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Columns
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, June 01 2009 11:36 |
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columns > Cultural Musings > content goes here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque vulputate, magna et mollis ultricies, diam enim condimentum tellus, non luctus velit erat sit amet justo. Cras accumsan rhoncus urna eu placerat.
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Written by Meg Evans
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Tuesday, April 21 2009 11:25 |
I remember this playful question from my “growing up” days: “Who do you think you are - The Queen of Sheba?” I have been reading recently about the Queen of Sheba. The primary reference to this ancient queen is contained in First Kings. The passage in Kings is copied, then, into the Book of Second Chronicles.
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2011 MACON COUNCIL RACE STARTS. SORT OF. |
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Written by Mike Donila
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Friday, August 28 2009 11:09 |
After meeting with Mayor Robert Reichert, president of the local NAACP Al Tillman said he wants to see a new City Council in place, one - in his words - that will work better with the mayor.
Tillman particularly said he wants to focus on creating a younger City Council, mentioning former 11th Hour Editor Chris Horne as one of his choices.
“Even with the new council members who came in, we still have the same issues,” said Tillman, who added he hasn’t ruled out again running for a seat.
One of the area’s top ranking members of the NAACP said the younger crowd faces a double standard when running for office and it’s not fair. He said local politicians turn to the younger crowd, including students and small business owners, whenever they want to organize special events like music attractions, and that the “young minds in our community always seem to get along.”
“They all come together and if they can get on the council, then I think they can make it work,” Tillman said.
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A New Column By Nancy White |
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Written by Nancy White
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:53 |
Last February local community leaders converged at Lake Blackshear for a two-day retreat. Our host was Commission Chair Sam Hart. The Peyton Anderson Foundation funded this brainstorming and strategic planning event. Civic and business leaders out numbered office holders, and there was strong diversity.
Two remarks made there that have stuck with me. I don’t remember who said them. Maybe Brad Evans does, since he attended. Here they are, paraphrased. First, no one over 50 should hold office (I think that was the age; but regardless the point was we need younger folks in office). Second, elected folks aren’t the leaders – we are.
The substance of those remarks, I believe, defines the readership of The 11th Hour. For the most, you are younger than those in elected office. You are energetic and engaged in Macon’s economic and political landscape. Your presence was strong in Council Chambers during debates on panhandling, the hotel, massage parlors, animal euthanasia, and the $1.5 million grant, to mention a few. Then there’s Bragg Jam, Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, College Hill Corridor, downtown revitalization … the list is endless.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:33 |
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CITY TO BORROW MONEY FROM ITS RESERVES
It’s practically become a rite of summer passage for Macon: borrowing money.
At least time, the green comes from within.
The City Council has agreed to a request by Mayor Robert Reichert to use reserve money to pay the bills and city employee salaries through mid-October.
The mayor’s director of external affairs Andrew Blascovich said he expects that the city will need to borrow about a third (roughly $2-million) from its $6-million rainy day fund to make it through early fall.
However, he said, the plan is better than taking out a tax anticipation note, or TAN, from a bank (something the city had to do from 2004 through 2007) because it would have to also pay back interest rates.
“This will get us through while we’re waiting on (a $5.5-million insurance premium check and) property taxes to come in,” he said.
Although the City Council typically has been reluctant to let loose of Macon’s purse strings, members felt if they didn’t go along with the plan, the city could still pay the bills, but just not on time.
“I think that’s important,” said Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, a member of the city’s appropriations committee, which passed the plan along to a full council. “We certainly don’t want to downplay what’s happening and we want to make sure everybody knows the status of city finances.”
Lucas said she initially wasn’t in favor of using the fund and “still has concerns”, but said as long as the administration meets with the committee and presents accurate monthly reports on where the money is going, she’ll be satisfied.
Said City Council President Miriam Paris: “We were pretty pleased that we could borrow money from ourselves instead of an outside entity, and that we have the insurance reimbursement coming back in a timely fashion. It’s not like we don’t see ourselves paying it back.”
I hope so. Taxpayers will be watching.
Because as Paris added: “Right now every dimes counts.”
