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TODAY'S
ISSUE
New legislation rids
communities of eyesores along curbs
By
Rep. Hugh Floyd
Special to GwinnettForum.com
MAY 25, 2004 -- Those unsightly and potentially unsafe piles of
furniture, appliances and other belongings you've seen on the sidewalks
outside of homes and apartments in Gwinnett County over the years
are about to become a thing of the past.
 Both
the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously approved
House Bill 762, aimed at helping eliminate the practice of placing
evicted tenants' furniture, clothing and other belongings on the
curbside, during the 2004 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
Gov. Sonny Perdue subsequently signed the measure into law, and
it will take effect July 1.
I introduced this legislation because the present situation creates
an eyesore and a dangerous situation in neighborhoods and apartment
communities. Current local ordinances require that abandoned clothing,
furniture and appliances belonging to an evicted tenant sit on the
nearest public curb for up to two weeks.
As you know, Gwinnett County has a number of areas with a high
concentration of apartment complexes. There are more than 5,000
evictions every year in our county.
Forcing the landlords to place evicted residents' abandoned property
outside is bad enough, but the looting that often follows leads
to an even worse situation. Drivers slam on brakes and even fight
each other to get their hands on the merchandise, and after it has
been picked through, what remains is a pile of trash.
The new state law gives landlords the option of placing the property
in a more secure location than on the curb, or deeming it abandoned
and having it hauled away immediately. As originally introduced,
the legislation would have prohibited the placement of such material
on the right-of-way. After many months of discussion, we chose instead
to expand the options for where to set the material.
The bill clarifies that the owner or manager of the apartment community
is not required to store or take care of a resident's property removed
from the apartment during an eviction. Also, the owner and manager
do not owe a duty to the resident regarding keeping the property
safe or protected. If there is an actual eviction, the resident's
property is regarded as "abandoned" and may be removed
or disposed of immediately without any particular waiting period.
Apartment managers, property owners and law enforcement all wanted
a change to the state eviction laws. We studied how the situation
was handled in other states, and used a version similar to North
Carolina law. The bill enjoyed the support of the Georgia Apartment
Association, the Georgia Association of Realtors and the Georgia
Sheriff's Association.
Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful also supported the measure as another
way to clean up our streets. A year ago, the General Assembly passed
legislation I co-sponsored that allowed inmate labor to be used
for cleaning up gang-related graffiti on private property. Since
that time, significant progress has been made in reducing the prevalence
of graffiti in our county.
The graffiti law makes Gwinnett and other Georgia counties cleaner
and safer. So will the new abandoned property law.
Rep. Hugh Floyd (D-Norcross) represents the newly redrawn
99th District in the Georgia House of Representatives. Contact
him at 770-921-2735 or hfloyd@legis.state.ga.us.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Six
Democrats, one in GOP, seek 4th District congressional seat
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
MAY 25, 2004 -- There's a dogfight going on in part, a very small
part, of Gwinnett. It an all-out, open fight, mainly among Democratic
women, to see who will succeed Rep. Denise Majette. She is opting
not to continue in Congress, but seek the Senate seat that Zell
Miller is leaving.
 The
few precincts within the Fourth district are in Pinckneyville, hard
up against the Dunwoody portion of DeKalb. Altogether, only five
Gwinnett precincts are in the District.
Why Rep. Majette decided to leave a safe seat in Congress and to
run for the Senate is open for question and discussion. Feeling
here is that Rep. Majette, a former judge, did not find the House
as invigorating a position as she thought it would be. However,
the Senate, with its six year terms, is far more desirable, so with
the seat open, it was a good time to seek the office. And….if
she loses, she can return home to spend more time with her family
and practice law! We've heard this from no one, and we are quick
to say, this is only our conjecture.
Now the race to succeed Ms. Majette may just be a major dogfight,
with so many prominent politicians seeking the post. There are six
Democrats competing for the seat, and one Republican. In other words,
focus on this race continues until the fall, though oddsmakers would
tell you that the Democrat nominee will be heavily favored in the
General Election.
