WhatCha-Say? Archive

THERE IS ENTERTAINMENT here. The entertainment is usually provided by the dysfunctional cast of characters currently occupying seats on the DoCo BOE, City Commission and a few other places around our fair city.

WE NEED TO non-renew the contracts and wash them out of the system. If DCSS won’t renew, perhaps they will pack up and go somewhere else. A court case will be a waste of money with little to show for it. Let the professional standards folks give them a slap on the wrist–get it over with. What we don’t need is to do nothing which makes the contracts renew regardless–and they win in the process.

EVERY SPLOST I have ever seen was touted to be for”needs” and if the needs weren’t met through it, “taxes will have to be raised”. Too many past cries of “wolf” for me to go get the gun–they can “need away” all they want, I won’t be a buyer.

VARIOUS SPLOST OVER the years have funded things that I have favored. It seems that there is “collateral” waste and/or mis-allocation that goes along with it though. Look at who we have spending it here.

THE TSPLOST WILL be good for the area. Something good will come out of it.

SPLOST INITIATIVES ALWAYS include “things to be liked” to sweeten the pot for votes.

SURE, BUT ALL in all I really think it is a good thing for the county.

THAT’S FINE. IT will pass. Unless we polled this group and I’m sure it would fail miserably.

THE REGIONAL VOTING aspect may produce a different outcome. I don’t know how those in the outlying counties feel about their projects. I think we all need to do some homework on this one and see if it appears the good overcomes the questionable. For example, in DoCo, the Clark AV extension gives me some heartburn for the $90 million price tag I saw recently–what’s the benefit? It may be there but it needs to be clearly stated before the vote.

THIS IS NOT local per se, however there have been some interesting happenings in Sumter. This guy was a finalist for DoCo before we got #34. It will be interesting to see how things play out on their end.

SUMTER SEEMS TO share our BOE problems but I haven’t heard specifics. Interested in seeing what outside groups force into the process.

I KNOW SOMEONE that has her daughter in Sumter Co. and they are a messed up school system too. Not sure if it is as bad as ours though.

DR. BROOKS WAS not the problem — he was the poor sucker caught up in the board chairwoman’s power trip. She and some of the other board members are atrocious. Far more even than DOCO’s, if you can believe that.

I HEARD HE went against what the black board members wanted to do and did what was right for the kids… so those board members voted to get rid of him.

ONCE AGAIN ROBERT Rehberg strikes right to the heart of the matter, well done sir.

REGARDING DISTRICT ATTORNEY Greg Edwards decision to not prosecute some accused of CRCT cheating, why don’t we non-renew the whole gaggle of them. We don’t have to give them contracts for next year, and then we can leisurely “cherry pick” those for prosecution, if desired. Regardless of prosecution or not, they won’t be eating at the public trough any more–lunch or not, pun intended. Personally, prosecution will be arduous so why not cut our losses and just get them off the payroll–may end up that way anyway.

I WOULD ALSO rather see the contracts not renewed than to prosecute. Would make more sense just to be rid of them once and for all.

EVERYONE THAT CHANGED one answer or told a child to change an answer should not be renewed. We can be sure DCSS will do the right thing.

MAN, WE NEED a good, moral person to run for DA. We haven’t had one in so long I can’t even remember the last one that wasn’t corrupt.

AS I UNDERSTAND it, he does plan to prosecute but only the ones that changed a record, not the ones that gave verbal or non-verbal cues. With no documentary evidence, a conviction is not likely.

READ THE D.A.’s COMMENT about “Any gun that is not in our custody is a danger.” WOW!!!! So is this local government agent going to start his own war on lawful gun owners?

I DIDN’T WANT TO speak too soon so I didn’t really jump on this yesterday. I have known Greg Edwards since 1994 and have always known him to be in favor of your right to defend yourself, a gun owner, and a shooter. I saw him last night at the gym and spoke to him about this. It was indeed a statement taken out of context, saying someone else indicated he was meaning. Greg was saying that the gun used in the shooting had been thrown away, and until it was recovered, some other child or criminal could find it and misuse it. He remains committed to your right to own a gun, is not anti Second Amendment, and in fact teaches at classes given to citizens on responsible firearms ownership and carry. He is in no way a gun grabber.