FEDERAL FUND TO BLOSTER MACON’S POLICE FORCE
With crime being the way it is (bad), the city has received some good news from the White House.
Macon, which applied for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this spring, will receive $1.7-million to increase its police force by 14, said city spokesman Andrew Blascovich, adding that the city initially asked to fund 16 new officers.
“We didn’t do too bad,” he said. “The federal government will provide the money for three years and we have to then provide the money for a fourth year, but with that length of time, we’ll be able to manage it.”
He said the sworn officers will start out on patrol, like all new officers, before getting promoted to higher rankings if they earn them.
According to the Macon Police Department’s Web site, the city has an “authorized strength” of 305 sworn officers and 108 civilian employees.
“Any time you are able to increase a police presence in areas that are perceived as needing additional officers, then I think that’s a good thing,” said Councilman Larry Schlesinger, a member of the city‘s public safety committee. “According to statistics, crime is actually down but the perception is that it’s up and in some quarters, running rampant, so anything we can do to address the problems and the perception is to our advantage.”
Uh, crime is actually up in some areas, but anyway.
The Recovery Act will provide $1-billion in grants to hire and keep law enforcement officers across the country, according to a White House news release. The idea is to save and create jobs and allow “every American family to live a better life than the one they are leading now.”
In the release, Attorney General Eric Holder said the thousands of requests made for the money is “indicative of both the tough times our states, cities and tribes are facing and the unyielding commitment by law enforcement to making our communities safer.”
Er, tribes?
Anyway, he added that the money focuses on “hiring officers who will be on the streets, in our neighborhoods, and on the front lines of our fight to keep the . . . people safe.”
COUNTY CUTS MEDICAL CENTER FUNDING
Bibb County commissioners cut almost $3-million in funding for The Medical Center of Central Georgia, and the hospital’s CEO said he is disappointed that the local leaders do “not recognize the needs of these patients and the critical role they play in serving them.”
CEO Don Faulk added that the cuts will “negatively impact their well being, physically and financially, (and) the entire county and its economy.”
But, he said, the plan is not to shift “these costs to the backs of patients everywhere.”
The center usually receives money from the county to combat the costs of treating uninsured residents and indigent patients. This year, the county budgeted $1-million for the center, which is down from last year’s $3.9-million.
Faulk said to offset the costs he is soliciting ideas from management staff and reviewing options for serving all the hospital’s patents.
Last year, the center cut more than 200 employees, and when asked if it would see similar slashes, he said “there have been no decisions made but the county, (with) their cuts, are telling us to do that - cut serves, expenses and jobs.”
He said he expects to know more within 60 days.
County leaders have suggested that the hospital, which employs about 4,700 people and has an annual net revenue of $639-million, dip into its reserves to make up for the loss.
However, Faulk said the roughly $400-million in reserves is typically used as an insurance against catastrophic changes and events, as well as, temporary issues.
“We have no indication this county cut is temporary,” he said. “Using reserves for strained operations is a strategy for failure.”
He also said he’d like to meet with commissioners to plead his case.
However, it doesn’t appear county leaders will budge.
Bibb County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Joe Allen said hospital representatives can meet with the commissioners all they want, but “they’ve got a lot more money than the county does.”
He said no county employees received raises this year except for Lake Tobesofkee lifeguards and that the budget is already cut to the bone.
“I know health care is a major issue, but Don Faulk and the medical center are not the only issues on the table,” Allen said. “We’ve got libraries, the jail and there’s talk about closing the halls of fame. We can’t even get the grass cut in Macon and Bibb County, and they want to come talk to us?”
He even issued a challenge to medical center leaders, saying that if they took a pay cut, then he’d introduce a resolution, asking that county commissioners take a percentage cut that equals the medical center’s cut.
“You send the people down here enough and it doesn’t intimidate me,” Allen said. “All it does is make me mad.”
TELEGRAPH NEW COURTHOUSE? PROBABLY NOT
Bibb County Commissioners have added The Telegraph as a potential site for a new courthouse, but a majority of the five-member board don’t see it actually getting selected.
In fact, Commissioners Elmo Richardson and Lonzy Edwards actually voted against adding it to the list. But board Vice Chairman Joe Allen, who is also against the site, agreed to put it on the list, which needs four sites and had only three.
