Oberholtzer to challenge Beaudreau

Last week I wrote about District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau's reelection bid.  In that post I asked who would rise up to challenge the incumbent.  Former Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer will be one challenger, officially announcing this week his intention to toss his hat into the race.  Mr. Oberholtzer contacted the Buzz and provided the following press release announcing his candidacy.  I have blogged about the mayor as well, though not as extensively as I have about Commissioner Beaudreau.  I cannot say at this time that I will ultimately support the mayor, but I am glad to see a seasoned opponent step up to oppose Beaudreau.  

Jerry Oberholtzer's Candicacy Announcement:

Former Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer to run for Gwinnett County Commissioner

Snellvile, GA

Jerry Oberholtzer, who served twelve successful years as City Councilman and Mayor of Snellville, will bring his governmental experience and savvy into the race for Gwinnett County Commissioner representing the 3rd District that stretches from Braselton, through Dacula and Snellville, to the DeKalb County line at Stone Mountain.

Oberholtzer 52 and Roxann , his wife of 30 years, have lived in the district for 29 years – almost their entire married life. They have three sons, Jerry and Matthew, both Clemson University graduates, and Paul, a graduate of North Georgia State College and University. Son Jerry and wife Jessie, have the Oberholtzer’s first grandson.

Jerry, a professional civil engineer and Clemson graduate, is a twenty year volunteer on the Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Roxann is a long term employee of the Boy Scouts and all around mom to scores of scouts over the years.

“Knowing how to govern effectively, building consensus, treating constituents with courtesy and respect and sticking to Republican principles will be the hallmark of my campaign and service.” said Oberholtzer.

“Good Schools, low crime, attractive neighborhoods: I want to build on those things and make them better. added Oberholtzer. “I know we’ve had our share of problems in Gwinnett, but when the cook burns the biscuits, you don’t need to remodel the kitchen. Gwinnett’s Third District needs a new cook.”

“Dishonest land deals, unbid sweetheart contracts, airport proposals that ruin neighborhoods and grand jury investigations have resulted in a disconnect and a loss of faith in government.” continued Oberholtzer. “ These are tough economic times and just saying NO to everything, like Mike Beaudreau has done for eight years, isn’t working. Being negative drives away business and pours a cold bucket of water on progress and job growth. I’ll work to make Gwinnett the most business friendly county in Georgia.”

“I intend to use this campaign, not to complain about problems, but to offer real solutions. People who live here already know what the problems are: they want real leadership to show them the way to a better Gwinnett. I have the proven ability to keep taxes low, balance the budget, protect our neighborhoods and provide real-­‐time, honest solutions to the traffic problem.” said Oberholtzer

“I look forward to a spirited campaign, grounded in the issues, leading the way to a new direction for Gwinnett. A direction that focuses on the people already here; the people that have worked hard, paid taxes and built our communities. So at the end of four years, we can say to our children and grandchildren: We left Gwinnett better than we found it.” concluded Oberholtzer. 

Beaudreau to seek reelection

District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau announced Friday that he would seek reelection for a third term to the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners.  Beaudreau is last remaining commisioner from Gwinnett's fiscal debacle in 2009 as well as the socialized garbage fiasco.  (Though Shirley Lasseter joined the board in January 2009 after her election in November 2008, many decisions had largely been made that would result in the budget deficit.  As such, I cannot hold her as accountable as the remainder of the board members of that time.)  The other commissioners at that point - aside from Lasseter - either resigned or did not stand for reelection, thus denying voters the opportunity to fire them for a job poorly done.  Beaudreau is the last chance for voters to hold the Bannister board accountable at the polls.

Beaudreau, like any good politician, will attempt to spin away any responsibility he had in those messes and, for socialized garbage, attempt to defend his primary role in trampling on your economic freedom.  And, to be fair, at least for the fiscal issues, Commissioner Beaudreau often did have a more fiscally responsible voice than did his fellow board members.  He also had a more open-minded view of the economic opportunities for revamping Briscoe Field for commercial aviation.  However, his staunch support for socialized garbage is, alone, "grounds for termination."  Couple this position with a record that was routinely hostile to private property rights as he played favorites to certain categories of landowners. Taken altogether, the time has come for the voters in District 3 to kindly advise Mr. Beaudreau to focus on his sales career.  As you hear the spin from the Beaudreau campaign, I would urge you to review my commentary on his tenure for a refresher on the real record of Commissioner Mike Beaudreau.

