which candidate will provide the jobs?

[feelip]

The only kings I'm wild about are two, three and four of a kind Who are Ithy and Tom- do they have pcom names?

 

I must admit, I'm giving Austin more credit than he is guilty of. Their first year they are 'citizen' leaders- then they work their way up to 'officials'. After that they become the minor royalty. It isn't really until a few years into it that they become full-fledged monarchs. King Jerry may have had his day, and I'm sure King David's day is right around the corner though.

 

 

I agree somewhat. Politicians are like diapers. They need a regular changing......and for the same reason.

[Hee Haw]

A unified BOC working together with the IBA, Chamber, and a viable economic developmennt group can make things happen.

 

When questioned as to why we have not lobbied for workable impact fees 3-4 years ago, Bill Heath, and some of the others replied "Because the Paulding BOC has told the representatives they don't want impact fees". Pretty clear cut.

 

Has our BOC lobbied for our legislators to amend the requirements for the various tier system ratings now in force ? Not until Austin and company came in.

 

Yes, a unified BOC could get one hell of a lot accomplished. Just look at what Jerry and company got accomplished for the ROBBER BARON MEGA DEVELOPERS! They got them reduced impact fees, lax banking laws, zoning for whatever they wanted, and they allowed them to run rampant and suck the live out of Paulding in their obscene profits. The developer who did Palisades refused to consider a $1.5 Million dollar profit to flip the property for industrial use. Instead he moved forward, with the BOC blessings from Jerry Shearin for 500+ houses. They have built 85. The rest of the land is now basically a weed infested wasteland.

 

What could a progressive BOC trying to bring industry to Paulding could have done ?

 

King Jerry and his group, including Beverly Cochran, Paulette Rakestraw, Tony Crowe and his GOP group leaders [Virginia and Daryl Galloway, Tom Melanese- Reagan Republican, Chris Collins-Ithy/Praise Thee, et al] are hard at work to try to keep their foot in the door.

 

DON"T LET THEM!!!

 

Vote the old group out and give David Austin and his guys a chance to make some progressive things happen. Their hands have been tied by Kirby, Powell and Ragsdale for the past 18 months, and this is proven by their vote to not allow David to dismiss Beverly Cochran from her $65,000 a year secretary job. Tell me plain and simple, if you were elected to a position such as the commission chairman, would you want to be REQUIRED to keep your opponent's assistant as your assistant ?

 

Would you care to explain to the viewing audience who appoints most of these development boards and authorities? Do the IBA and Airport Authority create and fund themselves completely. Guess the county government also has no influence on the chamber either? My dog agrees with me too. He must love me just for me being me...

 

A unified BOC- just like a unified Congress- is also known by a few other names- ruling council, politburo, take your pick.... I think the American people are learning a hard lesson after following the same logic with Bo- give him and his guys (Pelosi, Reid, the rest of Congress) a chance to make some progress... We'll pay for giving them that chance for years..... so lets not repeat it here in Paulding. Bad enough that the Dallas mayor and the Paulding chairman are brothers (where are we again- Braswell?).

 

Don't quote me, but I thought the position that Beverly had worked for the entire BOC. If she worked solely for the Chairman then I would say yes- pick who he wants. If she works for more than just him, then I guess that decision would have to be made between them all.

 

I'll agree with you on Ragsdale- I think he's going to knock the rest of the BOC down trying to get out of meeting before they even adjourn it. If he wants that bad not to be there then I think the voters should oblige him.

 

BTW- you are a good sport for putting up with my teasing, Billy!

[Hee Haw]

I agree somewhat. Politicians are like diapers. They need a regular changing......and for the same reason.

 

Term limits make good sense at the local, state and federal level of government (but especially the federal). You don't suppose any of our leaders would vote themselves into that corner, do you? How about if instead of giving back their pay the candidates pass term limits on themselves?

