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.

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.

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?

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!

Well it is a year late in coming, but the Government-funded Gwinnett Braves have a naming sponsor for their ballpark near Mall of Georgia.  Coolray Heating and Cooling has agreed to a 16-year deal with the Atlanta Braves to place its moniker on the stadium.  That’s fine and dandy, but here is the curious part:

Terms of the 16-year deal with Coolray Heating and Cooling were not revealed.

Excuse me?  Terms were not revealed?  Terms should be revealed immediately!  After all, the Gwinnett County Commission blew our tax dollars building a ballpark for a minor league team we did not need.  Then, in part because of the millions of dollars committed to the facility, the county had to then raise our taxes when the recession hit.  So, yes, the Gwinnett taxpayers have a right to know the terms of the deal post-haste!  We have a right to know the net amount of our tax dollars that have been sunk in financially propping-up an organization that can afford to pay exorbitant salaries to major league ballplayers but expecting Average Joe Citizen to fork over his hard-earned money to pay for their “place of business.”  In a time on the national political scene where corporate executives - highly-paid employees who come much closer to being worth the money they earn than grown men playing a boy’s game - the taxpayers of Gwinnett County should be fully informed just how much of our money will wind up subsidizing a professional sports franchise.

Starting April 8, the Government-funded Gwinnett Braves will officially play their home games at Coolray Field, but the facility will always really be Gwinnett Taxpayers Stadium.

It’s 2010 and that means I am hoping to get things back on track at the Gwinnett Buzz!  This year promises to have quite a bit happening in Gwinnett County, not the least of which is an election in which two Gwinnett County Commission seats are up for grabs.  Fittingly, my first post of the new year is an update on who is going to be running!

For the District 2 commission seat being vacated by Bert Nasuti, Gwinnett planning commissioner Lynette Howard has entered the race.  Howard is the former president of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association.  She will run as a Republican and will face Jose Perez in the primary.

Howard will host a meet-and-greet from 2-4 PM on January 23 at the Norcross Depot.  Her campaign website can be found at www.electlynette.com.

Last week, the AJC published an article about the possible privatization of Gwinnett County Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville.  The proposal by Propeller Investments would include expanding the airport’s runway and beginning commercial airline service from ten gates in a new terminal.

On the surface, I love the idea.  I was encouraged by some of the initial indications of support from local leaders.  (I was pleasantly surprised to see Gwinnett Commissioner Mike Beaudreau speak favorably of the possibility!)  I favor getting government out of the airport business, especially if the proposal appears to be able to generate much needed revenue for the county government while allowing a private owner the opportunity to generate a profit while providing a very valuable service and economic boost to Gwinnett County.  However, the likely opposition of nearby residents, a response that most assuredly is in the offing, cannot be simply dismissed.

If you have read the Buzz for any period of time, you know I am a strong advocate for private property rights while being a fan of high quality development.  Thus, you might assume that I would be squarely on the side of Propeller Investments.  However, as college football commentator Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!” As I have discussed extensively on the Buzz, I view property rights issues between neighboring landowners as boiling down to material impact.  In other words, does one owner’s use of his or her property pose a material negative impact to a neighboring landowner’s ability to use and enjoy his or her property.  It is really a simple perspective.  You can use your property as you see fit so long as it does not keep me from reasonably using and enjoying my property.  As to how we define “material” and “reasonably”, well, I will leave that up to the lawyers.  What you do not have to be a lawyer to see is that the commencement of commercial airline service from a previously general aviation only facility could very well pose a negative material impact to nearby residents.

Commercial aviation is going to generate noise.  That cannot be avoided.  Noise abatement procedures can be put in place to mitigate the impact of the noise, but there will be noise.  If a Boeing 737 is taking off over your house, you’re going to hear it.  What must be determined in the consideration of this proposal is how much more noise will be generated than that from the private jets that currently use Briscoe Field?  What total amount of time will neighboring property owners experience elevated noise levels?  What hours of the day will such elevated noise levels occur?  These and other questions will have to be carefully considered to determine if neighbors’ inevitable arguments about noise levels will have merit.  If they do, these concerns cannot be dismissed as mere NIMBYism.  Other potentially legitimate factors would include traffic, pollution levels and continued access to the airport by operators of general aviation aircraft.

This promises to be an interesting situation to watch.  I definitely like the idea of easier access to commercial flights for Gwinnett residents.  I am excited at the possibility for commercial development in the airport vicinity and along the GA 316 corridor.  However, we must ensure that the property rights of existing landowners who bought and developed property with the expectation of being near a general aviation airport rather than a commercial aviation airport are considered and protected.

As expected, Gwinnett District Attorney, Danny Porter, is moving forward with an investigation into several recent county land purchases.  Porter is seeking a “special purpose grand jury” to delve into “‘five or six’ purchases for parkland in the past five years.”  The request would have to be approved by a majority of Gwinnett’s Superior Court judges.