The six Democrats include Liane Levetan, Cynthia McKinney, Connie
Stokes, Nadine Thomas, Chris Vaughn, and Cathy Woolard. The Republican
running is Catherine Davis of Tucker.
Ms. Levetan is a party stalwart, and former CEO of DeKalb County.
She is a Realtor. Having been the chief executive officer of DeKalb,
she is well known throughout the district, with what we would think
would be heavy positive approval.
Also well known Democrat, but with major negatives, is former Rep.
Cynthia McKinney. Her time in Washington was a rocky ride, with
voters turning her out of office against a virtual political unknown
two years ago. This could be Ms. McKinney's last desperate attempt
at a seat in Congress.
Democratic State Senator Nadine Thomas, a registered nurse, is
also seeking the post. She was the first African-American woman
in the Georgia State Senate. Thomas has finished her seventh term
in the Senate, and before that, one term in the Georgia House. She
is president and chief operating officer of United Healthcare Solutions,
Inc.
Another Democratic state senator seeking this post is Connie Stokes.
She has been in the Senate since 1994 and served as a Senate floor
leader under Gov. Roy Barnes. She is a Realtor and lives with her
husband, a doctor, in Lithonia.
Anticipated to be a key Democratic candidate in the race is Cathy
Woolard, who was president of the Atlanta City Council, and has
served on the Council since 1997. She has worked for environmental
causes and been a Washington public policy worker. She is a lesbian,
living with her partner of 16 years in Candler Park.
The only man in the entire race is Chris Vaughn, 26, who owns a
firm specializing in product marketing. A native of DeKalb, this
is his second run for office, having been a candidate for the House
of Representatives before. He resides in Brookhaven, and is single.
He maintains that he is the only moderate Democrat in the race.
Whew! That's a lot of candidates. But there is one more, the lone
Republican who will face the winner of the Democratic primary. That
person is Political Activist Catherine Davis of Tucker. She is a
human resource specialist who has lived in Georgia for eight years.,
She ran for the Georgia House four years ago.
So five women and one man face off for the Democratic nomination
in July, to see who will oppose Ms. Davis in November. People in
the this most western corner of Gwinnett can help decide this race
to see who replaces Denise Majette.
 Added
tidbit: Hollis Towns moving up
We have just learned that Hollis Towns, who covered Gwinnett for
several years with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, is in a new
post. He is now the managing editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer!
From Fort Valley, and a former college football linebacker, Hollis
had an outgoing personality. He and his wife, the former Gail Hagans
(a former AJC reporter herself) have four children.
ABOUT
OUR SPONSORS
 The
public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com
to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is John D. Stephens
Inc. of Lawrenceville. The firm is primarily a utility contractor
throughout the South. An equipment division, markets used heavy
construction equipment. The firm also sells new closed cargo trailers.
To contact John D. Stephens, their email address is jdsequip@aol.com.
For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: http://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.htm.
FEEDBACK
5/25: Doesn't routinely
think that far in advance himself
Editor, the Forum:
About your remarks concerning John Oxendine running for lieutenant
governor: you sure think a lot. I cannot think that far ahead. It's
all I can do to stay ahead of the near future. Two years at most.
-- Roy McCreary, Dacula
5/25: Perils you face
when you simply get out of the house
Editor, the Forum:
On a recent walk on a local street, I encountered:
- (a) An overgrown right of way.
- (b) Large Fire Ant mounds at the edge of the pavement (where
one would need to be should auto traffic approach).
- (c) A "quick" changing traffic light on Sugarloaf
Parkway (which, should a short, fat, 58 year old come a long,
would cause him to have to sprint for his life.)
- (d)A sort of "third degree" questioning from a youthful
video store attendant who seemed irritated when I, in turn, asked
him questions.
The walking route is pretty well traveled and there seems to be
a danger to the walking public. I found that at gwinnettcounty.com
one can easily submit a service request to the Department of Transportation.
We may soon need our walking paths whether we are less affluent
or want to stay affluent!
As for the clerk at the video store, I am afraid nothing can be
done. That is due to "executive decisions" to effect cost
savings by eliminating responsible supervision.