The question now turns to who will stand up to our next District 3 commissioner?  We need a candidate who will stand up and defend property rights for all Gwinnettians, not just special interests that align themselves with an elected official.  We need a commissioner who will continue to be open-minded regarding opportunities for Briscoe Field.  We need a candidate who, even if he or she cannot reverse the indefensible socialized garbage contract, will sincerely promise residents that he or she will never disrespect our economic freedom of choice by supporting such an arrangement.  In other words, we need a true conservative to replace Mike Beaudreau.  I am optimistic that, so long as District 3 voters remember the recent track record of the Bannister commission, that, like Barack Obama, Mike Beaudreau will face an uphill slog to retain his seat.

Mike Beaudreau Press Release

Beaudreau to run for Re-Election

Mike Beaudreau announced today that he would run for a third term as Gwinnett County Commissioner in District 3. 

“The last few years have been very difficult for the county and many of its residents,” Beaudreau said.  “Because of the economic downturn, the Board of Commissioners was forced to make difficult decisions about spending and taxes.  My conservative leadership and opposition to tax increases helped get us to where we are today, with our top credit rating intact, and with the lowest unemployment rate of metro Atlanta’s core counties.  Now that we see signs of improvement on the horizon, I want to continue to help move the county in the right direction.”

If he is reelected, Commissioner Beaudreau will continue to promote economic development efforts to grow the county’s tax base and will continue his record of tight fiscal management of the county budget.  He also hopes to build on his seven year track record of expanding transparency in county government.

Mike Beaudreau was elected in 2004 as Gwinnett’s youngest County Commissioner.  During his tenure, he has worked tirelessly on issues important to residents; he remains committed to improving the quality of life by passing stricter development regulations, making government more transparent by promoting ethics reform, and making government more efficient by focusing on key county services while keeping property taxes as low as possible.

Due to reapportionment, District 3 boundaries have changed a bit.  It now includes portions of the Braselton and Chateau Elan areas in the northern part of the county, and still includes Centerville, Snellville, Grayson, Loganville and Dacula.

Thoughts on the Commission Chairman race (Pt. 1) - Gause and Nash

Last week, the four candidates vying to replace resigned Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister in a March 15 special election in a forum in Buford, the four.  The one woman and three men spent the majority of the evening discussing the future of Briscoe Field-Gwinnett County Airport.  (Let me say, this was the first article I have read from the Suwanee Patch and I was very impressed.  The quality of the coverage of the forum was excellent and better than the majority of news you find in the AJC Gwinnett!)

I want to reiterate that, while I generally support the concept of commercial aviation at Briscoe Field, I appreciate the concerns of existing homeowners.  Because I support property rights even more than I support commercial aviation in Gwinnett, I cannot discount that commercializing Briscoe could very well have a material negative impact on airport neighbors who bought their property without any reasonable expectation that commercial jets could be taking off and landing at our local airport.  As such, I cannot take issue with the candidates' unanimous position against commercializing the airport.  So what do we look at to determine what differences exist between these individuals?  I choose to consider how they stated their opposition to commercialization as well as their opinion on privatization, a question on which there was not unanimity.

Larry Gause previously "favored expansion as a way to create economic growth," but "changed his position after realizing the impact expansion would have on nearby neighborhoods."  This indicates to me a fair and open-minded approach to the issue as well as respect for property rights.  This alone speaks volumes about Gause's qualifications to serve in light of some recent and current commissioners' slavish allegiance only to the homeowner perspective on property rights (typically, "Don't buult that near my house!").  Where I take issue with Gause is his support for a resolution that would permanently ban expansion of the airport.  How can we know what conditions will be in Gwinnett County in 35 or 40 years?  What if the commission had passed a resolution in 1975 opposing the extension of GA Highway 316 beyond GA Highway 20 (yes, 316 used to end there!)?  Such blanket bans are short-sighted and ill-advised.  On the topic of airport privitization, I also tend to disagree with Gause's opposition.  While I am not settled that privatization is the best route to take, I lean this direction as I feel the government's role should be limited to essential functions that cannot reasonably be undertaken by a private enterprise.  While Gause's concern that a private management company could make undesirable changes is not unreasonable, a privitization agreement could be structured in a way that there is sufficient oversight to prevent such an occurence.  Overall, however, Larry Gause's views on Briscoe Field do not eliminate him from consideration to eventually receive the endorsement of the Gwinnett Buzz.

Charlotte Nash's comment raised more of a red flag.  She did reasonably state that there could be a negative impact of commercialization on neighboring property owners.  However, her solitary focus on only these homeowners is of concern.

The area that is closest to the airport has to be my priority,” Nash said. “I know there are other parts of the county that have different opinions, but I can’t turn my back on this part of the county. I cannot support commercialization as long as this community feels the way it does.

