Conservatives Debate the Issues

Tonight I had the opportunity to be the timekeeper at the 9th Congressional District debate.  At first, I was mostly concerned with not messing up; but after settling in, I was able to enjoy the debate even if there wasn't any direct debating between the candidates.  

I had a mic in front of me and I almost grabbed it when I didn't hear the answer I wanted concerning 3 questions: what to do about a nuclear Iran, what to do about entitlements, and what to do to equalize the benefits between widowed congressmen and widowed service members. 

Since none of these issues will be part of my campaign for commissioner, I will keep my opinions to myself, for now.  Needless to say, while I have my favorite, anyone of the 7 people who debated last night should represent us well up in Washington D.C.  

Early voting is going on now, please remember to get to the polls. 

The Hall County Commission continues to abuse the consent agenda 

The consent agenda tonight had a vote against it and an abstention. This is a violation of the rules. The consent agenda is formally known as the "consent calendar". Roberts Rules of Order, adopted (Item 6b) and codified (2.10.010) by the Hall County Commission, states on page 349 that "Legislatures, city, town or county councils, or other assemblies which have a heavy workload including a large number of routine or non controversial matters may find a consent calendar a useful tool for disposing of such items of business…. The matters listed on I are taken up in order, unless objected to, in which case they are restored to the ordinary process by which they are placed in line for consideration on the regular agenda." 

If any member objects, it must be removed. I first discovered this breach of the rules on January 10, 2008 when Commissioner Banks motioned to remove the appointment of Jim Shuler from the consent agenda. The minutes are noted as the "motion failed for lack of a second". The problem is there doesn't need to be a second. If ANY member objects, it must be removed. As a result, I can now say for the record that Commissioner Banks voted against the re-adoption of the code of ethics for Hall County along with 20 other items. However, several times in the past the Chairman has removed items from the consent agenda without the need for a motion. Seems like a double standard to me. 

When elected to the Hall County Commission, I will work to hold the Chairman accountable to the rules as codified in the law. That way we can ensure proper discussion and debate on all items preventing the majority from trampling the rights of the minority.

Commissioner Bobby Banks does not support the idea to do a water rate study.

Commissioner, here is a quick tutorial on why we need the study: 

O.C.G.A. § 36-70-24(2)(A) says; "The (Service Delivery) strategy (aka: HB 489) 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."

So in other words, this is like taxation without representation.  While the service is provided by the city of Gainesville, we do not get to vote for any of the people that set the rates.  This is a protection clause. 

O.C.G.A. § 36-70-24(2)(B) says; "If a governing authority (Hall County) disputes the reasonableness of water and sewer rate differentials imposed within its jurisdiction by another governing authority (City of Gainesville), that disputing governing authority (Hall County) may hold a public hearing for the purpose of reviewing the rate differential. Following the preparation of a rate study by a qualified engineer, the governing authority (Hall County) may challenge the arbitrary rate differentials on behalf of its residents in a court of competent jurisdiction. Prior to such challenge, the dispute shall be submitted to some form of alternative dispute resolution;"

So there are two things that need to be done: 1- a rate study needs to be done by a qualified engineer and 2- a public hearing must be conducted.  Or you can just take the city of Gainesville at their word that the rates are not arbitrary.   

I do know that the service fee is totally arbitrary.  It can not cost exactly twice as much to read my meter and mail a bill to Flowery Branch.  I don't think stamps cost more by the mile.  

Normally the chairperson would only vote in the case of a tie or to make a quorum.  We have seen the damage that has occurred on the Chairman's motions, I believe it is time to strip him of this right.  Since there is a possibility that the Chairman could break ties, I do believe he should be allowed to deliberate.

If elected, I will not allow the Chairman to make motions or seconds and only allow them to vote in the case of a tie. 

I would have liked to stay on longer, but unfortunately the law is the law.  You can read the articles, here and here.  

