Last night Walker Commissioner candidate Dr. Paul Shaw was on UCTV Night Talk. Shaw did well, pointing out problems with the current commissioner (poor planning, no transparency, growing county debt), discussed the broken sole-commissioner form of government, and challenged Bebe Heiskell to a debate.

The show aired live but may repeat today. UCTV live feed online.

Schedule changes and service cuts have begun this week at all four Cherokee Regional library branches.

“Services are being cut, too. For example, the genealogy and local history room at the LaFayette-Walker County Public Library only will be open on Fridays and Saturdays because Jill Trubey, the employee in charge of the room, had her hours cut from 40 to 13 hours a week, Library Director Lecia Eubanks said.

“Library youth education coordinators won’t visit schools to promote the youth summer reading program, which probably won’t be six weeks long next year, she said. The number of computers available to the public will be reduced by anywhere from one-quarter to one half, Eubanks said.”

According to library insiders, the computer cuts and genealogy room closure aren’t necessary due to the budget changes, they’re just being done so library customers feel the pain and demand money for the system… There really seems to be no reason why cutting back staff means cutting back computers, and staffers aren’t always in the Georgia Room when it’s open now.

Meanwhile, Dade County Schools aren’t cutting the amount of money they give the library system – they’re ending it all together. $0 funds available next year for the Trenton library from Dade Schools.

Pardon our conspiracy theory, but Dade County will have a question on their ballot this summer asking citizens to support a new property tax solely for the library system. What better way to get that approved (and thus no longer have to fund the libraries with county/school money in Dade) than gut their budget so people are desperate enough to support a new tax to keep the doors open?

In all these situations, instead of crying and going to vote for a new tax to support libraries, you should go to your county and school leaders and ask them what the hell happened to the tax money you already gave them that the libraries don’t get much of.

Last week during the candidate forum, Steve Wilson claimed there had been no jail escapes since he’s been Sheriff and said Freddie Roden “stuck his foot in his mouth” for claiming otherwise. Now Wilson says he “forgot” about two incidents where prisoners got loose (one made it to Chattanooga) but says Roden is wrong for demanding every jail door and gate be locked 24/7.

“Wilson said the gate, which recently was replaced during a number of upgrades at the jail, is closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. It’s also closed, as are the sally port doors, when a dangerous or high-profile prisoner comes in during the day, he said.

“But it’s not practical to keep everything shut down all the time, the sheriff said. ‘We’ve tried it,’ Wilson said. ‘We have [too] much traffic coming and going during the regular work hours.’

“‘That just goes to show [Roden’s] lack of experience running a jail,’ said Wilson, who’s been sheriff and jailer since 1997. ‘He doesn’t know how a jail operates on a daily basis.'”

Yes call Roden an idiot for suggesting we shouldn’t leave half the jail doors open 12 hours a day. Maybe there’s a better way than the broken way you do it, Wilson.

We said his claim of no escapes was a “non-truth” or a lie, and this proves that to be the case. If you accept Wilson’s claim, that he forgot, either he’s incompetent/unaware or he has Alzheimer’s. If you’re the Sheriff how do you “forget” about people escaping from jail unless you’re oblivious to what goes on at the jail, or losing your mind? Senile or a liar – neither is what we need as Sheriff.

WQCH Radio, 06/26/2012:

“IF YOU NEED FOOD ASSISTANCE, BETTER VISIT THE CARE MISSION IN LAFAYETTE, THIS WEEK. THE MISSION WILL BE CLOSED NEXT WEEK FOR CLEANING AND REMODELING WORK. THEY’LL BE CLOSED FROM JULY 2nd THROUGH JULY 10th. THOSE WHO’D LIKE TO DONATE CLOTHING OR OTHER ITEMS ARE ASKED TO WAIT UNTIL THE CARE MISSION RE-OPENS ON JULY 10th.”

There’s also a food program feeding kids (under 18) lunch at the Housing Authority every day, all through the summer, and feeding programs that alternate between Second Baptist and First Methodist. Mt. Zion Church in Naomi also has a food pantry available for those in need while the Care Mission is temporarily closed.

Governor Deal has appointed 36-year-old Court of Appeals Judge Keith Blackwell to the GA Supreme Court. He’ll be sworn in on July 19th to replace a retiring judge.

In Georgia we elect the Supreme Court judges, but the governor can select replacements if one ever retires, dies, or otherwise vacates a seat.

As usual, the Messenger is Bebe’s mouthpiece. They report the rug she bought for herself tax exempt in Tennessee was purchased with money from a “yet unnamed private foundation” for use at Mountain Cove Farms. Except she still can’t use the county tax ID for some other organization, and out-of-state government entities cannot get tax exemption in Tennessee anyway.

She broke the law, but she broke it FOR YOU! Bebe is doing all she can to get the farm renovated in time for tens of thousands of tourists to stay there this fall, and if she happens to violate a few laws along the way we have no place to challenge her or even question this mysterious new foundation that can’t do its own purchases or have its own tax ID number.

And we’re hateful for daring to challenge her.

Disgusting.

(How much longer before Heiskell hires Christi McIntyre from the Messenger to work for her? Larry Brooks got a county job based on his butt-kissing articles when he worked there, so after the election if Bebe wins, it shouldn’t be a shock if McIntire – who keeps signing her name to hack work like this – ends up with a sweet county position.)

In a real community this would lead to outrage and an investigation.

Early voting begins in just a couple weeks, on July 9th, and we need to get some questions sent to candidates. What do YOU want to know from the people running for elected office this year?

You can post your question in comments below or e-mail it to lu@cityoflafayettega.com . If it’s a question for every candidate or just ones from a specific race, please let us know. No questions for just one candidate, they need to apply to everyone running for a certain position at least.

