Capitalism to clean up Green's Corners

This bit of news came out last week but I wanted to highlight it for a great point is makes about America's capitalist system.  Walmart will redevelop the Green's Corners shopping center at Jimmy Carter Blvd. and Rockbridge Rd. in Norcross.  That news, in and of itself, is not all that noteworthy.  Retail development, even in this economy, is hardly a earth-shattering event.  However, at a time when we consistently see attacks on private industry from the likes of the Occupy Wall Street protestors and even our President, this project highlights the benefit private industry offers us all the way down on the community level.  

Green's Corners used to be a significant shopping destination in Norcross.  Now, Green's Corners has become a "troubled shopping center."  It's previous anchor tenant, K-Mart, closed and the complex "has become a haven for litter and crime."  In the words of an attorney representing Walmart, Green's Corners is a "mess."  So Walmart, the "evil corporation" that so many liberals love to hate, is going to step forward and clean up the mess.  

Is Walmart going to undertake this project out of the kindness of its heart and solely for the good of the community?  Of course not.  They are going to do this in a dastardly effort to earn a...*gasp*...profit.  Walmart obviously sees an opportunity to make money by rehabilitating Green's Corners and opening one their often attacked SuperCenters there.  In the process, they will be tearing down two night clubs that have become a thorn in the side of Gwinnett police.

The point here is that, even if area residents never set foot into the new Walmart or spend one dollar at the store, they will benefit as a result of Walmart's effort to successfully compete and be profitable in a free market economy.  The next time you hear a quasi-socliast liberal railing about all the bad that corporations do, remember, that, while their record is certainly not spotless, corporations bring far more direct and indirect good to our society than they do bad.  Just ask residents near Green's Corners in a couple of years.

Former Tech hoops star arrested in Gwinnett on DUI charge

Former Georgia Tech basketball player and current New Orleans Hornets guard, Jarrett Jack, "was arrested in Gwinnett County Sunday morning on charges of DUI, speeding and failure to maintain lane" according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department.  Jack was a key member of Georgia Tech's 2004 team that advanced to the NCAA championship game.

I am very disappointed to see a former Georgia Tech student-athlete in this kind of trouble.  Whether these athletes want to be role models or not, they are and this type of behavior sets a bad example.  That being said, Jack should not receive any harsher treatment by the legal system than a non-celebrity arrested on a similar charge.  Likewise, he should not receive any more lenient treatment.  He should be treated just as you or I would be if we had made the incredibly dumb decision to drink and drive.

Kenerly suspends self from board

The Gwinnett Daily Post is reporting that Kevin Kenerly this afternoon voluntarily suspended himself from the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.  In a statement through his attorney Pat McDonough, Kenerly said he realized that trying to serve after his indictment had become an "unnecessary distraction for the County staff, his fellow commissioners, and the citizens of Gwinnett County."  By suspending himself, Kenerly "can focus all of his energies on taking care of his family and responding to the pending charges.”

This is right the move, but it is a move he should have made upon being indicted.

Fox 5 obtains copy of grand jury report

Fox 5 Atlanta news has obtained a copy of the Gwinnett grand jury report investigating Gwinnett land deals.  The report indicates that former Commission Chairman Charles Bannister offered to resign his seat to avoid indictment on a perjury charge.  According to Fox 5, there was no evidence of a bribe in Bannister's case, though the same grand jury indicted Commissioner Kevin Kenerly on bribery charges.

Fox 5 reported that the grand jury's finding showed that "commissioners [were] often clueless about the most cost-conscious way to buy land for future parks." Former Superior Court judge James Oxendine was mentioned as having handled negotiations for a property owner selling land to Gwinnett County.  According to the report, Oxendine pushed the county to increase its offer.  The report noted that no member of county staff had any reservations about negotiating with a sitting judge.

You can watch Randy Travis' report below.

