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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. JUNE 11.2009
A
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Let’s stop griping
and start doing
Hey you! Yes - I'm talking to you. Don't you
know that you are the only you there is? You are
unique. There has never been another person just
like you, and there will never be another "you”
in the future.
Because you are unique, you are special. You
have a combination of abilities that no one else
has. You have something to give society that no
one else can give. You are extremely valuable!
It is this uniqueness that we Americans tapped
in 1776 when we declared ourselves to be an
independent nation. We insisted that every person
have the opportunity to be all they can be. It is
because so many of us developed our unique
abilities that the United States of America became
the greatest country in the world.
But in recent years we in America have made
a very bad mistake in our value judgments. We
have come to think that a person’s worth is based
on what he or she has. A person who drives a
BMW is thought to be valuable. The holder of
a large stock portfolio is held in great respect.
Those who own large amounts of real estate are
deemed important.
What a person owns is meaningless. It is what
they contribute to the society that makes them
important. It is tire entertainments provided by
actors, musicians and athletes that make them
important, not the millions they are paid for their
efforts. It is the confidence a psychologist gives
her clients that makes her important, not the art
hinging on her office wall.
It is not only the big money makers who are
valuable. The mechanic who keeps your car
running is of great value. The sanitation worker
who keeps your home free of trash is extremely
valuable. The teacher who teaches your child to
think is among the most valuable people of our
society.
Those of the greatest value are those who
develop their unique qualities and give their best
to our culture. It is those who dare to be different,
who find new and better ways of doing things.
They are the ones who are able to make better use
of the resources available to them.
You can be one of those innovators. If you
develop your unique abilities and then use them
to benefit society you will become a V.I.P: A Very
Important Person. When you find a better way
of helping your neighbor you are important, no
matter how much or little money you have. Even
those with extensive handicaps can be of great
value in the way they inspire those around them.
You don't have to be a genius to be important.
You do not have to design fast cars or write great
poems. If you inspire one child to become all he
or she can be, you have made your contribution.
If you do your job, no matter how humble, and
do it better every day, then you are a person of
great value.
So don't just sit there. Find out what you do best
and start doing it. We were once a great country
but we are losing out today because so many of us
are not living up to our potential.
Let’s stop griping and start doing. You’ll be sur
prised how soon America can reclaim its rightful
place as tire greatest nation on earth.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgil-
lispie671 @msn.com. His website can be accessed
at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/
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
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $44.50/year
Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year
Senior rate $2 off all above rates
College student discount rate $2 off all above
rates
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
The city, country split on animal control
A buckshot blast will probably
always be a primary form of “ani
mal control” in rural lands. That’s
not an endorsement or criticism,
just a fact.
But I’m puzzled by the glee
some show when they talk of
shooting unwanted animals on
their property. Aggressive ani
mals can threaten you and your
family, and you should be able
to protect yourself on your own
property if you’re truly endan
gered. But taking a life should
sober your soul, not make you
chuckle.
That said, I think our animal
control debate in Madison County
is a tough matter, because it puts
two entirely different realities
under one umbrella.
We should all recognize that
it’s one thing to raise your gun
toward an aggressive animal with
a pasture backdrop. It’s quite
another to fire at a moving tar
get with your neighbor loading
her 2-year-old daughter into her
Toyota 40 yards away.
Do-it-yourself animal control
in the Harrison area is one thing;
it’s entirely different in Hull.
This distinction is reflected at
the BOC table. Madison County
commissioner Mike Youngblood
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
has been the most vocal pro
ponent of county animal con
trol on the BOC. That makes
sense. Much of District 3, which
includes the Hull area, is a neigh
borhood community, not a farm
ing area. Youngblood is surely
going to hear from more people
who support animal control than
commissioners in rural areas
of the county, such as Stanley
Thomas, District 1; and John
Pethel, District 2.
Ideally, animal control would
be a municipal matter, something
offered in more densely populat
ed areas and avoided elsewhere.
