Dacula: On Track

SOPA, Protect-IP, Hispan TV, Cordoba Television and You

2012-01-11T08:15:00.004-05:00

If you are reading this blog post, you are an agent of change. Right now Congress is discussing and debating two bills, SOPA and Protect-IP, that will limit what you may do in the emerging area of blogging and free speech.

Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) and Protect-IP are both initiatives of the entertainment industry--yes the same industry that sued to stop production of the first VCR machinces.

Essentially, the industry wants the power (of government) used to stop any infringements of copyrighted materials, even those inadvertently put up on the internet. They want the government to impose sentences of up to 5 years imprisonment and thousands of dollars in fines for example if you upload a picture of your dog, and in the background a copyright song is playing.

Wow!

These two bills are racing through Congress, and if enacted, will put a damper on free speech, the Constitution be damned.

Well what about Hispan TV and Cordoba Television. They are new television networks located in Spain with the sole goal of spreading Muslim teachings to the Americas, both North and South.

Both these networks are dedicated to the destruction of the United States and you and me, simply because first we are Americans and secondly some of us are Christians.

What is the Obama administration doing to counter this propaganda. Absolutely, nothing.

As an agent of change, I am encouraging you to use your current freedom to contact your Congressional delegates and demand that they vote down SOPA and Protect-IP. Remember you are fighting corporations who believe they have the right to tell you how you can use your free speech right. They are big contributors to Congress, so take a minute to find your Congressman and Senator and drop them a couple of dollars too. Is that too cynical? I think not when I look at our current crop of movie and entertainment stars. Why in the world do young folks even consider them role models. If you want a role model, look for the person who builds up and doesn't tear down. Look for a role model who respects people, not for one who destroys. Look for kindness not cruelty. Look to you own faith tradition rather than be swayed by some radical TV network.

Get out there and make a difference.

Tumult near Bethlehem

2011-12-24T17:51:00.003-05:00

It might have been reported this way:

Jerusalem, December 24

This reporter has reliable information that a miraculous event took place near Bethlehem today. Numerous shepherds in the field with their sheep report brilliant lights in the night sky. Some shepherds report seeing angels and hearing them say that the "Christ is born today in Bethlehem."

King Herod's information officer reports that all is quiet in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

This reporter reminds the reader that the Prophet Micah wrote that the Shepherd would be born in Bethlehem. I am on my way to interview these shepherds. As news breaks, I'll keep you informed.

Crowds larger, night sky brighter

2011-12-19T07:25:00.002-05:00

It could have been reported this way:

Bethlehem: December 19

The stir around the census continues to grow as more and more descendents of David arrive in Bethlehem for the census ordered by Emperor Augustus. Already crowded family homes strive to host more and more people each day.

Coupled with the large influx of visitors, the odd light in the night sky is disrupting the autumnal lambing season. David, an area shepherd, said, "the ewes get confused sometimes thinking it's time to graze because the night is so bright. Funny isn't it, these lambs will be used for Temple services, yet we who look after them have to be purified before we can join in the celebrations of the Feast of Tabernacles."

New light in the sky

2011-12-15T07:08:00.002-05:00

Maybe it could have been reported this way:

Jerusalem: December 15
People in Jerusalem are all agog over the light display in the night sky. King Herod's spokesperson said that priest, scribes, and astrologers are studying the newly discovered light to find any facts about the new "star." The Scribes have been studying holy scripture and haven't found a description of this new star.

Governor Sulpicius Quirinius said, from somewhere in the field with the XXth Legion in Syria, "it appears to be a flux in the light from a previously dim star. It is of no concern to Rome."

Report from Bethlehem

2011-12-13T07:15:00.003-05:00

Maybe it could have been this way...

Jerusalem: December 13
Small villages all across Judah are experiencing larger than normal visitors. This reporter is in Bethlehem, a small village about 6 miles south of Jerusalem. The reason for this is the imperial edict of a new census. Mathais, the person in charge, for the Roman government said, "the census will give the government a more accurate number of the people living in Judah and will be the basis of the amount of taxes due each year to Rome."

Tax collectors say that the census effort will continue through the rest of the month, and people are required to register in their tribal homeland/villages. For people who have moved from their tribal areas, it will mean, in many cases, long distance travel and trying to find lodging while completing the census procedure. Census travelers are urged to contact their relatives for living space while in Bethlehem.

Thanks to the Poll Managers

2011-11-09T07:49:00.002-05:00

I wanted to take a moment to express thanks to the dedicated poll workers and managers for the City of Dacula and the two Gwinnett County precincts in or near Dacula. Thank you for a job well done!

For our Dacula candidates, thanks for a good clean, political campaign during the 2011 General Election. We will have a run-off election for the contested seat of Tim Montgomery on December 6, 2011. Congratulations to Susan Robinson on her uncontested race.

Most of all thanks to those who took the time to vote in the City and County elections. I know it is sometimes thought of as an imposition to have to go to two polls. I, personally, am used to it, having voted in every City and County election since I became old enough to vote. Ain't it a grand place to live--a place you can get mad because you have to visit two polling places. I think of those on our old globe that don't have a chance to voice an opinion nor shape public policy. That ought to make us mad!

Elections...Now and in the Future

2011-10-25T10:16:00.003-04:00

On November 8, 2011, the City will hold the Municipal General Election at the Dacula City Hall. In fact, City residents have been able to vote since October 21, 2011 in this election. Gwinnett County will hold the County General Election on the same day at regular county-polling places. This article is not designed to tell you how to vote in any of these elections. However, I hope the questions raised in this blog can be considered by every voter. If you have a better plan, let your elected officials know.

On the City ballot, residents will be voting to fill two council seats, that of Timothy Montgomery which is an opposed race and that of Susan Robinson who has no opponent. Residents will also vote on two referendums about the sale of alcohol and alcoholic beverages on Sunday. If a majority of voters concur, beer and wine will be allowed to be sold on Sunday afternoons in convenience stores and grocery stores. If voters concur on the second referendum, restaurants will be able to sell mixed drinks on Sunday afternoons.

There is only one item on the 2011 County General Election. It is to decide whether or not to extend the one penny sales taxes for educational purposes—the ESPLOST question.

In 2012, Gwinnett County residents will potentially vote on several items. Scheduled currently for July, the issue of providing a new one cent sales tax for transportation improvements on a regional basis will be decided--TSPLOST.

There will be no City election in 2012, unless there are ballot questions to be determined. I know of none now.

In 2013, I assume the Board of Commissioners will vote to continue the regular SPLOST one cent sales tax. The City will have an election in 2013 to elect the mayor and two council seats.

So currently and in the two future years, residents will be asked whether or not to continue ESPLOST and SPLOST and add a new TSPLOST tax. How does a voter decide on these matters especially in a time of economic turmoil?

Will any of these tax matters solve all the problems? The answer to that is NO. A follow-up question, will affirmative votes on these matters keep the situation from further deterioration? The answer is PROBABLY. Will defeating any or all of these tax issues make matters worse? MAYBE. Finally, if these tax issues are defeated, on whom does the problem devolve? THE PROPERTY OWNER AND TAXPAYER.

Let shoot straight from the hip. The City (for that matter Gwinnett County and the Gwinnett County School Board) doesn’t have any funding that doesn’t come from taxpayers. Your contribution to funding the City of Dacula may come from property taxes, other hidden taxes that are considered fees, from paying for services you personally receive such as trash collection and the like, from sales taxes on goods and services that you pay directly, or from business taxes that you pay indirectly. Some amounts, especially for sales taxes, come from outside our community, county, and even State--not from your pocket.

All state and local governments must have a balanced budget. Only the U. S. government can create money from a printing press. How has that worked for you? Every time the President puts a new dollar in circulation, your current dollar is worth less. Hence inflation and higher prices. And since your current dollar is worth less, the need arises for more tax money at every level—just to keep pace.

So what to do in the election cycles mentioned in this article? Every voter must decide the question does the benefit outweigh the cost of the sales tax for me personally? What benefit do I receive for my 1 penny sales tax for education? Better jobs maybe for my children. Higher paying jobs, maybe. A well-educated public or the like.

So what about the TSPLOST? Many have criticized the list of projects to be funded saying it isn’t ambitious enough. And truly it will not solve all our transportation problems in our region. Take a look at the list, and determine what it means for you. Will your commute be shorter, if you work downtown? Will it make your travel in the Dacula area easier? Be aware that more than half the money dedicated from the Gwinnett County TSPLOST list, directly affects the Dacula area.

As far as the regular SPLOST (assumed for 2013), you can look at how the City is spending current funding from previously passed sales-tax votes. You can see where the money is going and how it is helping you.

As you decide how to vote in these critical elections (both City and Gwinnett County), please consider the questions raised in this article. Remember the only money that any local government has to spend on these services and problem areas is from you.

Small Business in Dacula

2011-10-03T10:24:00.002-04:00

I appreciate the businesses that serve our residents and that are located in our City. It really takes guts to want to be an entrepreneur in these hard economic times. I want to congratulate the small business people and national companies that invest their money, time, and lives in our City.

Starting your own business is a risk. About 30% of all new businesses will fail to be profitable in the first several years of operation. But starting your own business may be an answer to the problem of unemployment or underemployment for many. Most small businesses in the nation have only one employee, the owner, who works out of the home. But even with this statistic, small business is the major employer in the nation, and I think that is true in Dacula as well.

Why then do small businesses fail? One reason is, of course, the economy. Most startup businesses are underfunded. In our economy, it is hard right now to get entrepreneurial funding from banks and financial institutions.

A business may be started for the wrong reason. The owner may underestimate the time and hard work necessary to run a business. The business might be located in the wrong place. The owner may not understand how to plan using strategic, careful methods.

There may be regulatory problems that the owner didn’t consider, or there may be major, established competition for the customers of the startup.

Simply opening a business and waiting for customers just doesn’t get it. I found this statement from statistics gathered by the Small Business Administration interesting, “No website. Simply put, if you have a business today, you need a website. Period.”

I think this means that you have to be active on the “WEB” and social media, but you also need to be active in the locality also. If you don’t have a professional looking website describing your activity, you will lose business to those businesses that do. If your business is not active in the community, your business will lose customers to those businesses that are active community participants. One way any business can begin to work the community is through the Dacula Business Association. Joining with other businesses in the community is a first step. These are people you can network with who understand meeting a payroll, employee problems, what social media means, and the need for personal time.

When it comes to the success of any business, the business owner is ultimately the “secret” to success. Setbacks in business are to be expected. How the owner approaches those with drive, determination to learn, and a positive mindset will ultimately determine success or failure of a given business.

I am always pro-business in my outlook. Businesses mean jobs. Jobs mean a more successful community. Successful communities are places people want to visit and live. Spend you dollars in the community supporting your local businesses. It means success for you too.

Have you practiced your family emergency plan lately?

2011-08-28T14:08:00.002-04:00

Hurricane Irene passed Georgia by with not even a wisp of disaster. But you can be sure that a new emergency will arise soon. So let me suggest that this would be a good time to begin family emergency planning or, if you already have a plan, to practice it.

Emergency preparedness starts at home. You should have a personal/family disaster plan, and it should be written down and practiced. At a very minimum, you should have a family fire disaster plan.

Some things (probably not exhastive) that need to be in your plan:

· Be prepared to exist for at least 3 days without outside help.
· Prepare your home—secure all outside accessories—they can become missiles.
· Prepare for electricity outages.
· Videotape or take pictures of the contents of your home, and store them off-site.
· If you are told to leave your home, plan beforehand where you will go.
· Have a week’s supply of non-perishable foods for your family and pets.
· Prepare 2-liter bottles for an emergency supply of water.
· Make sure you have a flood-insurance rider to your homeowner’s policy.
· Determine where the safest place in your home is for wind and water emergencies.
· For fire emergencies, have a rally point where everyone in the house reports as they exit the house.
· Make sure you have at least a 30-day supply of prescription drugs, ask your physician for nonperishable prescriptions for necessary drugs.
· Stock plenty of batteries for your flashlights, radios, cameras, phone and the like.
· As a situation develops, charge all cell phones and the like.
· Be sure you have a battery powered or crank weather radio for warnings.
· Locate valuable papers and put them in a safe, off-site location, or secure them in a watertight envelop to take them with you.
· Equip you home with working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.
· If your bedrooms are on a higher floor, make sure you have emergency ladders and know how to use them.
· Determine environmental factors, such as trees overhanging your home that need to be addressed before disaster.
Try to have an emergency supply of cash on hand, ATM won't work without electricity.

Having a plan is only the beginning. Family discussions and practice are needed. Some disasters are slow moving and give time to get ready. A fire in your home at 2AM is a catastrophe in the making, giving little time to act to save yourself and your family. Prepare your own plan, and have a fire drill some dark night.

It might save your life.

August Weather, Crazy Cats, Nearly deliquent tax payers

2011-08-01T07:50:00.001-04:00

Moving from a hot, muggy July to a hot/muggy August isn’t going to be any fun at all. I don’t know about you , but I’m kind of like my neighborhood cats. I don’t want to do much on these hot days except to lay around in the shade.

I thought maybe July would be a slow month at the city, but I’ve been busy almost every day meeting with different groups and looking at the construction that is improving the city’s infrastructure. So unfortunately I haven’t been able just to laze around like the cats.

There is an old adage about death and taxes. Simply put the only two sure things are death and taxes. And we face these possibilities every day. Stretching the analogy, cats pay their taxes by chasing away (or eating) annoying creatures like chipmunks or mice, and there are a number of cat predators around like coyotes not to mention the lesser pests like ticks, fleas, and mosquitos.

