Home > Gwinnett.talk > Archives > 2007 > November > 04 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USShh. Mommy and Daddy are mad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It feels a little like going on vacation with your divorced parents.
You don’t know whether they’ll yell at each other or be civil for the sake of the kids. You wonder whether they’ll try to outdo one another to win you over.
Charles Bannister and Lorraine Green probably wouldn’t like that analogy.
Yet it seems like a fitting description of two opposing candidates for Gwinnett’s top elected job. They will both attend the Board of Commissioners’ annual budget retreat in north Georgia today.
Green, Bannister, their fellow commissioners and county staffers will remain at the Brasstown Valley Resort until Tuesday. That’s when each member will unveil his or her goals for the coming year.
It’s an annual ritual.
Last year, Commissioner Bert Nasuti proposed building a minor-league ballpark and bringing a baseball team to Gwinnett.
We have no idea how Green, Gwinnett’s District 1 commissioner, and Bannister, the current chairman of the board, will behave toward one another. The two are vying for the chairmanship in the 2008 election.
Lately, the relationship’s seemed a tad frosty.
But look for the two to swing for the fences Tuesday when they unveil their election-year goals.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Gwinnett Insider
Comments
By Ban Bannister
November 5, 2007 4:59 AM | Link to this
Chuck will probably act no different than usual - I’m not sure he is even aware of where he is most of the time these days.
By Bonedaddy
November 5, 2007 6:36 AM | Link to this
Bring back Wayne!
By Bruce Wilcox
November 5, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
Tells you how crowded and busy Gwinnett is when our commisioners have to go up to the Mount to think?
Rumor has it that a water park to put next to the ball park may be on the agenda this year.
By Michael H. Smith
November 5, 2007 11:18 AM | Link to this
It is very easy to understand why relationships are frosty. A quick read of Commissioner Green’s blog on, “Let’s talk about water”, drops the gantlet.
Today all of Georgia is feeling the pain from that lack of planning. Our current chairman was in the Georgia legislature for much of the last 20 years. He was part of the group who turned a blind eye to the dozens of papers, professionals and scientists who warned this day would come and did little to avert it. Today businesses and our local environment are hurting because of this lack of planning. We must have a plan for the future water needs of our county. It’s no longer about delivering water; it’s about conserving water.
Commissioner Green
It should become very obvious, even among the oblivious, that Commissioner Green is not interested in playing ball, needs no mount upon which to think or intends to fiddle around 20 years as Gwinnett burns.
I personally and publically must thank Commissioner Green for the exchange I had with her on the latest water crisis – “the allowed water crisis that is”. The group who turned a blind eye to the dozens of papers, professionals and scientists who warned this day would come, indeed, did little to avert it.
Alot of what Commissioner Green wants to do for the county will take action from the State Legislature and in some cases from the Federal government to deal with the local water problem that has been a so-called regional issue. At the heart of it all are layers of government and even myopic State laws on the books that prohibit water conservation and water efficiency.
While many other areas of the country are moving forward progressively and aggressively to conserve and go the next step beyond water management in achieving the most efficient use of their water resources, Georgia languishes; in spite of the long known facts that droughts in this state are no “anomaly”. Dozens of papers, professionals and scientists did warn this day would come, and that this day will reoccur.
As Georgians and Gwinnettains struggle through this drought, we must not allow complacency to stand in the way of real leadership. Commissioner Green is a fighter, a doer, a proven leader and our best hope for implementing a plan to assure that we will have water far into the future.
By Bruce Wilcox
November 5, 2007 1:25 PM | Link to this
Cutting away from the political ad for a minute, why is it that Green attends these sermons on the mount on the taxpayers dime?
I see no big change here, a great example to set would be insisting the meeting be held in the county they represent.
Green will end the drought, bring peace to the world and end hunger.
By Bruce Wilcox
November 5, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this
For the past twenty years Gwinnett has elected different people from the same party and yet expect change?
Anywhere else they would have figured it out by now, but not Gwinnett. Duh
By Banish Bannister
November 5, 2007 3:34 PM | Link to this
Well spoken, Mr. Smith. Change has indeed already begun in my District, thanks to Lorraine. She has the smarts and the concerns to actually DO something rather than just flap her jaws, as Chuck has done.
By Pete
November 6, 2007 8:28 AM | Link to this
My goal next County election is to pray that Kevin Kenerly does not change his mind about not seeking his seat again. Kevin Kenerly has done nothing for a majority of District 4. Of course, his area of the district near Hamilton Mill looks great. He’s such a poor example of an elected official.