Gwinnett Buzz

Yesterday, the Buzz received this release from the Tommy Hunter campaign.  You can visit Tommy’s site here.  It is probably the best Gwinnett campaign site I have seen thusfar in this election cycle.

Hunter Campaign Launches Website

BUFORD, GA Gwinnett County District 4 Commission candidate Tommy Hunter has announced the launch of his campaign web site. By visiting www.tommyhunter2010.com, voters can find information about Tommy’s experience and community involvement, as well as his positions on the major issues facing Gwinnett County. Voters can also find out how to support Tommy’s campaign or volunteer to help Tommy bring responsible leadership and representation back to the County Commission.

Most important to District 4 voters, however, is his straight-forward, common sense commentary on the news of the day including the controversial sanitation plan.

“I am very proud of the effort that went in to making the new site a reality,” Tommy said.  ”The information on the site goes a long way toward explaining how I feel about the issues facing us- for example, how the budget should be handled; how tax rates should be formulated; and my integrated plan to help lessen the impact of the cost of government on our citizens.”

Tommy continued, “Citizens can contact me directly if they have questions about my stance on any issue. I want them to feel free and welcome to contact me.”

Tommy is a staunch conservative and resides in the Buford area with his wife, Judith, and two young children, where he has attended Harmony Baptist Church his entire life.  The website was designed by Shoestring Solutions in Loganville, GA.

State Rep. Tom Rice has drafted legislation in the Georgia General Assembly to allow Peachtree Corners to incorporate as a “city light.”  The legislation would permit Peachtree Corners to incorporate with “a weak governing board that addresses only minimal issues, such as planning and zoning, code enforcement and trash collection” while continuing to receive “county services, such as police, water and roadwork, after it has formed into a city.”  According to Mike Mason, president of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association, the association is awaiting a University of Georgia study on the cost of operating such a muncipality.  Why do I suspect that the results of that study are really immaterial?  After all, isn’t an initiative such as this more often about power for those pushing it than anything else?

Bloomberg BusinessWeek has listed Duluth as one of the Best Affordable Suburbs in America for 2010.  Only one community in each state made the list.  A variety of factors were considered in identifying the suburbs that were included:

We weighted a variety of factors including livability (short commutes, low pollution, green space), education (well-educated residents, high test scores), crime (low personal and property crime), economy (high job growth, low unemployment rate, high family income), and affordability (median household income, cost of expenditures).

About Duluth, the magazine said:

A wealthy, fast-growing suburb of Atlanta with a town green, Duluth has a mall, civic and cultural center, arena, arts center, and theater. Residents can also join golf and country club communities.

When I saw the headline on this one on AJC.com, my first thought was “Here we go again.  A government is going to restrict the rights of property owners.”  Imagine my pleasant surprise to read that the City of Grayson is considering “allowing animated signs, internally illuminated signs and double-faced signs.”

Wow.  A government that is easing restrictions on citizens - what a novel concept!  Kudos to Grayson officials!

In an article posted by the AJC about yesterday’s socialized garbage vote by the Gwinnett County Commission, the paper focused on the “public tumult” as the public gave the commission an “earful” regarding the ordinance.  I am glad that the AJC did not gloss over this part of the meeting.  The disgust by Gwinnett citizens over this unAmerican ordinance should be publicized.

What really irritates me is Mike Beaudreau’s cavalier attitude toward economic freedom:

County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, one of the biggest proponents of implementing a county-wide plan, said there were more than a dozen public meetings held to gauge public sentiment. The overwhelming majority, he said, favored a unified plan.

What Mike does not seem to get is that my economic freedom is not subject to majority rule or public sentiment.  It is fine if there is a subset of county residents that want the government involved in their business, holding their hand as they take out their garbage.  Even if support for the ordinance were  as “overwhelming” as Mike suggests - something I highly doubt - that does not given those residents the right to take away my economic freedom. For this alleged majority to get its way, the county must trample on my rights, which is flat-out WRONG.   That is the nature of rights - your rights end when they interfere with the rights of someone else.