Paying taxes is never pleasant. They are an inevitable part of our lives. So the other day, I took a sample of the parcels that make up the 2010 tax digest for the city. The idea was to see if the property taxes had been paid on the parcels. Since the county collects our property taxes along with the county taxes, we don’t have a good way of determining when a parcel’s taxes have (or not) been paid. So I took a sort of random sampling of the 10 tax digest parcels, looked them up on the county’s website. Guess what I found. Of the ten parcels, taxes have been paid in full on eight of the parcels. Two of the parcels have not had any 2010 taxes paid, but they are not yet considered by the tax commissioner’s office to be in default even though the taxes were fully due and payable by November 2010.

Of the $20,195 assessed by the county, $1,886 remains unpaid. Of the $2,499 assessed by the city, $194 remains unpaid. Maybe the heat got to these taxpayers, or maybe the economy.

While my survey is in no wise valid as a predictor of total tax collections, I found it interesting. Like my neighborhood cats, I find early morning and early evening the time to get things done. Yesterday evening, I saw one of the neighborhood cats running full out across the backyard. I couldn’t tell if the cat was running from a predator, chasing prey, or just being a cat.

I’m looking forward to fall, and I bet the cats are too. Maybe cooler weather will inspire our nearly delinquent taxpayers to action too.

TSPLOST Survey Request

2011-07-02T21:19:00.002-04:00

The TSPLOST constrained list will be out in a little while. I’ve heard many different ideas about how the vote for TSPLOST might go. All of the City of Dacula suggested projects were omitted from the first unconstrained list, except for a joint Gwinnett/Dacula proposal to complete Sugarloaf Extension from GA 316 to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard near Sugar Hill.

The most needed project for the City is the replacement of the bridge over the railroad at Winder Highway and the four-lane expansion of Harbins and Dacula Roads. This system is a regional system. Harbins Road/Dacula Road collects traffic from at least three counties and constrains them at the bridge. The system provides for school traffic as well.

I’ve heard some say that they will not vote for the TSPLOST unless the improvements for Harbins/Dacula Roads and the bridge are included. I’ve heard other say that they will vote against the TSPLOST no matter what.

I wonder if readers would spend a few seconds answering a short survey on this matter? The questions to be answered are short and sweet.

Click here for the survey.

Would you be likely to vote for or against the TSPLOST based on the information you have at the present time?

Would you be more likely to vote for/against the TSPLOST if the bridge at Winder Highway were included in the constrained list?

Would you be more likely to vote for/against the TSPLOST if you knew that there are penalties for future transportation dollars if TSPLOST fails or the roundtable fails to produce a constrained list?

Would you be more likely to vote for/against the TSPLOST if some or all of the light and heavy transit projects were removed?

If you would like to provide further information beyond you survey answers, please email me at mayordacula@att.net so that I can provide the information to the appropriate folks at the County and State levels.

Weathering the Recession

2011-06-23T10:47:00.006-04:00

Many economists suggest that the depressed state of the U.S. economy is not going to get much better for several years--maybe out to the 2014-2016 time frame. Most economists believe the economy will only get better once the U.S. starts to create more jobs. Jobs that affect our local economy are jobs that are created locally. Local jobs are created by local businesses. A strong local business community has a lot to do with the health of a community. So I ask the following question:

When is $1 more than a dollar? The answer is when you spend it in your local community.

Often your dollar, spent locally, turns over in the community about six times. Each time after the initial expenditure, some of the money in the turn over remains in the community as well. The benefit to the community is the amount of money that is kept in the community. In the six-turnover scenario, the equivalent of about $1.65 for every dollar spent remains in the community. The total impact of a dollar produced or spent in a community is measured with a multiplier. In this case the multiplier is a positive 1.65. Negative multipliers are also possible. Say you go outside your community and spend that same dollar for the same goods or services you could have spent in your community. That has a negative multiplier effect for your home community (-1.65).

Naturally, it isn’t as simple as that. Different economic sectors and different scenarios have different multipliers, and there are different employment multipliers for different sectors as well.

Let’s take a look at an example: Retailer C is coming to Dacula. They plan to build a nice building, and provide employment for about 30 workers. These will be new jobs for Dacula. Can we estimate what kind of economic impact this will have on Dacula?

Here are some assumptions. The building will cost about $500,000 and the yearly payroll will be about $550,000. Retailer C expects to have yearly sales of $1,000,0000.

2.28 is a well-established North Carolina State University multiplier for local construction. 35.9 is a well-established multiplier for new employment as a result of construction spending. So for the one time construction of Retailer C’s new store, we might expect one time new spending in the community to be about 2.28 x 500000 or $1,140,000, and new community employment to be around 35.9 x .5 = 18 new construction jobs in the community from this initial investment. If we use our guesstimate multiplier of 1.65, we can determine that Retailer C’s sales will result in keeping $1,650,000 circulating through the local community. North Carolina State University uses a multiplier of 2.04 for retailers. Using that multiplier (2.04 x $1,000,000) we calculate a figure of $2,040,000.

What’s the estimate?

Results	Money in Community	Community Employment
Initial construction	$1,140,000	18
Ongoing operations	$2,040,000	30

What can be wrong with our economic forecast? Well, the mulitpliers may be out of kilter. Estimated sales may be too little or too much. The business may fail. We haven’t included the effect of new employees moving to the community, buying new homes or renting, the effect of their wages in the community.

Lots can be wrong with economic forecasts, including the general economy of the country. But it’s better to be on the positive side of the multiplier formulas than on the negative side. The moral of the story is "keep your money in Dacula by supporting our local businesses."

In the U.S., small business generated nearly 80 percent of new jobs in the last decade. Help us grow a community. Keep your money in Dacula by supporting our local businesses. They are the job creators.

Happy Father's Day 2011

2011-06-18T13:59:00.003-04:00

To all you fathers out there, happy Father's Day 2011.

My father passed in 1989, yet I think of him almost every day after 22 years. Fathers are our mentors, our disciplinarians, some times our pals, and the person who is our guiding light.

Please take a moment on Sunday to tell your father how much he means to you. That may mean a phone call or a visit. Just take the time to do it personally.

I'm proud to say that I am the son of Bill Wilbanks, the best dad in the whole world. And I had the privilege of growing up in a community that provided around 400 other pseudo-dads that helped shape my world. Though I'm biased about my dad, I imagine every son and daughter has the same feeling about their father.

Oh, and don't forget your mother either!

The Continuing SDS Saga

2011-06-09T10:02:00.003-04:00

Two years ago, I wrote about the frustrations of elective office, and detailed the then 2009 state of the Service Delivery Strategy negotiations and litigation with Gwinnett County. Since that time, the trial has come and gone, and nearly a year after the completion, Judge Barrett has still not ruled in the case. There is no Service Delivery Strategy in place, and not one on the foreseeable horizon. Soon we will be making decisions that will affect your city taxes and other matters that would be easier if this issue could be settled.

As a recapitulation, let me recount the sorry facts in this matter. There is no dispute that Gwinnett County has collected taxes from 1999-2008 in some amount ($2-20 million per year) for services not delivered to residents who live inside Cities. The Cities maintain that such collections are illegal under state law and unconstitutional.

The Cities and the County have now been working on a new SDS for more than FOUR years. There are only a few areas of inequity which include police services, planning and development and transportation services and the like. Finally mediation was ordered by the Courts. On April 9, 2009 the Cities and the County agreed to mediate the SDS on April 22, 23, 24 and May 13, 14, and 15. On April 1, 2009, service delivery strategy agreements were delivered to Gwinnett County for its review. After reviewing the County’s similar documents, the Cities responded on May 14. Gwinnett County never responded to the Cities agreement documents at all.

At the end of mediation on April 24, 2009, the Cities and the court-assigned Mediator had a clear understanding that agreements had been reached on the following matters: planning, development and zoning, fire protection and emergency medical services, police, roads, recorders court and quality of life code enforcement. All those agreements have been rejected or refinagled by Gwinnett County, and they refuse to share the numbers or formulas that would allow Cities to determine the revised effects on their property owners or, for that matter, unincorporated property owners. After all this, the County and the Cities went to trial. The facts and legal precedents were thoroughly examined during the trial, and the County and Cities await Judge Barrett’s ruling in the matters at trial. As the trial ended sanctions were imposed on the County and Cities. Neither the County nor the Cities are currently “qualified local governments.”

Why should you care about this? Answer for yourself and imagine the frustrations of this office.

Should you pay any government for services you don’t receive? Shouldn’t you expect your elected officials to respect the law and uphold it? Wouldn’t you expect that your officials would be able to sit down and work out an agreement that works well for every property owner? After all, we serve the same people. Because the parties are “unqualified”, neither is able to receive state grants, radar permit renewals, street cuts on state highways, and the like. This makes serving the citizenry more difficult. So the frustration and damage remain after FOUR years.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

TIA unconstrained List Out

2011-06-01T20:58:00.006-04:00

The unconstrained Transportation Investment Act of 2010 list of projects is out for the Atlanta Region. There are 38 pages of projects and estimated costs for the entire Atlanta region are at $22 billion. There are about 4 pages that deal with Gwinnett County. See the entire list at this web site.

Specific to the Dacula mailing area and regional counties and cities to our east and south, there are only 3 projects listed:

Grade Separation of GA 316 at Harbins Road $23million
Sugarloaf Extension Phase 2 from GA 316 to GA 20 $301 million
Sugarloaf Extension Phase 3 from GA 20 to Peachtree Industrial $162 million

Major projects were omitted that would have improved regional traffic in and through Dacula:

4-lane Harbins Road/Dacula Road
Replacing the bridge at Winder Highway

What is interesting is that there are 7 transit projects in the Gwinnett list that represent over $1 billion.

Mayor Bucky Johnson from Norcross and Gwinnett Chairwoman Charlotte Nash represent Gwinnett County on the Atlanta roundtable.

The unconstrained list represents over $22 billion dollars. The 10-year sales tax is imagined to raise about $8 billion. Many of the projects will be winnowed out in the process of the roundtable.

You will have to make the determination for yourself about how to vote in the referendum that will allow this 10-year tax to be collected. Are there enough projects that will affect your transportation needs to make it worthwhile to pay the tax. Will the 15% that is set aside for local counties and cities (a little less than $1 billion) be enough to sway your vote? Or will the inclusion of many transit projects woo you away from the question? Only you can make that decision.

Keep up with the list as it is winnowed down, and let our representatives know your feelings about the issue.

Thanks for a Wonderful Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-31T08:54:00.002-04:00

To all the organizers, volunteers, participants, and observers who made the 2011 Dacula Memorial Day events possible, a great big thank you.!

Dacula remembers:

The sacrifices of those who have given their lives for our freedom
The sacrifices of the families
The service of those currently serving in harms way
The families of those men and women in military service today

From a resident's perspective, thanks you very much. From the mayor's view, you made Dacula proud in the way you celebrated this time of remembering.

Sunday Alcohol Sales

2011-05-26T10:28:00.003-04:00

The City Council will be hearing about Sunday alcohol sales in Dacula. Two proposals will be considered for a vote by the people. One deals with retail sale of beer and wine in grocery/convenience stores from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM on Sundays. The other will deal with by the drink sales on Sundays from 12:30 PM to 11:30 PM in restaurants and eating establishments.

Both proposals, if authorized, would be presented as referenda on the November 8, 2011 general municipal election.

What do you think? Please take just a second to respond to the attached survey.

Click here to take survey

18th Annual Memorial Day in Dacula

2011-05-23T18:13:00.006-04:00

Memorial Day begins early next Monday in historic downtown Dacu la . For us in 2011, this day is a time to remember those who have died in military service for us. We are reminded that freedom is not free. We remember!

Please join us all day in Dacula for our celebration of those who serve and those who died in military service. Admission is free. Eats are sweet. Visit with your neighbors. Show we remember and love our land.

· Fun run and 5K race- starts at 8 AM

· Memorial Day Parade – starts at 10 AM

· Dacula Festival: 9 AM to 5 PM

See the memorial day website for additional information from the promoters.

Dacula: A treasure in time...on track for tomorrow.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-04T07:09:00.003-04:00

May 30, 2011 will be here before you know it. And so will Dacula’s Annual Memorial Day Celebration. During Memorial Day, we celebrate the lives of those Americans who have died in military service for our country. They have made the supreme sacrifice for us, and we take the time to honor their service and sacrifice.

Additionally, we remember all those who have served and who continue to serve the nation in war and peace. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance.

For 2011, we will have a 5K race, a parade, get a look at the Memorial Day pageant winners, and a festival. By the way, if you want to be sure to get a race tshirt you must register before May 16, 2011 with Carol Higgins at the Memorial Day web site.

The 5K race will commence about 8AM and conclude prior to 10AM. The parade will begin at Hebron Church parking lot at 10 AM and travel down Dacula Road to Second Avenue. It will end at Dacula High School. And the festival in Historic Downtown will continue from 9 AM to about 5 PM. The Memorial Day Pageant will be held on April 30, 2011 at the Hamilton Mill Lakeview Clubhouse, 1669 Hamilton Mill Parkway, Dacula, GA 30019.

Several things have changed in Dacula from the 2010 Memorial Day to 2011 Memorial Day. The events of the day have become larger and longer. Historic Downtown is under change. The area near where the parade starts has changed with the opening of the Kroger store, and changes are coming to Hebron’s Fence Road parking lot. The City is working with the promoters of the festivities in hopes of improving the flow of the parade and the attendance at the festival activities, while at the same time providing access for public safety vehicles during the festivities.

In order for the parade and other festivities to occur, several streets will be closed on an as needed basis, so you should take note of these for your traffic convenience and planning. Drivers should be aware that 5K entrants will be sharing the streets in Dacula from around 8 AM to about 10 AM. Please drive carefully.

During the parade the following streets will be closed to vehicular traffic from about 10 AM to about 11:15 AM:

Wilson Street at Dacula Road

Auburn Avenue at Dacula Road

Hinton Circle at Dacula Road

Dacula Road at Second Avenue and Winder Highway

Wilson Street at Second Avenue

Broad Street at Second Avenue and Winder Highway

Second Avenue from Dacula Road to Broad Street during the Festival (9 AM to 5 PM)

Please note the traffic control devices and police officers at these intersections. Drive carefully and respect business owner property.