If you have one or two animal
control officers covering a county
as big as this one, you’re going
to have slow response times. The
situation will likely be over by
the time they get there. If they’re
stationed closer to the problem
zones, their effectiveness surely
improves.
Let’s not forget, too, that ani
mal control is not just to protect
people from animals, but vice
versa. Animal abuse and neglect
are real problems.
But if the county government
can’t really afford animal con
trol services, then smaller towns
surely don’t have the money.
Right now, the county animal
control service is stretched very
thin, trying to serve both as nui
sance control and public safety
— with just one officer on staff
after a recent resignation. It is not
effective in that manner. You have
a code enforcement officer, who
serves the dual role as the county
animal control officer, responding
to complaints that often require a
lengthy ride, followed by a search
for a four-legged animal that may
be long gone. There are the legiti
mate threats, but there are also
the disputes between neighbors
that have little to do with dogs,
which eat up considerable time
with little results.
We’ve reached a point where the
current arrangement must give.
Should it be beefed up with more
funding and staff? Or, should it
be stopped until adequate money
is available? Or is there another
alternative?
Madison County must always
have someone designated as a
“dangerous dog officer,” meaning
that if someone is bitten, the gov
ernment must have someone to
respond. Yet, that’s cold comfort
for the neighborhood menaced
by an irresponsible neighbor who
lets an aggressive dog roam free.
What if it’s you or your kid who
must take the bite before the pro
tection kicks in?
Madison County commission
ers will soon begin the 2010
budget process. They’ve agreed
to discuss animal control again
during the money discussions.
They’ve talked about contract
ing with the Madison Oglethorpe
Animal Shelter for animal con
trol services, but the costs would
be similar either way.
Like many issues, animal con
trol is no easy matter. Opinions
vary, based largely on where you
live in the county.
When it comes to animal con
trol, perhaps the only sure thing
is the barking — from disgrun
tled citizens.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
The big drought is busted
I may be going out on a little
bit of a weather limb in saying
the worst drought in over 50
years is over, but hang in there
and I’ll tell you my reasons.
As I am writing this article a
gentle, soaking rain is falling
after a two-week dry spell. I
was beginning to worry that
the drought giant was stirring
again. But it appears that was
but a brief, dusty mirage. My
optimism stems not so much
from current conditions over
our local area, but is mainly
based on what happened last
month about 100 miles north
of here.
A dagger of heavy rain fell
into the heart of the last vestiges
of the drought area during May.
Weather
wise
By Mark Jenkins
While rainfall in our immediate
area in May was only a little
above average, it was much
better in the mountain areas of
the Carolinas and Georgia. Four
to eight inches fell in the areas
north of Gainesville to Toccoa
to Anderson. Some local spots
in the mountains recorded clos
er to 10 inches. Why is this so
important? This area is the wet
test part of Georgia on average.
Parts of Rabun County receive
over 80 inches in a normal year.
This area is the headwaters of
most of the rivers and big lakes
in North Georgia. The section
from Asheville to Spartanburg
to Athens to Gainesville had
been the last drought hold
out. Last months rains ended
that distinction. For example,
Asheville, NC, which had been
several inches behind for the
year, made up their entire defi
cit in May with over 9 inches of
rain. Now to be sure, there are
isolated pockets of lingering
dryness, such as Columbia, SC,
where they were down over 3
inches for the year at the end
of May. But even there they
have made up lots of ground
since March 1. Then there is
Columbus, sporting a massive
surplus of over 10 inches for
the year already. This is exactly
the way a drought ends: little
by little over a several month
period. Weather averages for
May, 2007: Avg. low: 60. Avg.
high: 78. Lowest: 42. Highest:
90. Mean: 69.1 (+0.2). Total
rainfall: 3.46” (+.50”). Total
rainfall to May 31: 23.13”
(+1.90”). Frost reported in parts
of the county on May 19.
