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Issue 9.08 | Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | Forward to your friends! |
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FEEDBACK UPCOMING NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE ___::
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Meet a sponsor |
ABOUT US GwinnettForum.com is a twice-weekly online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. Contact us today. SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM |
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TODAY'S
FOCUS LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., April 28, 2009 -- With the recession, job loss, and the foreclosure crisis continuing to make headlines nationwide and in Georgia, the IMPACT! Group is observing Financial Fitness Month (April) by offering tips to help consumers strengthen their financial know-how with a few Financial Fitness Training tips.
Tom Merkel, president and executive director of the IMPACT! Group, a 16-year-old non-profit housing agency says: "Financial education provides Georgia consumers with the information and practices they need to take control over their finances and build wealth, regardless of income. With education and determination families can pay down their debt and build a financial cushion that is a critical safeguard during tough economic times." Merkel offers families financial ideas, which he calls "Financial Fitness Training Tips." They include:
Perhaps
the most important tip: avoid being scammed. If you are facing
financial difficulty from foreclosure, job loss, credit card debt, and
aren't sure where to turn for guidance, seek help from a nonprofit HUD-approved
housing or credit counseling organization. Avoid scam companies that contact
you first and promise to "eliminate debt" in their advertising.
Nonprofit organizations have your best interest at heart and will work
with you one-on-one to remedy your situation. The old adage, "You
get what you pay for" does not apply with reputable nonprofits. For
more information about foreclosure counseling, contact The IMPACT! Group.
To find a nonprofit HUD-approved housing counseling organization near
you, visit www.findaforeclosurecounselor.org. ELLIOTT
BRACK APRIL 28, 2009 -- Elected officials will tell you it's always difficult to make decisions that are unilaterally accepted by their constituents. After all, there's no guarantee that governing any entity is easy. Many decisions made by these politicians seem obvious to them, yet are understood far differently by the public.
We say this as we read recently that the Gwinnett County Commission was seriously considering putting the management of the Recycling Bank of Gwinnett out for bid. Be careful, elected officials. Should you take this action, you may be overwhelmed at the turn of consequences. A little background. It was nearly 30 years ago that a new organization was born in the county, one seeking to make Gwinnett a better place to live. It adopted a name now familiar to many residents, and became famous nationwide under the name "Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful." As the name implies, it collected data, came up with ideas, and was soon indeed making Gwinnett a cleaner and more beautiful place by its innovative techniques, involving many citizens, and youngsters, of the county. It was one of the largest environmental programs in the county, and succeeded beyond its early dreams. Along the way, Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful got people in the county to recycle many products and generates revenues to help fund many improvements in the county. Among its most far-reaching plan was the establishment and management of the Recycling Bank of Gwinnett, built on Satellite Boulevard, a place where individual citizens and even professional trash haulers, could drop off products for recycling.
Last year this Recycling Bank had an accidental fire that destroyed it. It has since been re-built, and is now back open in operation. More background: about three or four years ago, Gwinnett County government realized it needed to improve its waste (garbage) collection plan. It asked Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to collect data, hold hearings and suggest a plan. They did. Unfortunately, when the GC&B plan was presented, the county demurred, though what was presented was a bold, reasonable initiative to many people. An organized effort from high-cost trash haulers who would have lost activity in Gwinnett caused the county commission not only to delay the plan, but to also bring into question its previous long-term relationship with Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful. Somehow the commission and Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful got caught up in semantics, were and are at odds with one another, and have caused embarrassment to both parties. They seem to be like two kids, caught up in their own importance, and not wanting to concede anything about the other. What it can lead to, the county commission may find, is that this current Administration could be tagged with a feeling by the voters that the commission, by not agreeing with a reasonable garbage hauling plan, has put themselves in a bad light. Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful did their job, presenting a good plan. It was the commission who failed to implement it. Yet this implementation of such a plan should not harm the solid relationship between the county and Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful in another venture, that of managing and operation the county recycling effort. To question allowing Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to manage the Recycling Bank is beyond belief. They have done so beautifully over the years. There's no need for a request for proposal for the Recycling Bank. We have a good, professional operator in house, and that contract should be renewed! If not, it may cause residents to question the intentions of the five county commissions, and give them a label. Voters may remember their stance on Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, and maybe even defeat them next time around at the polls.
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's featured underwriter is Gwinnett Community Bank of Duluth, member, FDIC. Tom Martin is the CEO of this bank, which has its main office in Duluth on Buford Highway, near the intersection of Rogers Bridge and Old Peachtree Road. The Duluth office number is 770-476-2775. There is also a Suwanee location at 3463 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road in Suwanee. The phone number for the Suwanee branch is 770-497-5252. Gwinnett Community Bank also has a third branch at 2715 Hamilton Mill Road in Buford (770 271 2715.) The web site is http://www.gwinnettcommunitybank.com.
