Chickamauga City Manager Culpepper admits he was putting out Bebe! campaign signs on the clock October 2nd and isn’t sure if it’s ethical or not, but doesn’t care because the people of Chickamauga like her and think he’s doing a good job. One state ethics group says it’s “ill-advised” but not illegal, another says it breaks state law.

“I just made the decision on my own. Was it the correct decision as far as ethics and all that stuff? Probably not.”

In other words, he knows it’s illegal but he couldn’t care less. He’s so protected, his job is so secure, he can violate state law and tell us all to go to hell without fear.

So let’s ask Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens about using tax dollars to campaign for issues or candidates. What do you say, Sam?

“During a conference call Thursday, Olens said his letter to Barge did not ‘break new legal ground’ because public entities have never been able to spend tax dollars to voice their opinions.

“‘The government can’t tax you and then use your tax money to tell you how to vote,’ he said.”

Of course that’s a quote about school systems campaigning against the Charter Schools amendment, but it should apply to anything in the state. County and city government leaders cannot legally or ethically use government resources to campaign for candidates or issues.

Georgia has hundreds of millions of dollars in NWGA road projects on its to-do list, but can’t find funds to do them without federal help. And the counties don’t have money to do anything. But somehow GA can afford a new football stadium for the Falcons, and Walker County had no problem spending a few million on a farm in Kensington nobody ever uses. Priorities people, priorities.

Admittedly, if the Falcons keep playing as well as they have been (best record in the NFL right now) they deserve a better facility, but upgrading the Georgia Dome wouldn’t cost the BILLION dollars expected to go into a completely new stadium.

State transportation leaders like Jeff “Citizen of the Year” Mullis are going to have a hissy fit over TSPLOST not being passed and make us all walk. Or crawl if possible.

Ales Campbell shares her observations from Thurday’s Walker Commissioner meeting:

“A lady whose family is involved the Tri-State Crematory memorial asked Bebe had she been to the memorial lately. Bebe said she had not. The lady told her she was very unhappy with the work being done, that it has not been done by a professional landscaping company as promised and asked what recourse the county had for the contract being misrepresented by TN GA. .. Bebe told her she would talk with Vanessa and go and look at what has been done. She also told the group she wishes she’d never taken the money offered by the state for the memorial.”

“The above discussion prompted me to ask ‘Is there a place at TN GA where we can bury the unclaimed cremains locked in the old coroner’s office? ‘ .. Don and Bebe both said it should be initiated by Dewayne Wilson. Lady from topic #1 said, ‘Good luck with that. I can’t get him to call me back.'”

“A man asked if we had a budget yet. Bebe said NO, said we are waiting on the LOST negotiations to go to mediation. I ASKED, ‘Has the date been set yet?’ She said NO. I asked ‘Who is responsible for setting up the meeting?’ She said, ‘Well, the cities and the county.’ I had specifically who was responsible and she said they’d follow up with that. Since the 2012 budget wasn’t affirmed until December 29, 2011, we are no stranger to not having a budget in place at the beginning of the year. A man asked her what budget we are operating under and she told him last year’s. However, with us having to borrow money to complete the year, I’m wondering how we are functioning under last year’s budget.”

“Rich Gwyn (WQCH) questioned how she planned to do an exit poll for the library funding at this election like she’d told Lecia Eubanks she’d do. That isn’t going to happen. She says it will be on the 2014 ballot. I asked her if we could add a box to check on our property tax bills going out this month to indicate our willingness to add $10 or more to our tax check specifically for the library. I don’t think that will happen either.”

Read more here.

Gordon Lee Middle beat LaFayette Middle football Thursday, 14-6. LMS is 2-4 and GLMS 3-3 for the season, which ends next week.

LHS Ramblers take on Dalton tonight at home, 7:30 PM.

Official unemployment in Georgia dropped from 9.2% in August to 9% in September. September 2011 unemployment was 9.8%. Most of the job gains came from manufacturing.

This is about where the line between “friendly” and “creepy” gets crossed. Would you do business with this woman?

She smiles like somebody who isn’t used to smiling.

Which wouldn’t matter so much, except she’s positioned herself as the face of Walker County. When people come into this community to start a business or make deals, this is what they see.

A month or go ago, GA Secretary of State Kemp announced budget cuts would force him to close the state archives to the public most days of the month. Today he and Gov. Deal announced a $125k budget addition that will keep the archives open until next July, after which it will transfer over to the state university system.

Well played, Mr. Kemp. Well played.

GA Senator Fran Millar on why he supports the Charter Schools amendment. Read the comments below his post for some various views and concerns about the issue.

Besides the Charter School amendment, voters in November will also say Yes or No to an amendment to the state constitution that would allow multiple-year lease agreements. Supporters say it will save the state a lot of money because longer leases are usually cheaper.

Those opposed to the change agree long-term leases save money, but argue that long-term leases might also be more opportunity for abuse. Instead of renting a building from the governor’s brother-in-law a year at a time the state could enter into a 100 year lease and nobody could do a thing about it once the ink was dry.

When the GA General Assembly meets in January, they may consider “decriminalizing” certain traffic offenses. That means you couldn’t go to jail for things like a burnt out light or failure to yield, just pay a fine. As one would expect, judges and prosecutors are opposed to the change.

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