Already commissioners are looking at the following sites: the parking lot on the corner of Mulberry Street and First Street, land on Oglethorpe Street by the jail and Mulberry Street’s BB&T building.
Right now a needs assessment study and site evaluation is being conducted by Atlanta-based Cooper Carry and Macon’s Brittain, Thompson, Bray, Brown, Inc. because Bibb County Superior Court judges issued an order to provide a new facility, since studies show the courthouse more than likely has outgrown its 601 Mulberry St. location.
The Telegraph reported that it wants to sell its 4 acre Broadway location to the county for $2.1-million, although some commissioners are wary because of possible environmental concerns.
“I’m not in favor of it, but I felt we had the responsibility to look at all facilities,” Allen said. “I’m still sold on the BB&T location, but I couldn’t in good conscious not want them to have the opportunity to sell their property.”
The county is expected to know more about a possible new location in the next few months. If Bibb needs to build a new courthouse, it could cost the county $100-million and require approval from voters in the form of an additional penny sales tax.
GEORGIA MUSIC HALL OF FAME GETS SOME NEW MONEY
Well, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame received some money as a show of faith to the state that local government is willing to support the institution.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to take $20,000 from the hotel/motel tax revenues and apply it to the hall. The money initially was set aside for Lake Tobesofkee, board Vice Chairman Joe Allen said.
Las year the county budgeted $269,000 for the campsite and park’s overall $2 million spending plan.
“We had to do it or we would have lost the hall of fame,” Allen said.
Well, you still might.
FREE MONEY AND IT TOOK TWO MEETINGS TO MAYBE GET IT
For a group of city leaders complaining about little or no finances, it’s almost ridiculous to turn down the possibility of free money.
But that’s what some did when they voted against a $1.5-million housing development grant that would allow the North Carolina-based Landmark Group to build lofts in the old Atlantic Cotton Mills behind the Kroger on Pio Nono.
Then, they came to their senses. And during a second meeting in late July the council finally agreed to let the city apply for the federal money.
Initially, Council members James Timley, Ed Defore, Elaine Lucas, Lonnie Miley and Mike Cranford rejected the proposal. When the council met again, only Timley didn’t vote for it.
The dissenting members said they felt the grant should be used for Village Green, which is blighted and filled with crime. And maybe it can, since it’s actually a revolving loan. You see, the money goes to the developer and then the developer pays the city back once the project is complete. Then the money is funneled into another project.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:27 |
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CITY TO BORROW MONEY FROM ITS RESERVES
It’s practically become a rite of summer passage for Macon: borrowing money.
At least time, the green comes from within.
The City Council has agreed to a request by Mayor Robert Reichert to use reserve money to pay the bills and city employee salaries through mid-October.
The mayor’s director of external affairs Andrew Blascovich said he expects that the city will need to borrow about a third (roughly $2-million) from its $6-million rainy day fund to make it through early fall.
However, he said, the plan is better than taking out a tax anticipation note, or TAN, from a bank (something the city had to do from 2004 through 2007) because it would have to also pay back interest rates.
“This will get us through while we’re waiting on (a $5.5-million insurance premium check and) property taxes to come in,” he said.
Although the City Council typically has been reluctant to let loose of Macon’s purse strings, members felt if they didn’t go along with the plan, the city could still pay the bills, but just not on time.
“I think that’s important,” said Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, a member of the city’s appropriations committee, which passed the plan along to a full council. “We certainly don’t want to downplay what’s happening and we want to make sure everybody knows the status of city finances.”
Lucas said she initially wasn’t in favor of using the fund and “still has concerns”, but said as long as the administration meets with the committee and presents accurate monthly reports on where the money is going, she’ll be satisfied.
Said City Council President Miriam Paris: “We were pretty pleased that we could borrow money from ourselves instead of an outside entity, and that we have the insurance reimbursement coming back in a timely fashion. It’s not like we don’t see ourselves paying it back.”
I hope so. Taxpayers will be watching.
Because as Paris added: “Right now every dimes counts.”
FEDERAL FUND TO BLOSTER MACON’S POLICE FORCE
With crime being the way it is (bad), the city has received some good news from the White House.
