GwinnettForum | Number 20.83 | Nov. 13, 2020
HONORING VETERANS: The William Day Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Duluth recently placed flags on the graves of military veterans in Duluth Church Cemetery. There are over 100 graves of veterans in the cemetery, including 34 from the Civil War. Members of William Day chapter place the flags for Veterans Day and Memorial Day each year to honor military men and women. Vanessa Watkins-Nutty is shown with her children in front, while in back from left are Debbie Bush, Cathy Hedges, Debbie Kyle, and Sara Burns.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Nothing improper about recounting of ballots to take a long time
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Random thoughts about the negative transit vote and election results
SPOTLIGHT: Heaven and Alvarez, LLC
FEEDBACK: Good friends still talk and respect, but no longer demonize politics
UPCOMING: Norcross marks 150th anniversary with video tour of the city
NOTABLE: Project RESET uses CARES funds to make past due rent payments
RECOMMENDED: Meditations By Marcus Aurelius
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Gertrude Thomas stays active; inducted to women of achievement
MYSTERY PHOTO: Building secluded near a pond is today’s Mystery Photo
LAGNIAPPE: Snellville wins Highway Safety Award again
CALENDAR: Gwinnett Historical Society plans meeting on November 16
Nothing improper about recounting of ballots to take a long time
By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | Ballot counting has always taken days. December 12 is the date electoral votes are counted.
Herndon
What stands out since Tuesday is the degree to which President Trump and his team have governed? It’s been more chaos! They create their own playtime reality. Their thinking is like fruit in a blender, keep pulsing and pulverizing the image, while the vote is being challenged. Meanwhile, they are flailing like flounders out of water.
Trump and Co. knew he/they would lose the popular vote, so they planned and are attempting to win by accusing states (some they had won in 2016) and the “Demon Democrats” of stealing his victory, using his usual steady drumbeat of lies and misdirection. This cacophony is like an overly loud teenage bass boombox, trying to create false fears. He hyperventilates about the dangers of a fraudulent activity he calls mail-in ballots. How horrible to make voting easier for all.
He hoped that by getting the Republicans to vote in person, friendly governors to limit access to voting, and trying to shut off vote counting the night of election day so he could control what states constitutionally have accomplished. The only thing worse would be the old Jim Crow laws. He and his sycophants are the “New Jim Crow” in action.
Failing those tactics, he has resorted to his old tactic, lawsuits, frivolous and time consuming, coupled with further verbal pounding and fear mongering. They still flounder on the end of the pier, trying to set up a scenario where the election results would give him the advantage.
As the votes got counted, both in person and mail-in, his losses mounted. His dad, Fred, taught him there were two kinds of people, winners and losers. Oops, he lost. Every four years, someone loses and someone wins. We know “Himself” had always planned to challenge the counting of the mail-in ballots using verbal attacks and the courts. He accused and shouted: “The Democrats’ are stealing my victory.” Poor Donnie.
He uses increased and further dependence on his favorite tool, chaos, saying and doing anything, bizarre or not, to buy time while hoping to get the Supreme Court to enter the fight. This is where he hopes the three justices who owe him their seats will swing the election. In that way he might steal the vote from the citizens. But so far there appears no substantial challenge to the voters that even lower courts might approve.
A second interesting thought: Donald Trump and his cohorts are accepting the results of the election of senators and representatives. How can the presidential votes be stolen, if the Congressional votes are valid? After all, they were on the same ballots he is challenging!
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- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Random thoughts about the negative transit vote and election results
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
NOV. 13, 2020 | Random thoughts concerning the General Election are on our mind today.
Gwinnett voters in 2020 easily approved the continuation of a one cent sales tax to help fund school infrastructure (76.6 percent), yet were almost equally divided in turning down a one cent sales tax for improved transit. The difference was 1,013 votes out of the 398,000 votes cast! Talk about a closely-split 50.1 percent difference!
While propositions can pass by one vote, when you have a county so easily divided on a topic, perhaps that’s not the time to pass it. For Gwinnettians wanting to find it easy to move about the county, or go to work or school, a more thought-out transit proposition should be forthcoming. Overall, Gwinnett County must some day realize that relying on single drivers to get around will eventually result in gridlock.
