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Rumblings of Ballot-Box
Changes in Oconee County
C
Commish Votes to Change
Cedar Shoals, Adopt Budget
Candidates for the Oconee County Board
of Commissioners (BOC)—and for chairman
of the board—met with a standing-room-only
crowd inside the Oconee County Library at
a forum June 2. The forum was one of two
organized by a handful of Oconee citizens'
groups—Citizens for Oconee's Future, Citizens
for South Oconee, Friends of Barber Creek,
Friends of the Apalachee and Oconee Citizens
for Responsible Growth—and it was informally
arranged, with candidates directly answering
questions from the audience. '
Why a packed house? It’s a big election
year in Oconee, and with all candidates run
ning in the Republican primary on July 15,
BOC races will soon become heated. All four
BOC posts—plus the chair's post—are up for
election this year. And
while it's difficult yet
to assess the viability
of the four challengers'
campaigns for BOC, lit
erature professor Sarah Bell, who is challeng
ing two-term incumbent Melvin Davis for the
chairmanship, seeks to capitalize on what she
sees as rising discontent with Oconee's current
government. County residents "feel alienated
from this government," Bell argued during the
forum, explaining that she entered the race to
change the direction in which the county is
going. She said also, "What I would like to do
is bring a new openness to the government in
this county... The citizens that I've talked to
feel very shut out of this government."
Incumbent Davis argued that the county is
doing well, though he had to defend himself
against pointed issues raised over the past
couple of years (issues raised, in some cases,
by the activists who organized and moderated
the forum). For instance, one resident wanted
to know about what she called a "secret
As if the hot weather that kicked off
the month of June weren't enough, State
Climatologist David Stooksbury (also a
UGA professor) sent out one of his periodic
"drought press releases" last week. Unlike
some editions (Stooksbury often seems wary
of playing weatherman), the latest is blunt on
the topic of temperature: "If dry conditions
persist, Georgia is in for a very hot summer,"
its opening line declares. "If the drought
intensifies," the report continues, "tempera
tures across the mountains could reach into
the middle to upper 90s while the Piedmont
bakes in the low 100s. Across the coastal
plains temperatures in the 104 to 106 range
may not be out of the question."
The hot, dry weather, Stooksbury writes,
will immediately cause "very rapid" loss of
soil moisture, which in turn affects stream
flows and groundwater levels. Soil moisture, in
areas where it did recover somewhat over the
6 FLAGPOLE.COM JUNE 11,2008
meeting"—a retreat of the BOC in Madison
that upset many residents because proper
public notice of its taking place wasn’t given.
"If there was a secret meeting held by this
commission I don't know about it," Davis said.
"There was a late notice that went out regard
ing that particular meeting."
Another resident asked Davis and Bell
about Oconee County's growth. In another two
decades or so, he asked, will Oconee look more
like Greene or Gwinnett? And while Bell tried
to leverage that question into an indictment
of the county's current leadership—"If we
keep going the way we're going, we're going
to look like Gwinnett County, and I don't
think anybody wants us to look like Gwinnett
County," she said—Davis brushed aside the
"Gwinnett" concern as
irrelevant. A look at the
numbers, he said—on
population, population
growth, and relative land
uses—shows Oconee to be very far from look
ing like Gwinnett County. "The management of
this growth has been fantastic," Davis said.
Later in the evening, when residents que
ried eight candidates for four BOC seats (an
incumbent and a challenger for each), a wide
range of crosscutting issues we re brought
up, including rising tax assessments and last
year's decision to partner with neighboring
Walton County on the Hard Labor Creek reser
voir, but one sentiment that found repeated
mention from candidates was the idea to
consider changing the form of Oconee's
government, to move away from what Post
4 incumbent Chuck Horton called a "strong
chairman" form in which he himself has lim
ited access to information.
winter, will quickly return to drought levels,
he predicts. Stream flows, meanwhile, "are
currently just above the previous record-low
flows for early June" across most of the state,
he writes. That's been the case in Athens, and
on some days the flows in the branches of the
Oconee River have been setting new record
low flows, according to data from the U.S.
Geological Service.
And areas of Georgia that largely escaped
last year's severe drought conditions—like
the southeastern part of the state—may be
looking at much drier conditions this year.
"June and July are critical" across the state,
Stooksbury writes. "Without major rain events'
early in the summer, according to the report,
"the soils will continue to become drier lead
ing to lower stream flows, groundwater levels
and reservoir and pond levels."
Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Commissioners
decreed at their June 3 meeting that Cedar
Shoals Drive will be reduced from four lanes
to three, with bike lanes added. That will also
make the lightly travelled four-lane road safer
for cars, because the most dangerous common
accidents—rear-enders and sideswipes—
will be reduced, the county's transportation
department says. But there were skeptics. "I
believe that traffic will come to a standstill,"
citizen James Matthews told commissioners at
last week's meeting. "There doesn’t aDpear to
be a problem with the current configuration."
No other citizens spoke against the pro
posal, but Commissioner Kathy Hoard said
she had "received 5 lot of correspondence"
questioning it. Comparisons with congested
Hawthorne Avenue were discounted however,
since that street carries much more traffic.
County policies now require all three- anc
four-lane roads to be evaluated for re-striping
whenever they are going to be resurfaced.
Three-lane roads can handle nearly as much
traffic as four-lane ones, are easier to cross on
foot, and are statistically
safer. As a bonus, extra
space is freed up for bike
lanes. Hawthorne (already
three lanes) and North
Avenue (presently four) were also evaluated—
and will stay the same, although Hawthorne
will be "widened" to four narrow lanes for its
first congested block near West Broad Street.
"The facts, I think, speak for themselves,"
said Commissioner Andy Herod of the traffic
engineer's report on Cedar Shoals. A new turn
lane at Cedar Shoals High School should ease
congestion there, it says, and five-foot bike
lanes will be added. "Bike use has increased,"
Commissioner Elton Dodson noted, "but until
we have an interconnected bike lane system,
[fewer] people are going to feel safe." But
Commissioner Doug Lowry raised concerns
about drivers using the center turn lane to
pass stopped city buses or trash trucks. It's
unclear whether or not that's legal—ACC
Police Chief Jack Lumpkin told commissioners
he wouldn't give tickets for it, since motorists
are allowed to go around "obstructions." But
ACC Attorney Bill Berryman said Georgia courts
have seen that as a violation in civil accident
suits, so drivers who have accidents might
be liable. (Passing an unloading school bus is
definitely illegal.) "Are we creating a situation
that is somewhat unsafe?" Lowry asked. But
ACC Deputy Manager Bob Snipes said lane
changing accidents would oe reduced, making
the road safer.
Commissioners also gave restaurateur
Bruno Rubio two more years to pull permits for
a restaurant planned for the now-abandoned
Cofer's garden center on Cedar Shoals Drive.
(Rubio said he's been distracted with his other
two restaurants, but still intends to build La
Puerta del Sol.) Despite what Commissioner
Herod called an "outpouring of community
angst" from both passionate opponents and
supporters when the project was originally
approved, no neighborhood residents opposed
the renewal. Rubio is "bringing to Athens
what we want more of," said Commissioner
David Lynn, and most commissioners agreed.
And with little discussion (but follow
ing hours of cost-cutting work sessions) the
Commission passed next year's budget with
a small tax increase of 0.15 mills (about half
a percent). The budget keeps several anti-
poverty initiatives suggested by OneAtnens
(including teen-pregnancy initiatives and
extended bus service) but makes significant
cuts to Mayor Davison's
original proposal—which
would have raised taxes
nearly 4 percent. Fuel
costs and health benefits
have stretched this year's budget. "When
we see departments that have 70, 80, 90
employees," said Commissioner Kelly Girtz,
"we often... wonder—are we making the best
possible use of our resources and our person
nel? It's impossible for us to know sitting here
behind the rail." But, he went on, commis
sioners did a "wonderful job" of asking manag
ers and department heads "to justify the work
that they do." Moving to a two-year budget
cycle might be even more efficient, he added.
But Commissioner George Maxwell, casting
the single "nay" vote, said he couldn’t vote for
a millage increase with water and trash rates
having already gone up. "In my heart, I can't
do it," Maxwell said. Some citizens "are on the
verge of, or already in, poverty—yet some of
those people are working every day," he said.
To Commissioner Carl Jordan, though, the bud
get "struck a good balance" between budget
cuts—"every department is giving something
up"—while making "a modest contribution"
towards solving problems of the poor. "We're
trying to be more efficient and more effec
tive," Jordan said.
John Huie jphuie©athens net
! COMICS & ADVICE ! CLASSIFIEDS
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
NEWS & FEATURES I CALENDAR I MOVIES ! A&E
“The management of this
growth has been fantastic.”
Ben Emanuel ben@flagpole.com
Unsurprising Weather
Outlook: Hot and Dry
“I believe that traffic
will come to a standstill.”