State to Snellville: "You cannot regulate emissions!"

In what should have been common sense last fall among Snellville city council members, the State of Georgia has affirmed that the City of Snellville cannot regulate crematory emissions.  However, rather than exhibiting common sense and upholding fairness and justice, Snellville city councilwoman Kelly Kautz and her ilk pushed forward with a persecution of a private property owner and local businessman in order to curry political favor with voters.  Even in light of the state's ruling and a similar opinion by Snellville's city attorney, Kautz amazingly continues to express support for Snellville to regulate crematory emissions.  

So, does this mean that Chris Nuzum can finally cast aside the shackles of the City of Snellville and open his business?  Nope.  There is still is the matter of the frivilous building plans deviations.  The lawsuit on that matter is still pending.  Hopefully, Nuzum will wind up owning half the City of Snellville.  Maybe he can put his crematory INSIDE city hall!  Goodness knows, there's enough space!

Balfour meets resistance from Snellville councilman

This week, state Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) introduced legislation in the Georgia Senate to limit the Snellville mayor's voting power in city council votes in order to avoid the 3-3 deadlocked votes which have become common in recent years.  The idea was supported by the majority of residents who turned out at a town hall last month hosted by the senator.  Now, Snellville city councilman Tod Warner, saying that "Balfour’s move is 'unilateral,' subverting the power of the council." Warner is urging other Gwinnett municipal officials to encourage their legislators to oppose Balfour's bill.

Unilateral?  Huh?  

The senator has drafted a piece of legislation which must be passed by the Senate if it is to become law.  Even if other senators essentially allow Balfour's bill to pass since it is a local issue, Georgia House member Rep. Melvin Everson (R-Snellville) would have a say in the House.  Besides, Balfour is following a course of action backed by the residents in Snellville who took the time to show up and express their opinion.  This does not count many who likely have contacted the senator directly.  So long as Balfour is reflecting the will of Snellville residents, the people to whom government is responsible, the will of those holding power in office is of far less concern.

My...it smells like flowers

Last month, Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer reported Snellville City Councilman Robert Jenkins for a messy yard.  Jenkins has reportedly cleaned up his yard but has shown a sense of humor in repurposing an old toilet that had been on his property.  The toilet is now a planter in which the councilman has planted flowers.  Gives a whole new meaning to "pot"ted plants!

Sunday alcohol-by-the-drink sales in Snellville

Ever find yourself in a position where you are equally split with two halves of yourself pulling strongly in opposite directions?  Well, that is how I feel in thinking about Snellville's Sunday alcohol-by-the-drink sales.  I am a teetotaler myself.  When I have to deal with drunk fans at a football game or hear about someone killed by a drunk driver, I always wonder why can't some people do anything without a drink?  I can't think of a legal product that has caused more pain for so many people.  However, unlike addictive illegal drugs, I know that the majority of people can have a drink with dinner without any negative effects.

This is where my libertarian, limited-government streak rears its head.  From such a perspective, I cannot logically defend the prohibition of selling drinks with a meal in a restaurant.  This is congruent with my opposition in years past to a total smoking ban in restaurants.  Let the market decide says my free market side.  If enough people object to the sale of alcoholic drinks on a Sunday, they will patronize other restaurants, thus encouraging the restaurant owner to enact the ban him or herself.  The question is such an environment valueable enough to people for them to vote with their dollars?  

I am glad I do not live in Snellville - not just because of the shenanigans of the elected officials! - lest I would need to come to a definitive stance on this issue.  I see the logic behind overturning the ban, but as a Christian I do not feel comfortable advocating anything anything that promotes alcohol.  I do realize that even Christians sometimes drink in moderation.  I suppose a lot of my deep-seated distaste for alcohol is because because a significant incidence of alcoholism in my family's history.  In fact, I never even met one grandfather because he died of alcoholism before I was born.  Frankly, I cannot bring myself to be disappointed that the city did not overturn the ban even if that betrays my coldly, logical side.

Balfour holds town hall on Snellville council

Thursday night, state Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) held a town hall meeting to obtain input from Snellville residents on a potential change to the voting configuration of the Snellville City Council.  The majority sentiment at the meeting supported eliminating the mayor's vote except in cases of ties.  However, Sen. Balfour noted that this option was not in the majority in a poll that was conducted.  The suggestion to have a referendum on options makes the most sense to me.  Otherwise, drafting legislation that makes a change while any of the current councilmembers or mayor is still in office risks being tagged as political interference in city affairs.  Though several Snellville officials seem cool to change, Balfour's effort to end the deadlock, especially if residents support such a move, is reasonable.

Oberholtzer, Jenkins feud gets Seuss treatment

The Snellville blogger has posted a poem about the Jerry Oberholtzer/Robert Jenkins fued that showed up on Dave Barry's blog.  A blogger known as NotDrSeuss has given the Seuss-style treatment to the elected official dust-up in Snellville.