The rejection of this proposition may also mean a slowing of growth for Gwinnett. Some will cheer this, but it could also signal a stagnation of the Gwinnett prosperity we have come to know.
Improved transportation should be our No. One priority…and soon.
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Not only are we faced with a runoff in two U.S. Senate races, but it looks like there is another statewide runoff: for a Public Service Commission (PSC) seat. Long-time Republican PSC Member Bubba McDonald failed by 0.11 percent and will face Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman, who scored 46.98 percent to McDonald’s 49.89 percent, while Nathan Wilson got 3.12 percent, so we have a runoff.
Statewide runoffs were originally set for December 1. However, Secretary of State BradRaffensperger took emergency action and has scheduled the Georgia runoff on the same date as the federal runoffs, on January 5. That makes good sense!
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It is bizarre when the two Republican Senate candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, out of the blue said that Republican Raffensperger should resign because of the way he handled (the relatively well-run) election. Don’t the two senators have any party loyalty?
When something like this happens, there is either great division within the party, or the two senators are scared to death that they might lose. It’s understood the two did it to appease a losing president. What’s the future in that? As a result, the two Democratic senatorial candidates are both surprised and smiling. Yes, indeed, 2020 is an unusual political year.
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Where’s civility? When someone seeks office, you presume that they are energetic, ambitious, smart and civil. Well, no more. For some, civility seems to go by the wayside. Why is it that Rich McCormick, for instance, can’t outright concede victory, and offer congratulations to Carolyn Boudreaux in the 7th Congressional District? It’s not only uncivil, it’s discourteous. We’ve been pleased to read several losing candidates offering kind words about their winning opponent. That’s the way it should be, with no hard feelings because one got more votes than the other. It also puts in the mind of the voters that if unapologetic candidates seek office in the future, that person will be automatically in a weaker position, because of his temper tantrum of not conceding and being civil.
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There are two non-candidate overall winners this season: Brad Raffensperger for his overcoming primary problems and conducting a reasonably well run election, and Stacey Abrams, for getting enough people registered in Georgia to pull off an upset in the presidential race in Georgia.
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Warehouse space? The Salvation Army in Gwinnett is in sore need of from 10-15,000 square feet of warehouse space to store their Angel Tree contributed presents prior to Christmas. They would vacate such facilities by January 1. If you know of someone who has such a space, give me a ring at 770 840 1003, please.
Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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Good friends still talk and respect, but no longer demonize politics
Editor, the Forum:
The two political points of view in the most recent issue cause me to share the following:
Friendships vs. Political Differences: we are eight college classmates who have been friends for almost 60 years. We have shared laughs, tears, and more memories than we can accurately remember.
For the past four years the political divide among us has presented the greatest strain on those friendships that we have ever experienced. It says something about our friendships that our group has not disintegrated.
In order to reduce the strain one of our members suggested the following: Stop talking about Donald Trump and stop demonizing the leaders of either political party. They are all Americans. We are all Americans. We span the spectrum of political beliefs. We can continue to disagree and argue about which policies would be good or bad for our country, but do so without rancor. I believe all of us are willing to give this our sincere effort. I know I am.
— John Titus, Peachtree Corners
Blue in Lawrenceville wants leader who listens, is honest and experienced
Editor, the Forum:
Debra Houston is as delusional as the president and his minions. We really must bring factual public information back to the forefront of our lives. This is America. Stop demonizing people who don’t blindly consume Fox News and the other far-right media. We live in the real world. The right-wing bobbleheads, with the help of Super PACS and foreign influence, have brainwashed 70 million people who cannot think for themselves.
We Democrats are people who partake in reality, in this democratic Republic. I could not agree more with George Wilson’s piece Tuesday. It’s past time for the “Cult of the Oligarchy” to end.
Governing a country with false flags instead of policies does not work. We need a leader who consumes facts, makes decisions based on science, and listens to the best advice from the top minds in this country.
We need one who does not surround himself with his relatives and other people who are the least qualified to govern a country as magnificent and diverse as ours. We need one who leads with integrity and honesty, and who has the experience to drive us out of this misery. It’s not just us, by the way. The whole world is singing and dancing in the streets. The entire planet is relieved to be free of the malignant narcissist.
