Join us for lively discussion and updates on all the issues.  You are encouraged to share your concerns.  Candidates are encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion.

We believe that working together we will be more effective at dealing with issues than we are as individuals going up against the challenges alone.

The last LCHA meeting of  the year will take place on October 25 at 7:00 PM.

Captain Ryan Scott and the Sheriff’s Neighborhood Watch Group will present a program to show what they would like to present in your neighborhood.  Most of us don’t consider crime an issue in our neighborhoods …but it always pays to be prepared.

Time will allowed to discuss issues of concern following the Neighborhood Watch presentation.

We believe that working together we will be more effective at dealing with issues than we are as individuals going up against the challenges alone.

Join us for lively discussion and updates on all the issues.  You are encouraged to share your concerns.  Candidates are encouraged to attend and participate in the discussion.

We believe that working together we will be more effective at dealing with issues than we are as individuals going up against the challenges alone.

The last LCHA meeting of  the year will take place on October 26 at 7:00 PM.

Numerous recommendations were made to the commissioners on how the budget might be reduced including more furlough days, eliminating employees, eliminating the county contribution to employee retirement, reducing the size of government and going to a four day work week.  Karen Bowden, Commission Bowden’s wife, pointed out that County Manager Stan Kelley had offered budget options that did not require a tax increase.

Ronald Caldwell asked, “What can we do without?”  Melvin Turner pointed out that 10% of taxpayers are being furloughed 365 days a year.” Jeff Clymer said, “You are trying to make employees happy instead of the taxpayers.”

Missy Wymer pointed out that Raber’s statement about every department being asked to reduce their budget by 10 % was misleading.  She pointed out that budgets of most departments had actually been increased.

Greg Puetz pointed out that there is a $379,000 increase in the proposed 2011 Budget over the current budget. He said that the budget needs to be written so that people can understand it.  He is familiar with such budgets, but finds our budget difficult to decipher.

County Finance Dept. representative, Mark French, responded to requests about the amount of department cuts with percentages ranging from 25% in one department to only 13% for Park & Rec.  He said only about half the departments actually had reduced budgets.

Commissioner Scott said he vigorously opposed cuts to essential service like EMS.  The audience unanimously opposed cuts to essential services, however, they clearly wanted cuts to non-essential services.

Lori Lee Hackerson asked, “What about next year?”  Commissioner Scott acknowledged that this budget only applies a band aid. Hackerson replied, “Then we need to take a scalpel (to it).”

Jeff Clymer told the commissioners that they will make next year’s budget decisions even worse if they raise taxes this year and put more people out of business.  He pointed out that a tax increase this year will reduce the number of property owners who will be around to pay taxes next year.

Robert Small praised people for speaking out and said we have to get over being intimidated by elected officials.

Taxpayers clearly expect government employees to cope with the same kind of income reductions that they have.  Numerous persons talked about how they are having to make do with less.

The only person in the room who claimed to be having great financial success was the chairman who bragged that he had just invested in another great financial enterprise.  John Raber, who has spoken out supporting tax increases every year that he has been on the Lumpkin County Commission, is clearly out of touch with his constituents.

Many people spoke during the meeting.  Please send corrections to <Emily@lumpkinsunshine.com> if the names are not correct.  If you would like to comment on this article, you may register as a USER on the Homepage and submit the comment.  To prevent SPAM, Users must be approved by the Administrator before a comment can be posted.  Emily Lewy

Join us for lively discussion of new plans for Blackburn Park and other issues.  Let’s discuss how we can take advantage of opportunities to be involved.

We believe that working together we will be more effective at dealing with issues than we are as individuals going up against the challenges alone.

Let’s make this last LCHA meeting of  the year a celebration as we plan for 2010.

It seems that the official county form for petitions adopted in July by unanimous vote of the board was merely a recommendation and not a requirement.  Quotes from Commissioners in The Dahlonega Nugget article on October 14 continue to verify that they did not agree on what they voted for.

It seems that they do now agree to accept petitions as required by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.   Chairman Raber was quoted as saying,  …All we did was ask that people follow a form so petitions could be legitimized. Yet, the commissioners blindly approved a document that provides for $1,000 fines and imprisonment of up to five years.

Some Commissioners suggested that we should not even have a county form if it won’t be required.  Since all commissioners have sworn to uphold the Constitution, eliminating the petition form seems like a wise move.

Reasonable concerns about signers having some interest in the petition purpose were blown entirely out proportion.  Invalid signatures are included in every ballot access petition because there is no way for a collector to know that a signer is a registered voter in the district or that the signer has not already signed another page of the petition.  The State Elections Division resolves the issue by just not counting invalid or duplicate signatures.

The Lumpkin County Homeowners Association provided an image of 114 petition pages on a CD  for each commissioner.  They will be able to easily see who is concerned about the future of Blackburn Park.   Will an occassional “invalid” signature outweigh the value of signatures from many well known constituents?

Commissioners need to know what their constituents think about the issues.  Petitioning is a valuable tool for accessing interest in an issue and for promoting discussion.  One would expect elected officials to prefer a single petition instead of a thousand phone calls or emails.

Lumpkin County Homeowners Association members plan to put the county’s new rules concerning petitions to the test at the next regular meeting of the board of commissioners Wednesday, Oct. 14. They voted last week to present a petition that does not conform to the new rules, opposing the harvesting of hardwood trees from the Blackburn Park property.

