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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Budget issues continue
to challenge state legislators
By Rep. Hugh Floyd
Special to GwinnettForum.com
NORCROSS, Dec. 12, 2003---The overriding issue of the 2003 session
of the
Georgia General Assembly was the responsibility of balancing the
state budget despite a shortfall of more than $600 million in state
revenue caused by the sluggish economy of the past year.
When the legislature returns in January for the 2004 session, we
can expect more of the same. While reports indicate some economic
growth in recent months, it is not fast enough to avoid more belt-tightening
in state programs.
There will be many other matters for lawmakers to tackle. Although
Gov. Sonny Perdue has yet to formally lay out his legislative agenda,
these are some of the issues that are making their way to the front
burner:
Public safety. I will be working to pass two pieces of legislation
I introduced in the last session. House Bill 762 would help eliminate
the practice of placing evicted tenants’ furniture, clothing
and other belongings on the curbside, which creates an eyesore and
a dangerous situation in these communities. House Bill 763 would
require apartment communities with more than 50 units to provide
off-street school bus loading areas. I will also be sponsoring legislation
to bring statewide uniformity to the “10-codes” used by
law enforcement and emergency personnel in radio communications,
which would end the confusion that is sometimes the case in emergencies
handled by multiple jurisdiction agencies.
School overcrowding. I am planning to introduce legislation
to change state law so that school overcrowding, a major problem
here in Gwinnett County, could be used as a reason to deny or delay
a rezoning for residential development.
HOPE Scholarships. In Gwinnett County alone, almost $131
million was distributed to HOPE Scholarship recipients from the
lottery’s inception in 1993 through the end of fiscal year
2002. But even the supply of lottery funding might not be able to
keep up with the demand of students who are eligible for HOPE. Members
of the General Assembly will be asked to implement recommendations
on how to keep HOPE on solid financial ground in the coming years.
Tort reform. Many in the medical profession are seeking
dramatic relief from rising liability insurance rates that they
say are the result of expensive lawsuits. Proposals to deal with
civil justice issues will be presented for possible legislative
action in the 2004 session.
Medicaid crisis. Based on current projections by the state
Department of Community Health, Georgia’s Medicaid program
is projected to run out of cash by mid-April 2004. Legislators are
being told we will have to allocate an additional $173 million in
the 2004 supplemental budget to have enough cash on hand to continue
paying doctors and hospitals. This is another fiscal challenge,
but the impact of the situation would be too severe if we fail to
meet it.
- Rep. Hugh Floyd (D-Norcross) represents the
69th District, Post 2, in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Contact him at 770-921-2735 or hfloyd@legis.state.ga.us.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Gwinnett's
success: Decisions early on paved the way
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
DEC. 12, 2003 -- Ever wonder why Gwinnett has prospered with a
relatively good reputation in Metro Atlanta? A person who saw it
all happen up close, gave us some thoughts the other day. Over the
next two issues, we’ll give his views.
 The
guy wants to keep a low profile, therefore we’ll just call
him Early Riser. So, why has Gwinnett prospered?
The short answer could be because Gwinnett has been led by far
better than average, and honest, county officials, lasting over
many years. In addition, Gwinnett officials learned from the mistakes
of other metro counties.
“Time was,” ER said, “Back in the early 1950’s
that anyone wanting to develop land in Metro Atlanta was being steered
to the Decatur area. But then someone realized that Decatur was
not on I-20, not on I-285 nor I-85, and that the people and growth
was along those roads. So you started seeing the major activity
along those corridors.”
In the early 1970s, DeKalb Countians elected Bob Guhl as commission
chairman, running on a no-growth agenda. ER remembers “When
one company went to get a building permit for a major new industry,
and found an astronomical sewer tap fee, this developer hit the
roof. Asking why there was such a high fee, Guhl replied that he
based the fee on the rate that apartments were charged! So not only
that guy, but also other developers who were building in Metro Atlanta
in the 1970 era, disregarded DeKalb County, and started concentrating
on Cobb County.”
The developers found not only was Cobb receptive, but its commission
chairman, the late Ernest Barrett, would listen to good ideas. The
helped Cobb, relatively close to Atlanta, begin developing at a
much faster pace. It also had a location on Interstate 75.
Meanwhile, all this time, Gwinnett was taking a definite back seat
to Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb and even Clayton County, which was beginning
its faster development back in those days, as a result of the Atlanta
Airport expanding.
Gwinnett’s commission in the 1970s was watching, and learning
from the mistakes that they saw the other counties make. Its commission
had expanded in the 1960’s from a provincial three man commission
to a five member commission.
Bill Atkinson chaired the commission in 1972, followed in 1976
by Wayne Mason. Early Riser remembers watching these guys work.
They hired Wayne Shackelford to guide the county as their assistant
on a full-time, professional basis.
And the Gwinnett commissioners set out to ensure that there was
adequate infrastructure for what they knew was coming their way
whether they were ready or not: growth, and lots of it.
