Opinions

1/9/02

The True Citizen
P.O.Box 948
Waynesboro, GA 30830
(706) 554-2111

Friends!
Burke County has lost two good friends who have been valuable in attracting industry to our county and area. They are Jim Steed, the deputy commissioner for Georgia's Department of Industry & Trade, and Kevin Shea, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce's top industrial recruiter. For many years, Burke County's efforts to attract new industry were championed by Steed in his various roles with the Department of Industry & Trade, and the last several, as deputy commissioner. Now, that friend, who worked closely with Jerry Long, the executive director of the Development Authority of Burke County, will no longer be around As of Jan. 1, Steed retired from the Department of Industry & Trade after 28 years, serving under five governors and five commissioners. In that time he was responsible for the location of 92 plants in Georgia, several of them in Burke County, creating more than 75,000 jobs and billions of dollars in investments. Steed, a native of Atlanta and a graduate of Georgia Tech, along with his wife, Gayle, will retire to Union County in the North Georgia mountains. Long said of Steed's surprise retirement, "Jim will be missed by me and a lot of others across Georgia. He has worked tirelessly with us and others to bring industry to Georgia. He has been a friend of Burke County over the years and was always there if I needed him." Shea, the other friend of Burke County also has made a move from seeking industry to become an official for an Augusta hospital.

He resigned to become executive director of the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation. Shea, like Steed, has worked closely with Long on industrial prospects for the area and he, too, will be missed by Burke County. Shea has been with the Augusta Metro Chamber since 1990 and played active roles in attracting some of Augusta's largest employers during that time. He and Long have worked closely with prospects looking at the Augusta area including Burke County. Shea said his decision to make a career change was not easy until the St. Joseph position became available. To further himself in industrial development meant leaving the area and he wanted to remain in Augusta. The chairman of the foundation and chief operating officer of Sizemore Inc., Keith Kreager, said Shea will give the foundation the leadership it needs to grow its assets.

A New Judge
A new judge Burke County and the Augusta Judicial Circuit have a new Superior Court Judge in the person of James "Jim" Blanchard. Because of the heavy caseload in the circuit that includes Burke, Richmond and Columbia counties, this past general assembly authorized a new judgeship. Gov. Roy Barnes recently interviewed three finalists including Blanchard and selected him. Blanchard was sworn in as judge by the governor on Wednesday, Jan. 2. Judge Blanchard was a partner in the law firm of Fleming, Blanchard, Jackson, Ingram and Floyd when the appointment of the eighth judge in the circuit was made. The new judge has practiced for 33 years. He has served as city attorney for Grovetown, attorney for the Columbia County Board of Education and Columbia County Juvenile Court Judge. The appointment runs through Dec. 31 of this year. He must run in the November general election for a full four-year term. The True Citizen along with Burke County welcomes Judge Blanchard to the bench.

Have you ever heard of Charles Bishop? Sure you have. He's the kid who rammed a Cessna 172 into a Florida bank building. Just a typical, All-American, 15-year-old high school freshman, don't you know. The Associated Press reported that he had a suicide note in his shirt pocket praising his hero, Osama bin Laden, and claiming total responsibility for his act of homegrown terrorism. Everybody described him as a nice, quiet, studious boy who kept to himself and who, in spite of his good boy image, had no friends. But Charles Bishop adds another dimension to the mystery of modern American youth. We've had the campus killers, the angry loners who took out their frustration and rage on classmates and teachers. There have been an increasing number of youngsters who have gunned down their parents and sometimes their siblings. More amazing are the preteens who brutally bludgeon to death totally helpless infants.

Now our kids are taking their cue from international terrorists to whom human life is nothing more than a pawn in their political aspirations. Are America's children confused or merely clueless as to the meaning and purpose of life? Nobody can accuse us of being able to read the signs of the times. For decades there has been a steady erosion of manners, of respect for authority, of moral principle among our young. We have a tendency to blame the delinquency on kids from poverty stricken homes or the ghettoes of our cities. Has no one noticed that a large number, perhaps a majority of these troubled and troubling youngsters come from middle to upper class homes? The typical response from our affluent society has been to throw money at every problem.

More child care, more preschool educational programs, more teachers in smaller classes in larger schools with more electronic marvels, alternative schools and remedial programs, all supposed to set our kids on the fast track to success. The problem is far more personal than that. It starts at birth. Kids born to loving parents and reared in homes where mom and dad honor their marriage vows and discipline their children have a leg up on the rest of the world. Parents must set the rules, establish the goals, and provide the example and support that convince a child that he is somebody who is loved. The greatest failure in American families today is centered in parents who refuse to accept this responsibility. I feel a genuine sadness for Charles Bishop. He was a boy with obvious ability and promise.

