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THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL THURSDAY. MAY 18. 2017 — PAGE 5A
The contestants for
governor are lining up
The dance card is filling
up quickly for next year's
race for governor.
If that seems a little early,
it’s because it is. But that's
how the political process
rolls these days. We are in
the era of the eternal cam
paign.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle
has been planning this
for the past 12 years —
that moment when he
would finally launch his
Republican campaign for
governor.
Cagle is pushing the kind
of economic development
issues you’d expect: he
wants to add 500,000 new
jobs during his first term
while promoting a $100
million tax cut and devel
oping a strategic plan for
Georgia's transportation
infrastructure.
In other words, he’s basi
cally promising a third term
of Nathan Deal, but with
some inflated promises
about new jobs.
Katy Foody of the
Associated Press did some
digging into that jobs
pledge and reported: “State
Department of Labor data
shows Georgia has added a
net total of 267,100 jobs in
the last decade, accounting
for the enormous job losses
that followed the recession
that began in 2008. In the
last six years, employers
added nearly 518,000 jobs
to help the state dig out
from a deep hole.”
In short, it is not realistic
to expect Cagle or any gov
ernor to add 500,000 jobs in
four years.
Cagle is taking the Zell
Miller approach to running
for governor.
Miller served four terms
as lieutenant governor
while he awaited his chance
to run for the state’s high
est office, an opportunity
that finally came in 1990.
Cagle has been lieutenant
governor for three terms as
he piled up pledges and put
the pieces together for a
The Capi
tol Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net
By Tom Crawford
statewide ran.
At this point. Cagle would
be considered the front
runner in the Republican
primary, but he will defi
nitely not have a cleared
field. Secretary of State
Brian Kemp and state Sen.
Hunter Hill (R-Atlanta)
are running, while state
Sen. Michael Williams
(R-Cumming) is making
moves in that direction.
You may also see a cou
ple of retired congressmen
get into the GOP primary
race: Jack Kingston or Lynn
Westmoreland.
On the Democratic side.
House Minority Leader
Stacey Abrams (D-Atlanta)
has already filed the paper
work to register a campaign
organization for the gover
nor's race next year.
Another potential
Democratic candidate is
state Rep. Stacey Evans
(D-Smyrna). Like Abrams,
she is a talented young law
yer who has shown some
impressive potential in her
four terms as a lawmaker.
Columbus Mayor Teresa
Tomlinson, a Democratic
officeholder with a lot of
upside, has taken herself
out of the governor’s race
but says she is looking at
a run for the U.S. Senate
in 2020.
Democrats will need to
avoid a repeat of the deba
cle they suffered in 2006,
when their leading candi
dates in the governor’s pri
mary were Lt. Gov. Mark
Taylor and Secretary of
State Cathy Cox.
Taylor and Cox got tan
gled up in one of the most
bitter primary races ever,
with Taylor eventually win
ning the nomination over
Cox.
It was a pyrrhic victory,
however. Taylor suffered
a lot of political damage
and was subsequently
destroyed by incumbent
Gov. Sonny Perdue in the
general election.
One of the most intrigu
ing possibilities out there
involves Republican strat
egist Nick Ayers, who has
never ran for office himself
but is said to be considering
the governor's race.
Ayers got his start work
ing for Sonny Perdue in
the 2002 governor’s race
as a kid barely out of high
school, and later made a
name for himself inside the
Beltway through his work at
the Republican Governors
Association.
He's had some stumbles
along the way, including a
DUI arrest and a stint with
a presidential campaign for
Tim Pawlenty that went
nowhere.
If Ayers does decide to
ran, it would stir memories
of another race more than
a decade ago when anoth
er political activist with no
elective experience decided
to ran for statewide office.
That was Ralph Reed, the
guy who put together the
Christian Coalition. Reed
jumped into the 2006 race
for lieutenant governor,
hoping to use his name rec
ognition to win that office
and then ran for governor.
Reed got spanked in the
Republican primary and
never ran for public office
again. The person who beat
him was a fellow named ...
Casey Cagle.
And thus does our politics
come full circle.
Tom Crawford is editor
of The Georgia Report, an
Internet news service at
gareport.com that reports
on state government and
politics. He can be reached
at tcrawford@ gareport.
com.
Library pleased to present arts programming
Dear Editor:
The Madison County
Library was recently a
recipient of a Vibrant
Communities grant from
the Georgia Council for the
Arts.
This grant provides money
for arts programming that
we would not otherwise be
able to afford and includes
a 50-percent match from
the Friends of the Madison
County Library. Thanks
to funding from both our
Friends and the Georgia
Council for the Arts, we
were able to provide arts
programming to the com
munity through watercolor
and jewelry-making classes
and a bagpipe performance.
Nearly 100 people attend
ed at least one of these
events, which were led by
local artists and artisans.
We at the library would
like to express our appre
ciation to the artists, Eileen
Hurd, Ellen Cowne and
David Gregory; our fund
ing sources, the Georgia
Council for the Arts and
the Friends of the Madison
County Library; and to
our legislators who make
this funding possible.
State Senator Frank Ginn
and Representatives Tom
McCall and Alan Powell.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Ivey
Branch Manager and staff
of the Madison County
Library
Coach Osborne sets an example for his students
Dear Editor:
One teacher I appreciate is
Coach Mike Osborne for his
great values and the example
he sets for the students and
other individuals.
Since my elementary days
to my high school days,
Coach Osborne always takes
pride in the things he does.
During my elementary days.