Join with us in celebrating Memorial Day 2011. I hope you enjoy the day in Dacula.

Eminent Domain

2011-04-11T10:43:00.001-04:00

A short while ago, the City contemplated taking a small piece of property in the historic downtown for public use as part of an urban downtown park.

In dealing with eminent domain matters, the City proceeds using the Landowners Notice of Rights as mandated in State Law. The Landowners Notice requires making reasonable efforts to negotiate the purchase of the property, thus avoiding the use of eminent domain. The City offered to accept a donation, to lease the property for 99 years or to have an easement for the property. The owner declined all offers. The Notice also lays out the legal methods and steps that need to be taken to protect the property owner’s rights, and when all else fails to take the property through the power of eminent domain.

No matter how carefully or diplomatically a government proceeds, no one likes to be told the government needs property, perhaps owned by the family for generations, for public use. It should be noted that there is no “critical need test” in the law before eminent domain can be used. The only test is that the taking is for a public use. Emotions and rhetoric often run high in such cases. Pejorative terms such as “stealing”, “taking without a real need”, “sinful” and “immoral” tend to pepper the discussions surrounding eminent domain. Those terms are used by opponents of the action, when they have no legal grounds to object, to tar the individuals and inflame the public against those who must make the decision. Using of the power of eminent domain will always be a distasteful action.

The actual words eminent domain came to us through English common law probably from the Dutch around the 1600’s. The idea has been around as long as governments have existed. It is from the term dominium emines which means supreme lordship in Latin. The term “condemnation” is used to describe the formal act of the exercise of the power of eminent domain to transfer title to property from its private owner to the government. The United States, the State of Georgia, Gwinnett County, Gwinnett Board of Education, and the City of Dacula are empowered to use eminent domain for certain purposes. Several quasi-governmental bodies may also use the power of eminent domain to acquire property title including railroads, utility companies, even individuals who need access to their land-locked property. Just compensation must be paid to the owner for the property so acquired.

American courts have held that the proper measure of “just compensation” is “fair market value”. The City of Dacula determines “fair market value” by having an independent, outside appraiser determine the value. In an eminent domain case, the property owner is given the opportunity of meeting with the appraiser to help determine “fair market value”. In our case, the owner declined to even discuss this issue.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kelso v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469(2005), Georgia refined the eminent domain law. The City of Dacula follows state law in eminent domain matters.(By the way, the U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of the City of New London in the matter and upheld the use of the power of eminent domain.)

Article VII, General Provisions of the City of Dacula Charter from the General Assembly empowers the City to use the power of eminent domain. In Section 7.10, the Council is empowered to acquire, construct, operate, and maintain public ways, parks, public grounds, … (and a lot of other items including correctional facilities and the like), and, for such purposes, property may be taken under the Georgia Code, as amended.

When no agreement on “fair market value” of private property can be reached between the City and a property owner, the Council must consider condemning the property in question. Following the official act of condemnation, the matter will be heard in court by a “Special Master”. The Special Master will determine what the fair market value is, that amount of money will be deposited with the court, and title to the property will pass to the City.

The power of eminent domain is ensconced in English common law, in the U. S. Constitution, the Georgia Constitution, state law, and the Dacula Charter.

In the recent matter before the Council, the resolution to use the power of eminent domain was defeated on a 3-2 decision with the Mayor casting the deciding vote. Because the Council was evenly divided on the exercise of the power, I thought it best to defeat it. In most cases, the City has been able to negotiate and most often reach a settlement for property that the city needs. And it should be noted that residents and even past and present Council member have themselves donated property for public purposes when needed.

Is there a place for the City’s use of the power of eminent domain? Is taking someone’s private property for public use immoral? It is perfectly legal. Without eminent domain, we might have higher priced electricity and telephone service or not be able to get from one place to another or transport goods on a railroad. Members of your family might have used eminent domain to clear a cloudy title to a piece of family property or to gain access to land-locked property you might own.

In debating eminent domain, one should consider that the Dacula property in question was probably obtained (though I don’t know for sure and I doubt that any records could be easily found) by the railroad’s power of eminent domain, as the City was originally laid out by the railroad. Much of Walton County (in what is now Gwinnett County) was obtained by treaty from the Indians shortly after the War of 1812 with part of the US Army on site to make sure the treaty was executed. And much of the territory in Georgia was obtained by the forced removal of the Indian tribes that occupied the land during the 1830s and 1840s. Remember, the property you live on and own might have been occupied by a people who had a different idea about property and its use.

While some may consider the use of eminent domain “sinful”, I consider it sometimes “needful.” When you flip you electric switch or turn up you heat, drive on our streets and roads or when you walk in a government owned park, ask yourself would I be able to do this if the power of eminent domain did not exist?

I leave you to determine what you think.

Transportation Investment Act of 2010

2011-03-18T13:11:00.002-04:00

The Transportation Investment Act of 2010 was passed into state law in June of 2010. It places the transportation future of Georgia into the hands of the voters by providing for the establishment of 12 regional roundtables. Dacula and Gwinnett County fall into the Atlanta Regional Roundtable along with the other 10 metro Georgia Counties and their cities.

The law provides for a roundtable made up of the county commission chairman and a mayor from each of the counties located in the region. For the Atlanta roundtable the mayor of Atlanta is also included. The Atlanta Roundtable consists of 21 members. From an unconstrained list of projects that meet certain criteria, a final list for each of the 12 roundtables will be chosen. When the referendum which will be held in the summer of 2012 is held, the voters of each regional roundtable will be voting to approve the 1% sales tax which will fund the projects of each region.

Soon, you will be seeing the unconstrained (read all the projects that meet the criteria) project list for Gwinnett and her cities. As you can imagine, not all projects on the unconstrained list will make the cut to the final list.

The 1% sales tax over a ten year period is expected to keep about $7 billion dollars in the Atlanta region. Fifteen percent of the money is devoted directly to cities and counties in the Atlanta region, with the remainder to be used for projects with regional impact.

The law provides for an aggressive time line. The final project list is due to each roundtable by October 15, 2011.

For additional information please see the Atlanta Regional Commission’s website for the Transportation Investment Act.

Congratulations to our new Commission Chairman

2011-03-16T08:37:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Charlotte Nash, our new Chairman, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners!

VOTE!

2011-03-14T07:49:00.001-04:00

VOTE!

March 15, 2011

for

Charlotte Nash

Three Days Left to Vote

2011-03-10T12:48:00.002-05:00

If you have not voted in the Special Election for Chairman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners race, I invite you to visit the Elections Office on Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville either today or Friday to vote for the best qualified candidate in the race—Charlotte Nash. Your last chance to vote will be at your regular polling place next Tuesday from 7AM to 7PM.

Your participation in this election is critical for Gwinnett County. I encourage you to ask your neighbors to join with you in voting today, Friday or next week on Tuesday.

I am supporting Charlotte Nash, and I invite you to support Charlotte also.

What's Happening in State Government?

2011-03-09T12:57:00.006-05:00

Just to give you a headsup on an issue that on the surface looks like it only affects you and the General Assembly. I believe this also affects you at the local level, i.e. School Board, County Commission, and Municipal.

I've attached a commentary from the Political Vine web site, and it has commentary from a leading law firm. Please pay attention.

"Two days ago, the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (formerly known for 25 years prior to 2011 as simply "Georgia State Ethics Commission") issued an advisory opinion that greatly expanded the definitions of "lobbying" and being a "lobbyist" in this state.

And, despite the hue and cry from ethics lawyers, legislators and other parties about how the 2010 overhaul of the Ethics in Government Act was never intended to go this far, by a vote of 4 in favor to 1 against, the Commission voted to expand the lobbying law as follows...and PV excerpts the subject brief issued by Stefan Passantino of McKenna Long on these new interpretations:

"...anyone appearing before a public official to advocate a position on legislation - even if done on a single visit or if done in the context of invited legislative testimony - will be considered to be a “lobbyist” by the State of Georgia regulatory body. This will mean that any business owner or employee acting on behalf of a client will be required to register as a lobbyist before advocating a position on legislation to Georgia public officials such as members of the General Assembly.

"The ramifications of this interpretation of existing law are dramatic and must be heeded immediately. Under Georgia’s newly imposed registration scheme, registration fees for lobbyists have been increased to $300 annually plus $10 for every additional client added plus $20 for each lobbyist badge issued.

More importantly, the penalties imposed for failure to register and file mandated disclosures have increased significantly under the new law with potential penalties of up to $10,000 for each report the “lobbyist” fails to file. With lobby registrations now being due twice per month while the General Assembly is in session, failure to understand and comply with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission’s interpretation of existing law can result in crippling penalties and compliance costs.

Thus, commencing immediately, clients with employees who communicate with Georgia legislators need to examine their agents’ conduct and political law compliance protocols. The scope of the State’s interpretation expressly includes, but is not limited to:

* Any formal or casual meetings with members of the General Assembly at the Capitol or other locations in which legislation is discussed;
* Testimony before a House or Senate committee, even if invited, unless that testimony is 'unbiased' and is offered solely 'for the purpose of educating the members of any agency or governmental entity in the consideration of an issue;'
* Participation in 'Capitol Day' events, unless done as an uncompensated member of a trade association and not as an employee of a business; and
* Letters, emails or other correspondence to members of the General Assembly related to legislation."

What I think this means is if you come to see me about something the City is planning to do, and you do anything except try to educate me, i.e. if you say vote against that item or if you send me an email or telephone me advocating for an item--you are considered a lobbyist and must register as such, paying the fees and making the reports required. The fines assessed if you don't are high. As I read the advisory, it doesn't apply to elected officials.

Just a thought--did anyone read the U. S. and Georgia Constitutions. Apparently, some feathers have been rustled, and free speech is out the window.

Chairman Special Election

2011-03-04T09:28:00.002-05:00

Your chance to make a difference in Gwinnett County comes on March 15, 2011. We will elect a new Chairman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

Absentee voting is underway, and early voting at the Elections Office on Grayson Highway will start next week. Your regular polling place will be open from 7AM to 7PM on March 15, 2011.

While I don't usually endorse a particular candidate, I want to take this opportunity to recommend Charlotte Nash for Chairman. I do this for three major reasons: the job requires a person that can be up to speed on day one after the election, the job needs a person of integrity, and the job needs someone who knows Gwinnett County and Gwinnett County Government. Charlotte is the person for the job.

Join me in supporting and voting for Charlotte Nash on March 15!

What's up in the Georgia General Assembly

2011-03-04T07:31:00.004-05:00

HB 87 is on the floor and by the time you read this, it may have passed the house. HB 87 is an immigration bill. The bill contains language that allows for example a 21 year old college student in LaGrange to sue Dacula official if that student thinks that a city official, agent, agency or the like is not carrying out the provisions as written in the bill. In other words the bill as written gives anyone in Georgia who is at least 21 years of age standing to sue any municipality, county or school system.

Here is a copy of an email that I sent to each of our member of the Gwinnett delegation about this matter. Several have responded, but I'm unsure if they understand my local concern about litigation costs. How can a local government budget for such contingencies? What amount and where will the money come from?

Mayor Wilbanks,
Thanks for your comments and concerns. This section of the bill was thoroughly debated by the committee and discussed in Rules. If you will do those things that are outlined in the bill to comply with the law the threat of a law suit will be diminished greatly. I believe the bill to be very straightforward.

Tommy Benton
Georgia House of Representatives
District 31

________________________________________
From: Jimmy Wilbanks [mailto:mayordacula@charter.net]
Sent: Thu 3/3/2011 7:51 AM
To: 'District 100 Honorable Brian Thomas'; Brockway, Buzz; Pak, BJ; Casas, David; Clark, Valerie; Sheldon, Donna; Harrell, Brett; 'District 107 Honorable Len Walker'; 'District 108 Honorable Terry England'; Mills, James; Benton, Tommy; 'District 51 Honorable Tom Rice'; Mitchell, Billy; 'District 95 Honorable Toney Collins'; 'District 96 Honorable Pedro Marin'; 'District 97 Honorable Brooks P. Coleman, Jr.'; Clark, Josh; 'District 99 Honorable Hugh Floyd'; 'District 41 Honorable Steve Henson'; 'District 45 Honorable Renee S. Unterman'; 'District 47 Honorable Frank Ginn'; Shafer, David; Miller, Butch; Thompson, Curt (CR); Butler, Gloria; Balfour, Don
Subject: House Bill 87, Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011, Rep. Matt Ramsey
Gwinnett Representatives and Senators,

Good morning, thank you for your service to our varying communities in Gwinnett County and to the State as a whole.

I’m sure that everyone want to see a comprehensive plan to secure our borders and deter illegal immigration. I have some problems with the language in HB 87, in particular the provision that provides that anyone 21 year of age or older can sue any local government for some perceived failure on the part of local agencies and/or officials to adhere to the language and intent of HB 87. Simply complying with the intent of HB 87 will cost local governments, and the unknown costs of litigation makes this bill unworkable at the local level. Unworkable, because local commissions, boards, and councils will not have any idea of what budget figure should be plugged in for potential litigation costs. I guess the best example of these unintended costs might be compared to requests for open records. Members of the General Assembly may know of cases where disgruntled members of the public have made numerous requests for records—just for the sake of disrupting the process. A similar situation might develop if HB 87 is passed as written.

Should HB 87 appear on the floors of your respective houses, I request that you make sure that the language in the bill is straightforward, clear and limits litigation costs and damages at the local level.

Thank you,

Jimmy Wilbanks
Mayor
442 Harbins Road
P. O. Box 400
Dacula, GA 30019

At The Center of Georgia's Innovation Crescent

City Hall:770.963.7451
Mobile: 770.560.0867
Fax: 770.513.2187

Representative Benton, who does not represent Dacula, was kind enough to respond. However, I am not convinced that the unintended consequences of the language in the bill is wise--diminished lawsuits--one unneeded and unnecessary lawsuit is too much.