— Dianne Harris, not a socialist, but Blue in Lawrenceville
Kool-Aid from Fox not the best way to ensure finding the truth
Editor, the Forum:
Debra Houston needs to quit drinking the Fox News Kool-Aid and wise up. We’re so tired
of people who spread conspiracy theories as “fact.” They don’t bother to find out the truth. Instead, they spread misinformation and bring more people down in the Kool-Aid with them. She should be ashamed. She may be a columnist, but she is not a journalist. To Debra: Check your sources!
— Alana Moss and Scot Femmer, Duluth
Lists ideals which could be underlying basis for united country
Editor, the Forum:
As I process the election results, I recognize that 70 million voters supported Republicans throughout our country. As a liberal this requires a deeper understanding of what this means.
I have felt conservative voters are generally good people who believe in the rule of law, free enterprise, gradualism, personal responsibility, and American exceptionalism. These ideals could be an underlying basis for a united country.
Unfortunately I don’t see Republicans negotiating with Democrats based on principles. I only hear whining complaints and unfounded grievances. I hope real conservatives stand up to work with progressives to overcome our divisions. We need a united nation.
— Alan Schneiberg, Sugar Hill
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Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Norcross marks 150th anniversary with video tour of the city
The City of Norcross has released a video presentation—Mayor Craig Newton’s “Sesquicentennial” State of the City address. In it, Mayor Newton takes viewers on a virtual tour of the city, showcasing changes and accomplishments over the past 150 years, including updates on some highly anticipated developments for 2021.
The city is the second oldest in Gwinnett, established on October 26, 1870.
Mayor Newton explains: “A lot of life has been lived inside the borders of Norcross over the last 150 years. We have experienced highs and lows, good times and tough times—and we have done it all together. I am so proud of how far we have come, and we owe it to ourselves to celebrate. While our anniversary party has been postponed until next year, there’s no reason we can’t take time now to revel in all our amazing city has to offer us. That’s what this ‘State of the City’ presentation is all about. I will take you on a tour of Norcross and show you not only how far we have come after 150 years, but also all of the great things in store for our future!”
The presentation may be seen at the city website norcrossga.net/sesquicentennial.
Gwinnett Cares offers online healthcare summit on Nov. 18
On Wednesday, November 18 Gwinnett Cares will offer an online healthcare summit designed to help the Gwinnett community better navigate through and coexist with COVID-19. This is the perfect opportunity for Gwinnettians to get fact-based information from top healthcare experts and connect to real-time resources available across our community. The event will start at 8 a.m. and end at 9:30 a.m.
Dr. Clifford McDonald, the Center for Disease Control’s Senior Advisor for Science and Integrity, will launch the discussion, offering an update on the pandemic across the nation and in Georgia.
Dr. Audrey Arona, district health director for Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties, will present a community-focused update sharing the latest on prevention and mitigation efforts, the status of testing, preparations for a potential surge, local vaccination planning and top healthcare concerns in the months ahead.
Jennifer Hibbard, CEO for View Point Health, will lead a beneficial dialogue about the COVID fatigue we all feel and how we can stay as mentally and emotionally healthy as possible during these difficult times. She will offer a briefing on the state of mental healthcare in Gwinnett, trends in play, helpful tips on how to coexist with COVID responsibly, and advice on what to do if you or someone in your family is in crisis. Experts from Navigate Recovery will also share helpful tips and resources specifically for those in our community coping with addiction. A powerful personal testimony will be shared about a family that has been directly impacted by COVID -19 to help remind us all why it is so important to remain vigilant in our prevention efforts.
The summit will be offered online via Zoom and Facebook Live. It is free and open to any to attend. Participants are asked to register in advance via this link: https://bit.ly/3okC8Y8 to receive the zoom link or tune in the day of via Facebook live @GwinnettCares.org.
Project RESET uses CARES funds to make past due rent payments
Gwinnett County will use funds from the CARES Act to make past due rent payments directly to landlords in order to prevent many imminent evictions and keep tenants stably housed.
The first phase of the new Project RESET program will target 400 active dispossessory filings currently in Gwinnett Magistrate Court where eviction is imminent. Court staff has contacted both tenants and landlords regarding eligibility and how to apply.
