[Are All Voter Precincts Open]

You vote at the same place as you did in the general.

 

Thanks, I wanted to get there before they close. I appreciate it.

[Are All Voter Precincts Open]

Trying to Vote

[Congratulations Larry Ragsdale]

I want to say congratulations to Larry Ragsdale on the election. I know that with David Austin and Tommy Graham joining the BOC, Paulding will continue to be successful. I wish Mr. Ragsdale and the BOC the best.

 

Thank you.

[Congratulations Larry Ragsdale]

I want to say congratulations to Larry Ragsdale on the election. I know that with David Austin and Tommy Graham joining the BOC, Paulding will continue to be successful. I wish Mr. Ragsdale and the BOC the best.

 

Thank you.

[UPDATED INFO - POST 1 COMMISSION RACE]

Hummm, In the 10-29-08 edition of the Paulding County Sentinel, Joey Seabolt did an interview (sorry, no online version or I would post a link) and his comments were:

 

I would like to read that article myself because those do not sound like my comments. I spoke to someone from the newspaper about 5 mins.

 

As for the airport, it is here, though it might not be what many people wanted, we need to do work together to get the most out of it.

 

I did mention that we are a commuter county. I said that we need to bring industry with jobs to Paulding. I doubt many people disagree with that.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, who's lieing? Surepip or Joey Seabolt?

 

 

 

 

 

So Mr. Seabolt, you were bored one day and thought you would just add your name to the ballot?

 

 

Also:

 

 

And in these forums you attacked the largest commercial project has seen to date with the largest pontential to bring commercial growth to this County, The Paulding Airport? But then paise the airport in the newspaper?

 

 

 

 

I didn't make all this up, it's in last weeks Paulding Sentinel. Oh wait, you don't answer my questions!

 

[Vote Joey Seabolt]

You deserve that to. I am trying to help letthose who did not know about it to understand it. Idont have thousands of dollars from builders and developers to do mailouts. I use Pcom and meet and greets. I introduce myself to people when I get the opportunity to.

[Vote Joey Seabolt]

I appreciate your consideration. I like many of you have known about this and I understand why we got the increase. The point of the thread was to generate discussion about some of the decisions of the BOC that led to this increasw, and how those decisions might continue to cause more issues. There were some posts on that topic that explain it more.

Thank you again for your consideration.

 

[PAULDING WATER RATES INCREASES]

That is a great point. Both the idea of using it how you please and definitely cutting the government waste. We definitely know there is plenty of that. We have to be more self sufficient.

[PAULDING WATER RATES INCREASES]

Please tell me you are not serious. You are running for office and do not understand this?

 

I understand how we are getting it. I am just amazed there is one more thing going up. That is what I need explained to me. It just seems that everything continues going up in paulding from property taxes to water rates now.

 

I mean this includes the sewer rates going up to but yet we have to continue smelling those stink fields on Bill Carruth.

[PAULDING WATER RATES INCREASES]

We are getting more increases. Could someone please explain this.

[Vote Joey Seabolt]

I want to let everyone know what I intend to do as Post I Commissioner if elected. There are many things to discuss but here are a few that I feel are important.

 

Vote for Ethics in Government,

Vote for Joey Seabolt in the Post 1 Commissioner Race

 

I want an Ethics Board put in place to bring honesty to our local government. An Ethics in Government Statute was approved in the 1990s, but never empowered.

 

I have promised to hold quarterly Town Hall Meetings for Post 1, meetings where citizens can ask questions and receive answers from their elected officials.

 

I want to see controlled growth and address the traffic sprawl and other problems which have been created by the current board of commissioner?s open zoning approvals given to their local developer campaign donors.

 

I want to work for the citizens of Post 1 to see real industry and high paying local jobs move to Paulding instead of just building more houses, restaurants and big box stores to sit empty.

 

I want the voters of Paulding County to have the privilege to vote for every bond issued the taxpayers have to pay for. The current BOC approved $65million+ for the new courthouse complex without a vote.

 

The current BOC built the airport even after the voters said ?NO!?, but here we are still waiting for our Richland Creek Reservoir.

 

I will ask to put all county issued bonds out for competitive bids. The current BOC simply authorizes Regions Bank/Morgan-Keegan to issue the bonds without a bid. Region?s management are major donors to Larry Ragsdale.

 

I will fight for the senior citizens of Paulding with abated property taxes much the same as Cobb; cap the taxes, remove taxes from our senior citizens at 62 years of age and increase the homestead exemption to $5000.

 

I will work to see that property value assessments are performed on an as needed basis over 3 years as mandated by state law instead of every year as our current BOC has been doing to increase the county tax digest every year.

 

I will work to add the Fire Department back into the county budget plus the Fire Tax so we can have a fully staffed department prepared to battle fires when they arrive on the scene instead of having to wait for additional firefighters.