[Hee Haw]

If they only knew how little time Jerry spends in the county and how few people even talk to him. I've had one private conversation with him in the four years I've been here. Oh by the way, I voted for Austin in 2008. But that doesn't matter, question any of Austin's actions and you instantly become part of the Jerry conspiracy. Maybe the first phase of Paulding's economic plan should include an insane asylum for those suffering from Jerry Shearin Derangement Syndrome.

 

 

Shhhh... We'll talk more about it at the secret clubhouse. Bring your decoder ring. So you mean that they think that the guy standing on the street corner with the Nathan Deal sign is the chief conspirator in the county?

[swit57]

Part of my problems with politicians is they say what YOU the voter want to hear and often cannot deliver on those promises. We all know that jobs are the hot button issue, but for those that have worked in the development arena (and I have). Paulding County has many disadvantages in being able to attract industry:

 

Lack of quality land to build on: A large part of Paulding County is topographically unsuitable for large scale development. Land that is suitable for development (flat, with sewer access- such as the houses on 278 across from 278 and the new DR Horton s/d built further down) has been residential development.

 

Lack of infastructure- Most of the County is without sewer and will remain so because of the topography, and population density. The ongoing water issues the State of Georgia has with Lake Lanier will ultimately limit growth in the Atlanta area. Reservoirs take decades to permit, design and build and there has to be money in multiple budgets to actually build the thing. Additionally, the County has limited 4 lane access and will remain so for many decades, more than likely with 70% of GA DOT's annual budget going towards overhead and debt on previous projects. The airport adds a new dynamic to Paulding's infastructure. Granted it will attract some aviation related companies and those in the aviation industry will enjoy not commuting to Dobbins, Hartfield, etc., but without other infastructure in place we are limited!!!

 

No money for an incentives plan and lack of experienced Economic Development Staff- In order to be competitive in the interational bid to attract companies and jobs most of the time you need an incentives packages. Does Paulding County have the money to offer what would have to be a very aggressive incentives package to compensate for some of the above issues? In order to attract these companies, you need an experienced Development Staff with strong ties to your State Economic Development personnel, relationships with site selection consultants, Commercial Real Estate Developers and be willing to establish relationships with Development personnel in banks and companies you hope to attract.

 

Most importantly, this County has been known for years in certain circles as being development unfriendly. Has anything been done to change this perception?? This is a problem that in order to fix has the potential to cost serious money. Other Counties have hired PR firms and engaged the services of specialized firms to work with them to adress this issue and begin the process of re-branding the County, city, whatever.

 

Prime case in point, the tenative "green" development around the airport. I do not see how in the world they can expect an entity to invest upwards of a billion dollars to acquire the land and then develop it with the County having no tree ordinances, no recycling initiatives to speak off, etc. that you would expect to see in a Community. Now that the free flowing money chasing stupid projects is over, I would hope that the County would rethink what they could seriously do around the airport. I'm glad to see that the current administration has engaged the services of GA Tech to help them progress forward with Economic Initatives and the rail spur and hospital are positive steps forward.

 

So, my take on the situation is that unless some of these candidates can expedite the reservoir, get a bunch of roads 4 laned, can somehow revamp the County budget to be able to offer an aggressive incentives packages, invest in PR work to rebrand the County's image and has strong ties to the Development arena (site selectors, the Harley Davidson CEO, etc.) and can start shuffling the Fortune 500 companies into Paulding County, then some of them ought to be more modest in what they are promising constituents.

[Cathyhelms]

Sorry Swit57, which part of this is yours?? I don't have the time or energy to sort it out.

[swit57]

I agree wholeheartedly with your observations. Also there is no fast access to any Interstates to or from Paulding County. The way the county is sturctured now it will never attract any large businesses to advance the county. The Airport is the biggest farce now, someone made a whole lotta money off that one.And was the Taj Mahal on 278 known as the County Seat rely necessary? Granted the county needed new space to take care of it's people, but was this large and mostly useless space really required. I guess at the time the saying let the good times roll was in effect.