Macon, which applied for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this spring, will receive $1.7-million to increase its police force by 14, said city spokesman Andrew Blascovich, adding that the city initially asked to fund 16 new officers.
“We didn’t do too bad,” he said. “The federal government will provide the money for three years and we have to then provide the money for a fourth year, but with that length of time, we’ll be able to manage it.”
He said the sworn officers will start out on patrol, like all new officers, before getting promoted to higher rankings if they earn them.
According to the Macon Police Department’s Web site, the city has an “authorized strength” of 305 sworn officers and 108 civilian employees.
“Any time you are able to increase a police presence in areas that are perceived as needing additional officers, then I think that’s a good thing,” said Councilman Larry Schlesinger, a member of the city‘s public safety committee. “According to statistics, crime is actually down but the perception is that it’s up and in some quarters, running rampant, so anything we can do to address the problems and the perception is to our advantage.”
Uh, crime is actually up in some areas, but anyway.
The Recovery Act will provide $1-billion in grants to hire and keep law enforcement officers across the country, according to a White House news release. The idea is to save and create jobs and allow “every American family to live a better life than the one they are leading now.”
In the release, Attorney General Eric Holder said the thousands of requests made for the money is “indicative of both the tough times our states, cities and tribes are facing and the unyielding commitment by law enforcement to making our communities safer.”
Er, tribes?
Anyway, he added that the money focuses on “hiring officers who will be on the streets, in our neighborhoods, and on the front lines of our fight to keep the . . . people safe.”
COUNTY CUTS MEDICAL CENTER FUNDING
Bibb County commissioners cut almost $3-million in funding for The Medical Center of Central Georgia, and the hospital’s CEO said he is disappointed that the local leaders do “not recognize the needs of these patients and the critical role they play in serving them.”
CEO Don Faulk added that the cuts will “negatively impact their well being, physically and financially, (and) the entire county and its economy.”
But, he said, the plan is not to shift “these costs to the backs of patients everywhere.”
The center usually receives money from the county to combat the costs of treating uninsured residents and indigent patients. This year, the county budgeted $1-million for the center, which is down from last year’s $3.9-million.
Faulk said to offset the costs he is soliciting ideas from management staff and reviewing options for serving all the hospital’s patents.
Last year, the center cut more than 200 employees, and when asked if it would see similar slashes, he said “there have been no decisions made but the county, (with) their cuts, are telling us to do that - cut serves, expenses and jobs.”
He said he expects to know more within 60 days.
County leaders have suggested that the hospital, which employs about 4,700 people and has an annual net revenue of $639-million, dip into its reserves to make up for the loss.
However, Faulk said the roughly $400-million in reserves is typically used as an insurance against catastrophic changes and events, as well as, temporary issues.
“We have no indication this county cut is temporary,” he said. “Using reserves for strained operations is a strategy for failure.”
He also said he’d like to meet with commissioners to plead his case.
However, it doesn’t appear county leaders will budge.
Bibb County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Joe Allen said hospital representatives can meet with the commissioners all they want, but “they’ve got a lot more money than the county does.”
He said no county employees received raises this year except for Lake Tobesofkee lifeguards and that the budget is already cut to the bone.
“I know health care is a major issue, but Don Faulk and the medical center are not the only issues on the table,” Allen said. “We’ve got libraries, the jail and there’s talk about closing the halls of fame. We can’t even get the grass cut in Macon and Bibb County, and they want to come talk to us?”
He even issued a challenge to medical center leaders, saying that if they took a pay cut, then he’d introduce a resolution, asking that county commissioners take a percentage cut that equals the medical center’s cut.
“You send the people down here enough and it doesn’t intimidate me,” Allen said. “All it does is make me mad.”
TELEGRAPH NEW COURTHOUSE? PROBABLY NOT
Bibb County Commissioners have added The Telegraph as a potential site for a new courthouse, but a majority of the five-member board don’t see it actually getting selected.
In fact, Commissioners Elmo Richardson and Lonzy Edwards actually voted against adding it to the list. But board Vice Chairman Joe Allen, who is also against the site, agreed to put it on the list, which needs four sites and had only three.