I know you have read about abusive uses by the public of requests for public records. I'm afraid that HB 87, as written, will encourage such abuse.

What's up in the Georgia General Assembly

2011-02-14T08:03:00.004-05:00

I'm going to cover some bills in several posts that you might like to know about. As usual, the General Assembly is attacking those issues that most of us see as a problem like illegal immigration, taxes and the like. Some times I'm astounded at how our representatives and senators approach these issues.

House Bill 109 addresses the problem of lobbying (not by lobbyists but by city employees). I'm not sure that a constitutional law can be crafted that deprives citizens (including city employees) of their right to free speech. If you have an opportunity, talk to your representatives about this bill. I am opposed on the basis of free speech. By the way this one was introduced by Rep. Mark Hamilton (R-Cumming).

Senate Bill 40 introduced by Senator Jack Murphy (R-Cumming) calls for the removal of local officials (but not state officials, I would guess) for failing to enforce the Security and Immigration Compliance; Public Contacts law. The punishment for local officials could be removal from office, a fine of up to $10,000 and possible criminal investigations.

While we all decry the lack of federal enforcement of immigration laws and lax border enforcement, should failure to use the E-Verify and SAVE programs at the local level require removal of local county commissioners and mayors. What about state representatives and senators who don't provide any resources to help local government comply?

I favor stricter immigration laws at the state level, but don't put the onus on local officials for federal and state failure. I oppose this bill as written. Ask you local representatives to vote against this bill as it comes to the House and Senate floors.

House Bill 87 introduced by Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) would require local governments to identify illegal aliens and allow police agencies to detain said aliens. One provision of the proposed act would allow anyone over the age of 21 to file an action against any official or agency or subdivision of the state if they feel that the official or agency is not complying with the act. It also requires that cities that issue business licenses or occupational tax certificates provide an annual report identifying each license and/or certificate issued by the city.

No funding to support any of the acts required is provided in the proposed law. My question to legislators and to the public is how do you budget for the potential litigation and who pays for the audit reports?

Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Special Election

2011-02-07T10:28:00.002-05:00

The choice of a new Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman will be made on March 15, 2011. This is a most important election. I encourage you to vote in the Special Election.

Absentee voting will begin on February 14, 2011, and Advance voting will be held at the Gwinnett Elections Office at 455 Grayson Highway in Lawrenceville on March 7-11, 2011. Regular precinct voting will occur on March 15, 2011 at your regular polling place.

The last day to register to vote in the Special Election is February 14, 2011. You may obtain a voter registration form from the Dacula City Hall, any library branch or request one from the Elections Office.

We need to elect a person of proven integrity who will be able to lead the Board of Commissioners without a lengthy learning process. I am voting for Charlotte Nash. I believe she has the set of qualities that Gwinnett County needs. I hope you will join with me and cast your vote for Charlotte Nash.

A Look Back at 2010 and Forward to 2011

2011-01-18T11:13:00.002-05:00

Remember all those old adages or old sayings you mother used with you as you were growing up. You remember them I’m sure. Here is a sample: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” “Don’t cross your eyes, they might stick that way.” “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “A stitch in time saves nine.” “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man, healthy, wealthy and wise.” “Birds of a feather flock together.”

We probably look back and laugh at our mother’s advice—especially when it was given in the words of others (Ben Franklin comes to mind) and in such pithy, terse form. We also may wish that we had paid more attention. Mothers kept our best interests out front. She warned of what might lay ahead. I can imagine that as you read this, you wonder what old adages have to do with a New Year’s article.

Every January I’ve made resolutions that are hard to keep. I resolve to eat less/exercise more. I resolve to work harder and smarter, to cooperate more fully with colleagues, to organize better. We all make these resolutions. So why do I look so overweight and flabby in my pictures? Why am I sometimes stubborn with colleagues, disorganized, why do I do things the same old way?

The answer is probably for the same reasons that you don’t keep your resolutions--lack of focus. Focus—we have lacked focus. It’s not that each of us shouldn’t make resolutions. On the contrary, the New Year is a season for new beginnings, black budgets, flat stomachs, organized calendars and the like.

January is a month that lets us look back as well as ahead. Let me focus on our achievements as a City during 2010, and then suggest some focus on what we will attempt in 2011.

In 2010, the City had eleven major goals that included improvements in transportation, facilities and enterprise funding. In transportation, we completely finished four of five goals by rebuilding portions of Broad Street near Dacula High School including the sidewalks. We resurfaced and stripped Stanley Road and Elvina Court. The City repaired a street failure on Majestic Circle, and resurfaced Rutherford and portions of West Drowning Creek Road. On our final transportation goal the safety improvements on Second Avenue, the City is almost complete on this project. Your favorable vote on the 2005 and 2009 extension of SPLOST initiatives made these project completions possible. We appreciate your vote for these penny sales taxes. We are spending the SPLOST funds in just the way you voted for the projects and in just the way you said they should be spent. Our focus and progress is apparent.

The City has completed two of the six goals involving facilities including increasing the parking in the Historic Downtown Dacula along Wilson Street. The City added several new street lights in certain parts of the City. We are making progress with other projects like our new Maintenance Facility on Drowning Creek Road, a sewer line from the Stanley Road pump station, planning sidewalk connections between Publix and the Cornerstone area. Several of these projects involve construction, obtaining easements and other longer-term activities. So they will be continuing as goals for 2011. Again much of this has been made possible by your support of the SPLOST initiative. The City also made progress in solving a continuing problem with our sanitation enterprise fund. The City made excellent progress in meeting 2010 goals by narrowly focusing on these projects, most of which are included in the short-term work program of our Comprehensive Plan.

So what will the City be focusing on in 2011? Well, we will roll over those goals not fully reached in 2010, i.e. the downtown project. I believe you will agree that the looks of downtown have been vastly improved, and finishing this project will be done early in 2011. The facilities projects just beginning in 2010 will be rolled into 2011 goals including completion of the Maintenance Facility, disposal of the old City Hall will be considered, additional sidewalks will be constructed. Additionally, we expect to go to bids on the widening of Freemans Mill Road, and we expect to complete the acquisition of land and the building of a park in Historic Downtown Dacula to anchor our new downtown look and to bring back the historical gathering-place in Dacula. We are focusing on continuing our balancing of tax-base between residential and commercial in this critical economic time. The Kroger Development will come on-line near the end of February bringing with it new jobs for our community and an improvement in the commercial tax base. The City is also working on the development permit for a new Chick-Fil-A which will also bring additional jobs to the community.

We can’t do everything. But by being focused, we can do a lot. The Council and I, working with our staff, pledge to keep our focus on the things that will make Dacula a stronger community—a place to live, work and play. We appreciate your support in 2010. For 2011 our wish for you at this time of the year is to have a Happy New Year and a great life!

An interesting web address

2011-01-05T10:47:00.003-05:00

Click on the following URL about the Dacula zipcode demographics.

While we don't all live inside the corporate limits of the City of Dacula, all of us who share a Dacula mailing address get lumped together. The information provided at the link gives a limited description of who we are.

Click on the graphics for more information.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2010-12-07T15:53:00.000-05:00

I’m hoping that we will see many smiles this Christmas season. Though the economy is not recovering as soon as we had hoped, it appears to be slowly improving. Many continue to believe the country is going in the wrong political direction, as indicated in our recent mid-term elections. For the first time in my memory we have less than our parents had in a monetary sense.

Let’s turn our attention to why we should be smiling. It may be because of the economy. We’ve learned to do more with less during the past two years, and maybe that’s a good thing.

I was thinking just yesterday of my growing up time. We didn’t have computer games, and if you can believe it, we didn’t even have a TV set for much of my youth. But we did have radio—and I listened to it a lot on Sunday afternoons. Good serial shows like “The Shadow” and the “Lone Ranger”. Yes it took a little imagination—but we could imagine being “20,000 Leagues” under the sea or way out in space at Mars with “Flash Gordon”. Don’t be surprised if your children or grandchildren ask about these programs and names. They well may not know of them. My parents didn’t make much money in my early years (and they were frugal savers who lived through the Great Depression of the 20’s and 30’s). But there were lots of conversations, reading, imagining—and lots of smiles. So maybe our smiles are because we have more time with our families right now.

Just think of Christmas Dinner and smile. Perhaps we are smiling because we are sure that our family get-together will be well attended this year.

Perhaps it’s just because of the season. Thinking about the aromas of the kitchen during Christmas, brings a smile to my face. What could be better than three holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, within just a little more than a month.

Of course, the anticipation of little children looking for a visit that brings them a gift will bring smiles to their faces. And those little smiles should put a great big smile on our faces as well.

I’ve often thought about the Biblical story of the birth of Christ. Most of us have heard the story from childhood, but it still affects me. I think about the shepherds looking after their sheep up in the hills near Bethlehem. Think about that dark night—no electric street lights in Bethlehem. Maybe there was a gentle glow off in the distance. Remember there were many people in Bethlehem on that night because of the census procedure.

Shepherds settled down with their flocks were startled and scared when an angelic messenger appeared to announce God’s gift to people. Can you imagine the brilliance of that moment? Light like no living man or woman had ever seen. Scared them out of their minds almost. God’s announcement came to men who were consider ritually unclean by religious people of Bethlehem because of their job. Why them and why an angelic announcement? I leave that thought to your understanding.

Support Charlotte Nash for Chairman

2010-12-06T07:23:00.002-05:00

I wanted to recommend Charlotte Nash as our next Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairperson. I've known and worked with Charlotte for many years. I cannot think of another person who is better qualified to lead Gwinnett County in this horrific economic time. Her financial experience and sense of ethics is what we need in Gwinnett County at this time.

Please support and vote for Charlotte Nash during the Special Election on March 15, 2011.

A Valuable Resource - Hudgens Center for the Arts

2010-11-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

Submitted by Hudgens Center for the Arts

November 30th brings the exciting culmination of a nearly two year long process to choose a winner for the $50,000 Hudgens Prize visual arts competition. The competition was announced by the Hudgens Center for the Arts last January, causing quite a stir in the state, as this is one of the biggest cash art awards in the nation, and open only to Georgia artists.

Artists around the state quietly got busy, choosing and creating works in a very wide range of media, from drawings and paintings, to sculpture, installations and photography. Three hundred and sixty-nine different artists entered over 2,000 individual works of art. The jury truly had their work cut out for them!

The jury is made up of three well-known figures from the national and international art world, including David Kiehl (Curator of Prints at The Whitney Museum of American Art); Sylvie Fortin (Editor in Chief of ART PAPERS Magazine); and Eungie Joo (Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at The New Museum). The Hudgens Center was very fortunate to be able to put together a jury of such standing, and it was an added benefit to all entering artists that their work was seen by these three individuals.

The Hudgens Center itself has been a hive of related activity for well over 18 months, since it was first chosen by an anonymous foundation to be the facilitators of the competition. Employees and board members have been working hard behind the scenes, forming a Prize Committee, planning the competition, inviting jurors, publicizing the competition through a coordinated media blitz and live press announcement, accepting and carefully logging in each entry, uploading each electronic image for the jury to view as anonymous entries, meeting with the jury to facilitate their deliberations, and then announcing the five Finalists in another statewide media blitz.

The committee and staff are currently deep in preparations for the Finalists' Exhibition and for the announcement of the prize winner, to be made on November 30, and it won't end there: the prize winner will also be offered the opportunity for a solo exhibit at The Hudgens, to take place in December of 2011.

The five finalists, Ruth Dusseault of Atlanta; Hope Hilton of Winterville; Gyun Hur, Scott Ingram and Jiha Moon of Atlanta, are currently completing and choosing works to be displayed in the Finalists Exhibit, from which the prize winner will be decided. The jurors will again gather, this time to preview the Finalists' Exhibit and see the artworks in person, and the announcement will be made during theOpening Reception on November 30th, in a special Award Celebration. The Reception is an invitation-only event.

The Finalists Exhibit will be open to the public from December 1 until February 19, 2011, and will include a looping video slideshow of works by all of the artists who entered the competition. Be sure to come see the fascinating works by the Hudgens Prize finalists, and pick out your own favorite artist or artists.

In addition, as a special gesture of thanks to the community for its support, the Hudgens is temporarily waiving the normal admission fee to the Exhibit. Admission is free during the month of December.

About The Hudgens

The Hudgens Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization that has been focused on supporting the arts in Georgia since its establishment in 1981. The Hudgens presents fine art exhibits year round, and offers art classes for adults and children through its Fine Arts School. The Hudgens supports local community-based arts organizations through its programs, exhibits and partnerships. The Hudgens' mission is to bring art lovers, leaders and learners together through quality programs and exhibits.

The Hudgens Center for the Arts is located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Bldg. 300, in Duluth, in the Gwinnett Center complex. For more information about art exhibits, events and classes at the Hudgens, please visit the website at www.thehudgens.org or call 770-623-6002.

Our Troubling Time

2010-10-25T11:32:00.002-04:00

Halloween is coming and as the witches in Shakespeare’s play say—“Double, Double Toil and trouble” and troubles are evident in politics nationally, at the state level and certainly at the county level. Mud slinging in the Georgia governor’s race seems especially vicious this year. Unfortunately, this isn’t confined just to Georgia. Whether you consider the electorate justified in its apparent anger, I often wonder if that justifies the antics of candidates

As I write this we are about a week out from the November 2, 2010 General Election Day. I hope you to found candidates you could support and voted for them. Elections most certainly have consequences.

Gwinnett County has been rocked by public unrest about many of the Board of Commissioners’ decisions. Most of the unrest seems to center around the “mystery” of decisions made with limited or no public input. Then there is the resignation and the indictment of board members. Take that with the election of two new members to the Board of Commissions, and I think the public has reason to be wary—and angry and double troubled.

