2007 Campaign Archive

2007 Candidate Elect Archive

2008 January-March

2008 April-June

2008 July- December

With the sewer issue in South Hall county, I can now see the Chairman's confidence in getting the SPLOST passed (click here and here) because if it doesn't pass we are S.O.L. (this is a play on our sewer problem).  I am hearing that while the county intends to pass the new rates on January 8th, they will not enforce the rates until 2010.  

There are a couple of  issues with what the county has done that has gotten under my skin: 1- they have taken our choice on the SPLOST away by spending the money before we vote, 2- they are going to pass a law and not enforce it.

It comes down to vote for SPLOST or else....  If SPLOST fails, then there will be a $46m debt against 1500 users of sewer.  Since even the new rate wont cover that kind of debt, they will probably have to raise the milage rate to cover the difference.  In fact, the second GEFA condition requires $3.5m per year from SPLOST or the general fund, which all but requires a 1 point increase to the milage rate (to figure 1 point take 40% of the fair market value of your house, and divide by 1000; so a $500,000 home would be $200 per year).  For me it would be an additional $16 per month on top of the rate increase.  

The other point that distresses me is that they would pass a law and not enforce it.  To begin with, this would be a violation of their oath of office that requires them to uphold the laws of Hall County.  If they are just passing the law to meet a GEFA requirement, but they are not intending to enforce the law, then it would seem like they are not acting in good faith with their lender.  

We are still working to get people to the meeting.  In the next couple of days the Sterling Residents will see a letter on their box which can be seen here.  Deaton Creek has already posted their letter which can be seen here.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone on January 8.  

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (NIV)

Merry Christmas everyone!

I have talked a little to some of the commissioners and the feeling I get is that the ordinance the county will pass on January 8th and it will contain a new rate of $9.87 per ccf (1 ccf= 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons water) against water used. While the new rate will be effective as soon as it is passed, I am told that they will not raise the rate until January 2010 because of the contract that was signed when Hall County purchased our sewer system.  

So the question I have been getting most is: will a show of force on January 8th make any difference?  While I do not believe it will change the vote because the county is bound by the agreement to the lender, I do believe it will make them delay the implementation of the new rate and get us time to fix the issues so we can come up with more reasonable rates. These are elected officials and if they are doing their job, they should listen to their constituents.

If you would like to view or download the sewer rate study, you can click here.  It is huge, so I hope you have high speed internet.  If you are having trouble downloading, feel free to contact me and I will try to break it up.    

Everyone knows that politicians are the lowest position and who can be proud and conceited when you are trying to answer questions about why it is my fault someone's neighbor has a barking dog.   

I will say that I am having a blast representing you.  Thanks again for giving me this awesome opportunity and responsibility.  Things should be slow for me the next few weeks.  If you would like to get together and talk, please let me know.  

Tonight, Chris Fetterman and I went to the voting session for the Hall County Commissioners where they had the first reading on the new sewer rates.  We had company from our friends at Deaton Creek and Reunion.  I argued that the rates were in violation of the contract that sold the plant to Hall County.  I went on to say that the purpose of sewer was to enable development, but the price of our sewer will have the opposite effect.  

I stated that when the sewer system was put on line, the second paragraph of Exhibit G, section (c) of the contract said; “Notwithstanding the foregoing, Purchaser shall have the right to establish a reasonable minimum monthly charge to a homeowner for sewage treatment service.  However, Purchaser shall use its best efforts to cause the maximum monthly charge to Customers not to exceed $42.00 per month per home until the end of calendar year 2009.”

I went on to point out that the reason the rates were going to be set so high was because Hall County failed to meet the minimum debt coverage ratio of 1.05 on the loan they received from GEFA (Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority) (per the rate study section 4-3: GEFA Requirements).   

I had hoped to address the commission concerning the I.G.A. Flowery Branch signed last week.  I was prepared to ask the county not to sign the agreement.  I had planned to inform the county that I was not representing the city, that I was just 1 of 1500 customers.  My argument would have been that the agreement was needed to satisfy the requirements of House Bill 489, but the rate structure they were proposing was in violation of H.B. 489 which says, "The intent of this article is to provide a flexible framework within which local governments in each county can develop a service delivery system that is both efficient and responsive to citizens in their county (O.C.G.A. 36-70-20)."  It is hard to argue that the agreement would be efficient when you consider that our rates were going to more than double.  However, the test on responsiveness will come when the commission meets on January 8, 2009 to vote on the rates.   

