledging that
the salary the BOC initially set wouldn’t
provide the caliber of applicant the asses
sors really wanted.
Whether intended or not, the assessors
gave off the impression that they were
comfortable with dragging the chief
appraiser search well into 2009. It was
ultimately this perception that led to the
action against them.
How this all plays out remains to be
seen. But you can surely expect the BOC
to get involved in BOA affairs as long as
there are holdups in the county's revenue
process. Likewise, you can surely expect
the BOA to repeatedly point out prob
lems with BOC involvement in the tax
appraisal process. These tensions are the
nature of the arrangement.
Perhaps a three-member elected BOA
would be a step in the right direction.
Yes, it would carry its own problems.
For instance, how much would you have
to pay to get people to mn for such a
post? Also, an elected BOA risks losing
votes any time it denies a property own
er's appeal, thus making it vulnerable
to political pressures from disgruntled
citizens. Then again, isn’t that true of
any elected official who makes tough
decisions?
In my eyes, a direct electoral link
between citizens and those who oversee
their property values would make sense.
I believe this would be a bigger picture
solution to the years of BOC-BOA tur
moil.
Zach Mitcham is editor ofThe Madison
County Journal.
Perdue will grab more power under roads bill
This was one of those legislative
sessions where our elected represen
tatives didn't accomplish much, with
one exception. They did pass a bill,
SB 200, that could have an enormous
impact on state politics and the bal
ance of power at the capital for many
years to come.
SB 200 will drastically revamp
the Department of Transportation,
shifting much of the power over the
agency's $2 billion yearly budget to
the governor and, to a lesser extent,
the legislators.
The office of governor, already
one of the strongest in the country,
becomes that much more powerful
with the ability to control which high
ways get built and which do not.
"Mark my words,” said Rep. Alan
Powell (D-Hartwell), a longtime
House member. “It may take three
years, it may take six months, but we
just changed the face of politics in
Georgia."
Perdue lobbied heavily for the adop
tion of SB 200 and has said many
times that a departmental restructuring
is needed to reform the "dysfunction
al" DOT. Legislators who have been
unable to get road projects stalled in
their districts were also taking out
their frustration on the department.
“We as the General Assembly will
have control over the money,” said
Sen. Tommie Williams (R-Lyons).
"DOT's ineptness to plan and fund
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
will change. . . DOT will accomplish
what we want them to accomplish."
There could be a darker side here:
by turning over so much power to the
governor and the General Assembly,
SB 200 could also provide more
opportunities for corruption and polit
ical meddling in the award of lucra
tive highway construction contracts.
Those were the factors that prompted
Gov. Carl Sanders to put the current
DOT structure in place in the 1960s.
“This system breeds corruption
— it has before and it will do it
again,” warned Sen. Steve Thompson
(D-Powder Springs).
SB 200 creates a new position at
DOT, planning director, that will be
filled by the governor. The planning
director will have the most important
job at DOT because he or she will
draw up the fist of highway projects
authorized for construction, subject to
review by the governor.
After the governor has refined the
project list, the General Assembly
then chooses the projects it wants to
fund so long as the total amount spent
on them doesn't exceed 20 percent of
the available funds.
By controlling what's on the list of
transportation projects, the governor
will have a very big stick for threaten
ing lawmakers who aren't voting his
way on other legislation.
While the current governor is a
Republican, he will have about 18
months in office to exercise the pow
ers granted to him under SB 200.
If the next governor should be a
Democrat - such as Roy Barnes,
for example - then lawmakers will
have greatly enhanced the leverage
that Barnes and his longtime adviser,
Bobby Kahn, could use in getting
legislation passed.
There have already been some indi
cations as to how the "new” version
of DOT could be used by the party in
power to reward political supporters.
Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine
Mountain) sponsored HB 277, which
would have implemented a statewide
one-cent sales tax to raise money for
transportation projects.
Smith's bill included a long list of
transportation projects that would be
funded by the new tax, including a
road widening that provided access
to the posh Reynolds Plantation in
Greene County, a resort developed
by Mercer Reynolds. Reynolds is a
heavy hitter in Republican circles as
a fund-raiser for George W. Bush and
a supporter of Perdue and other GOP
political figures.
Perdue’s ultimate goal in getting SB
200 adopted may be to facilitate the
award of major contracts to private
companies that want to take over the
construction and management of pub-
tic highways in Georgia.
One of the world’s leading private
developers of toll roads is Cintra, an
international conglomerate based in
Spain. Cintra has built and operated
such major American highways as
the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana
Toll Road.
When Perdue flew to Spain last
September with a contingent of busi
ness leaders — at the same time that
Georgia motorists were struggling to
cope with a severe gasoline shortage
— one of the companies he met with
was Cintra.
That could be the ultimate legacy
of SB 200 — Georgians paying high
tolls to drive on highways owned by
a European conglomerate. You heard
it here first.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report,
an Internet news sendee at www.
gareport.com that covers government
and politics in Georgia. He can be
reached at tcrawford@capitoIimpact.
net.
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
2009 session: bad, worse, plain ugly
The 2009 legislative session
will go down as one of missed
opportunities, lack of leadership
and failure to deal with the real
problems that affect every life in
our State. Correcting the system
ic budget problems and effects of
the recession on the state budget
and proper funding for transpor
tation met a dismal ending. What
the good people of Georgia got
was a state budget patched like a
quilt with more tax shifts to local
property owners, no Homeowner
Tax Relief Grants, $1.2 billion
more bonded debt, federal stimu
lus converted to bailout funds,
cuts to public safety and the list
goes on and on.
As in all sessions there were
some positive and negative laws
passed. I will report on these
in the coming weeks thanks to
our local newspapers, for you to
become informed.
2009 will be remembered as
the session when the legislative
leadership failed to effectively
House
News 7
By Alan Powell
deal with Georgia’s budget prob
lems. Despite a shortfall of $3
billion in state revenues because
of bad spending policies of the
past six years and the economic
downturn, the leadership was
unwilling to seize the opportu
nity to implement zero-based
budgeting. Instead, they used a
Band-Aid in the form of federal
stimulus/bailout money to heal a
gunshot wound caused by years
of excessive spending, bonded
debt and school tax shifts to local
property owners.
The state's disastrous budget
policies are nothing new. But at
least more rank-and-file legisla
tors are starting to take notice.
More than 40 of my House of
Representatives colleaguesjoined
me this year in voting against the
budget, but it was not enough to
cut into the fiscally irresponsible
culture developed during the past
seven years.
Because this budget fails to
fund the Homeowner Tax Relief
Grants, Georgians will suffer a
$400 million-plus property tax
increase, the largest in history.
The elimination of these grants
will cause an estimated $200 to
$300 increase for the average
Georgia homeowner on the prop
erty tax bills sent out by local
governments later this year.
Immediately after final
adjournment, the Department of
Revenue announced a 14.5 per
cent decrease in March proceeds
from the same month last year.
This is another $167 million
addition to the state deficit. If
this trend continues, the General
Assembly could very well be
called back into session later this
year to rewrite the budget.
2009 will be remembered as
the session when the governor,
lieutenant governor and House
speaker gained more political
power but failed to deliver a
solution to Georgia’s transporta
tion problems. SB 200 creates
a new position of Director of
Planning at the Department of
Transportation, who is appointed
by the governor and responsible
only to the governor. This plan
ning czar operates outside the
control of the DOT board and
commissioner. This appointed
person is charged with develop
ing a long-term plan for DOT
projects which is submitted by
the governor to the General
— See “Powell” on 5A