 

Sorry Swit57, which part of this is yours?? I don't have the time or energy to sort it out.

 

Sorry screwed up

[Cathyhelms]

I agree wholeheartedly with your observations. Also there is no fast access to any Interstates to or from Paulding County. The way the county is sturctured now it will never attract any large businesses to advance the county. The Airport is the biggest farce now, someone made a whole lotta money off that one.And was the Taj Mahal on 278 known as the County Seat rely necessary? Granted the county needed new space to take care of it's people, but was this large and mostly useless space really required. I guess at the time the saying let the good times roll was in effect.

 

Thanks.

[Cabe]

I don't think you can have a real discussion about economic development without talking about education.

 

All of the candidates must take a "Team Paulding" approach to the problem.

 

This means including the other largest entity of government in the county and the entity with the largest number of employees. Namely the B.O.E.

 

If we are to solve the major problems of this county we will need all players executing to help move the ball forward.

 

These are tough times for our county. True leaders step up in times of need.

 

 

 

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."

 

Excellent post! Have you paid attention to how many kids in the Paulding district are labeled "economically disadvantaged"? Staggering to me, and yet actually less than the statewide average.

[nickchester]

Excellent post! Have you paid attention to how many kids in the Paulding district are labeled "economically disadvantaged"? Staggering to me, and yet actually less than the statewide average.

 

 

Madea, you seem to be ahead of the curve. Economics and education are two sides of the same coin.

[Cabe]

Madea, you seem to be ahead of the curve. Economics and education are two sides of the same coin.

 

Then I am going to trust you, Nick, to take a harder look at this. Keep me posted. What can we do to help?

[nickchester]

Then I am going to trust you, Nick, to take a harder look at this. Keep me posted. What can we do to help?

 

The biggest thing that anyone can do is stay involved in the process.

 

MAKE YOUR PUBLIC SERVANT SERVE YOU!

 

Email and phone calls are the most effective way to let people know that you are paying attention.

 

Specifically, make every single candidate lay out their vision for this county. Don't let them BS you with talking points about "gov't does not create jobs". We know that!

What we need to know is what your plan is? Have you even spoken to and reached out to other members of the State and local gov.? Can/will you work with them on doing what is best for Paulding County?

 

In short, you can help by keeping the everyone on topic about the biggest issues. We must have some people looking at the problems from 20,000 feet (strategically).

[NewsJunky]

The biggest thing that anyone can do is stay involved in the process.

 

MAKE YOUR PUBLIC SERVANT SERVE YOU!

 

Email and phone calls are the most effective way to let people know that you are paying attention.

 

Specifically, make every single candidate lay out their vision for this county. Don't let them BS you with talking points about "gov't does not create jobs". We know that!

What we need to know is what your plan is? Have you even spoken to and reached out to other members of the State and local gov.? Can/will you work with them on doing what is best for Paulding County?

 

In short, you can help by keeping the everyone on topic about the biggest issues. We must have some people looking at the problems from 20,000 feet (strategically).

Some of us are already doing that Nick and you can look for us to be asking you questions now that you are a part of the system.

[mom2yana]

A unified BOC working together with the IBA, Chamber, and a viable economic developmennt group can make things happen.

 

When questioned as to why we have not lobbied for workable impact fees 3-4 years ago, Bill Heath, and some of the others replied "Because the Paulding BOC has told the representatives they don't want impact fees". Pretty clear cut.

 

Has our BOC lobbied for our legislators to amend the requirements for the various tier system ratings now in force ? Not until Austin and company came in.

 

Yes, a unified BOC could get one hell of a lot accomplished. Just look at what Jerry and company got accomplished for the ROBBER BARON MEGA DEVELOPERS! They got them reduced impact fees, lax banking laws, zoning for whatever they wanted, and they allowed them to run rampant and suck the live out of Paulding in their obscene profits. The developer who did Palisades refused to consider a $1.5 Million dollar profit to flip the property for industrial use. Instead he moved forward, with the BOC blessings from Jerry Shearin for 500+ houses. They have built 85. The rest of the land is now basically a weed infested wasteland.