When Hall County makes a second reading of the ordinance, they will vote and the new rates will go into effect.  

My main concerns were developed after reading the "South Hall County Sewer District Unit Rate and Connection Fee Methodology Report" that was prepared by Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Inc for Hall County, dated December 2008. Based on the findings of this report, I can only conclude that the commission has taken a "sewer at ANY cost" strategy to developing south Hall County. The report recommends sewer rates that are exponentially higher than the surrounding areas and appears to have several inefficiencies built into the cost model that the citizens on the sewer system will have to pay for. Basically, the few residents that are on the current system will have to carry an unfair burden for the development plans in this area. Ultimately, I believe the high cost of sewer will limit the continued development.  I have updated the model pricing model for sewer rates to include the recommended future rates.  You can download the model here.

I plan on attending the Hall County Commissioner's meeting tomorrow night where I may get the opportunity to voice my opinion on the issues.  

The agenda looks fairly mild (click here to view the agenda).  Councilman Fetterman and I have been doing some back work that I hope to bring to light tomorrow.  The one issue that I am concerned about is not on the agenda.  Yesterday I met with one of the other city council members to see if we could iron out a plan going forward on the trash issues. As it stood, anyone that is not taking trash is in violation of Ordinance 53, but there appeared to be no penalties. At the meeting this afternoon, the city attorney presented Ordinance 70, entitled “An Ordinance to Provide Uniform Penalties for Violations of all Flowery Branch Ordinances, and for Other Purposes” signed on 6/4/1990, which sets the penalties for any ordinance violation at the max per the City Charter (up to $1000 and/or 6 months in jail). 

Before the meeting, I provided a list of non subscribers to the police department to see if anyone was placing their trash at the curb. I am sorry to say that 7 non subscribers from my neighborhood had their trash picked up by Red Oak. These 7 households will be receiving a letter from the city along with a warning citation from the Police department. Any further theft of services will most likely result in a trip to the judge.

I am still working on make trash a voluntary service. The feeling that I get is that the city will not enforce non compliance for the next year. We hope to have some change on the council next November and we can look to create a new trash ordinance at that time.

To get an idea of the situation, when Hall County bought the system, they had approximately 1500 customers between Sterling, Reunion, and Deaton Creek and with all of the pipe work and lift stations they have started, the debt has run up to $46 million. That means each customer now has over a $30,000 debt load. To make ends meet, the commission will need to look at sewer rates. 

If the county ties our sewer to water use, the study proposes a rate of $79.17 per 6000 gallons of water. I have been averaging 8 CCFs (1 CCF= 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons), which is 5984 gallons per month. I also believe that they will add an administration charge of $7.26 to your bill.

I plan to protest these new rates if/when proposed.  

The Republican party will need to get back to their fundamental values of smaller government, which needs to start with a balanced budget! 

Have a great turkey day.  

Today was a no win situation.  If the city chose not to act, then the developer would have lost out on potential sales in an economic environment that has little certainty.  By acting to annex we took some perceived leverage from the island owner.  What the owner doesn't understand is that we could have created the strip and eliminated any leverage from the owners of the island.  By annexing as it stands, the owner has the potential for litigation which should keep the developer at the table.   

The city has offered to continue to meet with both parties in the hopes that some resolution to the situation will come in short order.  

Over all, it was a blast and worth almost every penny.   

I would like to share a story that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee shared at CPAC back in March of 2007: 

On the first day of school in 2005, Martha Cothren, a teacher at Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, was determined that her students would not take their education or their privilege as Americans for granted. With the principal's permission, she removed all the desks from her classroom. The students entered the empty room and asked, "Mrs. Cothren, where are our desks?" "You get a desk when you tell me how you earn it," she replied.

"Making good grades?" asked one student.  "You ought to make good grades, but that won't get you a desk," Martha responded.

"I guess we have to behave," offered another.  "You WILL behave in my class," Mrs. Cothren retorted, "but that won't get you a desk either."