Job ONE of the Board of Commissioners is to win back the confidence of Gwinnettians. They must make board decisions open and accept public input about those decisions. Now don’t take this wrong, but sometimes the public is off-base and wrong too. Then the Commissioners must make the case that their decisions are based in fact and not just opinion.

The person who wins the race for the unexpired term of the chairman must be ready for critical observation in season and out. That person should have thick skin and be prepared for oblivion at the end of the term.

To win tax-payer confidence and to provide transparent government, this leader must opt to set aside some of the past practices adopted by the Board of Commissioners. The chairman, when elected and seated, should suspend the practice of “consent agendas” and bring all decisions to the full board for discussion and open vote. The chairman should suspend, even the idea, of “district courtesy”. District courtesy is the practice of voting "AYE" and with the district commissioner on every item the district commissioner wants passed or "NAY" if the person wants it killed. This practice in effect disenfranchises three quarters of the public. It leads to decision-making by one person rather than the whole board.

The election cycle will soon be over, and we will have some idea of how our country, state and county will be affected and fences nationwide will begin to mend. Those who are serious about running for chairman will be on the campaign trail shortly for the Chairman post.

If there can be an upside to this troubling time, it is in the fact that the general public will be better served by its Board of Commissioners in the future.

Hope you voted in the Run-Off Election

2010-09-01T14:16:00.000-04:00

The primary elections are over and run-off elections are imminent. I hope you were one of the about 20% who voted in the primary, and I encourage you to find someone you can support in the run-off election. The go to the polls and VOTE! A twenty per cent turnout isn’t something to brag about.

I’ve heard more than just about any other election in my memory, and still we only get 20% of the registered voters to vote. Wow! By the time you read this we may have settled who will be our state leaders, our congressional representative, and our county commissioners. Let complaining be proportional to your vote. By the way, I noticed that Judge Fuller threw out the recall petition against Chairman Bannister. No election there.

Economic development in the Dacula area seems to be strengthening in some segments of the economy while getting progressively weaker in others. Foreclosures of residential properties continue, but some new housing stocks are being built. Commercial foreclosures loom, but entrepreneurs continue to begin and strengthen new business in our area. In this economic downturn, I wish them well.

By the time you read this, the suit by Gwinnett County against her Cities may well be complete. We go to judicial trial beginning August 2, 2010. As you may be aware, the intergovernmental agreements among Gwinnett County and Gwinnett Cities expired about 3 years ago. Rather than negotiating in good faith and creating the agreements required under Georgia’s Service Delivery Strategy Act, the Board of Commissioners sued each City and is attempting to rely on laws passed prior to the SDS Act to maintain funding sources for providing services within Gwinnett County.

If you have been following this judicial opera, you will remember that Judge Barrett ruled early on that without the required agreement, the SDS Act provided the default funding mechanisms for delivering services. Gwinnett County attempted to counter the ruling by appealing to the Georgia Supreme Court which refused to hear the appeal.

At the heart of the case is the manner and nature of funding local governmental services covered by the SDS Act. The SDS Act is a piece of tax reform legislation designed to help eliminate double taxation and to provide tax equity among unincorporated and incorporated taxpayers within the same county. Gwinnett County and all the Cities are spending your money to see if the law is really the law, and if the law is really the law who must abide by it.

Such is the joy of living in a constitutional republic. Remember all this when it’s time to vote again. Maybe you’ll be one of the 20 per cent who will.

Please Take Time to Vote

2010-07-12T13:32:00.002-04:00

The Georgia Primary is July 20th. Early voting at satellite polling places is underway. Please take the time to find candidates that mirror your desires and then take the time to vote in the primary.

The Supreme Law of the Land

2010-07-06T10:26:00.002-04:00

The supreme law of the land is the Constitution of the United States, along with federal laws made under constitutional authority, and treaties of the United States.

Why then do we have five Supreme Court justices who cannot read the supreme law of the land, "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." and decide that gun control laws are unconstitutional, void and unenforceable? Obviously, because these Supreme Court justices, who should be the brightest and best, have their own agenda, and it ain't the agenda of the people.

Just another reason not to appoint lawyers to the Supreme Court. What we need is not liberal, northeastern university ivy-league lawyers or ex-judges, but we need people at the supreme who have common sense and understand it is their job to determine the CONSTITUTIONALITY of laws and not to make law.

I'm all for a constitutional amendment that limits the terms of Chief Justice and Supreme Court justices to not longer than 10 years or when they reach the age of 79.

Who reads Dacula: On Track

2010-06-16T21:28:00.000-04:00

I've attached a web link to a very short survey in this blog. Please take about 10 seconds to open the survey and respond.

Click here to take survey

US Rep. Bob Etheridge (D) Dist 2, NC goes wild

2010-06-14T21:27:00.003-04:00

Check out US Representative Bob Etheridge manhandling a student. Just what we need in Washington, another dummy who should be in jail for assault--but is making laws that he will not repect nor obey. Check it out on the web.

Test blog with bubble charting

2010-06-14T21:04:00.001-04:00

Father's Day, Mentors, Change in Dacula

2010-06-03T17:26:00.002-04:00

First let me thank all the folks who made Memorial Day 2010 special in Dacula. Thanks to the sponsors of the beauty pageant, the 5K, the parade, and the festival. Special thanks go to the Gwinnett County PD for their assistance, and for each of you who attended. I hope you were as amazed at the outpouring of feelings for our young men and women who gave their lives for the Nation. Thanks parents for bringing your children to the Memorial Day celebration. They need to know that freedom is not free; it is bought with a price--sometimes an ultimate price.

As I was thinking about Dacula, I wondered at the way thing have changed---and yet they stay the same. The street layout of Dacula hasn’t changed much. Sure there are more houses and businesses, but if you visited after an absence of say fifty years, I bet you would know about where you were on any of our major routes. The historic downtown area hasn’t changed much. Yes the depot is gone, some buildings have been renovated and other spruced up, but essentially it is the same as when the buildings were built. If you were on your 50th anniversary visit, you would recognize downtown because it has been resistant to change because it is cramped between the railroad, schools and residential areas.

When I was growing up here during the late 1940’s and early 50’s, one of my favorite things was visiting the local barber shops. Back then there were only two in Dacula and both were in the historic downtown area. The proprietors were George Lee Tanner and Will Walls. Tanner’s barber shop was a men-only shop, but Mrs. Walls also provided care for the ladies in the Walls’ shop. Now we have about six barber shops or hair salons, one of which is located downtown in the old Tanner’s spot.

When I was a youngster, my grandfather went to the barber shop every other day to get a shave. I suppose it was easier than soaping up, stropping your straight razor, and trying to keep from nicking yourself. I learned a political lesson early on—Granddaddy always alternated between shops.

I enjoyed the preparation for his shave. First came a hot damp towel wrapped around his face. Then Mr. Tanner or Mr. Walls would strop the straight razor on a long leather strap (I might mention that my father had such a razor strap—but he had quit using it for its designed purpose—though he had another use for it.). Then came the lather and the careful use of the razor. Finishing off was with some kind of after shave preparation—maybe witch hazel, as I recall. All this service for a single quarter dollar. Wow!

Now we’ve gotten away from using straight razors for shaving. I shave every day, but I use a safety razor and only go to a barber shop for a hair cut. We also have gotten away from the barber shop as community central for men. I think women’s hair salons are better at that, from my experience in carrying and waiting for my mom to get her hair done.

As I waited for my grandfather, there wasn’t a TV set playing. There were no magazines or newspapers (except maybe once per week). But there were people from the community. They were sharing farming news, politics and other things. Yes, let’s face it there was also lots of gossip. Don’t believe that men don’t gossip. They do or at least they did at the barber shop. A young lad could learn a lot from the men at the barber shop.

Now, we go to the barber shop. Sometimes they are called salons, and “GASP” some of the barbers are ladies! The sad part is that sometimes we don’t know anyone else but the barber. The TV is playing, or you can lose yourself in a magazine. There isn’t much interaction among the customers. A young lad today may not learn anything at the barber shop. Sad!

I think I remember paying thirty-five cents for the first hair cut that I paid for myself. The last hair cut I have paid for was $15. That’s a big change.

Still things change, and they stay the same. Put down you magazine and join in a conversation with you neighbor. You never know what a young lad may hear and learn about being a man. Be a role model. That’s what my grandfather, Mr. Tanner, and Mr. Walls were.

Dacula Memorial Day Celebration, May 31, 2010

2010-05-05T12:10:00.001-04:00

December 7, 1941, some sixty-nine years ago, the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor bringing our nation into the Second World War. Dacula citizens answered the call to military service once again, and for four cruel years Dacula and Gwinnett County men and women carried out their military duties as Americans have when called upon. I often wonder at the bravery of these 17-18 year old men and women fresh from the farms and families here in Dacula. There have been minor and major wars since 1941 but none that has affected our community like WWII.

As that “greatest generation” slips away, we need to RESPECT, HONOR, REMEMBER their service and sacrifice and those of the families they represent.

I invite you to join us here in Dacula as we celebrate the life, service and sacrifice these men and women gave for us. Join us for the 17th Annual Memorial Day celebration.

This year’s celebration theme is RESPECT, HONOR, REMEMBER. We will begin our day here in Dacula with a 1-mile Fun Run at 8:00AM closely followed by the 5-K Run at 8:30 AM. The Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10:00 AM. Our Dacula Festival will also start around 10 AM. Prior to Memorial Day, a Miss Memorial Day Pageant will be held on April 24, 2010. You can find information and entry instructions at the web site for our Memorial Day activities, WWW.DACULAMEMORIALDAY.COM.

For the first time there will be awards for Best Marching Band, Most Original Theme Float, and Most Patriotic Float. As you can imagine there are deadlines for each event. Please refer to the web site for addition information, entry information and entry forms. Please register early, Dacula Memorial Day events are large.

We expect to have fun at the celebration, but we want to also show respect for our veterans. I encourage you to come, join with us and celebrate. Show you patriotism in ways that are respectful to our currently serving military personnel and our veterans.

As we join together as a small town, let’s remember that traffic will be bad—so be careful, come early, stay late and rejoice that we have the opportunity to remember. Have a wonderful Memorial Day.

RESPECT, HONOR, REMEMBER

Have You Been Counted?

2010-03-29T10:19:00.000-04:00

Have you received you Census2010 package?

The goal of Census2010 is to have each person residing in the United States counted by April 1, 2010. If you haven't received your package by mail yet, you may need to stop by City Hall and pick up a package.

I didn't received my package (guess that may have to do with the fact that you are counted at your physical address and I get my mail at a post office box), so I picked up one, filled it out today and mailed it. The questions are really simple and not very intrusive as I remember the 1990 questions to be.

If you have questions, please call 1-866-872-6868, 8:00AM to 9:00PM daily for more information.

As we get closer to SDS Litigation

2010-03-17T19:01:00.002-04:00

As we get closer to the bench trial on Service Delivery between Gwinnett County and the Cities of Gwinnett, I thought it might be helpful to revisit Mr. Goodman's opinion piece from the December 17, 2006 AJC.

How Gwinnett handles its cities will affect its future

By Dick Goodman
For the Journal-Constitution

Published on: 12/17/06

Like the ghost of Christmas future, today in South Florida stand two alternative
ghosts of Gwinnett County future.

Each is starkly different, and which one foretells the future of Gwinnett will
be determined by the choices made by voters and Gwinnett County commissioners.
According to the October draft of the Joint County-Cities Community Assessment
Summary Report, the proportion of Gwinnett's population living in its cities was
only 15 percent in 2000. As the county's population grows over the next two
decades, it's expected to decline to 14 percent. Not a good omen.

If this continues, the future Gwinnett may mirror Florida's present-day
Miami-Dade County. Despite the glamorous images seen on TV, this is not good
news.

If we want Gwinnett to be a thriving, desirable community, the county should
encourage the creation of new cities within its borders and the annexation of
unincorporated areas by existing cities. Present-day Miami-Dade County stands as
a cautionary tale for why.

A half century ago, nearly every one of the 250,000 residents of Dade County
lived in one of two dozen cities —- Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables
and others.

As the population grew, a few pioneers settled in the county's unincorporated
areas. As more joined them, a centralized county government was established to
manage the surge of new residents. The expectation was that new cities would
form, or existing cities would annex the newly settled areas.

As the population swelled over the next five decades to 2.3 million, instead of
the cities growing, the centralized county government grew and grew. Today, for
more than half the population of what is now Miami-Dade County, their closest
government is a bureaucratic behemoth that administers an area larger than the
state of Delaware.

The result is unresponsive and distant government. Commission hearings are
daylong affairs that for the average citizen require a time commitment few can
afford and are as impenetrable as they are Kafkaesque. The 13 county
commissioners, elected in single member districts, trade votes with their fellow
commissioners to approve projects in neighborhoods about which they know little
and for which they care little. Each chairs a powerful committee controlling
millions of dollars of county money. Consequently, the county office tower is a
nest of lobbyists that makes the U.S. Congress look like a kindergarten. For
individual citizens to be heard requires stamina and resolve few possess.

For 28 years I lived in Miami-Dade and witnessed the decline of neighborhoods
because of governmental indifference or ineptitude. To create parking,
homeowners stripped once-beautiful suburban streets of their trees and lawns.
Attached garages became extra rooms or illegal apartments. And, despite an
ordinance that made it a crime to remove a shopping cart from a store, carts
littered every neighborhood. All this happened under the watchful eye of a code
enforcement system that behaved like Sgt. Schultz in the old "Hogan's Heroes" TV
show, "I see nothing. . . . I see nothing."

County government thwarted attempts by communities to incorporate by
gerrymandering tax-revenue-rich industrial centers or shopping malls out of
proposed new cities and by imposing new fees to compensate the county for "lost"
tax revenue.

This was not an inevitable consequence of population growth. It resulted from
decades of inbred greed and a lust for political power. Just across the county's
northern border a different story had unfolded.

Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and 30 other cities,
experienced the same growth but addressed it quite differently.
The population of Broward is 1.6 million, but only 23,000, barely 1.4 percent,
live in unincorporated areas.

In Broward, residents have access to government that is close to them and
responsive. City commissioners are their neighbors. Cities compete to be the
most livable and attractive. The county government's activities are limited to
those beyond the budgets of individual cities, or those it can provide more
efficiently —- not that will yield the greatest power or payoff.

By 2006, I'd had enough of the decay I saw in Miami and left. I came to
Gwinnett, specifically to the city of Suwanee. I vowed never again to live where
government could become distant and unresponsive.

As a Suwanee City Council member explained, "We listen to our constituents. They
know where we live." It was meant literally. And it mattered.

Unless Gwinnett changes direction, it risks becoming more like Florida's stolid
and praetorian Miami-Dade County than responsive and enlightened Broward County.
For residents of unincorporated Gwinnett that's not good news. The county is
already struggling to deal with neighborhoods adrift and in decline.

If we want Gwinnett to be a desirable place to call home, with communities that
compete to attract residents with quality services and attractive neighborhoods,
the county should follow the model of Broward, not Miami-Dade. It should commit
to encouraging the creation of new cities and set as a goal that every Gwinnett
resident live in an incorporated city.

> Dick Goodman is a freelance marketing and business communications copywriter
who lives in Suwanee. He lived in Miami-Dade County for 28 years.

Worrisome SDS Update

2010-03-12T07:10:00.002-05:00

Are you worried about the direction our County seems to be going? Do you worry that we are headed for a government directed cradle to grave society? Are you concerned at the lack of respect for and adherence to the Constitution of the United States of America?

I am. I am fearful for our Country and the lack of leadership in Washington. But I am equally worried about the lack of respect for and adherence to the Constitution of the State of Georgia and the laws of our State. The lack of leadership of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners is shocking and sickening. The state Constitution forbids double taxation, and the Service Delivery Strategy Act forbids the use of funds for the provision of services among cities and counties except in certain areas unless an SDS Agreement between the Cities and County allows for other choices. There is no disputing the fact that there are tax inequities in Gwinnett County. Less clear is how much that inequity has cost the taxpaying public who live in Cities. Over the life of the past ten year Agreement, the tax inequity is something on the order of $20,000,000 to $120,000,000. The Cities’ position is that this tax inequity cannot be extended to another SDS Agreement period.

The Cities of Gwinnett and Gwinnett County have been debating, arguing, fussing, and litigating about the SDS Agreement renewal for nearly three years. But nothing has been settled even though the Cities and County agree on all points but about three or four major points of contention. Now we have missed date of the judge’s ruling for settling our differences of February 1, 2010, and we are in the throes of sanctions against the Cities and County. That means that neither of the groups will be able to receive state grants, spend state grant money on projects, and this will affect you, the citizen, adversely. Roads will remain unrepaired and unpaved, sidewalks will not be repaired nor new one begun. There are a plethora of areas in which you will be affected.

I encourage you not to blame the Cities for this stalemate. The Cities have presented offer after offer to settle, but the Commissioners have ignored or refused all offers of compromise, intent on keeping the previous tax inequities and spending service funding the way they want in contravention of the Constitution, State Law, and court rulings.

City Mayors or representatives and the Board of Commissioners met jointly for a meeting on January 19, 2010. This was the first time since the actual inception of the talks some 6 or 8 months ago that all the County Commissioners heard the same presentation even though correspondence for some thirty months prior had been distributed to each commissioner. The upshot of this meeting was everyone heard our latest offer of compromise, but NOTHING else was accomplished. Obviously, the ball is in the Commissioners’ court. I believe, that the judge’s ruling on how funds that are collected by the County must be spent in accordance with the SDS Act for providing services, is the correct one. The Georgia Supreme Court agrees with that view in that they refused to hear the County appeal of Judge Barrett’s ruling. My understanding is that the Cities have the moral and legal high ground in this matter. You should not have to pay for services you don’t receive from Gwinnett County just because you live in an incorporated city.

We folks who live in Cities are a part of Gwinnett County. The Cities and the County agree and work together on many issues. As an entire County, we need to settle this SDS issue. Jointly we need to stop spending your money on legal fees, get sanctions lifted, continue to provide excellent services at the lowest cost available, and move on.

Remind members of the Board of Commissioners that they are the decision makers in this matter. They should determine how compromise with the Cities is to be obtained, and instruct County staff to implement their decisions. Remember, lessening the tax inequity will mean money in the taxpayers’ pockets not in any City coffer. As long as the Board of Commissioners can string this out, they will be collecting somewhere around $1,000,000 per month of city taxpayer money without providing the corresponding services.

Let’s get on with it. Just because the County is the 800 pound gorilla in the room, doesn't mean that what they are doing is legal. We have spent enough time and your resources on this issue. If jointly we do not reach an Agreement, a judicial rule will ultimately determine how much taxes you pay each year for services you receive from Cities or the County. By the time you read this the Cities and the County may be trying the suit to determine service delivery methods and means. You will not be pleased with a judicial decision, of that I am certain.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T06:49:00.000-05:00

What can be better than a couple of months that include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year celebrations, and what’s better all the meals, family gatherings and presents that go with these joyous occasions. You’ll hear “Happy New Year!” for at least a couple of weeks as 2010 gets going. Remember this is also the start of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

The celebration of a new year is, perhaps, the oldest of all holidays, celebrated in Babylon about 4000 years ago. Our calendar month, January, is named for the Roman deity, Janus, often depicted with two faces—one looking forward to the new and the other looking back on the old year.

Traditions are associated with the day include making resolutions to do better in the New Year than we did in the past. Many make resolutions, but like me, few keep them. In modern times, we associate parades like the Tournament of Roses Parade with New Year’s celebration. Babies are often symbols of the New Year with an old, bearded man as the past year. We celebrate the New Year with football games. The ancients may have had other practices like chariot races.

We traditionally celebrate with foods also. We try to encourage money and good luck to stick with us in the New Year by eating greens to signify paper money and black-eyed peas as representing coins. Others insist that these foods ask for good luck more than money in the New Year. In other parts of the world, rice is considered to be the good luck food.

Perhaps the most recognized New Year tradition is singing the song, “Auld Lang Syne” at the stroke of midnight to usher in the New Year. “Auld Lang Syne” means the “old long ago” or the “good old days”. The song helps us remember the past even though we are entering a new year and a new decade.

Traditions help us keep alive, in the human sense, celebrations of what may be possible and help us remember the good things of the past.

Amazing isn’t it. Thanks for the past at Thanksgiving. Celebration of a holy infant at Christmas. Resolutions to do better in the New Year.

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

2009-11-30T17:19:00.002-05:00

I’m wondering if we will see many smiles this Christmas season. We have a bad economy. Many believe the country is going in the wrong political direction, and we have less—for the first time in our remembrance—than our parents had.

Having been a gloomy Gus, let’s turn our attention to why we should be smiling. Maybe it’s because we have more time with our families right now. Perhaps it’s because we are sure that our family get-together will be well attended this year. Or perhaps it’s just because of the season. Thinking about the aromas of the kitchen during Christmas, brings a smile to my face and yours too. What could be better than two holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas, within just a month of each other? Maybe you will be celebrating Chanukah.

Maybe we should have the anticipation of little children looking for a visit that brings them a gift.

I’ve often thought about the Biblical story of the birth of Christ. Most of us have heard the story since childhood, but it still affects me and I bet you. I think about the shepherds looking after their sheep up in the hills near Bethlehem. Think about that dark night—no electric street lights in Bethlehem. Maybe there was a gentle glow off in the distance. Remember there were many people in Bethlehem on that night because of the Roman census procedure.

Shepherds settled down with their flocks were startled and scared when an angelic messenger appeared to announce God’s gift to people. Can you imagine the brilliance of that moment? Light like no living man had ever seen. Scared them out of their wits. God’s announcement came to men who were not well thought of by the people of Bethlehem because of their job. Why them and why an angelic announcement? I leave that thought to your understanding.

Some of us will be celebrating Christmas and some Chanukah. Chanukah is referred to as the Festival of Lights—it commemorates a miracle of light for the Jewish people. Our Christian holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus—that same occasion announced to the shepherds by the angel and the angelic choir over 2000 years ago.

Our celebrations are religious in nature, but our good feelings ought not to stop at the church or synagogue door. Our smiles and our good feelings about each other should spread throughout the year so that we share the same feelings of warmth, compassion and charity all year long.

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Chanukah, or don’t celebrate the season at all, let me leave you with this thought: God uses your hands, feet and voice. A demonstration of charity and love is far better than a definition of them.

I’m smiling and I hope you are too because I can’t think of a better place to be for Christmas than Dacula, Georgia.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy New Year!

Health Care Debate

2009-11-24T08:24:00.001-05:00

As the health care debate continues to heat up in Congress, we are beginning to hear the liberal drumbeat for health care rationing crescendo with calls for women to delay diagnostic mammograms until their 50s. Television’s 60 Minutes recently ran a piece on the high cost of dying.

Both of these issues are political nightmares. If a mom delays a mammogram and contracts breast cancer, who will be to blame? Who will comfort the family and the patient? Who will answer the question, “Did I do the right thing?”

The issue of end-time patient care is equally explosive. It is easy to talk in the abstract as Dr.s Byock and Fisher did on the 60 Minute’s show. It’s easy to talk about the money it costs to keep a patient in intensive care. It is an entirely different thing when you are dealing with a parent’s approaching death. I’ve recently experienced that. My mother decided, while she still was able to make informed decisions, to not accept any extraordinary measures to extend her life. She faced the fact that such measures might extend her physical life but not increase or give her any quality of life. When the time came for me to make that decision, it was terribly painful—but easier—because I knew I was doing what my mom wanted and had documented in her living will.

Why then would politicians box themselves into a situation where they can only face blame? Is it control? Is it a desire to save the public’s money? There is probably a little of all of that. Most liberal politicians see health care as a way of leaving a legacy with the country after they have been voted out of office. I’m afraid that the legacy they will leave will be similar to the telephone debacle that government got us into. We had the best telephone system in the world, but government couldn’t leave it alone. They broke it up, gave us inferior service, cost us billions of dollars, and now its coalescing back to what it was years ago. Take Medicare as an example. No checks and balances. Paying for new arms and legs for people who haven’t even been to the doctors. If that’s the way the government will run a new health care program in this country, I say we can’t afford it. Leave it alone!

What decisions are right about health care? I believe it should be between the patient and his doctor. The government has no place at the health care table. If the government does succeed in getting control of the health care system in this country, get ready for declining health in the US.

The Bible says that there is a time to be born and a time to die. I believe there is also a time to do something and a time not to do something. Let’s leave health care to the health care professionals and keep the insurance and government buffoons out of it.

Thanks

2009-11-04T08:02:00.001-05:00

Dacula Voters--thanks for your vote yesterday. I look forward to continue making Dacula the "best." I am humbled by your support and pledge to work for your interests.

Exercise your Voting Right

2009-11-03T07:06:00.002-05:00

Today is the day you decide who will lead Dacula for the next, critically-important four years. Let's exercise our right to vote. The polls are open at City Hall from 7AM to 7PM.

The Choice is Yours

2009-11-02T09:19:00.002-05:00

This Tuesday, November 3rd, you have the opportunity to choose who will lead Dacula for the next four years.

You may choose to re-elect Jimmy Wilbanks, the candidate who has served as your mayor for the last 8 years. During this time I have consistently provided the leadership to keep our city tax rates low. I've helped save the Dacula Library Branch as a full-service library. I have expended the political capital to keep the library and fought for equitable county tax rates, and I'll be the one to face the political heat for those actions. I have encouraged private property rights. I started the Dacula Business Association, and I've made your City a more convenient, safe and family-friendly place to live by reconstructing some of our streets, improving our city park, and extending sidewalks and street lighting. You can look at my voting record.

Or, you may choose an inexperienced candidate who has no voting record.

When you elected me, I promised to do my best to make Dacula a better and more convenient City. I believe I have done that.

With your help, we can make Dacula the "best" for you and your family. The choice is yours. I am asking for your vote and support tomorrow at the Dacula City Hall.

Jimmy Wilbanks, Mayor of Dacula

Leadership

2009-10-27T16:24:00.006-04:00

The Mayor's job is to lead. It is your job to determine who Dacula's leader will be for the next four critical years. In order to lead, my job is to ask you to vote for me.

I have led Dacula for the past 8 years, and I have proven that I have the ability, the vision, the passion and the time to be Mayor. My opponent has not.

Leadership has been defined as a process by which one person enlists the help of others in accomplishing tasks. My opponent sees the task of Mayor as leading the City Council and finding harmonious relationships. It is much more than that. The Mayor has to be a leader in all aspects of the community. To be successful, the Mayor has to reach out to seek the help of City employees, churches and other religious organizations, civic organizations, businesses, non-profits and others. He must seek the help and advice of the county, school board, state representatives and even our national elected officials. I have done this and we as a community are the better off for it.

I have mentored students, business, civic organizations. I have served as a member of your volunteer fire department back when we didn't have any county fire services. I served as the President of the Gwinnett Municipal Association. I served on your Planning and Zoning Board. I served as your Mayor when one of the only paved streets in Dacula was U.S. 29 (Winder Highway). I brought you the Dacula Business Association. I've run a small business in Dacula and know you can't spend out more than you bring in. I have worked with and served state and national officials. I have served all Georgia in emergency management--in the trenches--helping you and Georgians recover from disaster. I started the Dacula Business Association as an outreach to people who are willing to invest in our community to make it a better and more convenient place. I brought you the Dacula Centennial Commission and helped facilitate our historic "Down Yonder in Dacula" DVD and History of Dacula. I serve you through my church. I coordinated with several service clubs such as Kiwanis and the Lions Clubs to bring those organizations to the Dacula area. My door is always open to members of the community.