LON MCNEIL IS WRONG. Albany leaders are the problem with Albany. The schools system is Albany’s problem. I grew up not far from Albany and no it wasn’t Lee County. For as long as I can remember there has always been some kind of controversy going on with the city an county governments, along with the school system. How can you entice big business to come to a town where the school system is screwed up as Dougherty counties is. There has been cheating on state test, fraud committed on state funded free lunch programs, and over payment of fees by the school board. Wow, that really makes me want to live in Dougherty County. I work in a branch of the county government and have seen firsthand how certain groups of people in Dougherty County only want government handouts. They don’t care about trying to find jobs. It’s all about what can I get for free.

ACTUALLY, MYSELF AND MANY others have moved to Lee County to avoid the blatant misuse of taxpayer funds through corruption that Albany seems so SET on continuing. If Albany can pin point the reasons why people are moving away, why don’t they allocate funds to correct these problems, instead of pushing to receive grants to place huge signs around the town, disguising the issues within the city limits…?

SO…I’M A BIGOT because I happen to be white, educated, worked hard for what I have, and don’t want my family living in crime-infested Albany? That’s not bigotry, that’s my right to live where I choose because I worked hard, studied, and made the right decisions in life so I can live where I choose. Mr. McNeil seems to be saying we should suck it up and live among the criminal masses to avoid the perception of being a racial bigot, despite the detriment to my family. I think not. Why is this even related to race instead of economic and criminal demographics?

TO THE OWNER OF Locos, per YOUR logic, your establishment should refuse to serve alcohol to ANY person who will leave your establishment operating a motor vehicle. Your logic fails Sir! I am another customer who will not spend another dime in Locos until your anti-Bill of Rights stand is reversed, take down your anti-gun sign and welcome all freedom loving citizens to your place of business.

TIME TO GET CRACKING on the petition(s) to force the city commission/county commission/ and the school board to televise all meetings. Lets hit them all. No more hiding from the public. How about WG&L too? Cable Access channels could cover all of what passes for “gubment” in this town. If they have access to our money, we need access to them!

If the public will not/cannot got to the meetings, the meetings will come to them. Once televised, the people in charge will never know just how many voters are watching them while they throw away our money and make bad decisions. Shine a light one very one of them!

SO MUCH FOR THE two that were “secretly” on our side to save the Broad Avenue Bridge.

UNANIMOUS? NOT WHAT SOME implied behind the scenes. Spineless “leaders” after all. Why should I be surprised? No vision, none at all.

VOTE NO ON TSPLOST. We don’t need five bridges now that they are going to rebuild Broad Avenue.

SO THE SLIDE INTO mediocrity in Albany continues. I am done.

GOOD TRY ALL, BUT who really thought it would end up any other way?

I THINK THE STATE is going to have a lot of no votes on the T-splost. I am going to start a Facebook campaign for people who are not in favor of it. It’s a farce for sure.

JUST SAW ON WALB that Locos of Albany does NOT support concealed carriers. I’ve eaten in there openly carrying and no one said a word! However since the owner stated on TV that he doesn’t want concealed carriers in his place, fine, I won’t spend another cent there.

BOYCOTT LOCOS OF ALBANY!

THIS IS THE OWNER of Locos Grill and Pub. For those of you that saw the 6 o’clock news, I had an interview today about the law to carry a gun into a restaurant that has passed the house. The news took parts of what I said to make it fit what they wanted. I am a strong believer in our constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and that was the first thing I said in the interview. I also went on to say the I believe in our laws in the state of Georgia and the United States and that the people that have permits, like myself, are not the ones that we have to worry about, most of the time. It is those that don’t. What I don’t want to happen, as Mrs. Gay stated is someone having a power kick pull a gun. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people and when guns and alcohol mix it’s not a good thing. It’s like drinking and driving. My restaurant is a family oriented place that I want people to feel save in when they come. And if you believe in the constitution then you also believe in freedom of speech.