"Hall residents file ethics complaint against Tom Oliver, Billy Powell"

This is old news.  If I recall correctly, this was investigated in the past and not seen as illegal.  Commissioner Bell, last year, proposed a resolution to have the county attorney detail any potential conflicts of interest.  Unfortunately, the measure failed as the swing vote, Commissioner Banks, sided with the two people under investigation.  

We need ethical leaders that are not indentured to the Chairman.  

Once again our commission has broken a promise to the people.  Parks, sewer, libraries: for the commission they are tools to get the vote passed.  What the commission gets is a blank check to do what they want.  I hope the courts see the issues and issue the TRO against the county.

Everyone, have a Good Friday!  

The majority of the excitement in the meeting dealt with the underage alcohol sales infraction by Exxon Food stores on Phil Neikro Blvd.  While I proposed a 15 day license suspension, the council came to the consensus to send the case over to our Municipal Court as a criminal matter.  You see, we are already sending business over to Judge Rohan.  While I would have preferred for the council to handle the issue, perhaps having an impartial judge might be the right thing to do.  It is certainly a risk for the alcohol license holder as the maximum penalty would be up to $1000 and/or 6 months in jail per offence (in this case we will be taking 3 offenses to the courts, not an April Fools joke).

Now we have to wait and see what precedent the court establishes for these types of issues.     

There are a couple of obvious areas where the government can help: 1- education and 2- infrastructure. Mr. Norton mentioned several times that the real estate markets looked a lot better in areas with strong elementary schools. Since I am not running for the school board, I will pass on this, other than to say as parents and citizens we need to support our local schools and neighborhood kids. Infrastructure, however, is something that government can do to help. It is not just about building and maintaining roads, it is as much about keeping the cost of utilities at competitive rates. 

As an example, in Flowery Branch we are looking at ways to reduce the sewer fees on our businesses that came as a result of unfunded mandates. Hall County needs to look at ways to reduce the operational costs of our sewer plant so that the rates can become more competitive. As it stands, the sewer rates in South Hall County are among the highest in Georgia*. 

If I learned anything today, it was that we are competing for business and growth. By maintaining a competitive edge, we can recover faster and stronger.

* based on the Georgia Environmental Facilities Study

The foundation of our campaign will be established on holding our leaders accountable for the promises they have made.   The broken commitments are too numerous to mention. Whether it is lower sewer rates, improved intersections, or new parks our leaders have an obligation to live up to their word.  I intend to base my campaign on restoring the trust and honoring the commitments.  So with that said, "Lutz Do It!". 

The commissioner may or may not run.  Kimbo Senter may or may not qualify.  There may or may not be others that jump into the race.  At this point, it is only speculation, maybe even disinformation.  The Boy Scout motto is to always be prepared.  I think that it is the best thing we can do in this case.  Prepare for everyone or no one to enter the race.  

On another note, the commission finally approved an ethics ordinance.  This has been going on since April 9, 2009 when Commissioner Bell motioned that the commission "should hereby adopt a resolution that would govern certain profitable relationships between government officials and that would require public disclosure..."  While that motion failed 2-3 with Commissioners Banks, Powell and Oliver voting against it, here we are almost a year later with a new ethics ordinance.  

Commissioner Bell went on to amend this ethics ordinance to remove a very narrow statute of limitations that would most certainly been exploited.  After all of this, I have to ask my Republican colleagues, why has the only Democrat on the commission been the driver of the Ethics ordinance? 

I guess that I should just be grateful that we have finally got to the end of the road.  Now, who wants to place the over/under on how long before the ethics ordinance is used.  

On another note, I met with Kim Jarrett today about an exciting opportunity in Flowery Branch as the National U18 team from England will be visiting Flowery Branch High School to take on the Georgia All Star team.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.playersforpeace.org.  Please come out to support our visitors.  This should be an exciting event.  

I have put up a fan page on Facebook.  Please stop by and join.

