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April 2007
Christina’s in charge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pop/latin/jazz diva Christina Aguilera brings her ever-changing persona to the Gwinnett Arena on Wednesday. Is she better than Britney? Are you going to the show? What are your favorite Aguilera songs or performances?
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Everson: Imus, Coretta and a double standard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep. Melvin Everson last week managed to upbraid four local and national luminaries over their use of racial slurs or their failure to condemn them.
Everson called shock-jock Don Imus’ on-air reference to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “inexcusable.”
The Snellville Republican also took to task Democrat Roberta Abdul-Salaam, a fellow African-American Georgia House member, for saying a word this newspaper won’t print.
On April 11, a House committee voted down Abdul-Salaam’s proposal to hang a portrait of Coretta Scott King at the state Capitol. The action enraged Salaam, who said that the committee’s action “was just like calling Mrs. King a nappy-headed [expletive].”
“I am equally as upset with Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam due to her emotional outburst and comment,” Everson said in a prepared statement. “Being African-American did not give her the right to make such comments.”
Then Everson turned his fire on two bigger-name black leaders.
“Where were Reverends [Jesse] Jackson and [Al] Sharpton when this most recent event took place? Honestly, I am disappointed in the leadership in the African-American community since they have not moved as swiftly to condemn Rep. Abdul-Salaam’s comment as quickly as that of Imus,” Everson said. “Everyone who uses this kind of language should be denounced.
“The African-American community should be the first ones held to this standard, not the last.”
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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A deeper Lake Lanier?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Gwinnett County Commission last Tuesday endorsed a plan to raise the level of Lake Lanier to 1,073 feet above sea level from its current level of 1,071.
With a unanimous vote in favor of the idea, the commissioners join a growing chorus of policy makers and politicians who support raising the level of the lake.
Supporters say a 2-foot rise in the lake would be a more cost-effective method of providing additional drinking water for metro Atlanta than building a new reservoir.
“Lake Lanier is the key to Gwinnett County,” Commissioner Kevin Kenerly said. “If you don’t have water, you don’t have anything.”
Raising the water level 2 feet would add about 25 billion gallons of water to the lake, estimated Frank Stephens, the county’s water resources director.
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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All in all, it’s just another plaque on the wall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Gwinnett County Public Library system wins lots of awards but rarely is it honored by one of its loudest critics.
Denise Varenhorst, president of Family Friendly Libraries, announced last week that the library system was the winner of an “Award of Recognition” from her organization.
Varenhorst is the Suwanee mom whose persistent complaints to the library board helped stop the sell-off of the system’s video collection in 2005 and may have contributed to the firing of GCPL’s executive director, Jo Ann Pinder, last year.
Varenhorst, some may recall, complained in March 2006 that Pinder had screamed at her during an argument over access to public records. Pinder denied screaming at Varenhorst, but in April of that year, she apologized to Varenhorst at a public meeting of the library board. The board decided not to discipline Pinder then. But two months later, the board fired her without cause.
Varenhorst was named president of FFL last month.
The organization decided to honor Gwinnett’s public libraries, Varenhorst said, because “they meet all seven of our Standards for Public Libraries and deserve to be commended.”
The standards include filtering pornography from library computers, allowing parents to see a list of items borrowed by their children and to forbid their children to check out books from certain sections of the library.
Varenhorst said Pinder’s firing had nothing to do with the award from FFL.
“Frankly, if she was still there we’d probably still be giving them the award,” Varenhorst said.
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Green: District courtesy? What district courtesy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett commissioners Lorraine Green and Charles Bannister formed an unlikely alliance Tuesday when the pair voted against an apartment rezoning in Kevin Kenerly’s north Gwinnett commission district.
Bannister’s opposition wasn’t all that surprising. Bannister and Kenerly don’t much get along.
But Green’s vote was notable because she transgressed the unwritten code of “district courtesy.” In rezoning matters, Gwinnett’s four district commissioners typically don’t vote against a rezoning in a another board member’s district, especially if the proposed development is not controversial.
In this case, the proposed apartment complex at Old Peachtree Road and Tech Center Parkway had been rejected by county planning staff and the Gwinnett Planning Commission.
But Green said that’s not the principal reason why she voted against the rezoning. “I have consistently voted against apartments — 100 percent [since] I’ve been in office,” Green said.
As for Kenerly, he says he doesn’t have any hard feelings.
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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What do you think about the rise in foreclosures?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Foreclosures in Gwinnett County jumped 260 percent between 2000 and 2006, an increase that outpaces the rise in other metro area counties.
Have foreclosures been a problem in your neighborhood? Have you experienced foreclosure personally? What should be done to curb the rise in Gwinnett foreclosures?
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Will taking on Taylor make Brockway front-runner for GOP job?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some GOP party activists are buzzing about Buzz Brockway.
Last week, the State Ethics Commissions launched an investigation of former Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor after reviewing a complaint filed by Brockway.
Brockway, the erstwhile chairman of the Gwinnett GOP, is running for first vice-chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.
The election is scheduled to take place during the state party convention next month. Brockway will be on home turf for the vote. The Gwinnett Civic Center is hosting the May 18-19 event.
On Thursday, the ethics commission voted to hold a full hearing on Brockway’s allegations about Taylor. Taylor, a Democrat, lost the 2006 governor’s race to incumbent Republican Sonny Perdue.
Brockway alleges Taylor didn’t completely identify some of his contributors, and also accepted an illegal contribution.
The commission found probable cause to hold a full-scale hearing on 10 counts, most of them alleging that Taylor didn’t adequately identify contributions from political action committees.