Beaudreau’s defense of this ordinance shows that, as with property rights, he has limited regard for protecting the rights of his constituents.  That tells me all I need to know about whether he is qualified to replace John Linder in the United States Congress - absolutely not!  What if the majority wants government-run healthcare?  Would Mike support that and force socialized medicine on everyone to please those who cannot take responsibility for themselves and, instead, ask the government to micromanage their lives?  The issues in Washington are far more critical and sweeping than a local solid waste ordinance (though all violations of our freedoms by government are important).  Mike Beaudreau, on the eve of a potential candidacy for Congress, is showing us precisely why he is not fit to fill the shoes of a true conservative like John Linder.  Beaudreau, along with the rest of the Gang of Five, shouldn’t be re-elected as county commissioner, much less as United States Congressman.  The voters would be wise to keep this in mind should Mike enter the 7th District race.

The Gwinnett County Commission has completed the process of ignoring their constituents.  The board consisting of five RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) has voted to usurp your economic freedom by approving socialized garbage yet again.  Despite great public protest against the first solid waste ordinance, they moved forward and thumbed their collective noses at the citizens of Gwinnett and passed a new ordinance that is virtually identical to the first ordinance.  The only substantive difference appears to be the elimination of the “garbage police.”  While this is laudable, that hardly makes the rest of the ordinance acceptable.  I thought at least Shirley Lasseter might not be in favor of this unAmerican measure, but she joined with the rest of the board in inserting the government into your personal business.

Several people addressed the board at the meeting today.  They made the point several times that the board was ignoring the people of Gwinnett.  Debbie Dooley of Gwinnett FreedomWorks promoted a protest on a date to be determined in the parking lot - and this is ironic - of Gwinnett Taxpayers Stadium (aka Coolray Field) in the near future.  Another speaker threatened a recall.  Yet another promised that should any of the existing commissioners run for “dogcatcher” they would be expected to have an answer for the voters as to why they supported socialized garbage.  Apparently, the board either does not get it or they just don’t care about you, the citizen of Gwinnett.

That leaves you with one recourse for those commissioners that want to serve in elected office in the future - VOTE THEM OUT.  Any politician that so blatantly ignores the voters has no business holding public office. I urge you to keep this in mind whenever you attend a campaign event for any of the commissioners or vote in a race in which they are running.  They had a chance to remedy what was a huge mistake when they adopted socialized garbage the first time.  They did not.  Now, they should be rewarded by being removed from their office at the earliest opportunity.

More news on who is and who is not running for Congress to replace retiring Congressman John Linder.  Yesterday, state Sen. Don Balfour of Snellville declared his intent to run for the open seat.  However, state Sen. David Shafer has decided against getting into the race.  Also, Mike Beaudreau has posted a voter survey on his website seeking input for his decision as to whether to run for Linder’s seat.

There is some activity in the race for Gwinnett County Commission District 4.  Tommy Hunter’s campaign website has gone live.  I really love his blog entry regarding socialized garbage.  It is very refreshing to hear a politician bluntly tell you like it is.  (I promise I posted my blog entry on socialized garbage before reading Tommy’s comments!)  I have read Tommy’s comments on TalkGwinnett! for some time and I have always found him to be a common-sense conservative.  While it is too early to endorse anyone in this race, I like what I read from Tommy Hunter!

Also, in a story I missed a couple of weeks ago, Tim Sullivan, an IT and real estate professional from Buford, has declared his candidacy for the seat.  You can find his campaign website here.  I did see an immediate red flag with Tim.  When I went to his campaign Facebook page, I saw that Mike Beaudreau had left a comment - “Go Tim!!!!!”  If Mike Beaudreau is behind Sullivan in this race (and I do not know that Mike has officially endorsed Tim or not) I saw “Buyer Beware.”  Interestingly, Sullivan kinda looks like Beaudreau!  But let’s wait and hear what Tim has to say on the issues before we label him as a Mike Beaudreau clone.  Only then can we make a decision as to whether he deserves our support for the commission seat.

Let’s not forget that there is another candidate in this race, John Heard.  I look forward to following the campaigns as we move toward the primary this summer.

NOTE (5 March 10) - Thanks to reader dewood who noted in the comments that there are two additional candidates in this race: Gerald Cagle and Ron Silver.