No one in first period guessed right. Same for second period.  By lunch, the buzz was all over campus... Mrs. Cothren had flipped out ....wouldn't let her students have a desk. Kids had used their cell phones and called their parents.  By early afternoon, all 4 of the local network TV affiliates had camera crews at the school to report on the teacher who wouldn't let her students have a desk unless they could tell her how they earned it. By the final period, no one had guessed correctly.

As the students filed in, Martha Cothren said, "Well, I didn't think you would figure it out, so I'll have to tell you."  Martha opened the door of her classroom. In walked 27 veterans, some wearing uniforms from years gone by, but each one carrying a school desk.  As they carefully and quietly arranged the desks in neat rows, Martha said, "You don't have to earn your desks…these guys already did.

They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have.  No one charged you for your desk. But it wasn't really free. These guys bought it for you. And I hope you never forget it. "

I wish we all would remember that being American is not just about the freedom we have. It's about those who gave it to us.

Overall it needs to be mentioned to those that are concerned about the loss of trees, if this rezoning fails, the trees that are there will be replaced with houses.  We can actually save more of the existing trees with the commercial shopping area and the Fetterman amendment will help to preserve the look as people come into the neighborhood.  

President Bush has become the 'scape goat for everything from global warming to global cooling.  The left hates him because they think he stole the 2000 election.  The right hates him because in his acceptance speech in 2004 he embraced the left; but President Bush was correct in 2004 when he said "From the day of our founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this Earth has rights and dignity and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of heaven and Earth.  Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave.  Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation."  

Bush went on to say, "Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - ...Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free."

So as we transition the leadership of our country I ask for God to bless our leaders and heal our divisions and to continue to bless America.  

Half the effort in elections is to get people to the polls and a great way of ensuring people go to the polls is to create fear.  Tonight I know that there are many who are afraid of the future.  With a democratic house, senate and presidency, I would characterize myself as concerned, but I believe the fabric of this country will not tear.  I am looking forward to the future to see if this will finally bring the republican party back to it's core values.   

It is important to know that while I am disappointed with the results, I will continue to respect the office of the president even if the person in the office was not the one of my choosing.  The great thing about our country is the people's ability to unify and move forward.  

Tomorrow is election day.  I remember how I felt the day before my first election.  I wonder if Senators McCain and Obama feel the same way.  

We have a very busy agenda for Wednesday's council meeting (click here to view).  Most of the discussion will be around the changes going on in my neck of the woods.  I have a couple of changes that I am going to put in, but for the most part I am happy with the conditions as presented.  Please e-mail me and let me know if you have any input for the council.   

I heard 3 main concerns: 1- traffic/congestion, 2- uses of the commercial areas and 3- the aesthetic look of our front entrance. 1. The biggest issue we heard had to do with the impact on Spout Springs road. We heard from two people from outside of Sterling, a member of the Prince of Peace church and someone who lives off of Capitola Farms, and two people from Sterling who were concerned about increased congestion and traffic. Unfortunately, most of Spout Springs is owned by the county and to widen it, it will cost over $40m. So, will the commercial section have an impact? Yes, I believe it will; not that the area will be an attraction to bring additional people as much as a convenience for people who travel that route, but because of the additional turns that will happen in the area. The city has placed conditions that increase the right of way and traffic studies will be done. However, until Spout Springs road as a whole is addressed, we are going to see traffic. The fact is, as our neighborhood builds out to almost 2000 homes and the areas around us develop, we will see traffic anyway. The fix is to work with the county and state to make Spout Springs an appropriately sized road, which will be difficult considering that the D.O.T. is facing a $1b shortfall.

2. There were 4 people from Sterling that were concerned about what would be going into the commercial areas. The area has been classified as neighborhood shopping and we have placed several conditions and requirements. You can click here to see the permitted uses. While we can prevent drive through restaurants and tattoo parlors, we cannot pick the businesses that will rent or buy. All I can say is if the community doesn’t want it, we won’t support it and it will most likely change.