 

What could a progressive BOC trying to bring industry to Paulding could have done ?

 

King Jerry and his group, including Beverly Cochran, Paulette Rakestraw, Tony Crowe and his GOP group leaders [Virginia and Daryl Galloway, Tom Melanese- Reagan Republican, Chris Collins-Ithy/Praise Thee, et al] are hard at work to try to keep their foot in the door.

 

DON"T LET THEM!!!

 

Vote the old group out and give David Austin and his guys a chance to make some progressive things happen. Their hands have been tied by Kirby, Powell and Ragsdale for the past 18 months, and this is proven by their vote to not allow David to dismiss Beverly Cochran from her $65,000 a year secretary job. Tell me plain and simple, if you were elected to a position such as the commission chairman, would you want to be REQUIRED to keep your opponent's assistant as your assistant ?

 

 

Tony Crowe was not a part of the King Jerry group. He was asked to run for commisioner when king jerry was in charge, he didn't run, because he opposed a lot of the things that king jerry was doing. The reason he is running for Post 4 commisioner now is because he is as tired of the crap king jerry and his buddies did as most of the rest of us are and he wants to help get the county back on track. He doesn't like what Jerry did with the courthouse, he doesn't like that the airport was built even after the voters rejected it. But now that those things are done, he wants to make sure that they are used to help attract new business to the county.

 

Tony still has and continues to work his sheetrock business. It is a family business. As far as I know, he has not knowingly hired illegals to work for him. And even if he did hire some mexicans, not all of them are here illegally, so, how do you know that they were illegal?

 

If Tony was working closely with the builders/developers he would have a much bigger business than he has, even at the height of the building boom, he never had a more than a couple of crews working for him. He went to work for the county because he needed the stable income, not because he was making lots of money by working for the developers.

 

And I know for a fact that he blocked a local developer that wanted to do us wrong. He did it before we even knew that the developer was trying to get the county to condem our property, and he didn't tell us about it, other neighbors found out and told us. He attended every hearing and defended ALL of his neighbors against the developers. He blocked the developer a second time after the county wouldn't condem our property, when the developer wanted to make our road a dead end street, without improving the road... our road is a 1 lane road with deep ditches and a bridge that floods out with every heavy rain. Several times every year we have to go the long way around because some vehicle went into the ditch and it takes hours to clear or the water rises up over the bridge. I for one am not going to risk my children's safety by trying to drive through rushing water on the bridge. The bridge is actually 2 big pipes with gravel and tar poured over them. It's not even a real bridge... It used to be wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass each other on the bridge, but after the rain and flooding last year, it is only wide enough for 1 vehicle... If the road had been dead-ended, we would be stuck, with no way out when the water rose over the road or the road is blocked, not a good thing if there is an emergency. Those are two instances that I personally know about. Do you really think that the builders will support someone who has several times thwarted what they wanted to do?

 

If you want to see who the builders are supporting, maybe you should take a real hard look at the guy who has the money to send out 8 1/2" x 11" full color, two sided, mailed flyers and a bunch of other bulk mail. As you drive around the county, take a good look at where most of Tony's signs are. They are in people's yards. Now take a look at where the other candidate has most of his signs, how many are on private property? Tony was asked by his neighbors to run for office, and his neighbors are supporting him. He is going door to door talking to people finding out what they want from a county commisioner, all I've seen from the other candidate is his slick bulk mail. Tony wants to do right by his neighbors, not the builders or other special interest groups. You are right, he has lived in Paulding County for a long time, this is his home, this is where his family lives. This is where his children went to school, this is where his grandchildren are currently going to school. He and his children and grandchildren will have to live with what he does during his term as a commisioner. He is not a politician, he does not have a degree in political science. He is just a citizen who was asked by other citizen's to serve his county.