I believe that the change in trash service can be made at the same cost to the users.  This will allow the city to redirect resources to other areas that need attention.  This has been an issue for me since before I took my oath of office.  It finally looks like we are making some headway.  

The majority of the night was spent dealing with illegal alcohol sales to minors.  There were several gas stations that were caught in a sting and they had to appear before the commission.  I applaud the commission for taking a firm stand on the issue.  Alcohol sales to minors is a very severe violation. 

But the real fun started at the end of the meeting when Commissioner Bell all but painted Commissioner Banks in a corner to make a motion requesting a GBI investigation.  

It looks like the illegal payments made to Carlyle Cox (I am not using "alleged" because the Chairman admitted the amount was above what the charter allowed for him to sign) came from the sewer fund, but the "consulting" covered a wide variety of issues.  Once again the South Hall County sewer customers are stuck paying bills for projects in the other parts of the county.  This "consulting" gig has cost the sewer customers in South Hall an additional $21,600 on top of the wasted consultant money for the rate study that received 1 vote.  

Commissioner Banks has called for a G.B.I. investigation and forensic audit.  I would like to take it a step further, the F.B.I. has a division specifically designed to handle public corruption.  

"Public corruption is one of the FBI’s top investigative priorities—behind only terrorism, espionage, and cyber crimes. Why? Because of its impact on our democracy and national security. Public corruption can affect everything from how well our borders are secured and our neighborhoods protected…to verdicts handed down in courts…to the quality of our roads and schools. And it takes a significant toll on our pocketbooks, too, siphoning off tax dollars."

I know a couple of retired FBI guys, I will ask them for their thoughts.  

So, is Bobby Banks running for Steve Gailey's North Hall seat?  You would think so after hearing about how he is trying to get a 2nd library in North Hall county.  Bobby went up to Clermont to try and broker a deal.  However, at the work session, he was told by the Assistant County Administrator, Phil Sutton, that his plan would not work (based on the recent history of this commission, what are the odds of them doing it anyway?).  Commissioner Banks went on to say that the Spout Springs Library would not have happened on his watch.  I think what the commissioner is saying is that South Hall should have gotten half a library while North Hall should get 2.

Commissioner Banks, do you realize that the majority of the growth in this county has happened around Spout Springs road?  We have the 2 of the largest subdivisions, one of the largest churches, and one of the largest High schools in the county.   I would think that it would make sense to have the largest library as well.  

If you want to make some good will with North Hall, how about keeping the promise to Clermont by giving them their library.  And while you are at it how about keeping your promises to South Hall county by giving us our park and paying off the sewer debt with SPLOST.  This is what was promised to the citizens of the county, now we need someone that will keep the commission to their word.  

If you are wondering where you have heard the name of the consultant, Carlyle Cox, you may remember that he was the member of the Library board that motioned to build the Clermont Library in a central location.   

The are a lot of bad things here, but the Chairman admitted that this came out due to an open records request.  To me that is implying that he wouldn't have said anything unless it was uncovered.  

So it comes down to what the rest of the commissioners decide to do.  They can leave the Chairman hanging in the wind or they can legitimize his inappropriate actions by voting to approve the consultant's contract.   

After the library vote, I heard the rumblings of a recall.  Now that there has been a violation of the charter, there may be legal action.  If the other commissioners choose to legitimize the contract by voting to approve it, maybe they should all be recalled. 

The city has mandated that everyone take the trash service or else... but they have never made it part of our taxes.  The time has come to reformat our trash ordinance to make it a non exclusive franchise.  The city would still have the bargaining power, but the service should be voluntary.  

At the Flowery Branch retreat, we spent 6 hours discussing, debating, and agreeing on a lot of things, while still disagreeing on a few items.  We started to work on priorities for the year and the future.  There are a lot of things that we still need to get done in the city in the very near future: 1- modify our trash ordinance, 2- come up with fair water and sewer rate plans, and 3- modifications to our zoning code that would help eliminate the confusion we had with the McEver annexations.  

