Isakson out

by George Dienhart

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson will not be running to replace Sonny Perdue as Governor of Georgia. Many saw Isakson as the front-runner to replace Perdue in the 2010 election. Perdue is term-limited and cannot run for re-election. Isakson has stated he will run for re-election in the Senate instead.

 

Progress on the Waynesboro Nuclear Electric plant front

by George Dienhart

Georgia Power has received “self-build” no bids were received in relation to the proposed Waynesboro Nuclear plant. Georgia power was required by law to solicit such bids before proceeding with adding the 2 Westinghouse units to the Vogtle Plant. The reactors are expected ot provide 2200 MW of electricity for the State of Georgia.

 

Sex offender on the ballot in Newton County

by George Dienhart-

Unbelievable. Even worse, the Newton County GOP will not remove him from the ballot. Newton County GOP Chairman Steven Bray was quoted in the AJC as saying, “At this point, Mr. Gresham is a candidate having gone through the qualifying process and paid his fees. Each candidate is responsible for their knowledge of and compliance with the Georgia State Election Code. The Newton County Republican Party’s role in the qualifying process is to certify the candidate’s signatures on the documents and collect the qualifying fees.”

 I think that an exception can and should be made. This position will put children at risk. Legislation should be drawn up to forbid serial sex offenders from even being on the ballot. Ever. The law, as it currently exists, prohibits Gresham from running until 2010.  the fact that a man convicted of sodomizing a 14 year old can be on the ballot is embarrassment to the whole state of Georgia

 

Woe, thy name is Lithonia

by George Dienhart

From the AJC:

“The city council held off on measures setting rules for city bank deposits and on fuel purchases for city-owned vehicles as its regular meeting descended into familiar territory. A standing room only crowd witnessed the occasional shouting match, Mayor Joyce McKibben and council members interrupting each other and even a call for the mayor's resignation.”

So much for my plea for the politicians to put their constituents first…

Lithonia update.

by George Dienhart

People often laugh when I say small town politics can get ugly. Not just because local politics tend to attract those with big egos and small ideas, but also because it is at the local levels that politics has the most impact on out lives. If you live in Lithonia, it must be tough hearing your town dragged through the dirt on the news almost every night. Fortunately, the city may be making progress.

In review, these problems started when Mayor Joyce McKibben tried to fire the Police Chief, only to have the City Council reinstate him later that evening. These actions lead to Mayor McKibben’s supporters locking themselves in city hall.  In return, the city council changed the locks. See the big egos and small ideas?

There’s more. The City council will vote on 2 issues tonight: setting rules for city bank deposits and fuel purchases for city-owned vehicles. Seems like a good idea, right?  Not to Councilwoman Linda Pruett, who according to the Atlanta Constitution Journal, stated, "It seems to me that overall it gives more authority to the mayor than the charter allows."

This type of Infighting takes time. Time that should be spent on renewing and issuing business licenses. City Clerk Victoria Bateman told the AJC that licenses paid for in October have yet to be issued. That’s where local politics effects regular people. If the mayor and city council of Lithonia truly wish to serve their constituents, they will start to play nice with each other, and focus on actually running the city.

 

NIMBY's 1, Capitalism 0

by George Dienhart

Nimby means “Not in my back yard”. Local Duluth residents have apparently applied enough pressure to ensure that a Wal-Mart Supercenter will not be built in Duluth. Now Wal-mart will begin the process of finding enough land in a neighboring area to build their Supercenter, thereby depriving the city of Duluth of any associated tax receipts.

For now, there are already two Wal-Mart stores within six miles of the proposed location, in Duluth and neighboring Suwanee. My guess is Wal-Mart will target Suwanee for the Supercenter and close both regular Wal-Marts. Good luck finding a tenant for the Duluth Wal-Mart when that happens.

More good economic news.

by George Dienhart

The nation’s unemployment rate dropped last month. Wall Street was looking at an increase to 5.2%. In reality, the rate dropped to 5%. Construction jobs fell by 61k and the manufacturing sector fell by 46k. The good news is service sector jobs rose by over 90k and professional companies added 39k new jobs. The financial sector lost gained jobs for the first time in 9 months.

All this and economic growth last quarter- sounds like we might be coming out of the slowdown already. It certainly looks as though we may not be heading into a recession. We’ll see how the left spins this..

Quote of the day-

Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole “(Preserving water levels in Georgia will) "starve the Apalachicola River and Bay of freshwater flows needed to keep the ecosystems, species, and economy alive."

And not providing drinking water to Metro Atlanta doesn’t have the same effect in Georgia? Probobly a mute point as Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has said that the federal government will impose its own solution if necessary. Hey Dirk, maybe it’s time to make that call?

Give my regards to Broad Street...

by George Dienhart

Well not that Broad Street (I never liked McCartney that much anyway). I’m talking about Broad Street in Atlanta. I received this from the Georgia Public Policy Foundation today:

Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2008
Contact Benita Dodd (404) 256-4050

DOT Commissioner Abraham Keynotes 'State
Of the State DOT,' a Policy Briefing Luncheon

Atlanta - Funding challenges, inefficiency, bureaucracy and mismanagement: For Dr. Gena Abraham, who took the reins as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation amid controversy just four months ago, it's the second time around dealing with a government agency that "needs improvement."

The Georgia Department of Transportation's 14th Commissioner and the first woman to hold the state's top transportation post is tasked with overseeing 5,800 employees statewide, more than 9,000 projects and an annual budget of more than $2 billion. Georgia's transportation woes have brought the Department under close scrutiny of the Legislature, the Governor, Georgia's taxpayers and soon, judging by the headlines, the federal government.

