Newspaper Page Text
4A
THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2006
If Houston Home
CLI| e .jjournal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
No sympathy for hunger strikers
A group of about 150 war protestors began
a hunger strike near the White House on
Independence Day, proclaiming that they will
continue the strike “until American troops come
home from Iraq.”
If they keep their word, funeral homes in
Washington should get ready for big business. We
put them in the same category as people who climb
up on water tanks and threaten to jump, while
praying that someone will risk his life to get him
down.
Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in
Iraq, has become
the most recog
nized symbol
of the anti-war
movement and
she is among
those participat
ing in the hun
ger strike. She
says that she
will move to
Crawford, Texas,
outside President
Bush’s summer
home, to con
tinue the strike
throughout the
summer.
“I will drink only water,” she said. She said that
she will not eat any food.
The purpose of the hunger strike is to get atten
tion and sympathy. We have no sympathy for adults
who stupidly do without food for the purpose of call
ing attention to themselves to push their agendas.
Let them do without food.
We doubt that any of them will strike “until
American troops come home from Iraq”. If they try
that they will be dead a long time before American
troops actually come home from Iraq, if they ever
do.
We’ll watch and listen as the hunger strike pro
gresses. It probably will peter out in a short time.
Cindy Sheehan may continue her vigil in Texas,
drinking only water for public consumption while
sneaking in a little food on the sly.
We will believe it when we see it
Hooray! Or is it too premature to become
ecstatic about contractors finishing the wid
ening of Houston Lake Road from Corder
Road to Bear Branch Road by the end of this year?
After all, the
project will be 14*
months late if is
completed this
year.
Motorists who
have endured
this seemingly
endless road proj
ect have learned
a long time ago
to be skeptics
and probably
responded to the
latest announce
ment of a com
pletion date with
the words, “We’ll
wait and see.”
A spokesman for the Georgia DOT says there were
several reasons for the delay, but none of them will
satisfy jaded motorists who have endured the incon
veniences imposed upon them.
The original contract probably provided for some
kind of penalty that the contractor would pay if the
job was not completed on time. Obviously, if there
was such a penalty it was not large enough.
HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS
We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor.
Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the
writer's name, address and telephone number. All letters
printed in The Home Journal will appear with the writer’s
name and hometown - we do not publish anonymous let
ters. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject let
ters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity.
Letter writers are asked to submit no more than one letter
per person per week We cannot guarantee that a letter will
be printed on a specific date.
The Home Journal prefers that letters be typed Letters
to the editor are published in the order they are received
as space permits. A Journal employee will call to verify the
author of each letter.
There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor:
E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to The
Houston Home Journal at P.O. Box 1910, Perry, GA 31069,
or drop it off at 1210 Washington St. in Perry - between 8
a m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The purpose ot the
hunger strike is to get
attention and sympathy.
We have no sympathy
(or adults who stupidly
do without food (or the
purpose ol calling atten
tion to themselves to
push their agendas.
Motorists who have
endured this seemingly
endless road project
have learned a long time
ago to be skeptics and
probably responded to
the latest announcement
of a completion date
with the words, "Well
wait and see.”
Rumors can eat away at credibility
Rumors are serious.
Rumors are danger
ous. Rumors are like a
cancer eroding credibility.
Houston County has been
flooded with rumors the past
several days, rumors picked
out of thin air. I ran into this
almost everywhere I went
during the holidays.
It is all about the chang
es the Houston County
Hospital Authority made
suddenly last week.
The board fired CEO
Frank Aaron without mak
ing an explanation to the
public.
The board had praised
Aaron in Ajjril and given
him a hefty pay raise. Then
two months later he was
fired.
Most Houston Countians
don’t know Aaron. Many
never heard of him. But the
rumors started, along with
questions.
In Houston County, where
there unfortunately is a
degree of suspicion about
any action taken by a public
body, the reaction was not
unexpected. It doesn’t take
much to get some people
started.
Some others higher up in
the Medical Center’s hierar
chy felt the axe, too.
-— / ...And as they N.
V head around the turn... )
We must let the true sunshine in
True sunshine not
dueling public state
ments - is the anti
dote for the pain and suf
fering within Effingham
County’s leading job recruit
ment agency.
TRUE SUNSHINE - not
dueling public statements
- is the antidote for the
pain and suffering within
Effingham County’s lead
ing job recruitment agency,
which forced its top execu
tive to resign two weeks ago.
It’s good preventive medi
cine for what ails local and
state governments, too.
In a newspaper ad sched
uled for publication today,
the Effingham County
Industrial Authority takes
a roundhouse punch at Brad
Lofton, who worked for two
years as chief executive offi
cer of the public authority
until a majority of its board
members showed him the
door on June 13.