In Snellville there lived a good mayor they say

Who mayored all night and then mayored all day

His name, Oberholtzer, was known far and wide

For he equally mayored indoors and outside.

In Snellville was also a councilman bold

Named Jenkins, who counseled quite well, it's been told.

He could counsel a council on hills and on roads.

Then, alas, one day both men did need the commode.

Such a brouhaha brewed as was ne'er before seen!

And a hullabaloo! Things were getting quite mean!

The mayor and councilman had history

Which made Oberholtzer reluctant to pee

See, Jenkins was scary and quite fond of suing

Which made Oberholtzer uneasy in pooing.

Oberholtzer decided to ask for a guard

And suggested to Jenkins, "Use the loo in your yard!"

Police Chief Roy Whitehead does what he can do

So in Snellville, they have to take turns in the loo!

Definitely a funny poem, but how sad that Snellville and Gwinnett County are being made national laughingstocks because of childish behavior of grown adults, adults that hold positions of authority and responsibility.  

 

What in the world is going on in Snellville?

The mayor reporting a city councilman to the police for a messy yard.

The mayor being escorted to the restroom by the police chief to avoid said city councilman.

No, I am not summarizing a recent episode of Desperate Housewives.  I am talking about the real-life drama Snellville City Government.  Not only does this government come up with some outrageous attacks on private property rights, some of the elected officials act like a bunch of high school kids while doing it.

Councilman Robert Jenkins may want to seem taken aback by Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer's report but according to the news article, the councilman has little leg upon which to stand.

City Councilman Robert Jenkins recently was issued a warning to clean up his yard, including removing an old toilet and broken-down car, or face a citation for city code violations.

...

This isn’t the first time Jenkins has been issued a warning. More than a year ago, tree limbs scattered in Jenkins’ front yard raised red flags.

I am critical of over-reaching ordinances, but a broken-down car and an old toilet in your yard are hardly matters of taste.  As for the police escort to the bathroom, though I do not know if Oberholtzer's concerns are warranted, from his point of view, I can understand caution towards a man who sued a previous political opponent.

As for the Jenkins' laughable comment about the mayor taking the "positions he takes," I would just remind readers of Jenkins' anti-property rights position in the recent crematory case.  If that's not the pot calling the kettle black!

Playing catchup on Gwinnett news

Fortunately, my day job has returned to normal, so I hope to get caught up here at the Buzz in the coming days.  And this just after I had finally gotten caught up and cleared a backlog of stories!

In the interest of not falling behind on current events, here is a summary of Gwinnett from the last week and a half with some light commentary.  I have saved the bigger matters for separate posts I hope to have up by the weekend.

Another garbage meeting, same ole topics

Frankly, there is little to say here.  The top issues at the meeting held on Thursday, February 5 were hauler choice - makes perfect sense to me - and truck traffic - I still don't get this one.  The next meeting is tomorrow night, Thursday, February 12 at the George Pierce Community Center in Suwanee.  According to Gwinnett Views, the meeting starts at 6:30.

Gwinnett cities negotiate property tax level with county

Gwinnett cities are negotiating with the county on the level of county property tax their residents have to pay.  At issue is paying full the county tax rate even when some county services are duplicated by municipalities.  Police protection is specifically mentioned.  I think Commission Chairman Charles Bannister makes a valid point in saying, “Even where cities have a police force, you will find the county involved in varying levels with accident investigations, crime scene work, SWAT, the radio system or animal welfare.”  Even if cities agreed that county police would not conduct any law enforcement activities within their city limits, can you imagine the outcry the first time something of major significance happened and the county police did not respond?  Besides, who is going to actually deal with real crime with city police departments occupied with running their speed traps?  I could see a "discount" on county taxes for duplicated services that only occasionally call on similar services from the county but not complete elimination of this portion of the property tax.

Here is a better idea.  Why do we have so many municipalities?  These cities are quite obviously duplicating many services that the county already provides.  This places a greater burden on individuals and companies doing business in Gwinnett because they have to negotiate varying rules, processes and procedures between the various jurisdictions.  Also, look at the shenanigans going on with the Snellville City Council.  Why exactly does a few miles of GA 124 and US 78 need its own government, especially when half of their elected officials behave less maturely than members of the South Gwinnett High School student government?  If you ask me, rather than creating new cities in the state, the Georgia State Legislature should be setting minimum population requirements for municipalities in order to eliminate excessive, inefficient and unnecessary layers of government.

More than 900 Gwinnett inmates to be deported

Federal immigration officials flagged for deportation 915 foreign-born inmates at the Gwinnett County jail during a 26-day surge that ended on Thursday.

Of the inmates identified as being in the country illegally, 489 had a previous criminal history, said Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway.

This is the result of the targeted enforcement effort by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  I am very supportive of Sheriff Conway's effort to get Gwinnett included in the 287(g) immigration enforcement program.  However, not everyone sees things in the same light.