 

And yes, I support Tony. No I have not been paid by his organization. But I do trust and respect him.

[Animal]

This is a nice post,keep it going folks.

[surepip]

I really don't know very much about Tony Crowe.

 

I don't believe he is involved with the Shearin/Galloway clique like Beverly Cochran is, but he has kept a very low profile in the election and during this run-off.

 

I do know David Barnett's hands on experience with industrial and economic development would be a large positive in his involvement with the BOC and future economic development for the county. I also am first hand familiar with David's community involvement through various organizations and civic groups.

 

And the same goes for Todd Pownall.

His community involvement over the years is pretty much unsurpassed by many others in the county. His time spent with Relay for Life, foster children care other such worthwhile causes does much to help out the community at large.

[Cathyhelms]

I really don't know very much about Tony Crowe.

 

I don't believe he is involved with the Shearin/Galloway clique like Beverly Cochran is, but he has kept a very low profile in the election and during this run-off.

 

I do know David Barnett's hands on experience with industrial and economic development would be a large positive in his involvement with the BOC and future economic development for the county. I also am first hand familiar with David's community involvement through various organizations and civic groups.

 

And the same goes for Todd Pownall.

His community involvement over the years is pretty much unsurpassed by many others in the county. His time spent with Relay for Life, foster children care other such worthwhile causes does much to help out the community at large.

 

Tony has kept a low profile because he's not a high profile type of person. He's a hard working average Tony, he's worked hard and run a business. He has everything it takes to keep this BOC from becoming just like the last one. He believes in doing what is right, not what is best for him.

[gpatt0n]

Surepip:

 

I don't think that Tony Crowe is part of the old clique and it is obvious he is not part of the new.

 

I actually liked Tony in the one-on-one we had and he's a bright fellow, a little concerned about his lack of formal education and generally uncomfortable talking in front of crowds.

 

Personally, it wouldn't be a disaster if Crowe were elected to the post 4. That said, I don't think he is really the best person for the job.

 

Let me explain it kind of like this.

 

Tony is a great hands on guy. He's got connections in and among the rank and file county employees. He is not one to take a kick back and he knows the physical assets of the county. In some ways he would be a good antidote for the commissions tendency to rely on the county staff (bureaucrats) for direction. I think he would call BS on the staff and it could be entertaining and to the benefit of the county to do that.

 

Where he is weak is in the big picture view of what the county can be. Having been born and raised here, Tony sees Paulding as the sleepy village just a bit too far off the beaten path. Like many locals his attitude is more like that of those who quashed the county as the location for the Atlanta Raceway, the second Atlanta airport and anything approaching aggressive economic development. He would likely oppose efforts to bring jobs and industry to the county and I heard he said as much at the Seven Hills event last week.

 

So, in the context of all this, the reality is that it is not a common thing for the maintenance man at a bank to be on the board of directors of the bank.

 

In that context, his position is similar to that of Beverly. Of course I feel Beverly's motivation is only incidentally similar to Tony's,. I think/opine that it is likely her motivation is more to throw a wrench in the Austin administration in the hopes that Jerry can make a come back in 2012.

 

Of course the kind of politics being played means there will be a payback and so I would suspect she may negotiate the return of her $65,000 yr. job. Of course it is not 'really' her job.

 

pubby

[triciawright]

Surepip:

 

I don't think that Tony Crowe is part of the old clique and it is obvious he is not part of the new.

 

I actually liked Tony in the one-on-one we had and he's a bright fellow, a little concerned about his lack of formal education and generally uncomfortable talking in front of crowds.

 

Personally, it wouldn't be a disaster if Crowe were elected to the post 4. That said, I don't think he is really the best person for the job.

 

Let me explain it kind of like this.