There was good news and bad news on the budget front: the bad news is that SPLOST is coming up short which will jeopardize the capital improvements we have planned for the future; but the good news is that our current budget was in good enough shape that we were able to lift the furloughs on our employees.  

Lifting the furloughs was an important priority for the safety of the citizens.  A large part of the labor budget is the police force and the furloughs made scheduling and coverage difficult.  I am hoping that the budget next year will allow us to continue without having to reinstall the furlough program.   

The people of Clermont were promised a new library just like the people of South Hall were promised a new park.  The promises to get the votes are now replaced with, "nothing was in writing".  1843 votes were the difference between SPLOST VI passing or failing.  Some counties are finding that they are no longer able to pass a SPLOST because they have abused the trust of the voters (see Fayette county).

I am going to give commissioner Ashley Bell a pass on this since he did not come into office until after the SPLOST referendum was set.  That leaves 3 commissioners that went back on a promise to the people.  

My question, how many of those 1843 vote have you lost since last March? 

When you look at the facts concerning the library at Clermont, it sure looks similar to the DICKEY et al. v. STOREY et al. case in Floyd county.  The land in Clermont was purchased with SPLOST V funds.  Now by moving the library, the funds spent to buy the property in Clermont become wasted taxpayer dollars.  Clermont, I am not a lawyer, but it looks to me like you have a case.  If elected and you can get a restraining order on building the library until I take office, I will vote to right the injustice that occurred tonight.    

Sheriff Chronic gave a very nice update on the state of Hall County from a law enforcement and safety perspective.  Then Lee Hawkins provided an update on his campaign with his campaign chairman, Phil Niekro, throwing some nice kudos towards Flowery Branch.  

It was a crowded room as there were candidates and/or representatives from campaigns at all levels from U.S. Congress down to County Commission.  It is always nice seeing people who earnestly want to serve the community.  

The new candidate in the county commission race, Kimbo Senter, joined the incumbent, Bobby Banks, in the audience.  Neither one offered comments to the council, however, Kimbo did post that he "strongly disagree(s) with the decision to rezone an area amongst many homes and neighborhoods to light industrial. As your next commissioner, I will make sure the taxpayer is recognized and listened to."

If Kimbo is implying that the council did not recognize or listen to the taxpayer, he is as naive as he is inexperienced.  The council and staff worked with the residents in the area and the taxpaying owners of the annexed properties.  I took meetings with many of the concerned citizens (some I hope to call friends and supporters) and returned all e-mails and telephone calls.  The council worked as the arbitrator between the parties and hammered out an agreement that protects the area property owners.  

John Adams, our 2nd President and a framer of the Constitution, said; 

The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it anarchy and tyranny commence. If “Thou shalt not covet,” and “Thou shalt not steal,” were not commandments of heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free. 

Property is surely a right of mankind, as really as liberty. 

James Madison, our 4th President and a framer of the Constitution, said; 

Government is instituted to protect property of every sort; as well that which lies in the various rights of individuals, as that which the term particularly expresses. This being the end of government, that alone is a just government, which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.

Kimbo, if you are going to serve the people, you have to serve them all.  That means you have to demonstrate the actions the Flowery Branch City Council demonstrated over the past several weeks by working with all the citizens.  

I wish I could have gotten the call.  Probably the most surreal day in recent memory came when I saw my name on a ballot.  Getting a call to see if I "approve" of myself would have rated right up there.  Anyway, I hope the candidate that paid for the survey got the answer they wanted.  If it makes you feel any better, I think my friend said they were undecided.  

"South Hall still unhappy about sewer rates"

After spending $90k on a sewer study that got a total of 1 vote (Chairman Oliver), I think all of Hall County should be unhappy.  Chairman Tom Oliver is quoted as saying, "There’s no way we’re going to be able to make Sterling, Reunion and everybody happy"; how about starting by taking care of the taxpayers money.  