AJC summarizes Kenerly's career

The AJC has a good article this morning summarizing the career of Commissioner Kevin Kenerly. The article touches on his work during his 16 years in office as a Gwinnett County Commissioner. It also includes an overview of events surrounding his relationship with developer David Jenkins.  Jenkins is the man who allegedly paid "as much as $1 million in bribes in connection with a parkland purchase" that involved himself, a deal that was "championed" by Kenerly and approved by the Board of Commissioners.

Kenerly should resign immediately

Indicted Gwinnett District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly turned himself into the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department yesterday and indicated he would not resign his seat on the county commission.  Kenerly was indicted by a grand jury this week on "a felony count of bribery, alleging that he had accepted $1 million from a developer," as well as "two misdemeanor counts of failing to disclose a financial interest in two properties the county rezoned in 2001 and 2005."

As Kenerly left the jail, he said he would not resign and was not worried about Gov. Sonnny Perdue suspending him.  Kenerly's attorney Walt Britt said, “There are plenty of people found not guilty when they're indicted by grand jury ... Grand juries indict people everyday ... People go to trial in front of juries."

To be sure, Kenerly has not been convicted of anything.  He, as does any American, deserves his day in court and a fair trial. The government must prove the allegations they have made against him.  He is truly innocent until proven guilty.  However, the trust that the people place in their elected official has been destroyed, and for this reason alone, Kenerly should resign immediately.

The charges against Kenerly go directly to his duties as a commissioner.  They are not some unrelated accusation that, while possibly impairing a general sense of trust, do not directly flow from the job he does for the community on the commission.  The charges raise serious and legitimate doubts as to whether Kenerly can be trusted to serve the people rather than himself in his duties.  Though he may be completely innocent of these charges, any actions he takes in the remaining two months of his term will be tainted and will require close scrutiny by citizens and other commissioners.  A true sense of service to the community requires resignation from the board.  Kenerly's refusal to do so exhibits a high degree of arrogance and a self-servedness that makes one consider the veracity of the indictment all the more likely.

Commissioner Kenerly, if you truly are a public servant, do the public a favor and resign from your seat and remove the cloud that hangs over their government.  Former Commission Chairman Charles Bannister showed dignity when he resigned for far less.  Take his lead and allow Gwinnett to move on.

Bannister blood test comes back negative; Charges dropped

CBS Atlanta has just reported that Commission Chairman Charles Bannister's blood test has come back negative for alcohol in his system.  This result confirms the 0.0 reading on a Breathalyzer test administered to the chairman prior to his arrest for DUI Monday night.  Combine this with the fact that there is no video of Bannister failing a field sobriety test and Bannister's claim that he would be exonerated is looking more and more likely.  (I would note, I do not put much stock in the field sobriety test failure.  If I had a police officer having me recite the alphabet starting at a letter other than A, on the side of a road, my nerves could cause me to get flustered and mess that up as well!)

What is going on here?  Is Bannister being setup for political purposes?  The story does shed some light on why the Sheriff's Department was involved.  Apparently, someone in the restaurant called an off-duty deputy who, in turn, phoned an on-duty deputy.  However, as I questioned previously, why did this tip not get forwarded to Gwinnett Police who normally handle traffic cases in this area?  According to the AJC, the fact that the Sheriff's department handled the arrest is not the only irregularity with this case.

Sheriff Butch Conway has stated that he stands behind his deputy.  So long as there is no evidence of a setup, I cannot argue with this because a good superior backs up his employees.  However, if something starts to look fishy, which certainly is shaping up to be the case here, Conway should absolutely look into this matter very closely.  The question is what he will say during a news conference today regarding the blood test results?  Don't forget that Conway backed Bannister's opponent, former commissioner Lorraine Green, in the last election.  Will the sheriff let politics get in the way of seeking out justice for a political opponent?  Stayed tuned.