3. We had one person concerned that the trees would be knocked down and replaced with a parking lot. We do have a beautiful entrance to our neighborhood and before Newland plowed down the trees along Lake Sterling, I used to love coming in that entrance even though it was out of the way. I believe it is more important for Newland to fix the front so they can attract more people to buy. I do not believe they would allow for anything that was not pleasing to the eye. It should also be noted that the city will have a lot of landscaping conditions for the area as well.

I really appreciated the positive attitude everyone brought to the public hearing. Most of the comments were in the form of questions, suggestions and solutions. Considering your input, I will look to have a few additional conditions placed on the information center. I will also check on the status of traffic studies. I believe the studies would be done by the company that would build on the site, so we may be a bit premature.

The public has two more chances voice your opinions at the next two city council meetings on November 5th and 19th at 9:30am. The council will be voting on these items during those two meetings. 

The developer, Newland Communities, did a great job for the community and every time I hit the water there was a contribution to HomeAid and Project Joy.  I was happy to be a small part of the festivities and it was great to see everyone come out for fellowship and a good time.  

This experience as compared to the same injury  has truly been remarkable.  In today's society you hear people thanking God for all kinds of things and sometimes it just comes off as lip service.  I have witnessed a personal miracle and have none other to thank; thank God for a speedy and pain free recovery!  

If you prioritized the many things that have to be done by the city, eliminating the discriminative water sewer rates would be priority 1 followed by capacity in our plant.  

While I feel that some amount of refund is appropriate, it was not a condition in the reservation fees at the time the deal was struck.  For me, it will come down to what the city can afford.  

Click here is see the comments from Councilman Fetterman.  

There three points that I would like to make here: 1- this resolution did nothing to correct the unfairness based on new and old rates, 2- Tree Park is our largest customer and while special rates for large customers are not uncommon, it will place the enterprise budget in a bind, and 3- there are not very many capital projects in the enterprise budget to start with, this change will jeopardize our ability to continue to service our customers in the future. 

While this resolution may ease the burden on a large group of users, in voting to approve it I would have been complicit to the disproportionate burden that the rate structure has placed on some of our citizens, specifically those that moved here after June of 2000. I asked the council to reconsider all of the rates so that we can make a rate structure that is fair to everyone.  Unfortunately, we now have a more complicated and more discriminatory rate structure.  

This week we have a city council meeting and I understand that our largest water customer is going to come and complain about their water bill.  This is the same customer that sent a letter asking me if I was "ignorant or just plain stupid" during my campaign for office.  As a hint to those who are upset with their local candidates, don't send them anything in writing, then expect their sympathy after they win their election.     

The City of Flowery Branch plans to use the $2.5m for sewage, roads, police car replacement and maybe a new City Hall.  Considering the growth we have seen and hope to see again in the future, this money will be desperately needed to help accommodate the growth.  I just wish we could see more of the $240m.  

Oh sure, it is good talk to say that you will increase the capital gains tax, but where does that leave many retired people that live off of capital gains like stock dividends and market returns?  I believe that the Obama tax plan will drive our economy further down the toilet by taking money that would have otherwise been reinvested into the economy and placing it into government controlled social programs. 

For those who did not take economics, I would like to introduce you to a fiscal economic policy called "Supply Side" economics.  This macroeconomic/fiscal policy is based on 2 points: the principle that economic growth can most efficiently be created by providing people incentives to produce (trickle down) and that the government can collect more taxes by lowering the overall tax rate.  These two concepts are the driving ideology behind the Laffer Curve.  

While this discussion would take hours to go through, lets look back at a similar time in history when the stock market crashed and banks failed.  The government tried to protect the American producer by placing tariffs (taxes) on incoming products.  The time was 1930 and many economic historians would say that the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 extended the Great Depression.  

My dictionary defines patriotism as "love of and devotion to one's country."  Paying more taxes and driving our country into a depression does not sound very patriotic to me.  No thanks Sen. Biden; I would rather keep my money and invest it in America. 

On another note, did you see where Gov. Sarah Palin's e-mail was hacked?  My first thought was a lot of dirty secrets and remarks would be coming out.  I get in enough trouble for this blog, I would hate to see what happened if someone saw the e-mails I sent to some of my friends.  After awhile I thought about the real issue which is theft.  A crime has been committed and the sites that have published the e-mails are complicit in the crimes and should be punished criminally.  