Hiring a rate consultant is not uncommon.  In fact, at the Flowery Branch City Council meeting this Thursday, we will be voting on a contract for a rate consultant for our sewer rates.  I guess that our consultant wouldn't be as good as the consultant that the county uses because ours looks to cost only $3,700.

This is an appalling amount of money to spend.  At $90k per vote, do we now spend $270k to get a fair sewer rate? 

The entry of Kimbo has the rumor mill stirring; no, I am not dropping out of the race; as for the other rumors I have heard since last night all I can say is ask Kimbo and ask Commissioner Banks. 

This is looking like it is going to be a fun race.  Good luck everyone!

The sudden decision by the Chairman to move the library promised to the city of Clermont was a shock.  While it is an interesting concept, I agree with Commissioner Gailey who used this as an example as to why we do not trust our elected officials.  Take the South Hall County voter; we voted for 2 things in SPLOST: sewer and a park.  

On page 8 of the SPLOST information packet, you can see where the allocation for community parks development in North & South Hall was $ 11.0 M.  The Gainesville Times reported that the "park (North Hall) will likely cost $12 million, paid for using $11 million of SPLOST VI funding reserved for a North Hall park."  Uh wait, what is left over to be used for the South Hall park?  

On page 11 of the SPLOST information packet, $53m was set aside for Sewer construction projects and Sewer infrastructure expansion – water line extensions and payment of bonds, to include: North Hall/SR 365 Corridor Sanitary Sewer, Sewer Capacity Expansion for SR 365, 1.5mgd – Mulberry Creek Sewer extensions, reuse lines & debt repayment, Spout Springs Water Reclamation Plant, and Other sewer/water improvements.  However, when we look at what they plan to spend, it looks like they just plan to service the debt on the system for the next 6 years leaving over $25m in debt after the SPLOST has expired.  

It isn't about change, it is about direction! 

A couple of people were on probation because they couldn't pay a fine; I guess they didn't know that when you go to your probation officer, they can ask you for a drug test.  Oops.  Now they get to spend a couple of nights in Gainesville on the taxpayers dime.  

I have a few more meetings this week with other citizen groups.  I think we are starting to find some areas of compromise and I continue to look forward to working with the home owners in the South Hall area.  

There are basically 3 items that make up the rates for any utility: 1- operating costs, 2- debt service, and 3- capital improvements.  The commission reduced the debt service by using SPLOST dollars to make the debt service payment on the $30+m sewer line back up to Gainesville.  However, I feel mislead in the use of the SPLOST dollars because I now find that they are only making the payments on the debt.  That means in 6 years when SPLOST has expired, we are back where we started.  Talk about kicking the can down the road. 

The other issue is the operating costs of over $780k per year.  I figure that cost to be at least $200k per year more than it should be.  That alone would reduce the rates by another $10 per month.  

So here we are 1 year later and it seems like we are back to square 1. 

It took the commissioner 78 days to direct a staff person to send a fax to our staff person requesting that we postpone a public hearing; a public hearing that was advertised in the paper and where the city took the expense to mail out letters to over 300 residents in the area.  The county couldn't even make the effort to express what their concerns may be to the council or to propose a course of action.  

As the white knight rode into the council meeting to save the day, he did not ask to speak to the council, nor did he sign up for comment; instead he sat there and listened to the majority of the citizens agree with the city that they did not want the quality of structure the county would allow (i.e. the dollar store on Atlanta Highway) in that area.  Then when it was all said and done, he followed the reporters out of the meeting to ensure that he got his quotes on how the city was bashing the county.  The most improbable quote from the commissioner had to be, "you don’t belong here you don’t live in Flowery Branch go home".  

Unlike the county that never lifted a finger until it was too late, the city's staff has been working for months with the community on their concerns.  If you want to see community service, watch the City of Flowery Branch in the next couple of weeks as we work with the community to improve South Hall County.  