Project RESET will also work with tenants and landlords who do not have an eviction filing but are in a pre-eviction stage, have filed a CDC Eviction Moratorium or are working through a payment plan.
Project RESET officially launched on November 2 and will run through the end of 2020. Interested parties can get more information by calling 770-847-6765 or emailing MagistrateCourtProjectRESET@gwinnettcounty.com.
Peach State Credit Union honors two educators with scholarships
Radloff
Peach State Federal Credit Union will contribute an additional $2,000 to Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Foundation scholarships and educational grants, increasing their annual pledge to $12,000 in honor of long time School Board member Louise Radloff’s retirement. The pledge includes two $5,000 scholarships named for Louise Radloff and GCPS Superintendent, J. Alvin Wilbanks.
Wilbanks
The Radloff scholarship will be awarded to a graduating senior from a GCPS school who has overcome a significant challenge to become a high school graduate. The Wilbanks scholarship will be awarded to a graduating senior from a GCPS school with plans to enter the teaching profession. The additional $2,000 will go directly to the Foundation for use as they see fit.
Peach State’s President/CEO, Marshall Boutwell says: “We’re proud to honor Louise and Alvin, and support students through these scholarships. Since our founding by Gwinnett educators nearly 60 years ago, we have maintained a close relationship with the school system and we are dedicated to supporting the growth and development of students and educators throughout our service area.”
Here are 16 Georgia electors who will help determine who is president
In case you are wondering, here is a list of the 16 Democratic Party electors that will eventually help determine who becomes president. Note that there are three people with Gwinnett ties on the list:
The list includes:
State Sen. Nikema Williams, Georgia Democratic Party chairman; - Stacey Abrams, former gubernatorial candidate;
- House Minority Leader Bob Trammell, the top Democrat in the Georgia House’
- Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, who represented part of Gwinnett, but didn’t seek reelection this year;
- State Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, the longest-serving member of the Georgia Legislature;
- Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, a former city alderman;
- Rome County Commissioner Wendy Davis;
- State Sen. Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain, who also represents a portion of Gwinnett.
- Deborah Gonzalez, former state legislator from Athens ;
- Bobby Fuse, retired school system administrator and civil rights leader in southwest Georgia;
- Sachin Varghese, general counsel for the Democratic Party of Georgia;
- Fenika Miller, who chairs the Houston County Democratic Committee;
- State Rep. Pedro Marin from Gwinnett County;
- Rachel Paule, president of the Georgia Young Democrats;
- Cathy Woolard, former Atlanta city council president; and
- Ben Myers, veteran Georgia union leader.
Meditations By Marcus Aurelius
From Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill: ‘Be not perturbed for all things are according to the nature of the universal and, in a little time, thou wilt be nobody and nowhere.’ First century Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius does not hold back as he delivers his tips about life – and also about death – in a personal journal he kept for 19 years. A stoic thinker, Aurelius cultivated skills to face life head on and accept the natural rhythm of things. This regaled emperor’s notes have themes that are familiar to us today: don’t worry about anything because life is short; you and all those things you worry about will soon cease to exist; live in the moment; face reality; and behave in accordance with nature. You may have to occasionally wade through some cumbersome and repetitive prose to get to these nuggets, but it’s worth it. I advise having a highlighter handy when reading this book.
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An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Thomas stays active; inducted to women of achievement
(From previous edition)
Gertrude Thomas was still a young woman in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War, which permanently erased privilege and comfort from her life. Although she was a passionate Confederate nationalist at the onset of the war, she soon concluded that the South did not have a viable chance of victory. Nonetheless, she remained loyal to the Confederacy. She directed the Augusta Ladies’ Aid Society, worked in military hospitals, sewed Confederate uniforms, and made cartridges for military use. By the war’s end, however, Thomas had adopted a defeatist attitude, reluctantly beginning to accept what a southern defeat would mean for her and her region.
Thomas
As was the case for virtually all planter-class families of the South, defeat meant the collapse not only of the Thomas family’s way of life but also of the southern class structure. Thomas and her family experienced economic hardship during Reconstruction; the family declared bankruptcy and suffered multiple foreclosures, a source of great humiliation for Thomas. The family’s financial plight forced her to seek employment as an elementary school teacher, something that women of her class would have never considered before the war.