I guess it is good that it will be a short meeting because I have another physical torture session tomorrow afternoon.  They managed to bend the knee to 90 degrees yesterday (ouch!).  I still don't have much for strength in the leg, but I am begging to see the light at the end of the tunnel, which looks a lot like a tennis ball.  

Well, if you are about to retire, it may make you worry.  Many of us have our retirement in 401k investments.  If you had your money in stock (like I do), then you may have seen a significant chunk disappear.  It also means that the candidates will talk a lot about the economy for the next week or so.  Taxes rob companies of their profits, which result in less gains and lower stock prices.  Let's hope the candidates make the connection.  

Today was Patriots day.  It is as important now as it has ever been to remember the tragedy that occurred 7 years ago.  The problem that I see is how the press has taken to moving the focus to the families of those who died as if any other tragedy like the Oklahoma City bombing is less relevant.  The thing to remember is that evil still exists in our world and there are many fronts where we need to fight.  By focusing on the victims, we loose sight of the of the freedoms we need to protect.  

We have a public hearing on Thursday concerning the "roll-back" of the millage rate.  It will be interesting to see if anyone shows up to air out their opinions on the issue.  I will put the over/under at 3 people. 

Recent polls show that McCain has surged since the Republican Convention.  The key is not the popular vote, it is the electoral vote.  If you don't think so ask Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, or Grover Cleveland in 1888, or Al Gore in 2000.  The state polls should be coming in and as with all polls and statistics they can be misleading.  

I would be out of line if I didn't mention the speech from Senator McCain last night; while most of it was a snoozer, the last 10 minutes were phenomenal.  I think the McCain/Palin ticket may be lightning in a bottle. 

Last night the Republicans ran out their version of Murderer's row.  The led off with Mitt Romney who made the case that we need conservative values in the white house.  Then Mike Huckabee showed how critical it was to have someone who makes the right choices in the white house.  Then Rudy Giuliani came on and showed the lack of experience on the democratic ticket.  In baseball you would say that the bases were loaded, the table was set, the ducks were on the pond... Is there anything harder than hitting a homerun when you have to hit a homerun?  In the case of Gov. Palin there will be no need for instant replay, this was a no doubter, it was a grand slam.  I would say that it was a Ruthian effort.  

My vote came from the sense that we made a budget and without a specific plan to spend the extra dollars, it would be in our best interest to roll back the rate.  I was not voting for the tax cut Councilman Fetterman proposed during the meeting.  The councilman and I have had several debates over the last week.  A tax cut should be proposed during the budget cycle, not after it.  As it is, the only reason the budget is balanced is due to a policy change where we changed our reserve cash levels from 4 months to 3.  

Councilman Fetterman is passionate about reducing the tax burden.  I think it would be the councilman's wish to reduce the rate to 0%.  The difference between the city and county is the level of service.  A city applies better zoning and construction standards that give the community a sense of identity.  A city provides a higher level of security with more police per capita.  A city provides for better roads and infrastructure.  When people ask where I am from, I do not say Hall county, I say Flowery Branch.  When people ask my parents, they do not say Peach County, they say Byron.  When I ask my best friend, he does not say Fayette County, he says Peachtree City.  When asked where I lived when I moved to Georgia, I do not say Houston County, I say Warner Robins.  I think you get the point.  

The extra services and sense of place and identity are a benefit that comes at a low cost.  I believe my city tax bill is less than $600 per year.  While it would be nice to pay a few dollars less especially since I live in a new neighborhood that does not need road improvements for quite some time.  However, there are areas in the city that need help.  In less than 10 years, my neighborhood is going to need help as well. 

You will probably see an article in the Gainesville Times tomorrow that says we are having a tax increase.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, the increase is in the tax base, not the millage rate.  The city has grown so the city is collecting more taxes.  The increase, however, will not offset the increase in spending.  Unfortunately with increased costs like fuel and decreased revenues in building permits, we are still looking at a situation were we are borrowing from our past success.  

We are also taking the next step in the TAD as we vote on an intergovernmental agreement with Hall County for the use of tax increment financing.  Hall County has taken the stance that our agreement will be the same as the agreement they signed with the City of Gainesville.  It will be interesting to see if the contract by cookie cutter will work for us.    