But something was drastically missing in his life. I have read nothing in news reports nor heard anything on television about Charles Bishop's father. But, of course, this is modern America where single parent homes are not only acceptable but in some cases preferred. We are trying hard to convince ourselves that marriage is only a convenience, quite often a hindrance to one's true happiness. Those who two or three decades ago were championing a sexual code euphemistically called "free love" have apparently won the day. What youngster today, inundated with explicit sexual entertainment and surrounded with adult infidelity, can be expected to value chaste relationships? How many of our children must we sacrifice before we return to true family values and parental responsibility?

Call him King Roy if you want. King Midas might be more appropriate. Whatever Gov. Roy Barnes' political minuses may be, his golden touch is unquestionable. This week, he rolls out his first campaign finance report of the new year - the election year. Gov. Barnes will claim about $10 million already collected for his re-election bid. He spent that much on his entire 1998 campaign. His three challengers - Republicans Sonny Perdue, Bill Byrne and Linda Schrenko - are unveiling their collections also. Compared to Barnes' sums, their nets will appear paltry. Other candidates for other posts will also step up to show and tell how much they've raised. Look for surprises in the lieutenant governor's category. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor has been very aggressive in collecting money in recent weeks.

His Republican rivals - Sen. Mike Beatty of Commerce and Rep. Steve Stancil of Canton - are hoping to impress would-be donors and supporters with their cash-raising abilities. Still, the contest for governor - where the action is - holds the spotlight. Barnes has three reasons for raking in breathtaking chunks of campaign cash: 1) to buy enough broadcast and direct-mail advertising to swamp any contender in sight; 2) to scare and intimidate his opponents, present and potential; and 3) to discourage hedge-betters from giving to his opponents. ("With Roy so far ahead in contributions, what's the point of giving to anyone else?" Barnes' solicitors ask with a smile. "When the campaigns start in mid-summer, Roy will have raised $15 million. By the time of the election in November, it could be $20 million. Who else can even come close?") In the next few days, you'll be reading lots about Barnes' overwhelming fund-raising campaign (directed by veteran political money director Kristen Oblander). You'll see trotted out those fine old clich‚s: "the mother's milk of politics" and "the lifeblood of campaigns." Those pithy phrases are true and verifiable. Money is important. However, unlike victory in Vince Lombardi's football, money in politics is not the only thing.

A candidate - a good, solid, bright candidate with progressive ideas and sound policies - can still lose an election, even after out-collecting and out-spending every rival in sight. You don't have to look just at the Huffingtons of California to find examples of rich people losing or near-paupers prevailing. Georgia politics abounds with examples of threadbare campaigns upsetting gold-plated bandwagons. Barnes trailed Republican Guy Millner in the money department by nearly $5 million in 1998, but the Democrat won the election handily. The same Guy Millner spent nearly $10 million on a Senate campaign in 1996, only to lose to Max Cleland, who collected and disbursed only $3 million. In less heady times, the late Paul Coverdell defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Wyche Fowler in 1992, though Fowler outspent his challenger by nearly $2 million. And Fowler himself won a Senate seat in 1986 against Republican Mack Mattingly, even as Mattingly spent $5 million to Fowler's $3 million. The greatest money shock in modern Georgia politics came in 1994 when Republican Linda Schrenko with a war chest of only $40,000 defeated the entire Democratic machine to become state school superintendent. Those contests were exceptions, of course. An incumbent governor with superior funding is difficult to bring down. (See Zell Miller, Joe Frank Harris and George Busbee.) Yet, cash does not guarantee victory. Miller barely won re-election in 1994 after trying to change the state flag. That issue will plague Barnes in 2002. Miller's all-out support for a state lottery and creation of the HOPE scholarship mitigated his stand on the state banner and probably saved his governorship. Barnes has no such protective covering.

He must defend his flag decision against a backdrop of other controversial acts, the most obvious of which are education reform and partisan legislative redistricting. If the cash factor intrigues you, keep an eye also on the U.S. Senate contest. Barnes and Sen. Zell Miller are already helping Sen. Cleland in the fund-raising department. And national Democratic sources may be willing to spend whatever it takes to save Cleland. On the other side of the battle line, senatorial challenger Congressman Saxby Chambliss should have national Republican money pouring in. The national GOP's main finance guy, Alec Poitivent, is directing Chambliss' fund-raising effort. Keep this in mind too: Running in a mostly rural district in 2000, Chambliss raised nearly $2 million against weak Democratic opposition. Chambliss obviously is an able fund-raiser. P.S.: All this money talk means that Georgia's citizens ought to be vigilant. We should not forget that these elections are still contests for votes, not dollars. Let's keep it that way. A correlation probably exists between the amount of campaign funds collected and the extent to which a public officeholder's independence is compromised. A big donor does not shell out $10,000 or $20,000 or $30,000 to a campaign and expect nothing from the candidate in return. Believing otherwise is simply naive.