Rev. Tracy Blagec, a spokesperson for Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), said she suspects many of the undocumented aliens in the Gwinnett jail committed only traffic violations.

“This is local enforcement trying to enforce something that should be corrected at the national level,” Blagec said.

Those who oppose enhanced immigration enforcement continue to use flimsy excuses for their opposition.  An examination of the list of offenses of those to be deported shows less than 300 of the approximately 900 deportees who stand accused of not having a driver's license, violation of a city or county ordinance, or other traffic violations.  That means that over two-thirds were jailed for more serious crimes.  (You could argue that not having a driver's license is potentially serious because these drivers likely do not have insurance and, in the event of an accident, would be more likely to flee.  Someone involved in an accident with these individuals would likely get stuck with the repair bill.)  Even if we ignored the fact that all of these individuals are here in the U.S. illegally, those who committed more serious violations should forfeit any claim to the benefits of living in America.  If you come to America but will not respect our laws, why should you be allowed to stay?

As for the local enforcement of immigration, Rev. Blagec has a point.  However, with the prospect of immigration enforcement being dealt with in an effective manner by the Obama administration, that leaves no one other than states or local governments to deal with a problem that is placing a large burden on their infrastructure.

Gwinnett agencies to get federal aid

This type of federal aid is hard to oppose.  I have long said that government has a role to help people temporarily when they are in dire straits and cannot help themselves.  Certainly, in the current economic climate, there are many people in this situation.  This type of aid is reasonable and humanitarian and is a far cry from so much of the Democrats' "porkulus" package which is little more than an effort to enlarge the federal government and make Americans increasingly dependent on government.  When they become more dependent on government for their ongoing, non-temporary needs, they become more dependent on the liberal politicians who provide it.

Commission backs Springbrook golf course loan application

The County Commision voted 4-1 to back a loan application by the operators of the Springbrook golf course.  The dissenting vote was by Mike Beaudreau.  I can see arguments on both sides of this one.  I can see how supporting this $250,000 loan keeps alive the possibility that the Springbrook Golf Commission will eventually be able to pay back the entire $3.3 million dollars still owed to Gwinnett County as well as possibly avoiding county liability for an additional $1.7 million.  However, I wonder if this is not throwing good money after bad, especially for a non-critical recreational entity in a weak economy that has already shown an inability to pay its debts.

Commission approves Norcross waste transfer station

In a bit of a surprising move, the Gwinnett County Commission approved a waste transfer station in Norcross next door to a Catholic church.  I have to admit, I have never known for sure where I stand on this one and I would have a hard time criticizing a vote in either direction.  Hopefully, the restrictions on the project will ensure that the property rights of the church are not violated.  Unfortunately, by the time that becomes apparent, it may be too late.  It sounds like we have not heard the last of this one.

Snellville blogger supports Balfour plan

Yesterday, I blogged about how I could see rationale in an argument that change in the structure of the Snellville City Council should be proposed by city residents or the council itself.  Well, it seems that at least one Snellvillite agrees with state Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville).  The Snellville blogger has published two posts on her blog expressing her agreement that the Snellville council should have a tiebreaker.

Well of course it should be an odd number. Even Congress, with 100 members, is divided 50/50, but Congress has the vote of the Vice President to break ties.

You can just hear the dripping sarcasm in this comment!

I have a great idea. Why doesn't the City of Snellville hire a high priced consultant to tell us the same thing that Senator Don Balfour is saying?

Balfour considers change in Snellville city council

State Sen. Don Balfour (R-Snellville) is contemplating a change to the structure of the Snellville City Council.  Because the council has an even number of votes, deadlocked votes are common.  Such a move makes sense so that issues can come to a resolution one way or the other.  Snellville Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer, however, makes a valid counterpoint: this type of change should be intiated by the council itself.  If the city and residents are not asking for the problem to be fixed, then is this really something on which Sen. Balfour should make the first move?  This of course assumes that there is even a problem.  Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld may have put it best:

Auld said beyond the three options pitched by Balfour, there’s a fourth: leaving it the way it is. “In some cases, having gridlock means limiting government action, which sometimes can be a good thing for our citizens.”

Often, government wants to insert itself where it does not belong and a divided government body gridlocked can be an effective antidote to this urge.  (With the Democrats in solid control in Washington, how much I long for a good case of gridlock for the next four or, perish the thought, eight years!)

I think Sen. Balfour's idea to hold a town hall to discuss the matter is the best balance of the various viewpoints.  If there is a town hall, I hope that organizers will avoid seeding justifications for a change like the County Commission did with socialized garbage and simply let residents speak express their own views.  From this, the state legislature will have more standing to address Snellville's city council logjams.

Oh, and if the legislature eventually decides to act and decides to reduce the size of the council by one, let me be the first to nominate Councilwoman Kelly Kautz to be the member that is shown the door.  After her performance throghout the crematory controversy, she has earned that honor!