Already commissioners are looking at the following sites: the parking lot on the corner of Mulberry Street and First Street, land on Oglethorpe Street by the jail and Mulberry Street’s BB&T building.
Right now a needs assessment study and site evaluation is being conducted by Atlanta-based Cooper Carry and Macon’s Brittain, Thompson, Bray, Brown, Inc. because Bibb County Superior Court judges issued an order to provide a new facility, since studies show the courthouse more than likely has outgrown its 601 Mulberry St. location.
The Telegraph reported that it wants to sell its 4 acre Broadway location to the county for $2.1-million, although some commissioners are wary because of possible environmental concerns.
“I’m not in favor of it, but I felt we had the responsibility to look at all facilities,” Allen said. “I’m still sold on the BB&T location, but I couldn’t in good conscious not want them to have the opportunity to sell their property.”
The county is expected to know more about a possible new location in the next few months. If Bibb needs to build a new courthouse, it could cost the county $100-million and require approval from voters in the form of an additional penny sales tax.
GEORGIA MUSIC HALL OF FAME GETS SOME NEW MONEY
Well, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame received some money as a show of faith to the state that local government is willing to support the institution.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to take $20,000 from the hotel/motel tax revenues and apply it to the hall. The money initially was set aside for Lake Tobesofkee, board Vice Chairman Joe Allen said.
Las year the county budgeted $269,000 for the campsite and park’s overall $2 million spending plan.
“We had to do it or we would have lost the hall of fame,” Allen said.
Well, you still might.
FREE MONEY AND IT TOOK TWO MEETINGS TO MAYBE GET IT
For a group of city leaders complaining about little or no finances, it’s almost ridiculous to turn down the possibility of free money.
But that’s what some did when they voted against a $1.5-million housing development grant that would allow the North Carolina-based Landmark Group to build lofts in the old Atlantic Cotton Mills behind the Kroger on Pio Nono.
Then, they came to their senses. And during a second meeting in late July the council finally agreed to let the city apply for the federal money.
Initially, Council members James Timley, Ed Defore, Elaine Lucas, Lonnie Miley and Mike Cranford rejected the proposal. When the council met again, only Timley didn’t vote for it.
The dissenting members said they felt the grant should be used for Village Green, which is blighted and filled with crime. And maybe it can, since it’s actually a revolving loan. You see, the money goes to the developer and then the developer pays the city back once the project is complete. Then the money is funneled into another project.
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Bragg Jam, Miriam Paris, and Paycuts |
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Written by Mike Donila
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Wednesday, July 22 2009 14:00 |
Bragg Jam Gets Booze in the Streets
Not that it was that big of a deal, Bragg Jam is about a lot more than booze, but our City Council saw fit to drag this out to the wire, ultimately rewriting the ordinance so that any event can apply for the restrictions on open container to be lifted. Not necessarily a bad thing, though they did make sure that the City took absolutely no responsibility for the fest, requiring all security costs, and clean-up costs to be reimbursed to the City. You’d like to see them meet festival producers halfway on this, but we could never expect this from the current administration. The Council Chambers were filled with Bragg Jam supporters though, hopefully a sign of how this weekend is going to go. I wonder if James Timely will come?
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Written by Mike Donila
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Thursday, June 25 2009 10:34 |
COLLEGE HILL CORRIDOR MONEY INFUSION
Macon will take a major step toward revitalizing College Hill with a new $5 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The grant includes $3 million to the Community Foundation of Central Georgia to fund residents’ best ideas for transforming the neighborhood, and $2 million to Mercer University to form the College Hill Alliance. Both programs are designed to reshape the city’s first neighborhoods into a vibrant college town connected by bike paths to the city’s downtown. Mercer President William D. Underwood made the announcement Monday at Mercer Village, the first retail district to be restored in the College Hill Corridor. “This substantial grant – the foundation’s largest single grant to date in Macon – will be a major catalyst for implementing the master plan, for funding creative, transformational ideas from residents and organizations in the Corridor and for attracting private and public financing that will allow realization of the College Hill vision,” said Underwood. The effort also aims to get residents involved in College Hill through an array of civic and cultural projects. Individuals or organizations can apply to the challenge, which will be administered by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia in cooperation with the College Hill Corridor Commission.