WELL JUST TO THROW my two cents in…maybe what was done for the city was big! Maybe it wasn’t I am not a person that is for it or against it. But I think if he wants something named after what his father did….what could it hurt to ask. I see some other remarks that I will not respond to…but just remember that many people are a part of this group and sometimes what you say “Can offend others…even if it is a joke”

I DON’T THINK ANYONE a problem with the asking. As I recall the city offered things that could be named that did not meet with favor. He suggested things they were unwilling to name. The story has been played and replayed in the press over and over. It needs to be resolved, somehow, and let’s move on.

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG with asking but the problem is he keeps rejecting what they suggest and that is problem. Like the saying goes it never hurts to ask.

WELL, I CERTAINLY STAND by my remarks. I would be embarrassed to have something in Albany named after me at this time. This guy needs to stop wasting his, and everyone else’s, time and start trying to improve the city his dad felt was good enough to fight for.

What’s entertaining is the number of real estate signs the city overlooks every day. The cities passing the sign ordinances can’t even clean up their own property….yet they want to manage yours.

HOW DO YOU ALL feel about the new proposed airport terminal? I really don’t know myself. I still hate that we did not move the terminal to Turner Air Force Base years ago.

WHAT IS THE DOLLAR amount now? Until the cost to fly from ALB is reduced to something reasonable, we will hemorrhage passengers to other cities. The need for a “bigger and better” terminal building isn’t the problem–and is also unlikely the answer to the problem.

WITH AS LITTLE USE as the current airport gets because of the high cost of flying out of here, it seems like a colossal waste of money to build a new terminal.

ALB IS ALBANY, NY. This is ABY. I ran airport operations and maintenance here and the terminal was one of my responsibilities. If you would see the budget that it takes to try and keep the building repaired, you may see this issue differently. The HVAC systems are old, inefficient and constantly having issues during the hot season. I could also name a dozen other chronic problems. The terminal is one of biggest budget eaters I had which comes out of a very limited city budget. The building does not serve the modern check-in and TSA screening process either. There are no restrooms after security. The bottom line is that the terminal building is a huge money pit that has used its practical shelf life. The majority of the funding for the new terminal will come from Federal AIP money. The city will have to pay some for the difference. In the long run, the city will save because there will be quite a few years before any high cost repairs are needed on the new building.

ABY IS THE ONLY 139 airport in GA that has not gotten a new terminal. This one looks like a dump. There would be more travel if factories would stop closing down. However, there is enough travel for Delta mainline to warrant having a regional running otherwise they would pull the plug.

SO WHAT IS THE present O&M budget for the ABY facility? What is the projected cost of the new facility and is the new facility properly sized–to fit ABY rather than ALB?:)

FUNNY HOW THE SCHOOL Board announces a meeting and do not give the public a five day notice.

THEY ONLY HAVE TO give 24 hours notice for a public meeting. It takes a five-day notice to be placed on the agenda.

YEP, IT’S RIGGED.

WHAT DO YOU THINK of his proposed whistleblower plan? Ha ha, yea being forced to give your name will get you far when reporting the crooks. I remember the mother that went to Sally Whatley herself and got nowhere on the cheating scandal. I don’t think he knows what whistleblower means. My brother could tell him about having your name exposed and what it does to the whistleblower.

WHISTLE BLOWER IS A little less provocative than looking for a fight. However, the style of whistle blowing was somewhat controversial and certainly provocative to some. Regardless, it in no way justifies what followed, true criminal acts.

I DEALT WITH WHISTLE blowers/programs for 34 years and can assure you when the “blowing” is to the organization that committed the foul, it will not work. No organization I dealt with wanted to correct issues. Rather, all wanted to persecute those who dare surface a problem. If anonymous, they hunt for the author and, like the CS at the Marine base said, “If I knew who did this, I would cut his **** off”. And if the persons identify themselves, payback is a long and painful process. As it relates to the DCSS in this case, merely eyewash to fool the public as time will show. They have done nothing of value with this one.

I DON’T HAVE A problem with a sign task force not all being business people. Those outside the “special interest” need to be involved to some extent. It would be like saying only doctors could be on Phoebe’s board, not that it makes the slightest difference in Phoebe’s case of course. (Need a junk yard dawg on its board.) However, certainly don’t want too many of those who don’t have knowledge and interest in what’s involved, however. I’m ok with Aaron–to keep the lawyer in line.

LEAVE IT TO THE Journal to run an anonymous notation from a parent who they can’t even verify was the real parent.