 

Tony is a great hands on guy. He's got connections in and among the rank and file county employees. He is not one to take a kick back and he knows the physical assets of the county. In some ways he would be a good antidote for the commissions tendency to rely on the county staff (bureaucrats) for direction. I think he would call BS on the staff and it could be entertaining and to the benefit of the county to do that.

 

Where he is weak is in the big picture view of what the county can be. Having been born and raised here, Tony sees Paulding as the sleepy village just a bit too far off the beaten path. Like many locals his attitude is more like that of those who quashed the county as the location for the Atlanta Raceway, the second Atlanta airport and anything approaching aggressive economic development. He would likely oppose efforts to bring jobs and industry to the county and I heard he said as much at the Seven Hills event last week.

 

So, in the context of all this, the reality is that it is not a common thing for the maintenance man at a bank to be on the board of directors of the bank.

 

In that context, his position is similar to that of Beverly. Of course I feel Beverly's motivation is only incidentally similar to Tony's,. I think/opine that it is likely her motivation is more to throw a wrench in the Austin administration in the hopes that Jerry can make a come back in 2012.

 

Of course the kind of politics being played means there will be a payback and so I would suspect she may negotiate the return of her $65,000 yr. job. Of course it is not 'really' her job.

 

pubby

[gpatt0n]

I just got a call from Tony Crowe asserting he is in favor of economic development in the county and has been personally critical of actions that stymied such development in previous commissions. He specifically related his concern that the county rejected the Tip-Top Poultry plant that later located in Polk County.

 

He said that I was incorrect in characterizing his position as anti-growth in that context. He further stated that he is interested in diversity in the development of the county.

 

His concern with my characterization and the side note that he said as much - being anti-economic development at the meeting at Seven Hills - was based on his specific rejection of the current plan, now underway, to hire a full time economic development specialist for the county.

 

Crowe said he did not feel the time was right for that expenditure because of the prospect of additional layoffs in the sheriff's office and fire/rescue. His answer at Seven Hills, he said, was misreported because, while he feels that expenditure is premature, it may well be a good approach in the future.

 

I consider this post a correction of the above statement repeated here:

 

Where he is weak is in the big picture view of what the county can be. Having been born and raised here, Tony sees Paulding as the sleepy village just a bit too far off the beaten path. Like many locals his attitude is more like that of those who quashed the county as the location for the Atlanta Raceway, the second Atlanta airport and anything approaching aggressive economic development. He would likely oppose efforts to bring jobs and industry to the county and I heard he said as much at the Seven Hills event last week.

 

After speaking with him, while I don't feel he is as aggressive in promoting economic development as I might like him to be, he is in no way a dedicated opponent to economic development that I implied in the above comment. For that I apologize.

 

In fact, I would predict that if he were elected, his contributions to the board may well be more positive than most would anticipate.

 

pubby

[Cathyhelms]

I just got a call from Tony Crowe asserting he is in favor of economic development in the county and has been personally critical of actions that stymied such development in previous commissions. He specifically related his concern that the county rejected the Tip-Top Poultry plant that later located in Polk County.

 

He said that I was incorrect in characterizing his position as anti-growth in that context. He further stated that he is interested in diversity in the development of the county.

 

His concern with my characterization and the side note that he said as much - being anti-economic development at the meeting at Seven Hills - was based on his specific rejection of the current plan, now underway, to hire a full time economic development specialist for the county.

 

Crowe said he did not feel the time was right for that expenditure because of the prospect of additional layoffs in the sheriff's office and fire/rescue. His answer at Seven Hills, he said, was misreported because, while he feels that expenditure is premature, it may well be a good approach in the future.

 

I consider this post a correction of the above statement repeated here:

 

 

 

After speaking with him, while I don't feel he is as aggressive in promoting economic development as I might like him to be, he is in no way a dedicated opponent to economic development that I implied in the above comment. For that I apologize.

 

In fact, I would predict that if he were elected, his contributions to the board may well be more positive than most would anticipate.

 

pubby

 

 

Thank you Pubby!!