“The Future Maintenance of Projects”
The SPLOST V project list contains an option that should be handled by a private entity. The aquatic center has been on the dream list many times around and it is yet to see the light of day. Knowing the track record of the BoC these projects have a good chance of not being done so as to transfer the money to other areas that were not voted on by the citizens. Yes, they will ask and promote these things yet cannot fix the parks that they already have in the county. Maintaining the parks is an expensive endeavor and yes you the taxpayer are on the hook to pay for all this, in the long run, many times over. For example, they set aside $2 million for a ball field and park. Then, over the years it will cost far more than that to maintain by hiring staff and the future costs of building materials will go up. That leaves the citizens with bills long after those in elected office have retired to another state. If they are not properly maintained they will fall apart and you then have nothing. Don’t let those in power leave you like a deer in the headlights with a debt they created for their own gain. Whether it is political or monetary gain to friends the money is a bottomless pit for those who pretend to know what they are doing. Get out and vote NO for SPLOST V.
The Staff
“The People Need To Do Their Homework On SPLOST”
The people need to do their homework on the SPLOST V proposal that is on the ballot. Go back and look at the BoC Meeting held on June 18, 2019. In this meeting, the commissioners approved a one-page Resolution 19-163 where they called for a new SPLOST program. Eleven days later on July 29, 2019, the BoC again discussed the projects that would be on the list. The Staff requested a $30 million bond also for the ballot. After they discussed all this, they approved something. You have to look closely to see what type of smoke and mirrors they are playing within this discussion. During the meeting, the county manager said that the resolution had to be to the election board by August 1, 2019 to be placed on the ballot. The strange thing is no written resolution shown or was one offered. Normally these are shown to the public. Then came the August 20, 2019 BoC meeting where the county attorney said that even though the BoC approved a motion that was to be a resolution to meet the requirements of SPLOST law, it was merely a motion and not a written resolution. He requested the board rescind the resolution that was not in writing and approve his 13-page resolution. After some commissioners questioned the validity of the projects it was approved. Now the question begs to be answered is this resolution legally valid for the ballot? Since the resolution had to be done by August 1st and was not done until August 20th. How could it be on the ballot? This is a very good reason to Vote NO on SPLOST V.
The Staff
“Here is why not to vote for SPLOST V”
It is being revealed every day that the former SPLOST programs voted on by the citizens have either been wasted in many cases or never finished as promised. For example, the money that should have gone to the Hampton Senior Center was diverted elsewhere and the final building was not what was promised. Yet the county bought the center in Locust Grove because the city could not afford what they built. So, the Hampton money went to them. That is not right. The SPLOST was not designed to be handled like they have done ever since its inception. The people of Henry County voted for SPLOST IV which included $5 million for a study on the interchange to be built on Bethlehem Rd at I-75 to divert truck traffic in the area. But the three democrats on the BoC decided recently to take this off the ARC wish list for Henry County. Why? Who told them not to put it on there? The BoC Chair said there are no plans for an inland port on Bethlehem Rd. Why did Norfolk Southern Railroad buy all the land between Hwy 42 and I-75 on the northside of Bethlehem Rd? Discussions were had about a decade ago about them building an intermodal train yard there for shipping trailers brought in from Savannah to be put on trucks to go across the southeast. They would need the exit at Bethlehem Rd to handle all this traffic. This was part of the agenda back then and the intent would be for this to be built in 20-25 years from that time. The Chair of the BoC needs to learn the difference between an inland port and an intermodal rail yard. If these commissioners can do no better than what they have done since they have been in office then it is a good idea to Vote NO on SPLOST V in November. It is not for the children that is for sure.