-- Randy Stephens, Duluth
CALENDAR
Five finalists named
for small business person of year award
Five finalists for the 2004 Small Business Person of the Year Award
have been announced by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. The award
recognizes outstanding small business owners for their personal
achievements and contributions to the community and to the local
economy.
The five 2004 Small Business finalists include Dr. Michael J. Kalson
of Academy Orthopedics, LLC; James S. (Jimmy) Kennedy of Jim Anderson
and Company; Thomas J. Martin of Gwinnett Community Bank; Allen
Richardson of Richardson Housing Group, and Anthony L. (Lee) Wood,
Jr. of A.L. Grading Contractors, Inc.
The Small Business Person of the Year winner will be pronounced
at the General Membership Luncheon June 23 at 11:30 a.m. at the
Atlanta Marriott-Gwinnett Place in Duluth. Presenting Sponsors include
Moore Stephens Tiller LLC, redpepper, Columbia Engineering &
Services, Inc., Gwinnett Business Journal, Home America Mortgage,
Inc. and Trinity Press.
These five outstanding small businesses are recognized for their
willingness to adapt to change, their determination to introduce
innovative new products and services, and their ability to contribute
to the marketplace and spur economic growth.
The 2004 Selection Committee members are Rick Chandler of Chandler
& Britt; Darrel Hulsey of UGA Business Outreach Center - SBDC;
Cathy Petty Nichols of Mobile Communications; Wayne Shackelford
of Gresham Planning & Development Inc.; and Patti Williamson
of First National Bank of Gwinnett.
BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
From Jim Hood, retired
Realtor, in Lawrenceville
"I enjoyed both of Ann Coulter's books, Treason and
Slander very much. She is a tell it like it is person and
that is important because of the subject of the books. I also enjoyed
David Schippers book, Sell Out, concerning the non-impeachment
of Bill Clinton and how it was handled by the U. S. Senate leadership.
"I am now reading Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. This is
pretty heavy too, considering the present state of terror in the
world."
- What books have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent book
along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what
you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
5/25: Georgia outlawed
alcohol before national Prohibition
An organized temperance movement began in Georgia in the late 1820s
and, after early difficulties, flourished through the 1930s. As
in other parts of the United States, Georgia's temperance reformers
typically were evangelical Protestants who regarded alcoholic beverages
as harmful (even sinful) for the individual drinker and for society
at large. Supposedly, drink destroyed families and reputations and
brought about poverty, disorder, and crime.
 As
elsewhere, Georgia's temperance reformers started by urging individuals
to decide voluntarily not to drink and later campaigned to change
the laws to restrict and abolish the sale of alcoholic beverages.
Georgia had statewide prohibition
from 1908 until 1935, a period that began before and extended beyond
national prohibition (1920-1933).
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries temperance
reformers attempted to persuade the state government to enact restrictive
liquor legislation and the voters to implement local option powers.
An 1885 statute granted voters the right to impose prohibition in
the county where they lived.
By 1907 most counties had voted themselves dry. That same year
the state legislature enacted mandatory statewide prohibition, one
of the moral reforms demanded by Progressives throughout the South.
The Atlanta race riot of 1906 probably encouraged the enactment
of prohibition; whites feared the consequences of African Americans'
drinking, and furthermore, white mobs originated in bars and saloons.
The new law went into effect in 1908. For a time the legislature
offered the "wets" some loopholes. Near-beer saloons,
serving low-alcohol drinks, were permitted, as were alcoholic beverages
in locker-clubs---but these were closed in 1915. Georgia ratified
the 18th Amendment for national prohibition three years later. It
did not vote for repeal of national prohibition, but after that
occurred, Georgia repealed its own statewide prohibition in 1935.
To access the Georgia Encyclopedia, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Two types of people
enter a room; which are you?
"There are two types of people--those who come into a room
and say, 'Well, here I am!' and those who come in and say, 'Ah,
there you are.'"
-- Frederick Collins, via Roy McCreary, Dacula.
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is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible
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