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Issue 9.37 | Friday, August 7, 2009 | Forward to your friends! |
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE 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 NORCROSS, Ga., August 7, 2009 -- There is a sizable environmental and safety initiative underway, with the birth of a new Campus Green in the heart of the Greater Atlanta Christian School campus---where concrete and asphalt once existed, making the campus more walkable.
School President Dr. David Fincher says: "Two of our goals to reshape the campus include the creation of a more thoroughly walkable community, plus campus-wide transformation with the environment in mind. Guests and GACS families often note that the school has more the feel of a college campus than a K4-12 school. Now we believe the campus is stepping forward again with advanced safety, pedestrian comfort, and with a greener outlook. Project Administrator Brett Harte shares four goals of the improvements:
GACS has made changes that will lead to fewer cars on campus. We will eliminate students walking, and adults driving, on the same roadways. Other changes include:
This project has been completed this summer and makes the campus more pedestrian-friendly and safer as the 2009-10 school year begins. The Creation Care Team was a 2009 student and faculty initiative created to realize that GACS's ecological footprint needed to be reduced in order to reverse the on-going, impact on the planet's environment. Led by Bible Department Chair Dr. Alan Henderson and Project Administrator Brett Harte, classrooms, offices and work areas are now equipped with blue recycling bins; strategies for reducing energy consumption are being discussed and implemented. August 10 brings a new school year and much greener GACS. EEB
PERSPECTIVE AUG. 7, 2009 -- In 1942, The Charleston Gazette in West Virginia reported that then Sen. Harry Truman, when a member of the War Contracts Investigating Committee, remarked: "If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen."
And that was before he was even president. He's also remembered for another slogan: "The buck stops here." Both should be dicta well understood by anyone in elected office. The Gwinnett County Commission has had a continuing amount of "heat" in the last year, some because of poor decisions and leadership, others because of budget constraints….and now we learn of another aspect, of possible hanky-panky in the buying of land for the county. It seems that every time the commission come into the spotlight, another possibility evolves. Gwinnett County has had problems over the years, but not to the extent that the commission has this year. And never before have we sensed that a majority of the county has been "down" on the commission. In the past, individual items before the commission may have upset this group, or that one, but overall, the county rolled along easily, not causing a major stir. Not this year. Right now, we see no sign that matters will get back to normal any time soon.
Yet such political situations are just what Harry Truman was talking about. It's not easy to be a county commissioner nor any other elected official. It's not meant to be. No matter what your decision in any low-caliber controversial matter, you will make the losing side mad. Make enough of these decisions, and you will be voted out of office, as Wayne Hill found after 12 years of distinguished service as chairman of the commission. Up until now, we feel that most Gwinnett residents felt that they were getting a "good return" on their tax dollar. Monies were being spent reasonably, and according to the budget. But now we read that there is a possible rip-off of the county on land purchases, and that the people involved on the receiving end were friends and political cronies, if not henchmen, of elected officials….well, that puts the taxes we are paying in a much different light. In the long run, it also raises doubt if the voters of the county will again approve a local option sales tax on the upcoming ballot. Disapproval of SPLOST will only exasperate the budget constraints of the county, as monies for infrastructure has in the last few years not had to come from ad valorem taxes, but out of the sales tax funds. Just think of how high taxes funding the operational budget of the county would be if infrastructure costs had to be included! Indeed,
the plight of the Gwinnett County in these times is far worse than it
has been in the past. The meandering of the county commission, and now
the question of propriety in land purchases, makes us wonder how and when
Gwinnett will get out of this morass. There's too much heat in the Gwinnett
Commission kitchen, which the commission itself is generating. ABOUT
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privately held bank in Gwinnett, with assets of $1,100,000,000. The bank's
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE
FEEDBACK Editor, the Forum: A big Amen!
to the article on the twin water tanks (Forum, August 4.) Don't take away our Battle Cry...leave the gateway to our great community intact.
Editor,
the Forum: On the
water towers: not to mention in three years Gwinnett will be looking for
any place other than Lanier to store water. The county will probably want
to build a tank farm on the site of the removed tanks.
Worries
about possibilities of national health plan Editor, the Forum: Here are
some very important parts to the national Health Plan which deserve attention. If a plan is changed, it is cancelled. No private plan is allowed to make ANY CHANGES. If this happens, all employees have to change to the public plan The federal government must approve all premiums. This would be the only product or service in the country where prices are regulated by the federal government. After five years, all private plans must have exactly the same benefits and coverage as the public plan. Since a public plan would presumably be cheaper to the member, it would drive all private plans out of business. You cannot add 47 million people to the insurance rolls and at the same time reduce costs. You must either reduce costs (denying care) or increase taxes. When President Obama was asked if he would put his own family on the plan, he refused to answer. And the president admits he has not even read his own plan. The plan
adds 32 new federal agencies to administer government care, on top of
those we already have .