 

I am running against Larry Ragsdale, an 8 year ?Good ?Ol Boy? incumbent who has approved every tax increase and PRD proposed by local developers.

 

[Post 1 Commissioners race]

I want to give the people a voice on the BOC. I will work for you and hear your concerns before voting on issues. I will provide Town Hall Meetings for the citizens. We will work together.

[PAULDING WATER RATE INCREASE]

What a bad attempt at a distraction from the facts Joey. I have to say I am extremely disappointed in you that you would try to distract the wonderful people here on paulding.com from the real issues. Simply amazing but your post truly speaks volumes. Shame on you.

 

No, what is a shame is that you have tried to distract the people on here from the facts about the voting record of the BOC.

 

As for me, I have been charged with nothing and the Board Of Elections decided that I was qualified to be on the ballot in Paulding.

 

I was informed before the election that if I would remove my name from the ballot, these allegations would go away. I refused to do this.

 

 

[PAULDING WATER RATE INCREASE]

Vote for change in the Paulding Board Of Commissioners.

[Paulding County Town Hall Meetings]

Thank You, I am trying to give the people a voice on the BOC. I will work for them.

[PAULDING COUNTY TAX INCREASES]

Vote Joey Seabolt

[VOTE JOEY SEABOLT]

Vote Seabolt

[Paulding County Town Hall Meetings]

I invite everyone to attend the first Town Hall Meeting for Paulding County Post 1 when I am elected your Commissioner. While there are no Town Hall Meetings with the current Board of Commissioners, I will do this, and I will encourage the other Commissioners also. I know that the people deserve to be heard and have a voice in Paulding.

 

 

[Paulding County Election]

During the 1990's an Ethics In Government Statute was passed but has never been implemented in Paulding County. As a citizen, I would like to know why this has never been put in place. The only thing that the current BOC had to do was put it in place and there would not be many of the questions about our local BOC and the decisions that have been made by them. We deserve to have an ethics board that listens to the citizens and reviews complaints. This not only serves the citizens, but it serves the BOC also. If someone has a complaint, but you did nothing wrong, that will be determined then.

 

There is not any reason for the current BOC to not have this in place. The current BOC including should have spoke up at the meetings and pushed for the Chairman to enact this. That is what I will do as your Post I Commissioner.

 

[VERY INTERESTING FACTS - POST 1 COMMISSION RACE]

Hey Larry ragsdale Why did you not give the Paulding Neighbor And paulding .Com an interview?

 

Why do you not come on p.com and discuss the issues?

 

Why have you chosen to use a smear campaign through the mail paid for by your special interest buds

 

Why have you refused to discuss your previous employment and job duties, Are you proud of the past job duties, Or are you afraid that the Paulding County Republican party would not approve of your activities?

 

I was sent a email from the Paulding Neighbor requesting a interview last week. I agreed and did the interview. I have been told it was not printed though.

[VOTE JOEY SEABOLT]

Thanks to everyone that has voted for me and please keep up the support during the election also.

[VERY INTERESTING FACTS - POST 1 COMMISSION RACE]

These are a few things I would like to do if elected.

 

I want an Ethics Board put in place to bring honesty to our local government. An Ethics in Government Statute was approved in the 1990s, but never empowered.

 

I have promised to hold quarterly Town Hall Meetings for Post 1, meetings where citizens can ask questions and receive answers from their elected officials.

 

I want to see controlled growth and address the traffic sprawl and other problems which have been created by the current board of commissioner?s open zoning approvals given to their local developer campaign donors.

 

I want to work for the citizens of Post 1 to see real industry and high paying local jobs move to Paulding instead of just building more houses, restaurants and big box stores to sit empty.

 

I want the voters of Paulding County to have the privilege to vote for every bond issued the taxpayers have to pay for. The current BOC approved $65million+ for the new courthouse complex without a vote.

 

The current BOC built the airport even after the voters said ?NO!?, but here we are still waiting for our Richland Creek Reservoir.

 

I will ask to put all county issued bonds out for competitive bids. The current BOC simply authorizes Regions Bank/Morgan-Keegan to issue the bonds without a bid. Region?s management are major donors to Larry Ragsdale.

 

I will fight for the senior citizens of Paulding with abated property taxes much the same as Cobb; cap the taxes, remove taxes from our senior citizens at 62 years of age and increase the homestead exemption to $5000.

 

I will work to see that property value assessments are performed on an as needed basis over 3 years as mandated by state law instead of every year as our current BOC has been doing to increase the county tax digest every year.

 

I will work to add the Fire Department back into the county budget plus the Fire Tax so we can have a fully staffed department prepared to battle fires when they arrive on the scene instead of having to wait for additional firefighters.

 

[PAULDING COUNTY TAX INCREASES]

I want to say thank you to everyone involved in this thread wether you agree with it or not. The point of the thread was to generate discussion and hear the different opinions of wether the votes by the BOC have increased our taxes and get the opinions on the airport also.