Nearby property owners absolutely should be heard on this issue.  However, their input should only be overweighted as to whether their use and enjoyment of their property would be impaired due to commercialization.  Though this question is important enough to veto the entire iniative, neighbors' general preference or lack thereof for commercial aviation should not carry any more weight than the views of a resident of Norcross.  Bringing commercial airlines to Gwinnett County is a question that impacts far more people than just nearby residents.  As such, being a position elected throughout the county, the chairman should consider the views of all Gwinnett residents on the larger question of the future of Briscoe Field.  Perhaps this is what Nash was trying to say.  If so, I agree with her, though, I do think it is reaonable for her to clarify herself on how she hears the voices of various parts of Gwinnett County.  However, I do hold other conerns about Charlotte Nash aside from her position on Bricsoe Field.

In reseraching this article, I came across a iist of endorsements on her campaign website.  This list is not alphabetized so I was lucky to run across a name that raised not just a red flag, but a red flag big enough to be stretched across a football field.  Just over halfway down the second column is the name of Mike Beaudreau.  While I cannot be 100% certain that is my very own Gwinnett County commissioner, that is hardly a name you run across everyday.  I do not say this in a flippant way, but, if Mike Beaudreau is backing a candidate, I have serious doubts if that candidate is someone for whom I wish to cast a vote.  Beaudreau backed Lorraine Green for commission chairman in 2008 as well Karen Handel for governor last year.  Green and Handel were solidly in the "liberal Republican" camp if you ask me.  Does one of the reddest of red areas of Georgia plan to elect liberal GOP candidates? Does Charlotte Nash fit into this category? Throw in Beaudreau's record as being one of those commissioners who is a slave to homeowner special interests and I have serious questions about Charlotte Nash running the Gwinnett County Commission.  (The fact that Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway has endoresed her as well does not make me feel any better!)  Another strike against Nash are her close ties to Gwinnett County government.

Nash has a long resume of positions within county government.  While she did retire as county administrator before the reign of the Bannister commission that gave us wreckless spending on a minor league baseball stadium and socialized garbage, how can someone so closely linked to the apparatus of government be the outsider that Gwinnett needs right now to clean up the mess created by this commission?  Rather than seeking out the advice of Mike Beaudreau as to who our next chairman should be, we should be preparing to ensure that Beaudreau joins Bannister and former commissioners Bert Nasuti and Kevin Kenerly as being out-of-work as a Gwinnett county official.  Given that, why would we possibly want to side with Mike Beaudreau on a candidate without very careful examination of that person?  While I cannot yet eliminate Nash from consideration for the endorsement of the Gwinnett Buzz, I would say she is certainly not my first choice at this point.

Check back with the Buzz tomorrow for my thoughts on the other two candidates in the race: Will Costa and Duane Kissel.

So who wants to run for chairman?

The schedule for a special election for Gwinnett Commission Chairman to replace recently resigned Charles Bannister has been set:

On Nov. 15, a Probate Court judge will officially call for the special election.

On Nov. 16, the County Commission plans to set a qualifying fee for candidates.

Candidates can qualify for the office beginning at 9 a.m. Dec. 6 and ending at noon Dec. 8.

The deadline for voter registration for the special election will be Feb. 14. Absentee voting also will begin on Valentine’s Day.

Advanced voting for the special election will be March 7-11 at the county elections office, 455 Grayson Highway, Suite 200, in Lawrenceville. The office will have extended hours, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The special election will be March 15. If needed, a runoff election will be held April 12.

The AJC article goes on to speculate who might run for the office.  Those mentioned (along with my comments) are:

Former Gwinnett Commissioner Lorraine Green: This makes me think of Roy Barnes.  We said no to her in 2008, but she may not have gotten the message.  Even with all I know about Charles Bannister now along with the other commissioners that have done such a lousy job, I would still pick any one of them over Lorraine Green.

Republican Party Chairman Bruce LeVell: The Buzz endorsed LeVell when we ran in the 2008 primary against Shirley Lasseter in District 1.  This would be a great choice for Gwinnett assuming his positions remain the same as they were two years ago.

2008 Democrat Commission Chairman candidate Vincent Passariello: Gwinnett has grown more and more Demorat in recent years, but I do not think we are quite to the point where a Democrat has a strong chance of winning a county-wide seat.  Of course, Lorraine Green nearly beat Bannister in 2008 and I don't really see much difference between her and a Democrat.

Gwinnett Village CID head Chuck Warbington: I honestly do not know much about Warbington.  He is a graduate of Dacula High School and he played for the 1990 Georgia Tech National Championship football team.  While I think having a national championship ring as a Yellow Jacket is a great part of his bio, that alone is not enough to gain the endorsement even from a website with "Buzz" in its name.