ER says: “Mason was good at knowing where to put new roads,
without it costing the county any money for right-of-way. His land
agents would seek to get roads through areas, and if the property
owners would not give the right of way, Mason personally would call
the property owner on the phone. He explained that the county needed
the road, and would build it, but only for a donated right of way.
Mason told them their land would be worth a whole lot more with
a road through it and that they personally would be far better off
with the road, even though they were donating land for the road,
not being paid for right-of-way.”
ER adds: “And Mason was a good salesman, for he paved some
800 miles of road when he was in office, and got 400 miles of land
for new road donated.”
ON TUESDAY: Another major reason for Gwinnett’s early development.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD
Santa's requests are
varied
Another cartoon from Bill McLemore:
ABOUT
OUR SPONSORS
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's featured sponsor is Discover
Mills, located at Interstate 85 between Georgia Highway 120
and Sugarloaf Parkway. Octavio Ortiz is the general manager at Discover
Mills. Opening on Wednesday, December 17 is the AMC's 18-screen
movie theatres. Enjoy the luxury seating while watching first run
movies at Discover Mills. For a list of movies to be playing go
to the web site at www.amc.com.
FEEDBACK
12/12: Likes feeling
of shopping in smaller towns of Gwinnett
Editor, the Forum:
It seems like the older I become the more I find fault with
the holidays and how we celebrate them. When each daily paper
comes it has more inserts of advertisements telling us about
another Big Box type store that is open 24/7 to "Better
serve" me, their customer. I truly believe it actually
means "Our business is so bad, and our concern about our
employees is so low, that we want you to shop all night long
and spend all of your money here.”
As I walk the sidewalk (another modern unheard of connivance
from an earlier time) in any small town (like downtown Norcross
or most any small town in Gwinnett), I am thrilled by the personal
service and friendly greetings from small shop owners, who proudly
announce their hours on the door. I can certainly shop during
those hours and find all I need for my gifts. Yes, it may cost
three-five percent more than the"mall area Big Box store"
but oh! how much more that warm friendly feeling inside is worth
to me.
God has blessed this great world of ours with small business’
and I for one want to support them as much as possible.
-- Steve Rausch, Norcross
12/12: One way
to help troops return from overseas station
Editor, the Forum:
If you're looking for ways to lend support to the folks in
uniform, start with
www.heromiles.org.
It's a site where you may donate frequent flyer miles to many
airlines so that those
returning on leave from Iraq or Afghanistan can get a free flight
home once they hit the US of A (their trip to U.S. soil is paid
by Uncle Sam).
And, there are links on the sites (try www.anysoldier.us)
to show you other ways to let these kids know we're thinking
of them as they go about their duties in difficult circumstances.
-- Wally Eberhard, Athens
12/12: We never
know how others will remember us
Editor, the Forum:
Don and I have just returned from my annual luncheon with the
women who worked under my leadership when South Carolina was
my responsibility.
Today a decision was made to develop an album with three pictures
of each individual in the various stages of their lives. A short
caption was to accompany the pictures. It was decided that my
page must have one of the following due to the fact that everyone
remembered one as my advice for success and the other as my
advice for difficult decisions. They include:
* "Do the right thing, in the right way, everyday."
* "How will it matter in a hundred years?"
We never know the things for which we will be remembered.
-- Janet Gibson, Lawrenceville
CALENDAR
Gwinnett Community
Band holiday concert is Sunday, Dec. 14
The Gwinnett Community Band presents its Christmas Holiday concert
on Sunday, December 14 at 3 p.m. in the Meadowcreek High School
performance auditorium. Bring your family, friends and neighbors
to enjoy this Holiday Music Festival as performed by 70+ musicians
that enjoy performing concerts for the community!
The program for the afternoon will include:
* A Christmas Flourish
* The Holly and the Ivy
* A Christmas Portrait
* A Christmas Festival
* An Irving Berlin Christmas
* Symphonic Prelude on Adeste Fidelis
* Sleigh Ride
* Fantasia for Christmas
The location for the Meadowcreek High School auditorium is 4455
Steve Reynolds Blvd, Norcross. For more information about the
Gwinnett Community Band, visit our website at: http://www.gwinnettcommunityband.org/.
Extension of Sugarloaf
Parkway to be opened Dec. 16
The extension of Sugarloaf Parkway to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard,
which goes under the Norfolk-Southern Railroad at Buford Highway,
will open for traffic on Tuesday, December 16. A ribbon cutting
and road dedication will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. The dedication
ceremony will be held near the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard
end of the roadway.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Human reaction is
much like that of chemical reaction
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of
two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
-- Psychiatrist Carl Jung, via Roy McCreary of Dacula.
What's your favorite saying? Share with others through
GwinnettForum. Send to elliott@gwinnettforum.com.
SEND
YOUR FEEDBACK
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
or comments on any issue to Gwinnett
Forum for future publication.
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© 2003, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum
is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett
County, Ga. USA.
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