In my mind the republicans broke a promise to the people.  They said smaller government and lower taxes.  What I have seen is pork spending and an escalating deficit.  Now the republican ticket has a Maveric and a corruption buster.  This is the kind of change I am looking forward to.  

I believe that most of the increase in the digest is due to property being developed.  In the case of the vast majority of the individuals this will have no impact on their property taxes.  While I would normally be of the mind to try and roll back the millage rate, I know that from the budget this year we had to tap into our contingency reserves to make the budget.  In the budget we considered the growth in property taxes and still had to tap into our reserves.  I am recommending caution at this point in time.  I will keep you informed.  

An example of the situation can be seen by looking at the number 1 state, Iowa.  Iowa uses the ACT as the primary test for college admittance, so the majority of SAT results would be from the high school seniors that are considering college in other states.  When you look at their ACT score, only 66% of their kids take the test and they rank 9th in the nation.  

Georgia does, however, have a problem.  If we use the converse argument from Iowa, that the majority of the high school seniors that take the ACT are leaving the state, then we still only rank 44 with only 34% of our students taking the ACT.  

As the husband of a former Teacher of the Year, I can tell you that it is not the students or the teachers that are at fault.  I see a 50/50 problem between parents and school systems.  Last night while attending curriculum night at my daughter's school the teacher explained the expectation she has for her students to less than 1/2 the students parents.  Studies show that there is a direct correlation between parent involvement and student success.  Research findings by the NEA show: 

• -When parents are involved in their child’s education at home, children do better in school. 

• -Children go farther in school when their parents are involved in school.

• -A home environment that supports learning is more important to student success than income, education level or cultural background. 

• -The sooner the parental involvement starts, the more powerful the effects. 

• -Some of the results of parental involvement include student achievement, reduced absenteeism and improved behavior. 

The other half of the problem is with the government and the school system.  The teachers teach the curriculum that they are required to teach.  A good example is the gateway test this past year where the test did not match the curriculum and a large number of students failed.  

It is time for use to take a grass roots effort and to support our children.  They are the most important product of our existence.  

O.C.G.A. 36-70-24(2)(a) says, “The strategy shall provide that water or sewer fees charged to customers located outside the geographic boundaries of a service provider shall not be arbitrarily higher than the fees charged to customers receiving such service which are located within the geographic boundaries of the service provider.”  In this case they have a separate rate for those who live outside of their city limits. If the new study does not justify the rate charged outside of the city limits, then the rate would capricious and unsupported, thereby arbitrary, which would be a violation of State law.  I will be very interested to see what the rates say.   

From a medal count China had a great Olympics as well.  Their 51 gold medals is the most for a home country since 1984 when the U.S. took 83 medals when the Soviet Union and most of the communist block boycotted the Olympics (in 1980 when the U.S. boycotted the Moscow games the U.S.S.R. collected 80 Golds).  China, however, lacks stories.  Most of their athletes were targeted at early ages, removed from their families and placed into sports factories.  They do not have the struggle to succeed or choices in life that allow us to make associations with their lives.  They have nothing in common with the common person.   

The Chinese by breaking their vow to allow free speech and demonstrations during the Olympics diminished what could have been the best games ever.  It was bad enough that they designated 3 areas away from the games to hold the demonstrations, but they effectively banned demonstrations by not approving any of the 77 known permits to demonstrate.  By granting the games to Beijing, the IOC made a condition that demonstrations be allowed during the games.  I hope the IOC considers this broken promise when they investigate the ages of the Chinese gymnasts.    

As far as the choice, here is my thinking: The President of the U.S.A. is the chairman of the largest company in the world.  Since we have a Senator running for president, we need someone who has experience managing.  The largest thing Obama or Biden have ever managed has been their office staff.  

It is my hope that McCain picks someone that can actually help with the running of our country.   

I heard a great story the other day that I would like to use to relate to the Historic District: 

One day, there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: "I am blind, please help."

A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe.

He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left.

That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently." He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: "Today is Spring and I cannot see it."

So far the argument for the historic district has been framed as "I am blind, please help."  We have been unable to show any real reason for someone to be in the district.  One of the few people to speak out in support for the district was Tara Malone.  She warned us that we will most likely hear the outrage when someone tries to erect a geodesic dome house between two historic homes.  However, without providing just compensation like a redevelopment tax credit in the historic district I just cannot justify taking property rights away from our citizens.   