The Staff
Many people have lost sight of what a county government is obligated to provide its citizens. In Georgia, unlike most states with large cities, the county is still the center of political and cultural life for a majority of the state's citizens. Counties carry out locally a variety of state programs and policies, including collecting taxes, overseeing elections, conducting courts of law, filing official records, maintaining roads, and providing for the welfare of citizens (police and fire services). That is the bottom line of what a county is required to provide those who live within it's borders. And many counties are failing at providing the basic duties of government. For example: Henry County does a poor job of making the roads ready for the huge influx of people who have moved here and continue to move here by the thousands with more on the way. They are not required to continue to build parks, water parks, arena, amphitheaters, and the many other amenities that people want with SPLOST programs. For those who claim to be conservative, they sure do like to tax themselves into the gutter and then want to see the bureaucracy grow to untold proportions that they cannot support. With the projects on the SPLOST list many of them should be done privately and not through the use of taxpayer dollars. Why should those of the population fund items they will never use? Why expect to lay that burden on the backs of those who cannot afford it? The reason is that they found a cash cow that is easy to milk from consumers. Years ago they started SPLOST to help with road issues and said it would only last the duration of the time allotted. Then, they came back to the well once again and again. Many of these infrastructure projects that were listed have never come to fruition because the money seemed to get allocated to other projects and that is not how the program is supposed to work. And to keep the citizens from voicing their opinions on these subjects the BoC leadership wants to limit your time to speak to three minutes which is not enough time to state a position. You are guaranteed the right to redress the government for grievances in the United States Constitution and many areas are in violation of the Constitution in this matter. The best thing to do is to cut off the slush fund and Vote NO on SPLOST V on November 5th.
The Staff
While listening to those of the elite class speak about the need for a SPLOST continuation, it has come to many that this program of continued taxation for those who have an agenda are clearly working to put the poor and working-class people out of the county. They are already working behind the scenes with a blight ordinance to get rid of people who live in what they deem as a blighted area. Many poor and hard-working people live in homes that are considered beneath the upper crust of people. Many old residents live in them on social security and barely get by and cannot afford to fix those homes that were their dream in their prime of life. Those in the elite class do not care and would rather see those residents put away in a home for the elderly away from them. They want to see those homes bulldozed and making a way for new businesses, apartments, and one half million dollar homes. They want more tax money because these elderly, retired and disabled citizens don’t pay as much property tax money as those in the business and elitist homes pay. That is why most of those you see in the public promoting SPLOST V are from this group of elite Henry
Countians. Vote NO to SPLOST V to send a message to that elite class that those elderly and disabled people deserve a home of their own just like them.
The Staff
Those of us who don’t want another SPLOST in Henry County understand that there are people who do want the SPLOST. Some give reasons that are tailor-made responses being passed around by the group that wants the SPLOST. Another group of people are voicing their approval of the SPLOST and trying to make John Q Public think it is a wonderful idea. But what is troubling is that some of these who are pushing for the SPLOST are making money off the SPLOST that is put in by the taxpayers of the county and from outside the county. Sure they want the SPLOST so they can build the line share of the large ticket items on the project list. And what does this show? It speaks of greed, gall, ego and above all deception. The old cliches about why we need a SPLOST have worn old when we finally see where the money taken in goes. It looks bad to see people promote a SPLOST and then benefit personally from it, especially those out there having a hard time making ends meet. We hear from those who have relatives working on the SPLOST committees that just a few short years ago raised the roof about the SPLOST. This tax is a slush fund for the mediocre leadership in office and those who benefit from it that have ties to the leadership. It has been a never-ending trip down the rabbit hole to a bottomless pit and the projects are not completed and some go back several years. Just keep in mind, you get what you vote for in office. It is time to cut the ties between them and the slush fund. Vote NO For SPLOST V.
The Staff
“Malfunction Junction and They Want Your Money?”
The Henry County Board of Commissioners recently voted to not approve the Bethlehem Road exit for I-75 on the proposed SPLOST V list for the ARC. The Board had it put on the SPLOST IV ballot about five years ago. Now they don’t want to follow through on it. This is why you don’t need to continue a SPLOST program because they are sending your money down a rabbit hole to nowhere.
Even Commissioner Gary Barham made the following statement at the meeting:
“Gary Barham noted that funding for the interchange was clearly defined on the last SPLOST program approved by voters several years ago. “We can’t ask voters to approve SPLOST V if we can’t follow through with SPLOST IV projects,” he said.”
The three voting block commissioners who have their own agenda and like to travel to Washington for training for African-American politicians made sure to block the vote by voting against the interchange. Little do they know that Norfolk Southern who owns a vast amount of property in that area plans to build an inland container port there. This is a Federal project and when the railroad wants something they will get it regardless of the petty commissioners. That interchange will go in and someone’s tax dollars will pay for it.
Those who are handling your money on the BoC cannot be trusted to open an umbrella much less than to handle your money that is so hard to earn. VOTE NO ON SPLOST V. This has to end.
The Staff