The commission also agreed to consider whether Taylor’s campaign illegally took $9,000 from a Valdosta development company for the 2006 gubernatorial primary.
The legal limit is $5,000 from one company or affiliated companies for the primary, and $5,000 for the general election.
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From TV to Gwinnett County
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
James Corn is a video producer for Gwinnett County’s communications department.
His experience includes creating industrial and commercial films. He also worked free-lance for the now-defunct TV program “In the Heat of the Night.”
We asked Corn if he ever rubbed elbows with Carroll O’Connor and Howard Rollins, the stars of the show. “Yeah,” Corn replied. “Howard Rollins was crazy, definitely crazy.
“Not in a bad way. He was just a bizarre kind of guy,” Corn said. “He would do strange things on set.” Corn said one time, Rollins wore his pajamas on set. Corn said O’Connor “was fantastic. He always said ‘hey’ to you and he was always very personable.” The series, which ran from 1988 to 1995, was filmed in Covington. Rollins played a police detective and O’Connor played police chief of the fictional town of Sparta. Rollins was dropped from the show in 1993 after having been arrested several times on drug-related charges. He died in 1996 because of complications from lymphoma. O’Connor died of heart failure in 2001. Corn said he “didn’t particularly like doing ‘In the Heat of the Night.’” “It took too much time and the money wasn’t good,” Corn said. “The work wasn’t very challenging.”
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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They shoot Easter eggs, don’t they?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett Sheriff’s Department snipers are giving new meaning to hunting Easter eggs. They’re shooting them. On Friday, Cpl. Jeff Lavender, nailed three pink eggs with a Remington .308 from 300 yards across open water. Last we checked, Lavender was leading that event at the Gastonia, N.C., Police Department’s first annual Police Sniper Team Competition. The competition ended Saturday, but we don’t know the results yet. Four members of the Gwinnett Sheriff’s Deparment Rapid Response Team competed with 14 other law enforcement agencies and military units from the Southeast and the Caribbean. They include the Special Anti-Crime Unit of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Marine sniper instructors from Camp Lejeune, N.C. “They’re doing real well so far,” Gwinnett Sheriff’s Department Major Carl Sims, the team’s commander and alternate, said Friday. The team includes Cpl. Scott Gresham and Deputy Michael Wayne. The Gwinnett team was shooting for $30,000 in prizes. Among them: a two-year lease on a Ford F-50 truck, firearms, fitness products and knives. The competition events included nailing the cut-out hijacker in a crowded bus of paper school children, and running and shooting through an obstacle course, Sims said. In the egg event, Lavender had to wade across a shallow lake to a small island and shoot the eggs.
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Human Resources finally gets seats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Applicants for county jobs don’t have to sit on a hallway floor anymore.
Last week, the county Human Resources department moved into bigger digs.
“Now we have space for job seekers to fill out applications without having to sit in the hall outside our offices,” Gwinnett County Human Resources director Kenneth Poe said.
Several Gwinnett departments have been able to expand their offices since the Juvenile and Recorders courts and the county elections department moved out of the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.
Job postings can be found at the county’s Web site, www.gwinnettcounty.com and the county’s cable-access channel, TVGwinnett (found at Channel 23).
Employment postings can also be found in the GJAC third-floor lobby.
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Watering restrictions still in effect, people
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t be a hoser, says Gwinnett’s water department director. OK, he didn’t say precisely that.
“Georgia’s water conservation restrictions are still in effect,” said Frank Stephens, who heads the county’s Water Resources department.
Nothing’s changed since last summer. There’s no outdoor watering any day between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Property owners with even-numbered addresses may water their lawns or wash their cars during the hours watering is allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Watering at odd-numbered addresses is allowed during those hours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
No watering is allowed on Friday.
Car washes, landscapers and other businesses that require outdoor watering are exempted from the restrictions.
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Special election for Suwanee seat set
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Suwanee voters will go to the polls on June 19 to elect a new member of the City Council.
A special election was called last week following the resignation of Councilman Alan Landers. Landers, who had served on the Council since 2002, resigned March 1 after announcing that he was moving to another county.
Election qualifying is scheduled to take place 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. April 23-25. The qualifying fee is $108.
The city needs poll workers for the election. The pay is $90 for poll workers and $185 for a poll manager. For information, contact Elvira Rogers at erogers@suwanee.com or 770-945-8996.
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Cal Warlick / On Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Merry Xmas, teardrop tats don’t make cut
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second year in a row, state Rep. Clay Cox (R-Lilburn), couldn’t get the Georgia Legislature to pass his proposed law making it legal to say “Merry Christmas” in public schools.
Rep. Melvin Everson’s bill to allow inmates to tattoo teardrops underneath their eyes (though that probably wasn’t the Snellville GOP House member’s intent) didn’t make it, either.
But Braselton and Lilburn will hold referendums within the next two years on allowing their cities to create “tax allocation districts,” which allow areas that need redevelopment to finance street lights and such with future tax collections. Voters in Lawrenceville and Norcross have a good shot at voting on TADs, too.
The reason why the Christmas and tattoo bills are dead (for now) and the TAD bills still are kicking is because Tuesday was the deadline for legislation to be passed by either the full House or Senate to have a chance of getting enacted into law.
The Braselton and Lilburn TAD bills have already passed. The Senate approved the Norcross version and the House adopted the Lawrenceville TAD bill.
Now we can’t really read last rites over any bill that didn’t make the deadline. Sometimes in the final hours of a legislative session, lawmakers can bring their dead bills back to life by simply stealing another bill, stripping it of its contents and inserting their bills in the shell left behind.
It isn’t fair. It isn’t nice.
But it does happen.
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