Coach Osborne taught with
a smile on his face and made
us feel welcomed. He is
always involved with the stu
dent body and volunteering
his time towards driving the
sports teams to games. Not
only does he do this service,
he also shares experiences,
values, and life lessons. He
always encourages us to strive
for the best before games.
Through his actions, Coach
Osborne demonstrates the
care he has for the Madison
County student body.
Sincerely,
Josse Sandres
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We don’t need massive landfill in Elbert
Dear Editor:
The proposed landfill in
Elbert County is back in
court. Madison County citi
zens will not have any say in
whether we are next to what
will probably be the largest
landfill on the east coast;
that will be up to the Elbert
County Commissioners,
when the lawsuit clears the
appeals court.
But — we all have friends
and relatives in Elbert County
— so please ask them to tell
their commissioners what
they think about hazardous
coal ash coming to their com
munity — and staying there.
Chip Chandler
Carlton
Richards
• • • contimied from page 4A
And not only that,
Glenise began to text or
email me periodically
to keep up with Zack’s
progress and to see how
we were holding up. She
told me she and Gary
had a son, and she could
understand how we felt.
We became friends on
Facebook so she could
keep up with his updates.
Thankfully, after a long
difficult six months or
so that included multiple
hospital stays and sever
al surgeries, Zack began
to regain his health. Also
during that time, we lost
our friend Virginia, after
a long brave battle with
cancer.
Eventually, right after
Christmas, Charles and
I made the long-awaited
(and much anticipated)
trip to the marsh apart
ment. Though it was
late December, the sun
shine was bright and the
weather warm, just like
our welcome. When we
finally met Glenise, she
hugged us as if we were
old friends and promptly
told us the balance of our
visit was “on her.”
We were flabbergasted,
overwhelmed, yet again,
by the kindness and con
sideration. And we were in
love — with Glenise and
Gary’s home to be sure;
it was everything and so
much more than what was
shown on the website, the
perfect place to relax and
be at peace. But we were
also overcome with affec
tion for these people we
had just met and for all
they already meant to us.
We went out to dinner
with them on that first
trip and got to know them
even better. We found
out that Glenise is from
New Zealand and that she
met Gary there. Gary is
from upstate New York,
but he grew up in New
Zealand. As I mentioned
before, they have a son,
Alexander, who is close
to Zack in age. We found
out how they came to live
in the Brunswick area
after having lived in many
different places and how
they had fallen in love
with the area.
And Glenise was devel
oping a new hobby at
the time, painting, and
she showed me some of
her work. Like every
thing Glenise does, her
paintings were well done
and quite beautiful. A lot
of them focused on the
marsh and the surround
ing area.
Like I said, that was
three years ago. Since
then, we’ve returned as
often as possible (at least
several times a year).
To be truthful, it’s really
hard to go anyplace else.
I’ve also made the trip a
few times with my friend
Linda, who also loves it
and I’ve made plans to
go with other friends and
family when we get the
chance.
Even our little dogs —
Joe and Ginger — love
it. They can play in the
fenced in backyard, which
is totally private, and
Glenise is the only other
person that Joe will will
ingly go to on his own.
He is a “one-woman dog,”
you might say, but even he
can’t resist the kindness
that is in Glenise.
There arc so many other
thoughtful and kind things
that have made this beau
tiful place so much more
than a getaway and more
like going to visit with
well-loved family.
Before our friend Shirley
passed away last month,
Charles and I had planned
an Easter getaway to
Glenise and Gary’s place.
I knew Shirley would be
the first to tell us to go
— she knew how much
we loved the area and this
place in particular — but
we couldn’t leave until
after her service, which
was being held on the day
we were to leave.
I called Glenise (she’s
used to my crisis calls by
now) and told her. She
knew about what had hap
pened from my posts on
Facebook and she said
“you’re not coming are
you?” But I assured her
we were, that we needed
the solace of that place
more than ever and gave
her a choice — we could
come the evening of our
planned arrival, but it
would be very late — or
we could wait and come
the next morning (Easter).
We didn’t want to impose
by arriving so late and
perhaps waking them up.
Glenise insisted we
come on in that night and
they’d leave the lights on
for us. When we finally
arrived that night we were
startled — the lights were
on alright — the whole
backyard and pool lights
were ablaze. It made us
feel so welcome.
Inside the apartment,
we found the usual wel
coming touches, along
with lighted lamps, dog
food bowl and filled water
bowl laid out, a bottle of
wine in the refrigerator
and even the cover on the
bed turned down. (Glenise
joked later that she wished
she’d had a chocolate to
lay on the pillow.)
The next morning, we
were treated to delicious
homemade blueber
ry muffins for breakfast
(Glenise, in addition to
her many other talents, is
also an excellent cook).
She hugged me and
asked how we were. I told
her better now that we
were there, and I meant it.
We got together sever
al times that week, and
during one of our conver
sations, we talked about
how we got to know
one another and Charles
remarked on their extreme
kindness to us and what
a blessing it has been to
become friends with them.
Glenise looked me
squarely in the eye and
said in her lovely accent,
“Margie and I knew one
another before we ever
met, didn’t we?"
I felt my eyes tear up.
She was exactly right. Our
meeting, as unusual as it
was, was no accident. I
couldn’t have found a bet
ter way to say it. The truth
is there are some people
you are meant to meet;
people that, like Glenise
said, you already know,
deep down in your heart.
She and Gary are two of
those people.
Coincidence? No, I
don’t think so, but a bless
ing?
Truly.
Margie Richards is a
reporter and office man
ager for The Madison
County Journal
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