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Not paving road puts area residents at more risk
3/10/2010
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I read with interest your editorial of March 2. How does one decide which residents of our county deserve taxpayers' money spent in their area and which ones don't? It must be a daunting process.
There are families who live off the unpaved section of Pennick Road; they pay their taxes and have children who attend public schools. When the school buses cannot travel the unpaved portion of Pennick Road because of rain, it is an inconvenience for not only the families, but the bus drivers as well.
When the buses pick up children to the end of the paved portion, they must then turn around, go all the way back to Old Jesup Highway, travel north to the Altamaha Park Road, go all the way back down Altamaha Park Road past the end of Pennick Road to pick up children from Bee Tree Island. This causes not only wear and tear on the buses, but an enormous increase in fuel costs. Last time I checked, our tax dollars paid for those repairs and fuel.
Even more important, if one of these residents has a fire or has a need of an ambulance and/or police, they would not be able to access them because of road conditions. If even one life was saved by paving of this road, it would certainly be worth the cost, especially since the money has already been allocated in SPLOST.
Why isn't our commissioner from District 1 demanding these problems in her district be addressed?
Danette Eaton
Brunswick
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Commissioners' stance leads to many questions
3/10/2010
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I have just moved to Brunswick and have been reading about the jail controversy. One has to ask why the four commissioners are so adamant about building downtown.
First it was a new jail and when that didn't float, now it's a temporary facility. Are they doing it because their voters want them to? No, the voters overwhelmingly have responded "no" (straw vote). Why the rush? Some of these men will be off the commission this fall.
In cases like this, there is an old saying "follow the money." It is strange that these men continue to ignore the public wishes they were elected to represent.
Could there be some more things we, the public, are not aware of? Are these four guys on someone's payroll? Is there a financial advantage for these men to have some type of construction downtown? From an outsider's view, their instance seems very strange and leads one to think there is more to this than just construction of a jail.
Mike Pederson
Brunswick
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Eliminating degrees should not be an option
3/10/2010
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Eliminating the four-year degree programs at College of Coastal Georgia should not even be a "worse case scenario." While I applaud Dr. Hepburn's determination to see the school survive, our current budget crisis is, in great part, due to an unpredictable lack of revenue.
The very programs we may eliminate - education, business, and the planned biology degree, should they survive - would encourage higher levels of local employment, wages, and home ownership, all of which will increase revenue in the near and long-term future.
In addition, the graduates with these degrees will provide qualified candidates for jobs that already show a need, with increasing needs in the near future. Please, do not let the lack of foresight that has plagued us for the last decade determine our future.
Call or write your local representative; start a petition. Let's make the Golden Isles/Brunswick/Southeast Georgia a place where people compete to come and join our educational community.
Laura Holland
St. Simons Island
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Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for abortions
3/10/2010
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No matter what side of the abortion issue you're on, we should all agree on one thing: Abortion is not health care, and we certainly should not be forced as taxpayers to pay for it.
Think about it - if Obama has his way, anyone can decide to have an abortion, and we the taxpayers will get the bill.
Health care is for saving life. Abortion is for ending life.
So let's reason together and eliminate the rhetoric of both sides.
William Holmes
St. Simons Island
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Jail expansion issue needs thorough investigation
3/10/2010
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The more I read about the actions of the four Glynn County commissioners, Hogan, Lynn, Thaw, Clark and Glynn County Administrator Charles Stewart, the more outraged I become. Something does not smell right.
Why are these commissioners and the county administrator willing to go to such extreme measures to keep the jail in downtown Brunswick against the recommendations of two architectural and consulting firms, public opinion, and just plain common sense? I believe someone needs to do a thorough investigation into what these five men have in common with the push to keep the jail in downtown Brunswick.
Is there some personal or financial gain that could be made by these men? Has there been some financial mismanagement or under-the-table payoffs?
Why the push by the county administrator to hire the consulting firm of Carter Goble Lee without a bidding process? Isn't it very coincidental that three of the four commissioners are no longer going to run for office and the county administrator is retiring from his position?