The people that spoke out against the annexation and rezoning can be classified into 3 basic groups: 1- those that did not want anything built, 2- those that were misinformed about the type of rezoning, and 3- those who didn't care as long as they don't see it, hear it, or smell it.  

The first group of people just don't want anything to be built.  They spoke out against residential in 2004, and against highway business and light industrial now.  They moved to the area and would now like the government to prevent a landowner from exercising their land use rights.  All I can offer to that group is to let them know that the property is for sale.  If you would like to buy it, the government will not force you to build on it.  I should mention, however, that once it is rezoned, the property taxes will increase because M-1 and HB are more valuable than agricultural.   

The second group is a little difficult because there are some underlying issues and I think the message got lost.  To this group I would like to say that while I tried to delay the rezoning, we still have time.  Please feel free to contact me or the City Staff to learn more about the land uses prohibited in the zoning application.  I think when you line it up to the county uses, you will find that we have essentially created a light industrial area.  

To the last group, please know that I will be working with our staff over the next couple of weeks to mitigate the impacts on the area by applying conditions requiring offsets and buffers.  Our current zoning codes offer a lot of protection, but I will work to try and make the impact as minimal as possible. 

Over the past several weeks, I have received a lot of calls on this issue.  The vast majority of people know that I am running for County Commission.  I think some see this as a litmus test on the type of commissioner I would become.  I can say this, I hope this vote shows that I am pro quality growth; I would like more time to communicate the message; and I am willing to make the hard decisions, even if it has a political cost.  I think Commissioner Banks may have been right when he said after the meeting that he got more votes tonight than I did.  While that may be the case, at least I was willing to take action.  More to come.... 

In other news, I have been talking with Hall County about the operating costs for the sewer plant on Spout Springs.  If we can lower the cost, then we can keep the sewer rates down.  I talked to our city manager about the possibility of Flowery Branch operating the plant.  We feel that if Flowery Branch were to operate the plant, then we can reduce the cost by a third.  

It sounds like we may be getting some traction on lowering the operating costs.  I was told that Hall County will issue a RFP (Request for Proposal) by September.  Since it will cost the City between $3-5k to put together a proposal, I insisted that the RFP be issued.  Unfortunately, the RFP will be issued to late to impact the inevitable rate increase that we will see in a month or so.

As Paul's website, www.hccfeg.org/study, points out, home values have plummeted in Hall County over the past several years.  We need to ensure that everyone is paying the correct amount of property tax based on the law.  We also need to assure the citizens of the County that people working for the county are acting with the utmost integrity and ethical standards. 

Good luck Paul, I will be pulling for you. 

I knew from the James Mills / Dr. Chris Strickland campaign in '08 that someone from the left would point out that my kids do not attend Hall County schools.  At this time, it is true.  My girls are blessed to be able to attend the same school where my wife teaches.  Since her school system and the Hall County school system are on different schedules, it only makes sense that they go to elementary school with my wife.  That way when my wife works, we do not have to worry about the kids being home alone.  I would think the taxpayers in Hall County would be happy that I am saving us about $85k in educational expenses over the time my girls are in another school system.  

And just for your information, I am employed by AT&T and my wife is a Gwinnett County school teacher.   I don't know what kind of benefits a Hall County commissioner gets, but it can't be better than what I have now; and based on the qualifying fee, there can't be much of a paycheck in this gig.  

As I have said to anyone that asks, I believe I can help.  If the voters don't think so, then I will continue on with life.  As far as my "chances".... I believe that by running, we will have a better commissioner in South Hall county.  If I lose, then the winner will either adopt the planks in my platform or the voters will decide that it isn't important.  Either way, we get a better, more accountable commissioner in the future.  However, if you want to bet against me, I am sure the others will accept your donations to their campaigns.  

