My new friend Sam Kazman from cei.org has given me permission to post his musings here from time to time. This piece, Dining on Politics…with no cigar was published in Cigar MagazineSummer 2010 issue
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Dear Lee County Board of Commissioners: After making numerous requests for documents pertaining to the sign ordinance amortization clause over the phone and via e-mail, I am filing the attached Freedom of information act request to get the documents. It is clear the board is determined to pass a sign ordinance tonight that is wrong for Lee County and violates the Constitution as well as the Laws of the State of Georgia. For months we have pointed out these legal issues, but the board continues to side with the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center (SWGRDC), who has been proven multiple times to be misleading with information and steadfast the the ordinance is best applied through strategic application, or in layman’s terms looking the other way. Over the last two weeks, I have been struggling to get the county to enforce their current sign ordinance on an 8400 acre parcel of land in Northeast Lee County. I have been met continually with the statement, “We only have one code enforcement officer, and sign complaints aren’t urgent unless the involve the safety of the traveling public.” This is a glaring failure of the current Board of Directors. Who now want to increase the amount of regulation without increasing enforcement. This is simply unacceptable. Patrick Henry stated “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” It is clear that you are willing to violate the Constitution of the United States because the SWGRDC tells you it is alright to do so. Has any board member checked their legal research? I myself had to showed SWGRDC that they were in violation of O.C.G.A 16-7-58(a)(2): “Your concern over O.C.G.A 16-7-58(a)(2) is a solid concern. I looked it up; although I am not completely certain that the state code is legal, we certainly do not intend for the Leesburg and Lee County ordinance to be the test. Therefore, we will be changing that part of the ordinance to be in compliance with state code.” Sincerely, Yet they are still willing to move ahead blatantly disregarding this law. As a Board are you really willing to make a statement that a person advertising a gallon of gas has sign rights that a person advertising a gallon of milk doesn’t? Are you willing to tell a business that they cannot place any political signs at their place business going directly against State law? Are you willing to shut the lights out on church and school signs across the County? I am asking the board to seek a second opinion from a different consultant outside of the region, one who actually has a sign ordinance in place that has withstood Constitutional arguments. SWGRDC is of the opinion that if a sign ordinance is not or has not been challenged it is Constitutional, this is a very risky choice for the County to follow. If this sign ordinance is passed tonight, I am putting you on notice that I will personally challenge the Constitutionality/legality of EVERY aspect of this ordinance. Commissioners it is time for you to quit listening to consultants and bureaucrats and read your own document and consider the constitutionality of each limit you are trying to apply. You are the elected officials, and if you don’t understand the document you are instituting, I ask you tenure your resignation as you are not serving the people who you represent. Sincerely, Timothy M Nelson Please make the time to attend to listen to the candidates that will be present! Republican Runoff Debates Format: Candidates will have one minute for an opening statement at the beginning of the debate. After each candidate makes his/her statement, the candidates will proceed to ask each other questions with 30 seconds to ask the question and one minute to answer. The candidate asking the question will then get 30 seconds respond to their opponent’s answer. After approximately 25 minutes of debate, the candidates will make one minute closing remarks. Each debate will last about 30 minutes. The Gubernatorial debate will be first, followed by the Attorney General debate, followed by the Commissioner of Insurance debate, and finally the PSC debate. Candidates Confirmed: Dear Friends, Today a friend shared with me some interesting reading. I just saw Do we want his lobbyist crony’s to run our Department of Agriculture? We’ve got just 3 days and it will be over. We’ve got 3 days to This is our last best chance to tell the Lobbyist Gary Black NO! The Stop The Lobbyist! Stop Black! Support Darwin Carter! Regards, Darwin Carter Darwin Carter was asked by President Ronald Reagan to open international trade routes for U.S. beef and for 8 years he did just that. Darwin was raised on a farm and has worked in agriculture most of his life. In the lat 70s, he was not afraid of confronting President Jimmy Carter (no relation!) for the farmers of Georgia and helped organize and lead a 20,000 rolling tractor