SWGA Politics

Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November[ November 5, 2009 – 7:01 pm]by Jeff Posted in » General

“Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith”. GOP, Meet Guy Fawkes!

H/T Jason Pye and Doug Mataconis

Shooting to kill[ November 5, 2009 – 6:29 pm]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County

In this week’s Albany Journal, in the What’cha Say Albany section, there is some discussion regarding a police officer not “shooting to kill”.  I wanted to address this a bit, as I feel I’m somewhat qualified to do so.

There is a lot of misinformation out there about police and the term “shoot to kill”.  In the most recent case of an officer involved shooting, there are many people who argue that the cop didn’t have to “shoot to kill”, and that he shouldn’t have.  They argue that had he not “shot to kill”, that there wouldn’t be a family mourning the death of a loved one. Read More …

Pike as Pro Tempore[ November 5, 2009 – 8:00 am]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County

Just a day after Christopher Pike handily won the Ward 3 seat, Commissioner Tommy Postell wants to ignore the Charter (Well, I think he just wants to amend it, but the effect will be the same) by blocking him taking the title of Mayor Pro Tempore. Now, keep in mind that this position is a rotating title that only has an effect of the Mayor isn’t at meetings, and then it’s just to preside over the meeting.

You see, several months ago, Morris Gurr announced that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election. For a while, they knew that the Ward 3 Commissioner would be the next Mayor Pro Tempore.

Commissioner Postell said that it wasn’t anything against Pike, that he’d be making the same points if Williams had won. Really? Well then, why in the Hell didn’t you mention this a couple of months ago? I mean, it ain’t like you didn’t see this coming.

The thing is, I think he did.  And I think he expected Arthur Williams to sit on the Commission again.  And, what’s more, I suspect that had Williams won, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  If someone else had made the same comment, Postell would have cited Williams’ 22 years of experience as evidence that he should be allowed to sit at Mayor Pro Tempore.

Yeah, I think this was a slam against Pike and what Pike represents.  Pike is an unknown for someone like Postell.  This makes him a problem.  Postell isn’t comfortable with someone like Pike possibly calling the shots during a Commission meeting.  Despite his protestations to the contrary, it is personal…and pathetic.

Let’s face it.  If it wasn’t personal, it would have been mentioned a couple of months ago when the outcome of the election was in doubt.

Well, the vote was taken to change the charter, and it was a 3-3 tie since Mayor Adams was out of town. What was interesting was that the vote went down racial lines. Postell, John Howard, and Dorothy Hubbard voted to block; while Langstaff, Marietta, and Gurr voted against the measure.  Three white commissioners vote to protect an incoming black commissioner.  Frankly, that makes me incredibly happy.

I want to applaud Commissioners Langstaff, Marietta, and Gurr on their vote.  I don’t say those words that often, but this is definitely the case that it’s warranted on this one.  Christopher Pike won, and now the mechinations of government need to chug on with him in place. 

As it stands now, it will.  Unfortunately, Postell plans to bring it back up when the Mayor is back in town.  I suspect I know how the Mayor will vote…with his good buddy Postell.

And frankly, it’ll be a travesty if he does.

Leesburg Has a Sign Ordinance?[ November 5, 2009 – 6:45 am]by Jeff Posted in » Leesburg

Apparently so, and on the night of my defeat, a new war began.

Not much happened at the Leesburg City Council meeting this week. It started out with a public hearing on a $500K grant the city got to repair some stormwater drainage from the Stonegate apartment area out to Robert B Lee drive. One property owner in the area asked if it covered improvements along the other side of the railroad tracks and was told it did not.

During committee reports, Councilman Bob Wilson asked the Chief of Police to say a few words about an arrest they made last week. A married man from Alpharetta was busted at McDonald’s after an internet sting where he thought he was coming down here to meet and have sex with a 13 year old girl.

Also during Committee reports, the city engineer asked the Council to consider creating a stormwater utility that upon first glance appears to be a back-door way to raise our taxes. I’ll need to look into this a bit more, but that was my honest impression when I was sitting there listening to him.
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