Probably the most important item to be addressed in a campaign is who can help manage the organization allowing the candidate, me, to campaign.  The Campaign Manager has to know the election strategy, act as a sounding board for the candidate, and coordinate the organizational aspects of the campaign.  Today, I was blessed to have someone that I truly respect offer to take on this roll.  Kerry Cook who served as the Republican District 1 vice chair from 2004-2005 and the Hall County Republican chairman from 2005-2006 has offered to take on this challenging role.  He is my number 1 draft choice and I am so glad that he will be on the team.  

Kerry Cook is a well respected member of the party, a terrific advisor and a friend.  I am proud to have him serve beside me for the next 6 to 9 months as we take our message on the road in South Hall County.  

Mayor, Council and Citizens, 

Last Friday, Council member Fetterman and I met with the Hall County Chairman, Mr. Andrew and the county manager. The purpose of the meeting was to see if we could get some assistance with the Spring Street culvert that was washed out on December 9. This was a last hope measure after we received word that the bureaucracy involved with any state assistance proved to be more of a hindrance than help. Going into the meeting my thought was that the citizens of Flowery Branch were also county taxpayers. I was hoping to find some relief to the 10% budget hit the city will take. Any assistance would prevent us from pushing out desperately needed projects until future budget years. The money that we are using to repair the culvert was earmarked to replace a police car and fix other transportation issues in the city. 

Unfortunately, all we could come back to this council with is the promise of a cooperative meeting between the state, county and city. I have copied the letter of commitment and passed it out to the council members. 

Then yesterday, several members of the community were invited to attend a briefing on the South Hall sewer rate study. While the study seems to be fair, it highlights that there are long term issues with the rate structure that if left alone will come back to hurt the sewer users financially in just a couple of years. 

The fundamental problems that lead to the lack of funds to assist our community with the culvert and to the sewer issues are both founded on issues that could have been resolved with conservative thought and action. As members of government, we have a fiduciary duty in how we expend the taxes that are collected. It seems that when times were good our county over spent. While that mistake is in the past, I feel that we are further compounding the issues by poor project prioritization like parks being prioritized over roads. Yes, parks are a good thing to have in the community, but if there are no roads to get you there, then what good to they serve? Roads are also the lifeblood of development and jobs, both of which are in short supply at the moment. With time to reflect on these thoughts, I believe that our issues in this county have less to do with change, but more to do with direction and vision. 

With this in mind and after talking with my family and friends, I have come to the conclusion that the only way to correct our course is to become more involved at the county level. Therefore, I would like to declare my intent to run for County Commission, post 1, this year. 

In moving forward with my campaign I want to assure the citizens of Flowery Branch that if a special election is needed to fill my seat, I will pay for it. I also want to say that while there is still business to conduct here in Flowery Branch, it is my hope that the voters of South Hall County will agree that I can help more if I were allowed to represent the community at the county level. I believe that I can help bring peace and cooperation between the county and municipalities. Through a cooperative effort, I believe that we can get the county back on the right track.

Yes, as reported Council member Fetterman was the 1st person to endorse me.  Thanks to everyone that was there to share the moment.  

This afternoon, I met with Commissioner Banks, Hall County Staff and several residents from Deaton Creek, Reunion and Sterling on the Lake to discuss the proposed sewer rates and study.  The major revelation for me occurred when we were told that the current SPLOST is only paying for the debt service on the $34m line to Gainesville.  If we do not renew the SPLOST in 6 years, we will be sunk.   

Good luck in what ever you decide to do in the future.  

The Chairman also mentioned that he wanted to get the cities together to discuss the collection of sales tax.  He said that the county has been working with the department of revenue and turned up several issues that could be costing the county and municipalities as much as 30% of revenue.  Interesting.  The meeting is scheduled for next week.  

Former Council member Ed Lezaj approached the council to remind is that even though 4 of us are from one neighborhood, we represent everyone in the city.  Mr. Lezaj should command a lot of respect from the council because as he said this was once a dysfunctional council and there were times when there was heavy representation from one area.  

As normal, I have archived my blogs to make them faster to load.  The old blog can be found here.