It is time for us to call for a thorough investigation and a county audit.
Olivia Terjesen
Brunswick
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Investigate the facts in the detention center issue
3/10/2010
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Assuming the information provided by this paper are true, and I have no reason to doubt it is, I finally get it. The Fab Four (Thaw, Hogan, Lynn, and Clark) have a partner, Charley Stewart. So the Fab Four is really the Faulty Five (I was going to say Feculent Five, but Faulty is accurate). We only have to follow the paper/money trail, in this case it leads to Charley. There must be some sort of ordinance or regulation concerning the withholding information on SPLOST funds, and now it appears, on the IPG report and recommendations.
Therefore, perhaps it is time for the GBI or district attorney to look into this matter. It should not take lawsuits for the citizens of Glynn County to get honest reports and information from our county administrator and commissioners.
If the allegations as appeared in the Brunswick News are true, Charley should be flogged, tarred and feathered, and ridden out of the county on a rail; but simple removal will suffice. Move the jail, no more petty excuses.
Larry Lynch
Brunswick
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Four commissioners need to resign now
3/10/2010
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It seems that unethical behavior is running rampant in our country. Now it has raised its ugly head in Glynn County. It is time for these four incompetent men to resign.
A vacant commission seat would be better than the four who are taking up space and dragging our county down with them. Shame on you. Bet your families are really proud about now!
Amy Walker
St. Simons Island
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What would it take to get rid of commissioners?
3/10/2010
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Does anyone know what it takes to impeach members of our elected commission? If we do not have the right to impeach the commissioners, we certainly need to rewrite the laws. We the public may not know all the facts, but if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.
John Kopotic
Brunswick
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Breaking the public's trust
3/10/2010
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I thought I would just sit still and hope the ongoing battle between the taxpaying public and the gang of four would finally play out, and they would yield to public pressure and not spend millions more on an antiquated jail downtown the public does not want.
But this latest ploy worked out between the four and their consultant absolutely is one of the most ridiculous breaches of trust I have ever witnessed in my many years of building public buildings.
Since coming home to Georgia, I have seen million dollar projects handed to companies unable to provide 100 percent performance bonds, and public projects awarded to unqualified bidders which bonding companies had to complete.
Now they want to hand a multi-million dollar project to their selected consulting firm without competitive bidding, which is wrong and they know it.
As a building contractor for almost half a century, I find this latest scheme detestable and possibly illegal.
To even think that any construction manager wouldn't jack up the cost of a project so he could pick up an outrageous profit and not go over his estimate is ludicrous.
I hate to see this gang of four spend more of our tax dollars defending their actions, but I hope the lawsuits tie them up long enough until some or all retire or are thrown out of office.
The people of Brunswick would be money ahead and could hopefully elect people with common sense to handle the public business.
Royce Hall
Brunswick
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Consider some alternatives to long stays in jail
3/10/2010
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The real issue - do we need to improve the legal process instead of build a new detention center - is being avoided. I looked at some other counties in Georgia and my hometown and discovered that they all have a significantly smaller percentage of their population incarcerated. This makes me wonder if all our inmates need to be incarcerated.
It is hard to determine this since I haven't seen any articles that state the demographics of our detention center population. I think that the public is being very poorly informed and would understand the problem better if they had this information.
I have heard people state that most are there because they were arrested as a result of 911 calls, while others state that most are there because of shoplifting or drug and alcohol abuse.
They all also state that, even though they could be innocent, they end up being incarcerated for months because they don't have the money to make bail while awaiting their trial. If this is true, I question that rationale. If they have committed a minor offense, aren't a habitual offender, and aren't a threat to anyone, they should be released until their trial date. If they commit another offense while they are out, they should then forfeit their right to remain free until their trial date. If they have already been tried and convicted they should be sent to another county detention center since the state will pay for their keep until a bed is available at the state prison. There is no need to keep them here any longer.
Brian Blue
St Simons Island
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