UPDATE 08/19/11:

The voter registration rally on August 20th has been cancelled.

Even though ink from 2010’s election results has hardly dried, national media outlets are already focusing on the 2012 campaign season. More than a dozen serious (maybe) candidates for President have surfaced, and several state primaries will be held as soon as next January.

All that focus on national politics means, as usual, equally important local races are falling between the cracks. In 2012 we’ll also have votes for state and federal representatives, state senators, SPIDITSLUT sales tax, County Commissioner, County School Board, and Walker County Sheriff. But first, this November 8th, residents of most Georgia municipalities will be given an opportunity to vote for their city leaders.

Despite the minimal attention local races get, our daily lives are impacted greatly by votes that determine who gains, keeps, or loses power within city and county government. Mayors, councilmen, and commissioners are responsible for local infrastructure, law enforcement, property and sales taxes, zoning laws, building codes, utility rates, and even who can provide cable TV service. That’s why it’s important to be informed about local candidates and their issues. Meanwhile, deadlines for candidate qualification and voter registration for this November’s vote are rapidly approaching.

Stolen street signs can cost anywhere from $30 to $200 each to replace, depending on the size, design, number of colors, and customization. Poles and hardware are often damaged or stolen during a theft, adding to the overall cost of restoration. A national epidemic of sign stealing has driven many municipalities to use special security bolts or switch from metal to less-valuable plastic signage, but thieves still make off with thousands of signs each year – costing US taxpayers millions.

The last few months have seen Northwest Georgia rocked by a series of violent storms. On Saturday June 11th storms with 70-MPH straight-line winds rolled through Dade, Walker, and Whitfield, sending trees through the Walker Schools Science and Technology building and Chickamauga Civic Center before knocking out power to hundreds in Dalton. Several smaller storms have broken trees and disrupted utility service for others during the weeks since. But none of those compare to the absolute devastation seen on April 27th when a record-setting day of tornadoes destroyed wide swaths of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.

Alabama was particularly hard hit on April 27, where tornadoes injured 1,700 peopled and killed over 100 during a 24-hour period. Around 5 PM a tornado spawned near Scottsboro crossed into Dade County (the second one in Dade that day), doing widespread damage and killing two people. Areas normally protected from tornadoes by Lookout Mountain’s formidable barriers were hard hit as the Dade twister headed across Lookout to destroy homes in Flintstone and knock down trees in Rossville, stopping just west of Fort Oglethorpe. Several hours later another series of storm cells passed north of LaFayette before spawning a mile-wide tornado that devastated a wide path reaching from Peavine Road in Ringgold to Apison, Tennessee.

Before the day was done Northwest Georgia experienced tens of millions of dollars in property damage and lost 11 citizens to tornadoes: two in Dade, eight in Catoosa, and an elderly Walker County native killed in Alabama. In Northwest Georgia, Northeast Alabama, and Southeast Tennessee a total of 76 people were killed as a result of the April 27 storms.

In case you missed it, here’s a portion of discussion from the LaFayette Underground Facebook Page last Monday morning:

Underground: Good news: City crews are mowing rights of way around town. Bad news: it takes three guys to run one tractor.

My observation was a tractor followed by a city pickup truck, the truck is following to keep people a safe distance from the tractor which is totally appropriate. The problem is that other worker who looks like Larry the Cable Guy riding in the passenger seat of the truck. That’s costing us a lot of money for nothing – shades of the three-man plow truck all over again.

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Here are point-by-point notes from February’s LaFayette City Council meeting, with our commentary following in italics. City Council meetings are normally held at 7:30 PM on the second Monday of each month. Notes from the March meeting and video from April and May will be posted soon.

February Meeting: February 14, 2011

No reason for the absences were given, but the meeting was held on Valentine’s day so Hodge, Swanson, and Womack were likely spending time with their significant others. A minimal number of city employees and only two or three citizen observers were at the meeting, so it was understandably quite short.