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: I'd like to give your readers a brief update on the ongoing fight against the solid waste transfer station proposed for the Shackleford Road site. Earlier this week, Catholic Archbishop William D. Gregory announced that a suit has been filed by the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Mission Church to block the proposed solid waste operation next to the church near Norcross. The law suit named both Gwinnett County and Lancaster Enterprises as defendants. The suit alleges that the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners' action was a "manifest abuse" of its zoning power given the arbitrary nature of the decision. It also targets the owner of the property, Lancaster Enterprises, who sought the rezoning, alleging that the operations on the property would create a nuisance under Georgia law. The suit asks that the rezoning of the parcel be overturned and that the Court enjoin all solid waste transfer station operations on the property. The law suit was truly the last resort since all attempts to work with the County had been "fruitless." These efforts included thousands of people attending the various public hearings and meetings, hundreds more emails and telephone calls made as well as approximately 10,000 petitions delivered to the Commission for its consideration. The inaction on the part of the Commission clearly illustrated the lack of any accountability. We deserve better representation, and we must demand higher accountability from our elected officials. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and visit our website for the latest update http://holyvietnamesemartyrsmission.weebly.com/news-and-information.html.
UPCOMING Work will begin soon on several "shovel-ready" transportation projects in Gwinnett after county commissioners this week took actions required to receive about $38 million in federal stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Among the projects:
The Board also approved work resulting from a value engineering study of the Georgia Highway 324 project from its designer, Gresham Smith Associates. The $55,000 in design changes is expected to reduce construction costs by about $550,000. Saturday marks start of Suwanee annual Art On A Limb exhibit Art on a Limb, an annual program designed to celebrate the arts and nature, is about to bloom in Suwanee once again.
Daily throughout the month of May, two pieces of artwork will be placed along the Suwanee Creek Greenway -- and this year art will appear along the trail at the new Sims Lake Park as well. Those who find the artwork may keep it. This year's art pieces are mixed media, historic collages created by Sugar Hill artist Melody Orr. Fashioned as magnets, the pieces feature historic Suwanee photos with mixed elements attached to the frame to add whimsy, sparkle, or a statement about the photo or time period. Artwork not found on the trail will be available for purchase beginning June 1 at City Hall and selected upcoming events for $25. Stone Mountain Barbershop Chorus presents concert May 30 The Stone Mountain Barbershop Chorus will present its 2009 Spring concert "Harmony Collage" for one performance only on Saturday, May 30, at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of Mountain Park United Methodist Church. The church is located at 1405 Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain. Doors will open at 2 p.m.
The 60-man Stone Mountain Chorus will present four-part harmony in the barbershop style. The show will feature performances by several of the chapter quartets as well as inspirational and patriotic selections performed by the entire chorus. The featured guest quartet for this year's concert is State Line Grocery, 2003 Dixie District Quartet Champs and 2008 International Bronze Medalists. Advanced purchase general admission tickets for this performance are $12. Advanced purchase discount price of $10 is available for full time students, groups of 12 or more and senior adults 60 and over. All tickets purchased at the door will be $15, cash or check only. For the
first time, tickets may be ordered using secure credit card transactions
from the Stone Mountain Chorus web site, www.stonemountainchorus.org.
Tickets may also be purchased from any Stone Mountain Chorus member or
may be requested by telephone using the chorus information line at 770-978-8053. NOTABLE When construction
projects encroach on protected waterways or wetlands, federal laws require
mitigation by either making environmental improvements nearby or buying
credits from other projects that have already done so. Gwinnett County
will soon be exchanging those credits through its own Mitigation Bank,
recently approved by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
GEORGIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA In 1936 archaeologist Arthur R. Kelly located the remains of a fortified trading establishment in the midst of a Creek Indian archaeological site on the Ocmulgee National Monument.
Although historical documentation is lacking, it appeared to be an English trading house established while the Creek Indians were living in the area of present-day Macon during the period 1690-1718. The post is believed to have been burned in the Yamasee War of 1715. Excavations have turned up all sorts of artifacts, including axes, clay pipes, beads, knives, swords, bullets, flints, pistols, and muskets. The remains of the trading post consisted of two buildings surrounded by a five-sided stockade with posts set in a narrow ditch (the stockade wall of the trading post is now outlined by concrete bumpers) and further enclosed on four sides by a larger moat-like ditch. The stockade enclosed an area of approximately one-quarter acre. A depressed roadway, believed to be part of the old Creek trading path, leads up to the compound ruins. Excavations of the trading house also have revealed a number of Native American graves, with European trade goods primarily from English sources. Archaeological evidence indicates that the trading house was not present continuously throughout the Creek period. Archaeologist Gregory Waselkov suggests that the fortified settlement probably dates to the period after 1702, when English-backed Creeks from this area attacked Spanish missions in present Florida. Expecting reprisals, they built fortifications but probably did not need them after the Creeks destroyed the Apalachee missions in and around present Tallahassee, Fla., in 1704. Archaeologist Carol Mason argues that the remains are from the Hitchiti town of Ocmulgee, the residence of English trader James Lucas. Based on his interpretation of the Herbert Map of 1725, archaeologist Marvin Smith suggests that the complex may be the town of Kasihta. While the exact identification of the town and trading establishment is controversial, it may well be the origin point for English-backed Creek raiders who destroyed the Spanish missions in present Florida in 1702 and again in 1704. CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves or comments on any issue to Gwinnett Forum for future publication.
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TODAY'S
QUOTE "Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can."
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