The board voted to approve a petition form in July. The form includes an “Affidavit of Circulator” that states, “Under the penalty of law relating to false swearing, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment of not less that five years, or both,” that the person circulating the petition believes that “each signer’s name and residence are correctly stated … is a citizen of Lumpkin County, and … has read, or was read” the stated purpose of the petition. The form also requires that the petition be notarized.

There are about 1,000 signatures attached to the Blackburn Park petition, said LCHA President Emily Lewy, who admits that the petition was “loosely done, and mostly done by others. I collected signatures one day at the Auraria Yard Sale.” But the petition is complete with addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, she says. However, there are no affidavits and no notary stamp.

“The first amendment guarantees the unalienable right to petition the government. There’s even a quote from Supreme Court justices that the right is ‘so well established few have dared to challenge it in recent years,’” Lewy told those attending last week’s LCHA meeting. “The fact that this right has been questioned by our commissioners is outrageous. And most outrageous is the statement about fines and imprisonment. If you are collecting signatures on the county’s form, you would have to see a picture ID. We must never follow this form. If we do, and we sign it, we could be prosecuted.”

District 2 Commissioner Tim Bowden was present at the meeting. He said the intent of the petition resolution “was to make sure the signatures weren’t someone’s out of Cobb County. I don’t see anything wrong with being sure they are Lumpkin County voters who have an interest in issues in Lumpkin County.”

The state of Georgia also requires that a petition to get on the ballot be notarized, but there is no mention of imprisonment or fines. The only penalty is that the signatures of ineligible or unregistered voters are not counted.

“The Blackburn Park petition is different from a petition to run for public office. It’s an administrative requirement of the Secretary of State. But the kind of petition we circulated would be appropriate if we only took a roll of toilet paper and signed it,” Lewy said. “The big problem is the notary requirement for collectors. It is onerous, and would be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court if it ever got that far.”

“It looks like, to a number of people, that the board of commissioners is trying to silence the people,” said LCHA association member John Cavender.

“And that’s the effect,” Lewy added. “A lot of people won’t want to sign a petition.”

“This was only dreamed up after you knew the petition for Blackburn Park was coming,” Cavender told Bowden.

Juvenile court judge David Turk, who was at the meeting to make a presentation on Family Drug Court, was asked for a legal opinion. He said the fine and imprisonment language comes from the ‘false swearing’ statute. “This, in my opinion, would not pass constitutional muster. Plus, it has a ‘chilling effect’-that’s the legal term for it-on those wishing to sign or circulate a petition.”

Gerald Lewy said the rule is having “just that effect. People at the Grumpy Old Men’s Club don’t want to sign anything. Perception is reality.”

Bowden pointed out that the requirement is on the collector, not the signer. Even so, Lewy said, the county’s form goes too far with its threat of fines and jail time.

“Even on a petition for the ballot there are no legal sanctions,” she said. “There’s no requirement for you [the commissioners] to even read a petition. You can say ‘thank you, ma’am, and dump it in the garbage. But the people have a right to petition the government. The real power of a petition is that it informs the people about an issue. You can’t just walk up to a stranger and start talking. But with that petition in your hand you can walk up to someone and ask for their signature and talk to them about an issue.” When Lewy went to Auraria to collect signatures, she said, she was “amazed at the number of people who had an interest in Blackburn Park, and knew nothing about the county’s plans to clear cut.”

Bowden told the audience that there are no plans at present to do any logging at the location. He also suggested that because the Blackburn Park petition was started before the resolution, it could be “grandfathered in.”

While LCHA’s members were pleased to hear there will be no logging, Lewy said the “issue now is whether they will accept the petition or not. I’m upset that Tim Bowden would suggest the petition could be grandfathered in. Getting this petition accepted is not the point. The point is, the people have the absolute right to petition.”

The group also expressed frustration toward the local government as well. Several attendees said they found fault with recent actions by the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners to deny a petition protesting the logging of Blackburn Park under the suspicion that it was fraudulent.

“We worked hard and got 1,400 names in four days on that petition but yet nobody has seen it,” said one woman.

“So it’s over,” replied Hoynes. “I mean it’s just all over.”

It is easy to appreciate the frustration these folks feel in response to the commissioners’ vote on petition requirements. However, the Blackburn Park petition is being compiled by members of the Lumpkin County Homeowners Association (LCHA), not persons quoted in the newspaper.

The statement that 1,400 signatures were collected in four days is not correct.  Signature collection began on Saturday, May 30.  Based on the latest estimates, some 1000 signatures have been collected by residents genuinely concerned about the quality of life for current and future generations.

LCHA continues collecting signatures for the BLACKBURN PARK PETITION:

“We, the undersigned, oppose removal of hardwood trees from the Blackburn Park property until such time that a Master Plan has been presented to the citizens of Lumpkin County and until funds are available to implement that plan.”

Any resident of Lumpkin County may sign a page of the Blackburn Park petition at the following locations:

• Fast  Stop Chevron on Hwy 52 West
• Wholesome Earth next to the jail
• Second-Hand Sam’s THRIFT STORE across from Elementary School on Grove Street
• Fantastic Sam’s hair cuts Walmart Way
• Cover to Cover Used Books on Grant Road at Hwy 400
• Trammell Tire on Hwy 52 West
• The Crimson Moon Cafe’ on the Dahlonega Square
• Shenanigans Pub just off Dahlonega Square
• Vickie Lynn’s Gifts on the Dahlonega Square
• Two Sister Cards & Crafts on North Grove St
• The Flower Mart on S Chestatee by the college

The goal of the petition is to inform the public and promote well reasoned opposition to cutting trees at the present time.  The goal of LCHA is to provide information to local government about what the people want.