Sunday, November 27, 2016

Proposed SR 316 Corridor Study Before Oconee Commission Includes Proposed Daniells Bridge Road Flyover

Dec. 6 Election To Play Role

When Oconee County Public Works Director Emil Beshara reviewed bids for the SR 316 corridor study at the Nov. 1 Board of Commissioners meeting, he made no mention of the proposed Daniell's Bridge Road flyover of SR Loop 10.

Bidders, however, knew the controversial project was to be a part of the study they were being asked to do.

Appointments To Hard Labor Creek Reservoir Board On Agenda For Oconee County Commission Again

Alcohol Ordinance Too

Oconee County Commissioners will be asked again on Tuesday to decide if they want to replace Chuck Horton as one of two citizen alternates on the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board and appoint instead the executive director of the Georgia Green Industry Association.

The commissioners said at the beginning of the month that they expected that a special election to fill a vacancy on the Board of Commissioners would be settled by now, clarifying Horton’s eligibility for the spot.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Journalism As Applied Social Science And The Third-Person Effect

Response To Critics

I am writing this post because my daughter told me to.

I won’t blame her if it fails, but I do want to credit her if it succeeds.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Georgia Democratic Representative Advises Oconee County Democrats To Be Cautious In Responding To Trump Victory

From Cobb County

Stacey Evans, Democratic Representative from Smyrna to the Georgia House, told Oconee County Democrats not to criticize the voters for the defeat of Hillary Clinton and election of Donald Trump on Nov. 8 in Georgia.

The Democrats didn’t get out enough of their voters to win the election in Georgia and across the country, she said.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Oconee County Turnout Highest In State In An Election In Which Trump Underperformed Locally Compared With Recent Elections

422 Write-In Votes

Donald Trump underperformed in Oconee County on Nov. 8, compared with how Republican presidential candidates fared in 2012 and 2008, an analysis of the official results for the last three presidential elections shows.

Trump got 67.4 percent of the vote in Oconee County on Nov. 8, compared with Mitt Romney’s 73.6 percent in 2012 and John McCain’s 70.8 percent in 2008.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Oconee County Planning Commission Gives Negative Review To Solar Energy Farm Proposal

Next Vote Dec. 6

The Oconee County Planning Commission voted overwhelmingly last (Monday) night against a request to rezone 238 acres on McNutt Creek Road and Dials Mill Road in the far northwest of the county for a solar energy farm.

The vote was before a full room of citizens, most of whom were opposed to the proposed 38 megawatt solar energy farm on two separate parcels of land separated by Dials Mill Road.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Early Voting Available Only Five Days In Runoff For Oconee County Commission Post II

Turnout Will Be Key

Early voting starts on Nov. 28, the Monday after Thanksgiving, for the Dec. 6 runoff election for Post II on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners.

Early voting will run only Monday through Friday of that week and will be held at the Board of Elections and Registration Office, 10 Court Street, across from the Oconee County Courthouse in Watkinsville.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Oconee County Utility Department Director Promises Sewer Service To Calls Creek Residents; Costs Of Delivery Not Known

Affects Comparisons

At the Town Hall meeting late last month, Oconee County Utility Department Director Wayne Haynie said the county would put in not one but two sewer lines down Calls Creek if the Board of Commissioners approved his plans for the upgrade of the county’s sewage treatment plant.

Haynie was making the case for the gravity sewer line to a skeptical audience, arguing that young home owners would be attracted to the Calls Creek corridor by the availability of sewage service over the existing private septic systems that serve the subdivisions along the creek.

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Horton And Wiedower Will Meet In December For Runoff In Oconee County Board Of Commission Race

The 905 mailed in absentee ballots, counted after this story was posted, did not affect any of the elections except for Watkinsville Post 5. Dan Matthews ended up leading Mark Melvin by 1 vote, but neither got a majority because five persons wrote in the name of a candidate.

Tie In Watkinsville

Oconee County voters will be back at the polls on Dec. 6 to decide the outcome of the special election to fill Post 2 on the Board of Commissioners, as none of the three candidates got more than 50 percent of the vote.

With all but about 900 absentee ballots counted, Chuck Horton had 45.1 percent of the vote, Marcus Wiedower had 30.5 percent, and Ben Bridges had 23.7 percent.

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Three Candidates For Board Of Commissioners Slot Express Strong Support For County’s Parks And Recreation Department

One Says Funds Available

Oconee County Parks and Recreation Director John Gentry told the Board of Commissioners on Aug. 30 that the county is at a decision point regarding the future of the operation of its parks.

The commissioners must decide if the Parks and Recreation Department should continue both to manage facilities and to manage youth and adult programs, or if the department should play a lesser role, perhaps only managing facilities.

Friday, November 04, 2016

Attack Advertisement Mailed To Oconee County Homes In Board Of Commissioners Race

Horton The Target

The campaign for the open Post 2 seat on the Oconee County Board of Commissioners turned negative this week as a campaign flier attacking candidate Chuck Horton as a “career politician” who has threatened the county’s school system arrived in select mailboxes in the county.

The dark colored, six-inch by 11-inch flier does not indicate who paid for the mailing, but it lists as the mailing address the postal box used by Marcus for Oconee BOC, the organization of candidate Marcus Wiedower.

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Oconee County Commissioner Luke Went Against Colleagues And Objected To Committee Appointments, Spending On Road Projects

With Some Success

Oconee County Commissioner Jim Luke broke ranks with his fellow commissioners three times last (Tuesday) night in what is likely to be his fourth last meeting on the Commission.

He refused to go along with an attempt to remove former Commissioner Chuck Horton from the Hard Labor Creek Regional Reservoir Management Board, where Horton serves as a citizen member.