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Written by Mike DonilaGo
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Monday, May 18 2009 15:17 |
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Right about now you can hear the guttural screams wailing from deep inside the City Council’s meeting room.
It’s an animalistic sound, that begins deep inside their lungs.
Then it’s let loose and the barbed wire shrills tell you just how upset they really are.
You see the mayor and his administration put together a $112 million spending plan that calls for roughly 620 non-essential workers – meaning everyone but sworn police officers, firefighters and sanitation employees – to take a half-day off during every two-week pay period, the equivalent of 12 days during the upcoming fiscal year.
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Written by Bill Knowles
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Thursday, August 12 2010 09:19 |
Well, the primary election season is finally over and as I write this on Monday night before the runoff election all of the signs have been put out, all of the robodials have been placed (I got five today alone) and all the speeches by the candidates have been made in hopes of securing your vote for Governor, Insurance Commissioner, Public Service Commissioner, Attorney General and a host of other local and congressional races throughout Georgia.
Georgia is unique in her election process as we are the ONLY state in the union that provides for a “runoff” election. For those of you who really don’t understand it, the process is a simple one: If a candidate does not get 50.1 percent of the total popular vote during any primary election, the top two candidates face each other again three weeks later. I honestly think Georgia adopted this as a carryover from The War of Northern Aggression as a way for Georgians to show the rest of the country how stubborn and cantankerous we really are and even if we finish second in a fight, ie The Confederate States of America, we’ll still don our campaign buttons, put out even more signs for our candidate and say “Forget Hell!” if we lose.
That brings me to the point of this article. By the time you read this there will be many Republican voters’ feelings that will be hurt throughout Georgia because their candidate did not win a spot to run in November. There will be thoughts that they will have of not supporting a Republican candidate in November because a candidate isn’t “Conservative” enough or is “dishonest” or “unethical” or that the candidate was too negative in their campaign or not negative enough. People can find a bevy of different reasons not to support a candidate. (Believe me, as John McCain’s local campaign manager, I heard them all.) But does this dissention help our party? Absolutely not!
Let’s look at how infighting has “helped” the GOP over the last 40 years. In 1964, Barry Goldwater took the Republican nomination as Mr. Conservative, only to alienate the Liberal Rockefeller wing led by its’ namesake Nelson Rockefeller. Goldwater was able to carry the solid South and Arizona, his home state for a total of 52 electoral votes compared to LBJ who received 486. That worked well didn’t it?
Fast forward to 1976: Ronald Reagan did the almost impossible feat of wrestling a nomination from a sitting incumbent President, one Gerald R. Ford, who was considered moderate to liberal in his own right. Although Ronnie didn’t discourage them, if all of his loyal supporters would have worked for Ford as hard as they worked for Reagan, we would not have had the four yours of national malaise known as the Carter Administration.
We now move to 1992 as Republicans once again had a less than Conservative President in “no-new taxes” George the Elder Bush. A promise of a square deal by Ross Perot got us eight years of Bill Clinton.
Finally, we come to 2008 and the McCain candidacy. Republicans bellyached and moaned all the way to election day and the next thing we all know we were hearing “Hail to the Chief” being serenaded to the Obama’s with gold plated baroque trumpets as we all cried “What the hell happened?”
I can tell you what happened: We lost. We lost because we had a weak candidate that people were apathetic about and refused to rally around. We cannot allow that to happen in November.
The 2010 election offers Republicans a golden opportunity that we have never had before. It offers us a possible clean sweep of every major office in the state. Democrats Tommy Irvin and Thurbert Baker are out of office this year. Irvin, Georgia’s current Commissioner of Agriculture has finally retired, (Think about this: Lester Maddox was Governor when Irvin was first elected in 1968.) and Thurbert Baker, Georgia’s Attorney General since 1997 tilted at the Roy Barnes windmill and will not be returning either. It is entirely possible that Republicans can run the board if we unite behind our candidates by putting aside our differences and unite for one common goal: BEAT THE DEMOCRATS!