motorcade to then-President Carter’s home in Plains, Georgia. He was fearless in the defense of farmers then and he’ll be a staunch defender of the citizens and farmers of this state. Let’s give him our vote. COLUMBUS, GA – Rick Allen recently unveiled his new website in the final days of the race to show the voters of the Second Congressional District that he is serious about the race in Southwest Georgia and the goal of defeating Sanford Bishop in November. “We‟ve been working on this new design for the past month and we‟re glad to see it finally completed,” says candidate Rick Allen. “We‟ve been putting the finishing touches on it for the past few days and now we‟re ready to launch it just as these last minute voters begin their research of the candidates.” With only four days until Election Day, the trends in the district show much support drifting towards the Allen campaign with new donations and volunteers coming in every day. This website is just another product of the hard work of the people working for Allen. “Without a doubt, it is the volunteers that gave us the ability to do this. Without these volunteers, we would not have any money, any name recognition, or any momentum whatsoever,” says Allen. “All I can do is say „thank you‟ to the citizens of Southwest Georgia for their continued help and support as we move into the final days of the campaign.” The Allen campaign has spent the last days of the race participating in forums, debates, and attending various speaking events. Allen has also hosted his own, “Tea Party to Go Tour” to meet with voters as they go about their day. “I think that if one thing is clear, it is this: we have the support and momentum to take on Sanford Bishop in November. With our new website, a solid Jobs Plan, our outreach to everyday voters, and the overall anti-incumbent mood in the region, we can win in July and we can win in November.” You can find out more about Rick Allen and his campaign for Congress in Georgia‟s Second Congressional District at www.RickAllenForCongress.com. With the state of Georgia’s qualifying period for Independent, Political Body, and Non-Partisan candidates now open, the Libertarian Party of Georgia will be qualifying ten candidates for statewide office and two candidates for State House races to appear on this November’s General Election ballot. Unlike the Democrats and Republicans, who qualify in April to select their candidates via primary next month, the Libertarian Party of Georgia nominated candidates via convention without cost to the taxpayers on April 24, 2010. The 2010 slate of candidates for the Libertarian Party of Georgia includes: * U.S. Senate – Chuck Donovan Who: Libertarian Party of Georgia and their slate of candidates What: Qualifying for placement on the General Election ballot Where: Secretary of State’s Election Division office: When: Tuesday, June 29th at 1:00 PM, Eastern Daylight Time The Libertarian Party is Georgia’s third largest political party and the only party in Georgia promoting fewer taxes, less government and personal liberty for all Georgians. To learn more, please visit www.LPGeorgia.com. For Immediate Release Libertarians note anniversary of bad Kelo decision We, the state chairs of the Libertarian Party, and members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), wish to call attention to the fifth anniversary of the wrongful Kelo v. New London decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Susette Kelo and her co-plaintiffs simply wanted to be left in peace in their homes, but the New London Development Corp. wanted their land for its own development purposes, and convinced the City of New London to condemn their property for its benefit. By rendering its decision against Susette Kelo and her co-plaintiffs, the court gutted an important private property protection of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court decided that it is acceptable for government entities to condemn and seize private property, even when the purpose is to offer that property to another private owner for economic development. The Supreme Court’s decision expanded the government’s unjust power of eminent domain. Even more shamefully, the proposed development never materialized. The Institute for Justice recently noted that ‘The very land where Susette Kelo’s home once stood remains barren — home to nothing but feral cats, seagulls and weeds.’ Eminent domain is bad enough when it is used to expand government roads and schools, but the practice of forcibly taking a person’s land to give to a company for things like shopping malls is utterly wrong. The Libertarian Party has always showed strong support for private property rights. Our platform states that ‘we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain.’ Last year, Susette Kelo commented that ‘even though over 40 states have passed legislation offering some protection to home and business owners, don’t think your property is safe, because it is not.’ The Castle Coalition, which works to protect property owners from eminent domain abuse, has given only five states an A or A- rating for eminent domain reform in the wake of the Kelo decision. Many states have passed reforms that sound strong at first, but contain major loopholes or other bad provisions. Republicans and Democrats like to posture as eminent domain reformers while they carve out exceptions for special interests. We call on the Supreme Court to reverse the Kelo ruling in a future case, and we call on all 50 states to adopt laws or constitutional amendments to eliminate this practice. (signed) Mark Bodenhausen, Alabama For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222. The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website. Last night the Lee County Board of Commissioners held what was advertised as a “Sign Ordinance Workshop.” I was personally invited by County administrator Alan Ours to bring my opinions about the workshop, then later in the week invited by the Lee County Chamber of Commerce to do the same. During the presentation by the consultants I was beginning to get frustrated listening to the presenters tell half truths and skirt serious flaws in the document. It was at this point I ask Chairman Ed Duffy if I could ask questions of the consultants to clarify some of my issues with the sign ordinance. At that point I was told that this was not an open meeting and I would not be given the opportunity to question the consultants. I informed Mr. Duffy that I was invited to bring my opinions by 2 different people and ask him again why the meeting was posted as an open workshop and verified the public’s input was not welcomed. At this point I gathered my effects and stood up and began to exit the meeting. Mr. Ours had Mr. Duffy stop me and ask me to stay and they stated they would allow our opinions to be heard as several other businessmen also stated their displeasure in the chairs statement. After a few questions by the public and commissioners it became clear the consultants were being paid to present a document that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. There are areas in the document that contradict each other, and still other areas that are made vague so that it leaves interpretation up to the courts. The biggest issues that struck the board as absurd was the recommendation that only one flagpole could be erected per lot and that didn’t sit well with commissioner Rick Muggridge. It was also discussed that there are points in the ordinance which would have the county allowing a billboard monopoly rather than allowing free market economics to play. The citizens in attendance had many concerns as well, particularly the flag issue, multi-tenant property signs, and signage laws that would limit the growth of the Hwy 82 Corridor. The consultants did make some changes to the originally proposed document so it would fall in line with current State law, as well as stating that flags wouldn’t be regulated in residential areas, however this wasn’t in the document and as the document is currently organized it would be left up to interpretation. I think several of the questions asked opened the eyes of some commissioners, but I think their hands are tied by bureaucracy. This morning I sent an email to Commissioner Rick Muggridge asking if he would support the drafting of a new ordinance to offer them an alternate to the one presented by the Camilla, GA Consulting firm. Last night while enjoying an adult beverage and a cigar on my front porch I saw blatant misuse of county assets that SHOULD cost an employee their job. I watched the Lee County mosquito spray truck enter my neighbors yard and spray the front and back yard of their PRIVATE property. I immediately notified County Chairman Ed Duffy of the time and place of the incident. In these days of economic crunch it’s time to keep a vigilant eye out for clear misuse of county assets. Visit our Event page here The inaugural SWGAPolitics.com Candidate Forum will be held at Connections Albany, 2401-D Dawson Rd Albany Ga 31707, on June 12th , 2010. We have the room from 5PM to 10 PM, and the formal forum will start promptly at 6PM, feel free to bring a campaign table to distribute campaign information as well. We will follow a simple format with a 2-3 min introduction, 1-2 questions per race, 2 min closing remarks, upon completion should you choose you can meet the locals and mingle as you see fit. We would like to know if you can attend by June 4th. Should your plans change as campaigns can we understand and you CAN attend the event without an RSVP. The Forum will be broadcast live online at http://www.livestream.com/connectionsalbany beginning at 6pm! It will also be videotaped for youtube clipping, and we hope to have those clips up within the week. If you have any questions contact myself : ****Confirmed Moderators: ******RSVP TO DATE Not able to make it: [IF YOU ARE RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT OR OTHER POLITICAL BODY PLEASE NOTIFY US AS YOU ARE ALSO WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE CONTACT INFORMATION FROM EVERYONE IN THE RACE] |
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