UPDATE: Sheriff Conway has announced that DUI charges would be dropped against the chairman.  However, per the irregularities in this case, this should not be the end of the matter.  Someone, whether it be the sheriff or other authorities, should look into whether any laws have been violated in the treatment of Bannister.  Even if no laws have been violated, there should be close scrutiny that no law enforcement official abused their authority in order to humiliate Bannister with trumped up charges.

Bannister charged with DUI

The Buzz has been quiet lately as I have simply not had time to devote to the site (still open to accepting other contributors - let me know if you are interested in writing for the Buzz!).  However, after reading the news of Commission Chairman Charles Bannister being charged with DUI last night, I had to comment.

While I supported Bannister in his race against former Commissioner Lorraine Green two years ago, I have been less than pleased - to put it mildly - with the job performance of the chairman and the rest of the board since that time.  However, despite that, this is not a post to "pile on" the chairman.  Rather, after reading the latest news account of yesterday's events, I wanted to write to urge my fellow Gwinnett residents not to rush to judgment.  There are enough red flags to prompt the fair-minded observer to allow the facts of this situation come to light before forming a hardened opinion on guilt or innocence.

When I received a text from a friend last night telling me that 11Alive had tweeted that Charles Bannister had been charged with DUI, my initial inclination was to believe that he was guilty.  I mean, after all, DUI is pretty cut and dried right?  You get pulled over, you blow a high reading on a Breathalyzer...bam, DUI.  Not really any extenuating circumstances for that in my book.  However, as details of last night's events have emerged, I have begun to think "Hold on...maybe things are not as they seem:"

...the Breathalyzer producing a .000 reading.

Hmm.  Of course, given the description of Bannister's driving, the decision of Gwinnett Sheriff's Deputy M.G. Cummings to ask for a blood test was understandable:

"Once I received the blood kit I explained to the defendant that due to the results of the breath test being inconsistent with someone who had drunk a beer, as he admitted to at the scene of the pullover and at the jail, and his current manifestations, I requested he submit to the state test of his blood. He stated he would."

However, this raises another question to me.  Why was this incident being handled by the Sheriff's Department?  While I know the Sheriff's Department certainly has the authority to conduct traffic stops, in Gwinnett, I normally think of the Gwinnett County Police Department taking on that responsibility.  Could it be because the Sheriff is an elected official and, as such, not a direct report to Bannister?  Is it normal procedure for the GCSD to handle such incidents to avoid a situation where a county employee is arresting his boss?  If anyone knows about this, please post.  If the GCSD handling this is not standard operating procedure, I think asking why the Sheriff's office and not the police department was waiting outside the restaurant for the chairman to leave is a fair question.

While none of the above suggests that Bannister is definitively not guilty of the charge, these facts suggest to me that we be all the more cautious about jumping to conclusions.  Whether anyone agrees or disagrees with Chairman Bannister politically, as an American citizen, he has a right to be treated fairly under the law and not to be immediately assumed guilty due to political unpopularity.

I am absolutely not taking DUI lightly.  In fact, I feel that the justice system is too easy on those convicted of DUI.  This is a serious offense that takes too many innocent lives across our country.  However, before applying strict punishment, any American, including Chairman Bannister, must be proven guilty of a DUI charge.  Once that occurs or if the chairman admits guilt, only then is consideration of whether he should resign his office or any other response appropriate.

Commission approves more than $200 million in budget cuts

The Gwinnett County Commission voted last week to approve over $225 million in budget cuts.  As I wrote earlier last week, some residents were unhappy with some of the cuts, especially those targeting the budgets for the police and fire departments.  While automatically opposing budget cuts for public safety is understandable, the key here is at what are these cuts targeted?

First, let's be absolutely clear: deeps cuts were in order. Cuts are more palatable than a tax increase. Where I take issue is where these cuts were targeted.  Prior to the meeting, there was speculation that the Gwinnett "Quality of Life" unit could be on the chopping block.  Given this unit's focus of fighting property rights more so than real crime, I was completely in favor of such a cut.  However, rather than ax the Quality of Life unit, the board opted to cut the DUI task force.  I do not understand this move! One fights property rights - the other fights criminals that could kill you on our highways! The Quality of Life unit should have be at the top of the cuts for the police department.  Of course, I am hardly surprised that retaining funding for the Quality of Life unit was proposed by Mike Beaudreau whose commission track record is hardly one of championing property rights.