Register for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation's noon Policy Briefing Luncheon on Tuesday, May 13, at Atlanta's Commerce Club to hear Commissioner Abraham talk about "The State of the State DOT."

Dr. Abraham became Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation in December 2007. Before that, she was appointed by Governor Sonny Perdue in February 2006 as State Property Officer and has served as the Executive Secretary and the Director of the Construction Division of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission (GSFIC) since June 2003. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Construction Engineering and Management in the Civil Engineering Department at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Abraham has also served as Chief Engineer for the Georgia Building Authority. Before joining state government she managed construction across the nation for LaSalle Partners. Dr. Abraham serves on several boards including as Chair of the Georgia Land Conservation Council, Secretary and Treasurer of the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority, and a member of the MARTA Board, State Board of Equalization and the Capital Asset Management Advisory Council. She holds a bachelor's degree and doctorate in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Friday, May 9, is the deadline to register for "The State of the State DOT" with Commissioner Abraham. This luncheon is $30 for Foundation members/guests, $40 for non-members. Reserve your seat online at the Foundation's Web site or by calling 404-256-4050. The Commerce Club is located at 34 Broad Street, Atlanta.

Media interested in attending this event please contact Benita Dodd at benitadodd@gppf.org or 404-256-4050.
The Commerce Club is located at 34 Broad Street, Atlanta.
Directions: http://www.thecommerceclub.org/location.html

I’ll continue to focus on Transportation issues- this seems to be a good opportunity for everyone to focus on such issues, even if only for one day.

Ted Turner is an idiot.

by George Dienhart

I am new to the area, having moved to Metro Atlanta a year ago. I did so knowing that Ted Turner is an idiot. He’s alway’s been an idiot. I’m not saying he didn’t build a successful business and make gobs of money, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an idiot. I’ve got two words to prove my point- Jane Fonda.

I do have more evidence to offer up. Ted’s most recent bout of worshiping the false idol Al Gore. A couple of weeks ago he stated that we would all be resorting to cannibalism soon. That statement was an embarrassment to everyone who lives in the state of Georgia. Like or not, the rest of the world associates Ted Turner and Atlanta almost as much it associates Oprah with Chicago or Trump with New York. The difference is, Oprah and Trump usually know when to shut up. Ted Turner does not.

Just recently Turner spoke up about the global food shortages- he forgot to acknowledge that these food shortages were caused by switching food crop land to biofuel crop land. This is they type of mess caused by people who call for more biofuel crops. People like Ted Turner in his speech to the World Trade Organization in 2006. So now Ted want’s humanity to curb it’s instinct to reproduce. Everyone, that is, except the Turner family. The mouth has 5 children.

What’s a Ted Turner paradise look like? Well it would be a world with only 350 million people. I’m not sure what he want’s us to do with the other 6 Billion Humans- maybe that’s where the cannibalism comes in.

High speed police chase- in Peachtree City?

By George Dienhart

Things are usually pretty quiet down here, but yesterday a Fairburn youth allegedly (have to protect myself, here) stole a car from the Wynnmeade subdivision and ran like the wind. The PTC Police did an excellent job in apprehending him, with an assist going to county sheriff. According to the Atlanta’s Fox affiliate, the suspect was armed. The youth wrecked the car and was apprehended a short distance from Peachtree Elementary School.

More important than a billion dollar shortfall?

by George Dienhart

As I made my 90 minute commute from Peachtree City to work, my head started to hurt. Though the sudden headache was a little different from my normal commuter’s pain, it was connected to commute nonetheless. As the state falls a billion dollars short of making my everyday commute shorter, attention was focused firmly on the Department of Transportation. Was the media holding the board accountable for the billion-dollar gaffe? No, the media is outraged over Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham’s choice in a boyfriend.

In all fairness, people should not date their subordinates. I am also quite sure that Ms. Abraham’s did not accept the Chairwoman’s position with the intent of landing a potential husband. She is guilty of falling in love with former Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans, but when confronted with what could have been a potential conflict of interest, Chairman Evans resigned. Problem solved right? Not quite.

Seems that our erstwhile chairwoman was not a unanimous choice for her position- others were looking out for their friends. While Gov. Perdue selected her, others in the GOP were not happy with the choice, most notably House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), favored a fellow State Rep, Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain). This infighting is one part of the problem, but as Oxy Powered Billy Mays is so fond of saying- there’s more.

Gov. Perdue brought in Ms. Abraham to minimize the bad choices and ridiculous expectations that previous Transportation Commissioners have made. She has spent the last four months trying to get a handle on her predecessor’s books. Previously the state had started road construction projects with state dollars, while applying the federal money to finish various initiatives. This is legal, and helps stave off inflationary pressure. The problem is not in the practice of this policy, but in the frequency of its use. The state of Georgia is now 4.2 billion in arrears on these projects. This is unacceptable.

With billion dollar shortfalls and other projects under funded by 4.2 billion dollars, awaiting federal funds that may never come, shouldn’t the transportation board attend to more important matters to than Ms. Abraham’s choice of boyfriend? Not according to Dana Lemon, who said she called attention to this situation because "there were some things that were on my heart that I know we needed to talk about, some outstanding issues that needed to be addressed for the betterment of the staff and the department." Wouldn’t getting a handle on the multibillion-dollar mess address the “betterment of the staff and the department” Ms. Leon apparently didn't think so…