Other names mentioned include Dacula mayor Jimmy Wilbanks and Suwanee mayor Dave Williams.

I am still surprised not to see Mike Beaudreau listed as a possibility.  I have not seen any articles or tweets saying he has decided against running.  Until that happens, I have to believe he is a strong possibility to throw his hat into the ring.

Bob Griggs opines on aftermath of grand jury probe

Longtime Gwinnett political insider Bob Griggs has posted on his blog an interesting analysis of the aftermath of the ongoing grand jury probe into Gwinnett land deals .  He expects both former Chairman Charles Bannister and District 4 Commissioner Kevin Kenerly to be indicted as a result of the probe.  In such a scenario, the resulting falling dominoes would make for a very interesting period for Gwinnett politics:

[District 1 Commissioner Mike] Beaudreau, as the Chairman Pro Tem, will lead a three-member Commission until January. John Heard and Lynette Howard will win in the general election, take office in January and will vote, subsequently, to hold a special election for Chairman. Heard will then announce that he intends to seek the Chairman’s seat. He has reportedly told associates that it was always his plan to run for Chairman in two years. He risks a 2012 loss if someone else is given two years in the seat to build goodwill.

Beaudreau will not run for Chairman; he is gainfully employed in a career job and won’t give it up for more headaches and a pay cut. I expect several– the usual suspects and a few newbies– to run, however.

Seems plausible given that Bannister resigned this morning.  While we do not yet know what connection that resignation has to the grand jury investigation, the timing is suspicious to say the least.  I would disagree on his prediction that Mike Beaudreau would not run for Commission Chairman.  While Beaudreau may well have a career job, I have always thought he had career politician written all over him and I would have been stunned had he not run for Chairman or some other higher office at the end of the his current commission term in 2012.  While I certainly do not have the connections that Griggs has, to think that Beaudreau's political aspirations end at commissioner does not resonate with me.

One prediction that really encourages me is that John Heard, who I expect to win Kenerly's seat next month, would resign to run for Chairman.  This would open the door for another bid by Tommy Hunter.  While John Heard was certainly preferable to apparent Beaudreau-clone Tim Sullivan, Hunter was far and away the best choice in District 4.  Tommy barely missed the runoff so another chance for him to get on the Commissiongreatly excites me.

One thing is for sure - things look to get very interesting in Gwinnett political circles in the coming weeks and months.

Who's running and who's not in District 7?

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.

Update on District 4 commisison race

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 say"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.

The Gwinnett Commission has completely ignored you!

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! Beaudreau considering run for Congress

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.

Congressman Linder to retire

In a surprise announcement this weekend, 7th District Congressman John Linder announced that he will not seek re-election this fall.  This will end a nearly two decade career in the United States Congress.  First and foremost, the Buzz would like to thank Congressman Linder for his solid, conservative representation in Congress for these many years as well as advocacy for the Fair Tax here recently.  I have been honored to have lived in his district for the majority of his tenure.  Congressman Linder was a reliable voice for conservatism in Washington.  When critical hot-button issues occurred and everyone was calling for people to contact their Congressman to support a certain piece of legislation or to vote against the latest liberal big-government agenda, I knew I could count on Congressman Linder to make the right vote.  I can only remember one vote on which I disagreed with him; over two decades, that is a pretty fine record.  So, thank you, Congressman Linder.  You have served Gwinnett and other areas of your district well.  You will be missed and hard to replace.

Which leads to the second question.  Who will replace Congressman Linder?  Congressional races in the 7th District have been largely uninteresting for a long time as no one has really given Linder a credible challenge.  However, in a year where we have two Gwinnett Commission races that bear close scrutiny, we now have a Congressional race - at least in the Republican primary - to watch.  In the early going, several names have been tossed about to be Linder's successor: Chuck Efstration, chairman of the Gwinnett Republican Party, state Senator Don Balfour, state senator David Shafer, state Representative Clay Cox, and state Representative Tom Rice.  Some GOP leaders even mentioned the name of former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz, though Smoltz has denied interest.

When I heard the news, I wondered if this could impact the Gwinnett County Commission.  I have long thought that Commissioner Mike Beaudreau has aspirations for higher office.  However, the jump from county commission to Congress is a pretty tall leap.  However, with other state representatives and senators being mentioned as potential congressional candidates, could things shake out that would open a seat that would prompt Beaudreau or another commissioner to look at moving to the Georgia General Assembly?

Gwinnett politics in 2010 just got a lot more interesting!