While the class is a bit biased in the fact that they are showing how government can enable economic development, it has challenged some of my absolutes.   I have stated here in the past that government should not be in the business of doing things that can be done by private industry.  The  government should be about roads, water, and sewer.  I have stated that Government should not be in the land speculation business.  

While this class has not changed my mind about previous votes on Council, it has opened my eyes a bit to how we can compete with other areas that are in the land speculation business.  I look forward to remaining 3 months of classes.   

This should be an exciting couple of weeks. 

So here is the plan: I go back in 3 weeks.  He wants me to be able to walk on it with the brace (knee immobilized) and work on bending it to about 20 degrees.  In the near term I have to work on the swelling; so ice and medication.  After I go back, then we start therapy.  Maybe I will be ready for the winter mixed tennis season:)

The worst of it was on Saturday when we removed the dressing. I just about passed out. I guess I don’t have the stomach for it:)  I go back on tomorrow to have the staples removed, all 26 of them! From there I should start some physical therapy, not on the knee, but on the muscles in the hip and thigh to get ready to work on the knee. A tendon tear is a lot like a breaking a bone in a sense that it has to be set and given time to heal. My guess is that they will let me start to bend the knee in 6 weeks, but I am hoping for sooner.

Thanks for all of the calls and e-mails.  I have been so busy talking to friends and family, that I have ignored my blog.  Talk to you tomorrow!  

The funny thing is that each knee was proceeded by tendonitis, which is often called "jumper's knee".  If any of you have seen me play and jump, I think you will get the joke.  

I am looking forward to speaking my peace at the next meeting.    

For those who know me, I blame Rush Limbaugh for the candidate we have running for president under the Republican flag.  I always felt that McCain was to central for my taste.  Rush encouraged conservatives to vote in the democratic primary to mess things up and in doing so, the Republicans don't have a candidate that we can rally around.  

I just wonder if the disavowed candidate here in Hall County was taking the advice of Rush Limbaugh.  I guess if he was, then I am o.k. with him getting the boot from the party because he is one of the reasons I am stuck with McCain.  

So it comes down to how I should frame my argument against the map.  Here it is: 

The 5th Amendment says that "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."  While the property is not being taken, certainly there is an argument that some of the use of the property has been taken because certain freedoms of use now have to go through a HPC.  

So at this time my vote will be no based on the fact that there is not compensation for the potential abridgement of property rights based on the 5th Amendment.  The question then becomes, what is "just compensation"?  I think that there could be some sort of tax break for those within the district, but considering that this would take time to flush out, for now it will just be a no.  

It should also be mentioned that I will have an open mind at the public hearing and if people want the district, then I will formulate an argument for it.  See you on Thursday.  

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

People just don't write like that anymore.  This is one of my favorite holidays.  Most of you only know me from my blog and bio.  As you know I launched this site last year on Aug 5, but my first comments started on the intranet here in our neighborhood with a link called "Taxation without Representation".  Those comments made a year and a half ago put me on this path to be a city councilman.   

Today was another city council meeting.  The big topic was the increase in trash service by adding a dollar service charge.  I asked to have this vote postponed, then I eventually voted against it.  The vote, however, does not make me a hero, it just means that I wanted some accountability for the reasons for the increase.  As I stated in my previous blog, I believe that the fund should be balanced.  The reason the increase was needed, had more to do with new trash cans and less to do with the increase in expenses.  

I am of the opinion that since trash is mandatory, it should be part of our property tax. This is beneficial because it would allow the city to eliminate billing monthly (reduced cost), ensure that everyone is paying for the service, and the property owner could write it off on their Federal taxes (whereas you can not with a regulated service). 

Rolling the trash into the taxes would mean a significant increase in the millage rate.  The 2009 budget shows that the solid waste fund (trash) will cost $226,696 per year.  The city collects $540k in property taxes every year.  The result could be a 30% increase in property taxes.  I doubt that the increase would be that high because we would probably still bill businesses separately but enjoy the benefit of the increased millage rate on business values as well.