No one has traveled further than I have in between candidates. My candidate for Governor was soundly beaten and it is time to move on. While I did not agree with all of my candidates’ positions, my new candidate came closer to my values than the other candidate still standing. By the end of this week several of you will be wrestling with a decision that only you can make in support of a candidate you might not be totally in synch with. I humbly ask you to do what is right not only for the Republican Party but what is right for Georgia by supporting the candidate chosen by our party to run against the Democrats in November. If we don’t come together, we only have ourselves to blame. Let’s not squander this opportunity, AGAIN.
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Written by Rick Hutto
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:31 |
A Look at the City by Rick Hutto
After six years on City Council, I’m beginning to feel like those “veteran” members such as Ed DeFore who carry such a valuable store of institutional knowledge. Occasionally I even begin to mouth the words, “Back in my day…” or some other disturbing introduction to a tidbit of knowledge until I bite my tongue and swallow the temptation. I’m often asked how this Council differs from the last, and my answer is that, while half the members have changed, we still have workhorses and showhorses. I give the voting public enough credit to know which is which.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Wednesday, August 05 2009 13:35 |
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CITY TO BORROW MONEY FROM ITS RESERVES
It’s practically become a rite of summer passage for Macon: borrowing money.
At least time, the green comes from within.
The City Council has agreed to a request by Mayor Robert Reichert to use reserve money to pay the bills and city employee salaries through mid-October.
The mayor’s director of external affairs Andrew Blascovich said he expects that the city will need to borrow about a third (roughly $2-million) from its $6-million rainy day fund to make it through early fall.
However, he said, the plan is better than taking out a tax anticipation note, or TAN, from a bank (something the city had to do from 2004 through 2007) because it would have to also pay back interest rates.
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Written by Brad Evans
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Wednesday, July 08 2009 11:12 |
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Bragg Jam Ordinance Sent Back To Committee
A stir was caused this week at our local Public Safety Committee meeting when it was proposed to amend section 4-27(c)(5), chapter four, Article I of the Code of ordinances, “alcoholic beverages,” regarding First Friday Events to include Bragg Jam. What this meant was that our City Attorney recommended allowing patrons of Bragg Jam to walk around with open “designated containers” of alcohol during the event, much like patrons of First Friday can. Normally events can apply yearly, but this would allow Bragg Jam to remain on the books each year, and forgo the trouble of applying on a yearly basis, through different administrations etc. I mean hell, the festival has given over 70 grand to Friends of the Trail, to help maintain one of our cities greatest assets, this should be an easy sell right? Wrong. The Groucho Marx of city council, James Timely, stood on his soapbox for nearly fifteen minutes downing First Friday as “pandemonium” and said that this would only add to it. This is the same guy who wanted to call the National Guard into Macon back in January when there were a couple of shootings. How he has any credibility, I’ll never know, but when the measure came before full council this past Tuesday, Timely had rounded up the regular naysayers (Charles Jones and Elaine Lucas, ) who succeeded in making this small gesture , a huge issue. At a full council meeting on Tuesday, over 30 Bragg Jam supporters showed up in support of Macon’s only music festival. In a passionate speech before council, Bragg Jam board member, and local businessman James Weatherford said.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Tuesday, June 02 2009 08:51 |
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Almost every time Macon Mayor Robert Reichert dropped a financial reality bomb during his budget presentation, City Council members cringed. No, this isn’t the year they watched the paint on the walls dry. This isn’t the year they mumbled during the upcoming annual fiscal year speech. This isn’t the year they interrupted or asked pointed questions as they immediately disagreed with the administration’s proposals.
No, this is the year of the dog. Gone are the spendthrift ways of former mayor, C. Jack Ellis.Gone are most of the reserves he used to gain votes by paving sidewalks and giving employees – his voters – raises. And gone are his lame excuses. This is a new reality. And it’s a grim one.And unlike the past administrations, Reichert – although his voice shaky at times during his May 12 presentation – is ready to face them.