UPCOMING In April of this year, United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta merged some of its county operations throughout the 13-county region in an effort to consolidate and leverage resources to better serve its member communities. United Way in Gwinnett County and North Fulton combined operations within the northern arc, establishing a metro north office housed off of Meadow Church Road in Duluth. John Schraudenbach of Ernst and Young, former Gwinnett County Advisory Board Chair, was preparing to end his term when he learned of the transition. He immediately began working with United Way staff to identify "a leader in the community to succeed him. The new
chair is Herman Pennamon, Community Relations Manager for Georgia Power.
Schraudenbach says: "To me Herman was an obvious and right choice.
He has chaired committees in both Gwinnett and North Fulton and will bring
strong insight into working with both communities as he has successfully
done for Georgia Power." NOTABLE How about a small bit of good news? Foreclosures are down slightly in Gwinnett. A check with Tina Partridge at the Gwinnett Daily Post, which publishes the legal notices for Gwinnett County, shows a slight monthly decrease from the year's high number of real estate foreclosures. For August, there were 2,225 foreclosures, down from June's high of 2,567. However, August is up from the 1,763 for July. Foreclosure totals in other months of 2009 are: January, 1,685; February, 1,392; March, 2,093; April, 1,974; and May, 1,810. Auction raises $33,000 for Gwinnett Senior Services On July
30, Friends of Gwinnett County Senior Services (Friends) raised over $33,000
at their seventh annual silent auction in Lawrenceville to benefit Gwinnett
seniors. Friends has made a significant impact on the senior community as they have met budget shortfalls by supporting 133,825 meals and nutritional dietary supplement drinks for the older population. Currently, there are over 200 seniors on the monthly meals waiting list and more than 100 on the monthly transportation waiting list. To contribute in allowing Gwinnett seniors to remain independent in their homes, please visit the Friends website at www.fogcss.com. You may also contact Celia Moore at 770-822-8775. RECOMMENDED
MUSICAL
"There's a rollicking performance of Kiss Me, Kate going on at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, which began its month-long run this week and continues through September 6. The Cole Porter musical is done well, perhaps the best performance we have seen at the Aurora. You will find many familiar songs (Another Opening, Another Show; So In Love; Too Darn Hot, Always True to You, and our favorite, Brush Up Your Shakespeare). It's a complicated plot, shown principally from backstage of a performance of Taming of the Shrew, giving the performers plenty of room to show out. And well they do. Even a General McArthur look-alike shows up! You'll enjoy it! -- eeb
GEORGIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA Brunswick, Georgia, claims to be the place of origin for Brunswick stew. A 25-gallon iron pot outside that coastal town bears a plaque declaring it to be the vessel in which this favorite southern food was first cooked in 1898.
In truth, the one-pot meal is credited to a number of places with Brunswick in their names, but the honor (so far as the name is concerned) must go to Brunswick County, Va. There, according to an entrenched local tradition supported by a 1988 Virginia General Assembly proclamation, Jimmy Matthews, an African American hunting-camp cook, concocted a squirrel stew for his master, Creed Haskins, in 1828, the stew being named for its home county. As the Georgia humorist Roy Blount Jr. quipped, "Brunswick stew is what happens when small mammals carrying ears of corn fall into barbeque pits." Stews that combine meat and grain probably originated with ancient agriculturalists, in both the Old and New Worlds. According to the anthropologist Charles Hudson, southeastern Indians made a stew from hominy and groundhog or squirrel, and also boiled bear and deer meat with fresh corn kernels and squash. Brunswick stew belongs to a family of southern stews, its closest relative perhaps being Kentucky burgoo. Good-natured "stew wars" continue to rage between Georgia and Virginia. If Georgia acquired Brunswick stew relatively late (south Georgian J. L. Herring, describing a ca. 1880 July Fourth barbecue in Saturday Night Sketches [1918], declares, "There was no Brunswick stew in those days"), the state has taken to the dish with great enthusiasm. Wild game like squirrel or rabbit is now often replaced by chicken, pork, or beef (sometimes in combination). Virtually any vegetable and seasoning can be added to the requisite meat, corn, and tomatoes, but onions, lima beans, and potatoes commonly make an appearance. In an unusual recipe from Toccoa, cooked-down maraschino cherries, lemons, and applesauce contribute a subtle sweet-sour flavor. Frequently associated with barbecue and presided over by stew "masters" when made in quantity, Brunswick stew remains a customary feature of Georgia fund-raisers, political rallies, and family reunions. In today's age of individualism, the preparation and consumption of Brunswick stew as a social activity is now more important than ever in supporting community cohesion. 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
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