If you’re a candidate you might want to be sure we have your e-mail address. Also, please don’t answer questions here – we don’t want candidates seeing their opponent’s answers ahead of time.

Hot all week. The Weather Underground (no relation) says we’re looking at freaking 113° for the high Friday. Is it too late to move Freedom Festival indoors?

Thursday LaFayette Utilities Secretary Teresa Abbott was fired after working for the city 25 years. The main reason given for her termination was giving permission for a worker’s comp claim and signing White’s name on a form without permission. She plans to appeal the firing during July’s council meeting.

You’ll recall that she’s the one who caught Richie White (no relation) stealing from Public Works by having his family business overcharge the city for garbage truck parts – something the city now says didn’t happen. She also ran the Public Works department for a while between directors, and applied to become the director when they hired Mark White.

Abbott apparently broke the rules by handling the workers’ comp claim the way she did, but we’re told until recently they were always handled that way.

SNR Groceries (Old Trion Hwy near Shattuck Industrial, formerly RC’s) was broken into Friday night or early Saturday morning. The robbers apparently took cigarettes, beer, and worthless unactivated lottery tickets. If you have any information or saw anything suspicious, call LaFayette PD at 706 639 1540.

WQCH Radio, 06/22/2012:

“GEORGIA DOT IS CAUTIONING POLITICAL CANDIDATES NOT TO PLACE SIGNS ON HIGHWAY RIGHTS OF WAY – THEY WILL BE REMOVED BY DOT CREWS. SIGNS REMOVED WILL BE HELD FOR 30 DAYS AND THEN DESTROYED. DEWAYNE COMER, DISTRICT ENGINEER IN CARTERSVILLE, SAID ‘FOR SAFETY’S SAKE, THERE ARE LAWS ABOUT WHERE SIGNS CAN BE PLACED… AND THE DEPARTMENT WILL REMOVE ANY AND ALL UNAUTHORIZED SIGNS FROM OUR RIGHTS OF WAY’.”

This may cut back the number of signs for Wilson and Heiskell, since so many of their “supporters” live in vacant lots and on highway right of ways. (A sign in a right-of-way isn’t a supporter, it’s artificial.)

Of course the county won’t be removing illegally placed signs on its own rights of way. Depending on the candidate.

Speaking of signs in prohibited places: is this Bebe! board placed illegally in the state highway right-of-way or illegally at the Lee School Rd. fire station? Looks like the latter to us.

If it’s at the fire department her campaign is violating some serious rules. But they’re rules nobody enforces. It puts Dr. Shaw at an unfair disadvantage because he doesn’t have his own fire stations to post signs in front of.

This is YOUR property being used for campaign purposes.

Today is the Summer Solstice, longest day of the year, and also the first day of Summer. Hope you have an opportunity today to enjoy the outdoors.

We told you so: Bengi Clift is the new Police Chief, Robert Busby is the new Fire Chief. Job was open for six days, posted for the three minimally required by law, and the people they wanted from the beginning were immediately plugged into the job without considering any other possibility.

Clift won’t yell and curse like Freeman, even though he’s about as qualified and ethically similar. (If he wasn’t, Freeman wouldn’t have made him the no. 2.) He’s young and in fairly good health, he won’t be as openly abusive as his predecessor so he won’t get fired, and he’s not likely to get a job anywhere else (see the Peter Principle for why), so you’re stuck with him for the next twenty or thirty years.

Our apologies to the people of LaFayette.

Bengi threatened one of our contributors with a criminal charge and said it would go away if we buried incriminating documentation on Freeman. That shows his ethical standards well enough, and his qualifications don’t matter beyond that.

Judge Brian House, running unopposed for another term on the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, has violated the law by endorsing candidates in other races. But that’s OK, we don’t enforce the rules in Georgia anyway.

If you drive around the county, you might find other judge candidates who violate these rules. We’ve also got an elections board member who likes to post campaign signs on her property (another law violated). And a commissioner candidate who leaves lots of things off her required financial reports.

But hey, they’re all good people, it’s probably all fine.

Walker State Judge candidate Billy Mullinax is also violating these rules, or at least in a legally gray area, by campaigning along with Steve Wilson. They ride around together, share a billboard, their campaigns put out yard signs for each other.. It’s hard to tell where Wilson ends and Mullinax begins, which is a real problem that needs to be investigated.

Bruce Coker, candidate for Chief Magistrate Judge of Walker County, is also in a gray area when he participates in fundraisers for entities like United Way and Stocking Full of Love. According to the rules of Georgia courts (which are ethical standards for court officers, not state law), a candidate for judge must conduct himself as a judge even while campaigning – and judges aren’t allowed to do fundraising for candidates or groups. But Coker doesn’t have a clue about the law or election rules – he’ll make a great judge.

There are a lot of gray areas, and some parts of this that may be technically legal but ethically unwise. Every candidate should be working to avoid any risk of impropriety by steering clear of these campaigning and fundraising issues. But this bunch is morally (or maybe mentally) short. If you vote for Mullinax or Coker you’re going to get exactly what you deserve, which is trouble.

As President Reagan said, “Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.” Yet we throw away our liberty every four years by continuing to support a commissioner who refuses to let anyone share her power or give her accountability. A vote for Bebe is a vote AGAINST having a commission-based county government.

And as we told you yesterday, Heiskell’s power and lack of accountability lets her abuse the rules, up to the point of using Walker County’s tax ID number to exempt herself from paying sales taxes.

This article indicates city garbage service returned to once-a-week pickup already, which is what Councilman Bradford said (and what we reported a couple weeks ago) – but residents are still seeing the trucks come by twice a week and City Hall said the schedule changes back on July 1st. Once again the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

As someone else suggested, they should just randomly pick up trash and not tell us when it’ll run, because that’s the schedule everybody’s used to now.