EDIT (2 March 10): I stated below that the audience could not address the commission during the meeting.  I am watching the meeting right now and the audience does have the opportunity to address the board.  The first two speakers are grilling the commissioners - way to go!

Just when you thought it was safe to take your garbage to the curb, there stands the Gwinnett County Commission waiting at the end of your driveway to “help” you take out your garbage.  That’s right - socialized garbage is back. Tomorrow, the board will consider a new version of the ordinance that looks almost identical to the old version.  What does that tell us?  The Gwinnett County Commission did not listen to a word that was said to them - loudly and clearly - at the various meetings and hearings in the last 15 months.  They have effectively brushed you aside and will do exactly what they intended to do all along - micromanage your life!

The most substantial difference between the previous ordinance and the current iteration is of little real importance to the average citizen: Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful will not be administering the program.  Whew!  That makes me feel so much better knowing that someone else will deny my economic freedom and tell me I am not capable of handing my own affairs.  At the end of the day, the county will still mandate that you must have garbage service.  The county will still tell you what company you must have as your garbage hauler.  They will still bill you for the service as part of your tax bill.  The only substantive item that appears to be different is that recycling is not mandatory.  Exactly how is this different than the socialistic program the board attempted to foist upon us last year?  In a nutshell- IT’S NOT!

Our commissioners are thumbing their noses at us.  They are saying we listened and we ignored virtually everything you told us.  Why?  Because we are politcians and we know how to live your life better than you do!  And these are supposed to be five REPUBLICANS, one of whom may want to go to Washington as a Congressman!

Unfortunately, this will ordinance will pass because this commission is not accountable to you.  Two members of the board, District 2 Commissioner Bert Nasuti and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly, are not running for reelection.  They can vote for the ordinance and not have to worry about facing the music from the voters.  That means there only needs to be one other vote to pass socialized garbage.  If Commission Chairman Charles Bannister has already decided not to seek a third term in 2012, he would be just as unaccountable as Nasuti and Kenerly.  I suspect he will not run again, but only he knows for sure.  The other likely source for the third vote is Mike Beaudreau.  Whether he runs for Congress or not, Beaudreau will likely run for a higher office in 2012 given that his interest in Congressman John Linder’s congressional seat confirms my suspicions that Beaudreau is aiming politically higher than the county commission.  Granted, running for any office from within Gwinnett would force him to face voters in some way should he vote for socialized garbage. However, if his next race is for a different office, that would provide some insulation from voter angst over socialized garbage.  That leaves Shirley Lasseter who likely will run for relection in 2012.  With a third vote coming from Bannister or Beaudreau, Lasseter would be afforded political cover by being able to vote against the ordinance knowing that it will still pass.  (To be fair to Lasseter, the original socialized garbage ordinance was passed before she joined the Commission.  Thus, she may truly be opposed to the measure.)

The board will vote on this unAmerican ordinance tomorrow.  Conveniently, these sessions do not allow the public to address the commission, so you will not have the opportunity to remind the board that their support of socialized garbage is unacceptable.  Ironically, that is very appropriate given that they chose to ignore you when you did have the opportunity to speak.  Who needs Democrats when you have Republicans like this bunch?

I knew it!

As I posted earlier today, when I heard about Congressman John Linder’s annoucement that he would not see re-election in the 7th District, I wondered if MIke Beaudreau would throw his hat in the ring.  Apparently, that is precisely what the District 3 commissioner has on his mind.  As long as I have been observing him as a commissioner, Commissioner Beaudreau has had career politician written all over him.  If you have been a reader of the Buzz for a while, you know that I have had some serious political differences, primarily in the area of property rights, with Commissioner Beaudreau.  However, I have also felt that, were he in a higher office and not dealing with the day-to-day matters of local planning and zoning, he could very well be someone I could support.  His votes on property rights concern me, but I do think there are plenty of bona fide conservatives that, regrettably, would vote similarly on such issues.

The good news is that we could see an opportunity to get Mike Beaudreau off the Gwinnett County Commission.  The biggest question is whether he is conservative enough to be someone we should support as our next 7th District Congressman.  John Linder has some big conservative shoes to fill and we should demand no less from his successor.

As I said earlier - things look to get very interesting in Gwinnett politics in 2010.