Regarding police department funding in general, when I stop seeing police officers parked along the road running radar/laser equipment to catch speeders as opposed to fighting real crime, I might get a little more upset about budget cuts for the department. In the last couple of weeks, I have seen three cops parked along Ronald Reagan Parkway doing speed enforcement. I see others near the Park Place Bridge on US 78. Coupling this with funding Quality of Life to go out worrying about how how far nails protrude and other victimless crimes, I cannot get too upset at at the cuts. When all police department funds are used to fight real, serious crime and not harass property owners or man radar guns, I will get upset at the cuts.

I would like to note, however, that, as critical as I often am of Comissioner Beaudreau, I do find myself in total agreement with one of his proposals.  Beaudreau offered an excellent idea to charge non-county residents for using Gwinnett County parks.  In fact, as a daily user of my local park, I would support a user fee for all those who actually use the parks, whether resident or not. The community does benefit from the parks so a county-funded system is appropriate. However, because those of us who actually go to the park and use the amenities benefit more, we should pay more than someone who does not. A user fee could be a nominal amount, perhaps $25 per year, just to ensure that the cost burden of these facilities is born more by those who use the system. A user fee would also capture direct contribution from those who use the facilities but are not property owners and, as such, do pay not the property taxes that fund the bulk of county government.

One other suggestion for revenue that I have not seen discussed is ads on Gwinentt transit buses.  (I read this suggestion from a Buzz reader, I believe, but I cannot find the reference.  I apologize that I cannot properly credit you for bringing this idea to my attention.)  When the county is in need of every drop of revenue it can get, why has the transit system not exploring selling ads?  MARTA does this, why not Gwinnett?  I do not know how much money this would raise, but whatever it raises would be some decrease in the severity of the county budget cuts.

The fiscal situation that Gwinnett County faces is very serious.  No one said any of the paths that could be taken through the woods would be easy, but I must commend the commissioners for choosing the right path - reigning in the size and cost of government as opposed to siphoning even more dollars out of our pockets.  I would much rather be bickering over what to cut than a tax increase.

Citizens oppose spending cuts

As the Gwinnett County Commission prepares to "vote on $225 million in proposed cuts to the operating budget through 2014," some county residents are opposing proposed law enforcement funding cuts.  I would ask them, what else is the commission supposed to do?  While I have been very critical of this board, they did the right thing by refusing to raise property taxes.  Given that a nontrivial reason we are in this fiscal mess is that monument to government mismanagement, Gwinnett (Taxpayers) Stadium, I absolutely oppose a tax increase.  Had our commissioners kept Gwinnett County focused on the core, limited responsibilities of government, I would be more open to recognizing the need for, and possibly supporting, a tax increase.  However, the commissioners made some very poor decisions in building that unneeded baseball stadium and now they should have to make the hard decisions of finding places to cut spending.

While I do not want to see police funding cut in general, I would be more concerned about these cuts if I did not see police officers parked alongside Gwinnett roads running radar/laser speed detection equipment.  I understand the need for traffic enforcement, but why not redeploy these officers to fighting real crime and let them do traffic stops while engaged in their normal patrols?  I would note that if the cuts are used on Gwinnett's so-called "Quality of Life" unit, then the negative impact to enforcing important laws is lessened.  The Quality of Life unit spends a lot of taxpayer dollars fighting property rights rather than the crime that is all too common in Gwinnett.

Thus, while we may feel some pain in the cuts that are eventually made, they are much easier to swallow than a tax increase in the aftermath of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on the Government-funded Gwinnett Braves new baseball stadium.