Thomas taught from 1878 to 1884, but her husband’s alcoholism and poor management of money prevented the family from recovering economically to the extent that many other planters had by the 1880s. As a result of their continuing economic plight, Thomas and her husband moved in 1893 from Augusta to Atlanta, where they lived with their son Julian.
Despite the downturn in her economic status, Thomas spent the latter years of her life involved in numerous civic and social organizations. Beginning in the mid-1880s and continuing until her death, Thomas undertook leadership positions in the Ladies’ Missionary Society of St. John’s Methodist Church in Augusta, the Hayne Circle literary society, the Ladies’ [Confederate] Memorial Association of Augusta, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1899 Thomas was elected president of the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association, and she spent her last years speaking at various women’s suffrage conventions across the nation. In 1903 she was publicly commended by Susan B. Anthony and made a life member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
Thomas died on May 11, 1907, after suffering a stroke. Her descendants proudly retained her voluminous collection of personal journals for three generations. In 1957 Duke University Library in Durham, N.C., purchased the journals from Thomas’s family. An edited selection of her writings was published in 1990 as The Secret Eye: The Journal of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1848-1889.
In 2014 Thomas was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Building secluded near a pond is today’s Mystery Photo
A charming building, nestled in the woods, all near a pond. Can you tell us where this building is located? Send your answers to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your hometown.
The last edition Mystery Photo got recognition from several people. David Will, Lilburn, was first: “Today’s mystery photo is a nighttime view of the RiverWalk in downtown Greenville, S.C.” The photo came from Chuck Paul of Norcross.
Jim Savadelis: “Downtown Greenville has one of the nicest and modern downtown areas of any small city in the USA. Many events are held there including music and street festivals, bike races, and their annual Taste of Greenville. During warmer months, on Friday nights, they have local musical performers outside the Hyatt Hotel. They are pet friendly and many shop owners put out water bowls for our four legged companions.” Frank Studer of Greenville, S.C. chimed in: “It’s the Greenville Reedy Riverfront.”
Allan Peel, San Antonio, Tex. : “Today’s mystery photo is a night view along the RiverWalk in downtown Greenville, S.C. Visible in the photo is a pedestrian bridge in Reedy Park, just north of the Reedy Falls. Reedy Park was founded in 1967 when the Carolina Foothills Garden Club reclaimed 26 acres of land that had been previously used by textile mills. Over the next 40 years, the Garden Club and the City of Greenville worked with individuals, corporations as well as state and federal agencies to further develop the park, clean up the river and restore some of the structures along the Reedy River. In 1990, landscape architect Andrea Mains introduced the concept of transforming the park into a regional attraction, with public gardens and a number of pedestrian bridges.”\
George Graf in Palmyra, Va. added: “This photo is of the pedestrian Eugenia Duke Bridge which crosses the Reedy River from the Japanese Dogwood Lane to the Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail. The bridge was named for the woman behind Duke’s mayonnaise. Duke Brands President and CEO Andrew Smart led the naming project as owner of Duke Sandwich Co., which was one of the first businesses Duke began in 1917 from her kitchen on Manly Street in Greenville. She was a pioneer in woman-owned businesses in Greenville at a time when women did not even have the right to vote.”
Isn’t it amazing what our spotters tell us about these Mystery photo places!
TWO-TIME WINNER: the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety has awarded the Snellville Police Department (SPD) first place in the Governor’s Challenge for outstanding achievement for agencies of 46-75 people for the second consecutive time. First Lady of Georgia Marty Kemp presents the Governor’s Cup to Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead. SPD also won the award for its efforts in the Speed Awareness category. This is the first year that an agency has won the award for two consecutive years.
General meeting of the Gwinnett Historical Society will be Monday, November 16, at 7 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Lawrenceville. Nominations are in order for officers for the year 2021, says President John Hopkins. Social distancing will be practiced; the meeting will have a limit of 50 attendees.
Community Open House in Braselton, November 20 from 4 to 7 p.m. This will be held at the former Braselton Grammar School, now home to Countryside Antiques, at 115 Harrison Street. The event is sponsored by the Braselton Downtown Development Authority. Light refreshments will be served.
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