The best measure of success for a leader is the success of the organization he leads. I leave that judgment to you. Our City is a safer, more convenient, family-friendly small town that really works because of the effort I and others have made for Dacula over the last 8 years. It is a great place to raise a family, and I want to continue to lead it into a place where there will be more work places, affordable places to live, and places to play and enjoy.

Being Mayor of Dacula is a "part-time" job that I spend an average 30-40 hours per week performing. It is a job that requires late night and early morning meetings and sometimes long discussions over what might at first appear to be trivial matters--but which are really important to the success we are achieving here in Dacula. It is not a job for the faint of heart nor of simply presiding over 12 Council Meeting per year--though that is a part of it. You need a person as Mayor who has demonstrated experience and success in leading an $347,000,000 dollar business. That's what Dacula is. That's how much your assets are valued at for tax purposes. When I helped Southwest Georgia recover from a $3 billion disaster, I saved Georgians $450,000,000 by asking for and providing information to reduce the portion of disaster funds provided by Georgia citizens from 25% to 10%. So I know how to deal with big dollar items. You need a Mayor who is a fiscal conservative to manage your assets and to protect those assets.

I have a passion for Dacula. It's my home. I am native born, and I pledge to continue to do my best as your Mayor. Dare I say I love my home town.

Please vote for and support Jimmy Wilbanks as Mayor. The election is at the Dacula City Hall during the rest of this week and on Election Day, November 3, 2009.

Election Thoughts

2009-10-26T06:39:00.006-04:00

Early voting starts this week. Please vote for and support Jimmy Wilbanks for Mayor at the Dacula City Hall this week and on Election Day, November 3, 2009.

Mend Fences, at What Cost?

My opponent has suggested that the City needs to mend fences with groups that don't want or have a reason to enter into a harmonious relationship with the City. Every month Gwinnett County can keep from reaching a new Service Delivery Strategy Agreement is free money--your money--in the pocket of the County. Right now, if you agree with my opponent's advice, the County will continue to take $85,000 per year from your pockets without providing any services. Now with the proposed tax millage rate proposal it will take an additional 21 % more (about $102,000 per year from you). This is not the City's doing. All the cities of Gwinnett County are in a similar position, and cities have proposed seven different methods to rectify this situation. The County has not considered even one of these proposals, but the County has filed suit against each City to try to force a continuation of this unfair practice on you and me.

I think it only fair to tell you that the City and County agree on most items, but I believe we must have a fair SDS Agreement. We also need to agree on a comprehensive land-use plan that respects Dacula's concerns about property rights and economic viability of unincorporated District 3 infrastructure that effects each and every resident in Dacula and District 3.

I say, Don't Pay for what We Don't Get.

Beautify the Town.

My opponent wants to beautify downtown. Well it's easy to say such a thing when the City already has a grant approved to do just that. True it has been delayed by the budget crunch at the state level, but final approval to go out to bids is expected in about two months. The $300,000+ grant is designed to repair sidewalks along Winder Highway, to improve the pedestrian crossing at Broad/McMillan/CSX railroad, and to provide beautification downtown.

I say, It's easy to promise something you know is going to happen soon. We worked hard to get this grant and we plan to use it for the beginning of the beautification of the historic downtown area.

Business Association.

My opponent want to start a Dacula Business Association. We currently have a Dacula Business Association which I started in 2003 to more fully involve people who have chosen to invest in the City and surrounding areas. The DBA is open to every business person (home-based, commercial or web-based) located in the Dacula area.

I appreciate people who choose to invest in our City. Involving business people in concerns which effect all of us is of greatl benefit to the City. As my opponent knows, the DBA was very effective in helping keep our library branch open. Their red "Save Dacula Library" shirts were very evident at meetings and rallies. I appreciate what the DBA continues to do for the City of Dacula.

I say, Join the Dacula Business Association. It meets at City Hall every 3rd Tuesday of the month.

I am asking for your vote during this early voting time and on election day, November 3, 2009. Even my opponent recently noted, "I think he has done a good job up until now..." I'm asking you to let me keep up the good work. Elect Jimmy Wilbanks Mayor November 3, 2009 at Dacula City Hall.

Library Board Selects The Best Option

2009-10-22T07:12:00.003-04:00

The Gwinnett County Board of Library Trustees voted last night to back away from a regional library concept and to keep the award-winning community-based system currently in place. The Board chose to keep all 14 currently-operating branches and to bring the nearly completed Hamilton Mill Branch online at about 35 hours per week. The Board will ask the public to help set the scheduled times and days of the week so that some library branches will be open each day of the week. I believe this is the best option available in our current economic situation.

I want to personally thank the Dacula Business Association, Chad Parson, President, and Colin Daymude (Save Dacula Library Facebook group) for their assistance in convincing the Library Board to hear this solution. I appreciate each man, woman, boy and girl who sent messages to the Library Board, the Board of Commissioners, to newspapers and the media asking for full-service libraries complete with books as well as the electronic technology currently available at our library branches. Just because Dacula was the first cut, we shouldn't forget the people in Snellville and Lilburn who joined with us. Kudos also go out to Commissioners Nasuti, Kenerly and Beaudreau for their help. Equally as important is the concern of Representative Donna Sheldon and Senator Renee Unterman in helping come up with this solution.

I would be remiss in not recognizing the service of the Library Board and its professional staff. Sometimes rhetoric fails to express an admiration for the individuals providing public service. This economic downturn has put us all in an uncomfortable position, no less the Library Board. I'm sure that we all depend on professional staff. That's our comfort position. However, the Board has the final responsibility and say. I appreciate the Board's stepping out of its comfort zone to chose the most equitable option.

We shouldn't be finished here. Some of us made commitments to the library system. Some plan to volunteer, some to make donations to the Library Foundation. Some plan to continue to observe and offer suggestions. Don't forget your commitments--follow through!

Thank you for being engaged! This is what a sometimes messy representative government is all about.

Fighting for Tax Payer Rights

2009-10-19T08:35:00.005-04:00

The Cities of Gwinnett are in a Service Delivery Strategy Agreement dispute with Gwinnett County. Our first and latest SDS agreement expired in February of 2009. Before the agreement expired, the Gwinnett Municipal Association had worked for two years to try to flesh out an agreement with Gwinnett County that would prevent the County from taking about $10 million per year out of the pockets of county residents who live within municipal limits without providing the corresponding services. Our argument is that you should not pay for services that you don't receive.

Rather than settling this disagreement in a manner that would have resulted in fair treatment for municipal taxpayers, Gwinnett County filed a lawsuit that has resulted in long delays, large legal fees, and the extension of taxpayers being charged for services we don't receive. While this is a complex issue, the solution is simple--an agreement that ends double taxation.

Here is a table that may shed some light on the problem. The table shows what each person (not tax parcel) pays per year for County services the taxpayer doesn't receive. Obviously, the cities that provide their own police services are the hardest hit.

Auburn	$83.78/person
Berkeley Lake	$16.16/person
Braselton	$89.64/person
Buford	$18.98/person
Dacula	$18.51/person
Duluth	$84.07/person
Grayson	$19.80/person
Lawrenceville	$84.57/person
Lilburn	$87.77/person
Loganville	$71.46/person
Norcross	$84.72/person
Rest Haven	$21.66/person
Snellville	$53.83/person
Sugar Hill	$18.24/person
Suwanee	$65.82/person

This table shows that for Dacula, each person living here pays about $18.51 each year for County services which they do not receive. While that doesn't seem to be much, over a ten year period (the length of an SDS agreement) some $850,000 is taken from you. It is even more problematic for Norcross where the per person amount is $84.72. The sum total taken from county taxpayers living in municipalities is about $100,000,000 over a ten year period.

While the lawsuit is on-going, Gwinnett County has no reason to agree to change this unfair taxation policy--it still get its free money. The judge has not seen fit to impose any sanctions for not reaching an agreement. For the past three years, I have been greatly involved in trying to resolve this issue. Some would say that the Cities and the County should reach agreement on this issue. One finds it hard to agree with a group that doesn't have a reason to or want to reach agreement. The Cities have proposed seven different positions that could have solved the issue, but Gwinnett County has refused to even consider one.

Taxpayers should understand that a favorable settlement for municipal taxpayers will not put any money in any city's treasury. Rather, you will not be charged for services you didn't receive. It will be money in your pocket.

We will eventually reach an agreement--maybe one that a judge will impose. And I am sure that in the case of a judge-imposed solution, neither the County nor the Cities will be satisfied and pleased. You need a Mayor who will continue to fight for tax fairness for you.

Please vote for and support Jimmy Wilbanks for Mayor on November 3, 2009 at the Dacula City Hall.

Fiscal Experience and Success

2009-10-10T13:43:00.005-04:00

I'm sure of one economic fact. You cannot spend yourself out of debt. This is just what America is trying to do in this continuing, serious downturn in our economy. And our County is not far behind. Don't be fooled. No government has any money of its own. The money any government spends is money you and I give them. That fact is as true of Dacula government as it is of the federal government, Georgia government and Gwinnett County government. It's your money, and you need a fiscal conservative to manage your money.

I am a fiscal conservative and a fighter for your taxpayer rights. The City Council and I have kept your property tax rate low, and we have succeeded. In the last eight years of my administration, the tax rate has stayed the same or been reduced. That is true of 2009 and is in stark contrast to Gwinnett County where the Board of Commissioners has had to let a judge set the temporary millage rate for the County. It is in even starker contrast to some State of Georgia departments.

We have had a grant approved by the Georgia Department of Transportation to repair sidewalks along Winder Highway, to make some safety improvements to the pedestrian crossing at McMillan/Broad Streets/CSX, and to renovate and revitalize the Second Avenue business district. We have been working to get started with this improvement for four years and have had our portion of this grant money available for about four years. We heard recently that maybe in about four more months, the City will receive the go ahead to get started. Not really a good way to run any business.

Your mayor is a fiscal conservative. Even in terrible economic times, I am continuing to keep your property tax millage rate low while being successful in keeping essential services going. On November 3, 2009, please vote for and support the election of Jimmy Wilbanks to another term as mayor at the Dacula City Hall. Absentee and early voting begin next week. November 3, 2009 is election day. The polls will be open on November 3, 2009 from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.

Unity and Harmony in Dacula

2009-10-06T08:23:00.003-04:00

Some would have you believe that there is great strife in the Dacula Community and in the City itself. I can tell you that there is nothing further from the truth. Community is a group of people living in a particular place with common interests. I think that we have a demonstration of unity and harmony in the Greater Dacula Community in the recent rally to Save Dacula Library.

I have attempted to further the feel of community during my nearly eight years of public service as your Mayor. I started the outreach effort to neighborhoods early in my administration. Individual and whole neighborhoods have been invited to meet with the Mayor and discuss items of general interest. Some responded, many did not.

I began the Dacula Business Association, open to all business in the 30019 zip code area, because I felt a need to reach out to business folks and better understand their needs. You can see the response--a general feeling of neighborly concern for the greater community and the City of Dacula.

I began, and personally funded for the first two years, the City's official web page, www.DaculaGA.gov. This was an outreach to people both within and without the city limits. This is an excellent way to see what is on the calendar, post to forums that are unmanaged except for truly libelous materials, and to generally understand what Dacula government is all about. It provides an opportunity for people to keep up with what its government is doing.

Our recently completed 2030 Comprehensive Plan is a community inspired and lead effort. Citizens from within the City and those without had an opportunity to have input and discussion of this plan. Implementing the plan in the next 20 years will be a true citizen/government effort. You can see the results of this planning effort on our city web site.

We have harmony and unity in Dacula. If you want to continue the efforts that have been started,

Elect Jimmy Wilbanks Mayor on November 3, 2009 at Dacula City Hall.

Fighting for Libraries

2009-10-05T09:11:00.007-04:00

The fight to save community-based library branches goes on. Some would have you believe that I am not fighting hard enough to keep the Dacula Library Branch open. I want you to know where I stand. I stand four-square for keeping all the community-based branches open as full service libraries.

The struggle has morphed into not just keeping the Dacula Library open as a full service library but to keeping the Library System what it is designed to be--an award-winning community library system that serves residents and taxpayers who live near a convenient library branch.

From voting to close only the Dacula Branch and the resulting outrage by the Dacula residents, the Library Board has taken a covering position and opted to close Dacula, Lilburn, and Snellville Branches as full-service libraries and make them Computer Labs. They plan to remove the lending books and replace those with a hold shelf where you can pick up ordered books at a later, inconvenient time. The Library Board plans to replace a full staff with about 1/3 as many people. Yet, you can bet that they will want you to pay full taxes for that reduced service. As the pressure mounts, figure that the Library Board and the Executive Director will rename this effort once again to try to make it more acceptable to the public.

What have I done in this struggle to keep Dacula's Library Branch open? I began the day after I heard the news:

Wrote the County Commission and the Library Board a harsh letter asking that the Library Board reconsider and the Commission to remove any Board members who didn't vote to rescind the vote.
Worked with community groups to start a grass-roots campaign to keep the Dacula Branch open.
Joined and supported the Save Dacula Library Facebook campaign.
Prepared and shephered a City Council Resolution to keep the Dacula Branch open. Had the Resolution hand delivered to the Library Board Members, the Library Executive Director, the Superintendent of Gwinnett Schools and School Board Members.
Attended and spoke at the Library Board Meeting. The Library Board changed their previous closure vote to keeping Dacula as a Computer Lab and included Lilburn and Snellville Branches as Computer Labs also. Not what the Dacula community wanted. Obviously, the public wants convenient, community-based branches not a region approach.
Wrote an open letter to Executive Director Kellam.
Met with State officials, County officials and citizens to discuss future moves, a now county-wide effort, to keep all our community-based branches open.
Attended the October 6, County Commission meeting to express concern about the effect of changing to a computer lab on Dacula and the surrounding community and how the coverage for convenience would be changed with the three branches used as computer labs.
Continuing to explore possibilities for keeping our branches open.