The board alleges that
Brad Lofton promised more
than $5.5 million in “gifts”
to potential corporate cli
ents without approval by
the public board. It also
claims that Mr. Lofton vio
Columnist fjf
So rumors fly.
Some wanted to know if
Aaron has run afoul of the
doctors, because it is well
documented in the past that
doctors brought about the
downfall of at least one pre
vious administrator.
Nurses have been critical
of the way things have been
going at the Medical Center.
Did this have anything to do
with it?
And so it goes. Rumors are
trying to answer those ques
tions and I have trouble put
ting much faith in rumors.
Of course, the announce
ment that the land pur
chased on Highway 96 for
$5.5 million is being sold
reopened an issue that had
died down. The Authority
says it is getting out of the
real estate business and is
lated his contract with the
authority and wrongly obli
gated Effingham’s taxpay
ers to the promises he made.
These are serious allega
tions.
They essentially paint Mr.
Lofton as a loose cannon
who couldn’t be trusted.
They say he was making
deals, without proper over
sight, that might not be in
the public’s best interest
in this fast-growing county.
If these allegations are true,
then the authority was
right to send him packing.
But are they factual?
Simply buying an ad doesn’t
make something truthful. It
means the public gets one
side’s version of a story - the
side paid for by the adver
tiser.
That’s not a knock
on advertising. That’s
just how it works.
Mr. Lofton, quite predict
ably, doesn’t think this ad
in Effingham’s twice-a
week newspaper is worth
the paper its printed on.
He said he took no actions
without the approval of the
authority’s executive board:
Chairman Martin Wilkins
going to make a profit on it.
This probably had nothing
to do with the shakeup at
the Medical Center.
The Hospital Authority
can diffuse things by explain
ing what occurred between
April and June to change
their opinion of Aaron’s
worth to the Medical Center.
One board member has been
quoted as saying that the
change was because the
Authority wants to go in a
different direction.
That is their prerogative.
The Hospital Authority is an
independent body charged
with running the Medical
Center in the best interests
of the citizens of Houston
County. They must have a
vision of how to do the job
different - and better - than
in the past.
and board members Chris
Beecher and Chap Bennett.
And those “gifts” that the
board is complaining about?
Mr. Lofton said they were
offers of land to a corporate
prospect that he wanted to
entice to Effingham.
The company, which hasn’t
been identified, apparently
is willing to make a $33-
million investment that
will create 450 new jobs.
“There was no obligation on
behalf of the authority,” Mr.
Lofton said this week. “The
board would have had to
approve the contract before
it become an obligation.”
If what Mr. Lofton says is
true, then it sounds like
he was doing his job. He
shouldn’t have been forced to
resign. In fact, if this compa
ny comes to Effingham, then
he probably deserves a raise.
But which version of this
story - the development
authority’s or Mr. Lofton’s
- is true?
Without more informa
tion, it’s impossible to tell.
This is why the public must
have access - sunshine, if
you will - to key information
regarding business recruit
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL ,
They can ignore the
rumors and questions, if
they want to. Members of
the Authority are appointed
by the county commission
ers and once they take office
they do not answer to the
commissioners or anyone
else.
I doubt that they will want
to take that route.
All members of the
Authority are long time res
idents of Houston County
and were appointed because
the commissioners had faith
in them. Despite the rumors
and questions, there is no
reason to believe that the
actions they took are not an
effort to make the Medical
Center more responsive
to the needs of Houston
Countians.
As an enthusiastic sup
porter of Houston Medical
Center who has benefited on
several occasions from out
standing service, I am inter
ested in patients receiving
quality care from concerned
professionals.
We do not need this cancer
(rumors) to erode confidence
in the Hospital Authority.
Until someone proves oth
erwise, we have to believe
actions taken last week will
prove beneficial.
ment in Georgia. That
doesn’t mean every aspect
of the wheeling and deal
ing, such as the identities of
corporate prospects, must be
revealed.
But when public officials
get down to the nitty gritty,
and are pledging tax breaks,
land or other incentives that
have upfront costs to taxpay
ers, then the public should
have a seat at the table. After
all, it’s the public’s money.
In the case of Effingham’s
development authority, the
public is late to the table.
It’s unclear who did what,
with charges flying back and
forth like tennis balls.
But what is clear is that
taxpayers, at some point,
would be responsible for any
deal that was made. And it’s
also clear this incident isn’t
going to help Effingham woo
prospects.
Let’s hope it doesn’t
scare off potential inves
tors and employers, because
the county can use them.
The lesson here:
Let the sunshine in.
Reprinted with permission
from the Savannah Morning
News