 

I am not going to say that I have all the answers or that I know everything. I chose to put my name on the ballot to give people a choice in this election. I am willing to work for the people and give the effort needed to learn what the needs are, what the wants are, and what I can do to help. There are going to be people that do not agree with this and I respect that. That is what is great about this. We each are allowed to have our opinions.

 

What is important to remember is that wether you agree with the opinions or not, we have to appreciate people like D-Dawg, Whitey, BeachBum, Maddox, Surepip, Dot, Newsjunky, Feelip, Lots To Do, and Madea because these people are taking the time to research the issues and inform people of them. They are to be commended for this. They are each one of the reasons that I decided to do this. I want to do my part also.

 

I appreciate everyones comments and no matter who you vote for, the most important thing is to vote.

 

Thank you again.

 

[PAULDING COUNTY TAX INCREASES]

I am going to try to ask some pertinant and civil questions here Mr Seabolt, so please no one jump me.

 

Given that the voters of this county are angry about the uncontroled growth in the county, what do you plan to do to bring quality growth and a more diverse tax base to Paulding

 

We obviously cannot do anything about the existing 20,000 to 30,000 homes that have been approved but not built yet, but we must do something about the future growth. A few things I would suggest are to change the existing zoning ordinances to require more square footage and larger lots. This would help create a more diverse tax base. Another thing I support is a review of the existing impact fees and regulations. I would like to encourage the state lawmakers to include the schools in the impact fees as this would could help ease the burden on the taxpayer as well. A review of the current land use plan to find if it is in compliance, and what can be done to improve it.

 

With revenues declining across the board, do you forsee the need to tap reserves to continue services in the near future, or are cuts in order?

 

The first thing we must understand is that the reserves have already been tapped this year approximately in the amount of $6,000,000 to pay for the courthouse bonds and the greenspace bonds. This was partly due to the failure of the BOC to follow through with the preparation of a tax digest of the levy of a tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the bonds. This would have been done, but not for election year politics by the BOC. If you would like to reference the 02/13/2007 Meeting Minutes, more information is available. As for cuts, I think we need to review every item of the budget and find out if there is anything that can be done to help. We do not want to see any reduction in services because of the failure by the current BOC to manage the budget properly.

 

We have a land use plan in place that seems to be drawn to entice higher density development in the south of the county and lower density north. The plan was also ignored in the past, and development was approved that even may have violated state regulation.(no sewer on 8000 sq ft lots, and no plan to provide sewer, only stipulation). How would you deal with this? A new Plan? A new Zoning comission?

 

According to the PRD ordinance, no building permits can be issued for these homes until sewer is provided by the developers or the builders. I would recommed increasing the required lot size to reduce both density and help diversify the tax base. I would definitely support a new zoning commission. If this does not answer the question accurately, please let me know. If there a specific area, I would like to know this also.

 

What about code enforcement?

 

Are you talking about building codes or are you talking about ordinances. I want to clarify before I answer this.

 

What about an ethics code that is enforceable for all employees, including board and committee members?

 

I absolutely will encourage and request the ethics board be put in place. As you might know, the ethics statute was passed in the 1990's but was not put in place. I feel this must be done immediately and I believe that it will be easily done as it will probably have the support of David Austin also.

 

We know that the Courthouse and airport are done deals, even though they were unpopular. Do you see any way to mitigate the future costs related to these facilities? And in the case of the airport, will you try to use it to attract quality industrial and commercial development, given that it exists?

 

I agree with what you are saying. These are both here wether we like it or not and instead of arguing about that, we must focus on what we can do to get the most out of them. This is such a great place to live and work, we must do what we can to attract industry here. I think that with the interstate and the railyard being this close, if we work together with the Industrial Building Authority, this can be accomplished.

 

Do you think that we can squeeze enough out of the transportation budget to keep up with growth? What are your plans for transportation?

 

With only the two different four lanes in the county, we need to find a way to alleviate congestion. There were several meetings held recently that requested citizens input in regards to the transportation needs. This is something that we will have to work with the state on, as it will require state funds to complete these projects.

 

I hope that these are fair questions. If they need a little research to give a fair answer, please let us know. I would prefer an accurate answer than a fast one.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Please let me know if this answers your questions.

 

[PAULDING COUNTY TAX INCREASES]

You have Seabolt in your signature. I'm not sure why he would respond to this (passive agressive) post. Btw, I deleted your huge size and removed the color red.

 

 

Thank you. Best post you've made yet. And, more details here than on your website. As far as meeting with you, other than a small block of time late next week, I don't know if I'd be available.

 

Thank you Madea. Believe it or not, I am trying. I know that there will be criticism, that is part of this, but I appreciate you saying that. I have more information in some of my blogs on here if you or anyone else would like to read. I did that website myself, and I am definitely not a professional website developer, but at least I tried though.