Mark Jenkins is the coop
erative weather observer for
Madison County. He provides a
monthly weather column to The
Madison County Journal.
Are the voters ready for some action?
In Roy Barnes’ announce
ment that he had decided to
run for governor again, he
tried to say all the right things
he thought voters would want
to hear.
He was conciliatory, a little
apologetic, and tried to give
the appearance that he really
understands why he and his
sidekick Bobby Kahn enraged
so many voters in 2002 that
they booted him from the
governor’s office and elected
Republican Sonny Perdue
instead.
He listened to others
enough when he was gov
ernor, Barnes conceded. He
told the cute anecdote of how
his mother used to say he was
“the hardest-headed kid God
put on the face of the Earth.”
“I realize I was impatient
and I had an aggressive agen
da,” Barnes said. “Listening is
something I didn’t do enough
of when I was governor. I
tried to do too much, too fast.
My heart was in the right
place but I was impatient
and didn’t consult enough
different people outside the
Capitol.”
I’ve known Barnes since
he was a young attorney in
Cobb County getting ready to
run his first race for the leg
islature. I can’t really decide
if he was sincere about those
lessons he supposedly learned
from the disaster of 2002.
Deep down, I would guess
that Barnes still thinks he
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
took the correct course when
he aggressively tried to
resolve Georgia’s longstand
ing problems with highways,
education, healthcare, and
the state flag - an approach
that made a lot of voters mad
and cost him the governor’s
office.
The passage of time shows
that Barnes was correct about
the need to address those
issues. Perdue has done little
to address the state’s prob
lems, which means that our
roads are more crowded, our
schools still rank in the bot
tom 10 percent of the states,
and the number of people
without health insurance now
approaches two million.
There are many Georgia
voters who are quite happy
with a low-energy gover
nor who avoids the major
issues. After all, Perdue was
comfortably reelected with
58 percent of the vote in
2006. Barnes is betting that a
majority of the voters want to
try a more activist approach.
That’s really the pivotal
question for the governor’s
race: Are voters ready to
wake up from the big sleep
of the past eight years, or
do they want to continue
with the muddling approach
exemplified by the Perdue
administration?
At this point in the cam
paign, the Republican nomi
nee (whoever that turns out
to be) would seem to have
the numbers running in his or
her favor.
There are people who cite
the results of last November’s
general election as a good
omen for Democrats, when a
record turnout of black voters
helped Barack Obama run a
competitive race against John
McCain for the state’s elec
toral votes and enabled Jim
Martin to push Republican
Sen. Saxby Chambliss into
a runoff.
The high turnout in 2008
— 3.9 million voters — was
during a presidential year,
however. Voter turnout always
drops off sharply in non-
presidential election years.
The turnout in the 2010 gen
eral election will probably
be closer to the 2.1 million
voters who cast ballots in the
December runoff last year
— a smaller slice of the elec
torate where the Republican
vote tends to be heavier.
By way of comparison,
Chambliss led Martin by
about 109,000 votes in the
general election, but expand
ed that winning margin to
more than 318,000 votes
in the Dec. 2 runoff. Those
numbers should be a concern
for any Democrat who plans
to run for statewide office
next year.
Barnes does give Democrats
at least a shot at being com
petitive. Any of the other
Democratic candidates would
get, at best, 45 percent of the
general election vote against
the Republican nominee.
One thing that Barnes can
do very well is raise money,
so he would have more of a
fighting chance.
Early polls, which mean
very little right now, show
that Insurance Commissioner
John Oxendine is running a
couple of points ahead of
Barnes, while Secretary of
State Karen Handel runs a
couple of points behind him.
That’s a sign that we could
have a very close election
next year.
I don’t think there’s any
question that Barnes will win
the Democratic nomination.
Can he convince enough peo
ple that he’s really learned
his lesson to win a general
election?
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news ser
vice at www.gareport.com
that covers government and
politics in Georgia. He can
be reached at tcrawford@
capitolimpact. net.