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An Open Letter to Congressman Barrow, Bishop and Marshall |
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Written by Bill Knowles
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Wednesday, August 25 2010 21:09 |
I am writing this open letter to you in hopes that you all will put aside partisan politics and take action to extend the tax cuts put in place by former President Bush. Inaction on your part will result in a mammoth tax increase on the American people that an already strained economy just can't stand. Let's look at some specifics:
1. Any private individual who collect dividends today gets 85 cents of every dollar. If these tax hikes are allowed to happen in 2011, that same dividend dollar will decrease to a little over 61 cents on the dollar and by 2013 because of the new Medicare tax it will further decrease to 58 cents. Wow! Maybe I'll sell all my stock if that happens. Holy crap Batman! If I sell my stock, see number 2.
2. I have to pay fifteen cents for every dollar of capital gains on my stock, if I were to sell today. If the tax hike goes through, I'll have to pay twenty cents in 2011 and 24 cents by 2013! Yeah...Let's stimulate the economy by taxing the overtaxed some more. That should work!
3. Since I can't collect dividends without paying half to Uncle Sam, and can't sell my stock and I can't sell my house or anything else of value without taking a hit, I guess I won't save any of my money by investing in sound companies on the stock exchange or in my savings account. I'll stuff the cash in coffee cans in my back yard. (My 17 year old Basset Hound Chester still patrols my backyard, so don't get any ideas. He's almost blind and can't hear, but if he get's a hold of you, he might gum you to death!)
4. Unemployment will probably go up even more. Small business, who are still the backbone of the United States economy, will most likely have to let go more people because of the higher taxes they'll have to incur. The Heritage Foundation has estimated that 270,000 more jobs will be lost in 2011 and by 2018 the total will climb to 413,000. In the Great Depression, "Hoovervilles", shanties of homeless people, sprung up across America. Will Obamaburgs be the latest fad beginning in January, 2011?
5. I might not need to worry about those dividends, however. If the tax increase occurs, I'm sure many of the companies will either do away with my dividends or severely decrease them. Look at history: In 2003 when the Bush Tax Cut went into effect, dividends from the top 500 S & P companies rose from $146 billion dollars to $172 billion. I'm no rocket scientist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. If the companies increased dividends when they got a tax DECREASE, they will decrease them if they get a tax INCREASE. Make sense? Simple concept isn't it?
6. Don't count on getting the senior citizen vote if you don't try to extend these tax cuts. Everyone knows that senior citizens get paid a lot of dividends in their retirement years. Do you think they'll be happy campers if they end up living in a camper down by the river? (I miss Chris Farley.)
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So Goes Bibb Schools, So Goes Bibb County |
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Written by Bill Knowles
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Thursday, July 29 2010 09:26 |
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“... in the recently released AYP only 14 of Bibb Counties 41 schools have made “adequate yearly progress” while most are instead labeled “needs improvement”, while our neighbor Houston County had 32 of 36 schools making AYP.
Finally, the Bibb County school board got something right when they voted 4-2 in favor of creating Bibb’s first Charter School, The Macon Academy of Excellence.”
In past columns, I have consistently been critical of most of the members, sans Board Chairman Gary Bechtel and on occasion Lynn Farmer, of the Bibb County Board of Education for their complete incompetence in how they have been managing arguably one of the worst school systems in the state. But I must give credit where credit is du: they finally got something right when they voted 4-2 in favor of creating Bibb County’s first charter school, The Macon Academy of Excellence. Great vote Chairman Bechtel and board members Tom Hudson, Tommy Barnes and Albert Abrams! My question is, and you know I would have some criticism, is why this wasn’t vote unanimous?
Two board members, Ella Carter and Susan Sipe, had to find flaws in this wonderful idea that so many other school systems have utilized. Carter said she voted against it because the school offered no transportation while Sipe used the excuse that she didn’t think the curriculum was “innovative enough”. Both of these members should excuse themselves from any further votes and resign as they are apparently not smart enough to realize that this school system needs help NOW; not six months from now, not ten years from now, but right NOW! I think when it comes right down to it, the real reason these nuts voted against a charter school can be found in the definition of what a charter school is, as defined by the Georgia Charter School Association which states a charter school “operates with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools.” In other words, Carter and Sipe want to be able to screw up the Macon Academy of Excellence like they’ve had a hand in screwing up the rest of the Bibb County School System.
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