You can see some of these letters, ideas, maps and other items at my blog, http://jimmywilbanks.blogspot.com or at http://www.SaveDaculaLibrary.com. You can find us on Facebook. Start Facebook and type Save Dacula Library in the search box to see what the nearly 6,000 people are thinking about this issue.

Since this issue has morphed into a save the community-based library system, I encourage you to sign our new county-wide petition online or see a community activist in your neighborhood.

I encourage you to continue to express your outrage that an appointed Library Board and an appointed Executive Director of the Library System who are unresponsive to taxpayers can change what has worked so well and seems in the best interest of all residents--a community based Library System. On November 3, 2009 at the Dacula City Hall, vote to continue Jimmy Wilbanks as your mayor. I am fighting to keep our award-winning library system community based. Keep all the branches open as full-service libraries.

November 3, 2009 General Election

2009-10-05T06:45:00.002-04:00

On November 3, 2009, Dacula will elect a mayor and two council positions. I am seeking reelection, and I am requesting your support and vote on November 3. I am Jimmy Wilbanks, your current mayor.

When you decide about your vote for mayor, I hope you will consider the record of my administration. We have kept your city taxes low. I am a fiscal conservative, and I expect to control City costs in the future. My administration has brought new businesses to Dacula making the city more convenient to her residents. We appreciate business folks who decide to invest in our city. Importantly, in this recessionary period, we have brought over 450 new jobs to the city.

When you vote at Dacula City Hall on November 3, elect Jimmy Wilbanks, a proven, experienced fiscal conservative.

Vote Jimmy Wilbanks, experienced fiscal conservative
November 3, 2009
Dacula City Hall
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM

An Open Letter to Ms. Nancy Stanbery-Kellam

2009-09-23T07:20:00.006-04:00

I was again disappointed at the lack of professionalism I saw at the September 22, 2009 Library Board of Trustee meeting. Once again under your leadership, the board chose the easy way out. Yes you suggested a compromise--making a computer lab out of a thriving library branch at Dacula. Oh, yes, you are going to call it a library. But as the poet said, "A rose by any other name is just as sweet." No a computer lab is not what we paid for, voted for, lobbied for, and supported with our time, effort and sweat. A computer lab is no substitute for a full service library. We need and want the full range of services that you and the board have denied us.

Your continuing reference to over 200 years of experience in library matters in the meeting was offensive. Yes, we want to hire good people, but we have high expectations for those people. I was struck by the experiences of those in the audience whose opinions were actually denigrated. That experience level, conservatively, would have been over a 1000 years experience--maybe not in library science--but in good old common sense. Those folks understand that the likelihood of every reopening a full service library in any one of the computer labs is practically nil, notwithstanding the board's statements to the contrary.

It appears to me that you have been less than candid with the public. In an email (July 12, 2009) to Phil Hoskins at county government you make the statement, "While we would hate to have to close one branch (my comment i.e. DAC vs HML), this seems to be the best solution. But we need to know that the county will support us if we do this!" Mr. Hoskins replied three days later, "I'm not aware of any concerns."

Obviously, the board's claim to be non-political is sheer nonsense. You failed to mention to Board Member Saxton that this action was underway, and you hid it from the District Commissioner Beaudreau. I am assuming that you, Rhonda Boyd, and others met with Chairman Bannister, Jock Connell, and Phil Hoskins on July 20, 2009 to discuss the opening of Hamilton Mill. Ms. Boyd's email of July 15, 2009, to Mr. Hoskins stated "We have some ideas about how we could accomplish that (and why we think it would be a good solution), and we want to make sure there are no objections before we speak with Commissioner Beaudreau and his Library Board member, Phillip Saxton."So much for your board's claims. You obviously had at least a tacit understanding that your appointing authority had county political support for this move. Only a great outcry, maintains the Dacula branch and others from complete closure. I guess you learned to at least make an attempt to reach out to local leaders in other areas slated for the computer lab designation. You didn't show me or any leadership in your Dacula service area that courtesy.

How can we in the areas to be discriminated against trust your judgment any longer?

Rally Saving Dacula's Library

2009-09-21T10:16:00.005-04:00

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who attended the rally to save the Dacula library. Nearly 500 community residents--men, women, boys and girls--responded to the grassroots call of the Dacula Business Association to rally for keeping our library branch open. The intent of the rally is to call attention to the need to seek system-wide solutions to system-wide problems, and to keep all library branches open including the not-yet-open Hamilton Mill branch. I think you sent the proper message to the Library Board of Trustees and to the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.

You send a powerful message by coming out on a rainy Saturday to show your support for the library system and the Dacula branch in particular. You and nearly 6,000 others have joined the FaceBook group dedicated to this citizen protest, and more than 2,000 have signed the petitions to keep the Dacula branch open. You are to be congratulated.

As you may know, the Business Association has received documents under the Freedom of Information Act that shows the some Library Board members and library staff have been discussing the Dacula closure and two more branch closures at least since July 2009, having private meetings with the Commission Chairman, the library board Chairman, and other Gwinnett County staff members trying to garner Commission support for this closure(s). And at the same time keeping those discussions from the public--and what is worse--from the District Commissioner, Mike Beaudreau, and the District Library Board member, Phillip Saxton. Those documents show that the Dacula branch is to be permanently closed on November 14, 2009, and that they plan to close both the Buford branch and the Snellville branch on February 27, 2010. I call on the citizens of Buford and Snellville to join with the Dacula community to resist these closures.

Please plan to be at the Library Board meeting at 6:30 PM on September 22, 2009 at the Five Forks branch to show your support of finding system-wide solutions to system-wide problems. So far Commissioners Beaudreau, Nasuti, and Kenerly have expressed their desires for the Library Board to find solutions that do not result in any library branch closures. They know as I do that once you close a library it probably will never reopen!

Keep the pressure on. Save the Dacula branch, and in doing so, you may also save the library branch that you use!

Judge holds off sanction in Service Delivery Dispute

2009-09-10T07:13:00.003-04:00

The judge hearing the service delivery strategy dispute with the County and the 15 municipalities has ruled that sanctions will not be applied during the settlement dispute. This is a good thing for the residents of Cities and Gwinnett County. The sanctions provision in the Service Delivery law are designed to force parties to the table and get to a service delivery agreement sooner than later. So I guess the question that citizens ought to be asking is, "Why would the County want to enter into an agreement when there is no penalty for not doing so?"

In the meantime, Gwinnett County will continue to extract from every county resident living in Dacula $18.51 per year for services not delivered to those residents. In Lawrenceville, the County receives $84.57 per person for undelivered services. And so it goes for every City resident throughout Gwinnett County. The amounts are different, but the principle is the same. Gwinnett County collects tax money for services it does not provide. Extra money in the County's pocket, unconstitutional taking from your pocket.

Over a yearly period, this means that Dacula residents pay Gwinnett County an extra $85,000 per year, and Lawrenceville residents pay an extra $2,250,000 per year for nothing except saying we live in Gwinnett County. The Service Delivery law was designed to keep these duplicative costs from occurring by requiring a Service Delivery agreement between Cities and County governments.

It should be made clear that the Cities of Gwinnett County will not benefit by an agreement that outlaws such double dipping by Gwinnett County. Rather any savings will go directly into the taxpayers' pockets.

I leave it to you, the taxpaying citizens of the municipalities of Gwinnett County, to determine what is fair, moral, legal and constitutional.

Elect Jimmy Wilbanks Mayor

2009-09-02T11:39:00.003-04:00

Elect Jimmy Wilbanks
Mayor
November 3, 2009

RESPECTING THE PAST,
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Dear Dacula Voter:

Every day I am humbled to serve as your Mayor. I appreciate your trust and support. I am running for re-election on November 3, 2009. We are living in a tough economic cycle, something that many have never seen before. The person you elect as Mayor will have a major impact during these critical times. You will need a Mayor who is a fiscal conservative, someone who is a believer in private property rights, and someone who will fight for your tax-payer rights. How can you as a voter determine which candidate might be better for the City in this critical period? I can think of only one criterion: the records of the candidates and the experience of each. Please consider some of the accomplishments of the City during my past four years as your Mayor:

• Quality of Life Improvements
o Additional work at Maple Creek Park
o McMillan Road and Broad Street SPLOST improvements
o Dacula High School Field House
o Hebron Christian Technology Building/Athletic Fields
o Romanian Orthodox Church

• Safety Improvements
o Additional street lighting
o Additional sidewalks
o Additional Marshal

• Tax Rate Improvements
o Lowered/kept the same tax rate for four years
o 2030 Comprehensive Plan

• Community Development/Economic Development (2006 – 2009)
o 24hr Tan
o Anytime Fitness
o Apalachee River Animal Hospital
o AutoZone
o Beef ‘O Brady Restaurant
o Cornerstone Cleaners
o Dacula Dental Associates
o Dacula Dogs Restaurant
o Dacula High School Field House
o Delicious Desserts Bakery
o Dentistry At Cornerstone (coming)
o Edward Jones Investments
o El Jinete Restaurant
o Handy Ace Hardware
o Harvest Table Restaurant
o Hebron Christian Technology Building/Athletic Fields
o KFC/Taco Bell Restaurant
o Luigi’s Pizza
o McDonald’s
o Melissa Berry Dance Studio
o Nail Technique
o Quiznos
o Rice Station Restaurant
o Romanian Orthodox Church
o Ronin Muay Thai
o Scoops
o Sears
o Sherwin Williams
o Sonic Restaurant
o Southern Fried Chicken
o Sprint (coming)
o State Farm Agency
o Sugar Island Jerk (coming)
o Sun Trust Bank
o The Flower Pot
o Walgreens
o World’s Delights & Coffee

Naturally, I have not done all these things alone! Our dedicated staff and the City Council deserve praise for our continuing development and municipal improvements. While not every thing has gone according to our vision, it is the job of the Mayor to help create the vision for the City and make sure it stays on track. I ask you to help me continue our vision—a vision of the place we call home, as a safe, family-friendly, and progressive City.

Please use your influence, cast your vote and support Jimmy Wilbanks for Mayor on November 3, 2009 at the Dacula City Hall. Elect a person who has demonstrated experience and success.

Please call or contact me at any time: jimwilba@mindspring.com or 770.560.0867.
Paid for by Jimmy Wilbanks.

Dacula Library Closing Decision Energizes Community

2009-08-27T07:19:00.002-04:00

The Gwinnett County Library Board of Trustees recent decision to close the Dacula Branch has energized a grassroots movement to keep the branch library open. The movement is dedicated to finding system-wide solutions to system-wide problems--not a solution based on a single location. The Dacula Business Association and other community groups and citizens are the leaders of this movement, and they have the full support of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Dacula. The Council and I want to see a system-wide solution that allows the Hamilton Mill Branch to open and also keeps all Branches open, including Dacula.

I encourage you to visit to visit the web site, http://www.savedaculalibrary.com, to see some ways that you as an individual or community group might oppose the Library Board's decision to close the Dacula Branch.

The following meetings are scheduled, and I encourage you to attend.

September 1, 2009
Informational Meeting
Dacula First United Methodist Church on Fence Road
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM, drop in at your convenience
Exchange ideas, receive information and network with your neighbors

September 15, 2009
Dacula City Hall
Dacula Business Association meeting
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Regular meeting of the DBA

September 19, 2009
Rally for the Library
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
March from Hebron Church down Dacula Road to Library

September 22, 2009
Library Board Meeting
Scheduled for the Five Forks Trickum Branch Location
6:30 PM
Regular Library Board Meeting. I have been in the meeting room and it can hold only about 60-65 people. Look for this meeting place to be rescheduled.

Library Board Votes to Close Dacula Branch

2009-08-11T19:58:00.000-04:00

At a special called meeting, with a surprise change to the agenda, the Gwinnett County Library Board voted to close the Dacula Branch today. I have no further information at this time. The City Council, Commissioner Beaudreau and I will be meeting with the Board as soon as possible to discuss this matter, seek other alternative measures and to let our anger over this issue be known. The Dacula Branch opened about 3 years ago and has served the City and District 3 well.

Dacula Park Swimming Pool

2009-07-27T06:59:00.001-04:00

Hmm??, so the Gwinnett County budget needs to be cut. Every other pool at a community park in Gwinnett has to give up a day.

But Dacula's pool is to be closed permanently.

What do you think?

Mayor Announces for Re-election

2009-07-08T14:22:00.003-04:00

I wanted to take this opportunity to announce that I am running for reelection. Every day, for the past eight years, I have been honored to serve as your mayor and humbled at the opportunity. I appreciate your trust and support.

The person you elect as mayor on November 3, 2009 will have major impacts on critical issues—issues that affect your daily quality of life. We are in an economic cycle that most of our residents have never seen before. The City faces economic uncertainty, and we, as individuals, are hurting—some without jobs or health insurance, others with foreclosed homes. While the economic downturn we are facing will certainly recover, we have no clear idea how long this will take nor what decisive measures will be needed for the city.

How can a voter or supporter of Dacula determine the leadership style needed in this crucial time? I can think of only one criterion with which to make this judgment: the record and experience of the leader.

Please consider the improvements to quality of life issues, safety improvements, community development and economic development made during my tenure as mayor. Best of all recognize that the City is financially sound because of prudent policies on budgeting and taxation. Take note of the fact that the property tax millage rate has stayed the same or been reduced in each of those eight years.

Naturally, the mayor cannot do these things alone! Our dedicated staff and the City Council deserve praise for our continuing development and municipal improvement. While not everything has gone completely according to our Dacula vision, it is the job of the mayor to help create the vision and make sure it stays on track.

I ask you to help me continue our vision—a vision of a place we call home—a safe, family-friendly and progressive city. Please use your influence, cast your vote and support Jimmy Wilbanks for Mayor on November 3, 2009 at the Dacula City Hall.