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The Citizen Newsletter 

The Conserv at ive Vo ice o f Henry Coun t y

 In This Issue:

Page Feature

1 BoC Appointments

2 Henry Releases Financials2 The Study of History3 912 Project News3 Cherokee GOP4 Us vs. Them , by Joanie Scott5 Commentary: Stockbridge Budget6 Biden’ s Gun Control Task Force6 Mr. Nick 7 Obama Picks Hagel for Defense9 Obama Picks Brennan for CIA 

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Issue # 379 January 12, 2 013 

Henry Count y Board of

Commissioners Makes Several

Appointments

 After a unanimous decision to appoint District ICommissioner Reid Bowman as Vice Chairman othe Board and reappoint Shay Mathis as CountyClerk, Commissioners approved several otherboard appointments

 Appointments to the Recreation Board are asfollows: District I- Robert T. Mitchell, Jr., DistricIII-David Wilkerson, District IV-Terry Sanders aDistrict V-Eugene Edwards.

 Appointments to the Henry County Water andSewerage Authority are as follows: District I-Michael Barr, District III-Jimmy Carter, District Harold Jenkins and District V-Carlotta Harrell.

 Appointments to the Zoning Advisory Board areas follows: District I-Alton L. Head, District II-Edward Toney, District III-Jim Risher, District IV

 Vikkie McReynolds, District V-Delander Nelsonand the Chairman appointment is Larry Babb.

 Appointments to the Henry County Developmen Authority are as follows: District I- GeoffreyCauble, District II-John Bozeman and District IICharles Mobley.

 Appointments made to the Library Board are asfollows: District I-Marianne Morfoot, District IIISandy McGarity and the Chairman’ s appointee iJanice Lowe.

For the Council on Aging, appointments are asfollows: District II-Geraldine Tanner and CarolyFloyd and District III-Janie McGarity, CharlieTomlinson and Judy Gilbert.

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Henry Count y Releases Annual Financial Report s

The Henry County Finance Department has released its Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) andComprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for FY2011-12. The documents both detail the finances oHenry County for the year, though the PAFR presents the information in an easy to understand format,making it readable and accessible to all citizens. They are available on the County’ s website for review atwww.henrycounty-ga.org/Finance.

Hist ory is the I deas, Hopes and Dreams of a People

Here is a good description of history by Dr. Stan Deaton and myself at the end.

By Dr. Mike Moon, D.D.

Many people assert that professional historians should only  “celebrate” our past and focus on events and

people in history that make us feel good about ourselves. Above all we should stick to the  “facts.”  But history is a discipline, and the critical examination and interpretation of historical evidence is anessential part of what professional historians do.

Good history goes far beyond a dry recitation of  “facts.”  

Facts are highly subjective, selectively chosen to buttress a particular viewpoint, and they never speak fothemselves.

We all understand that contemporary issues are complex. Why do we expect our history to be any lesscomplicated? It’ s no more a summation of facts than the world in which we live now.

Our past  — like our present  — is a complex maze of interlocking economic, political, social and culturalforces that historians struggle to understand and recreate. No account of the past is ever completelyimpartial, because no human endeavor is or can be.

The best historians constantly ask new questions of old sources and re-examine previous interpretationslight of new evidence. No biography or work of history is therefore ever  “definitive.” The past neverchanges, but history  — the telling of the past  — does.

Certainly much of our past is heroic and inspiring. That’ s often what draws so many of us to love it in thefirst place. But to examine it uncritically simply to make ourselves feel good or confirm what we already

know would be indoctrination, not education.

Certainly much of our past is heroic and inspiring. That’ s often what draws so many of us to love it in thefirst place. But to examine it uncritically simply to make ourselves feel good or confirm what we alreadyknow would be indoctrination, not education. Leaving out the parts of people’ s lives that may seemdistasteful to us today does a disservice to everyone.

History is about what we’ ve achieved, but also about what we’ ve failed to achieve. And history withboundaries cheats us all.

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A healthy debate about the meaning of American history in all its complexity and messiness is an essentpart of a vibrant constitutional democracy.

“History is the ideas, dreams and hopes of a people who think and study on ways to make things better everyone. Dr. Deaton is with the Georgia Historical Society and is a fellow historian. I have been a part othe History of Henry County for a long time now beginning with the aid to Mrs. Rainer when she put theMother of Counties book together back in 1971. I was a teen at the time and helped to locate and sortpapers for her. I learned a great deal from Miss Vessie. History is part of our souls and in our everydaylives. But in any history it is right to make it the truth and not something to sound good at the time. I ha

had pieces of work published around the world and much of it relates to Henry County so people can seepart of what our lives is truly about. Never stand in the way of history because it is made daily and manydon’ t even see it. I have watched this county grow from a farming community with a small population tobustling suburb community to Atlanta with a growing population of all races and religions. We havebecome part of the International face of Georgia. But the history of the past remains and is the foundatifor all we see and live by.”  

HENRY COUNTY 912 PROJECT NEWS 

All Henry County 912 Project Patriots,

First, please allow me to wish each one of you a very joyful and prosperous New Year. I know there arelot of difficult issues that we must face in 2013 but we will face them together. It is important toremember that "WE ARE NOT ALONE."

We have been meeting on the 2nd Monday of each month for the past three years. However, due toscheduling conflicts for the Henry County Meeting Room in 2013, our new meeting day will be the 3rdMonday of each month for the entire year. This is not bad news. This should make it easier for you to plahead knowing the exact date for the 912 meeting. Meeting times will remain the same, gather at 6:30P

and the meeting starts at 7:00PM.

Please plan to bring your enthusiasm, your ideas and your Patriot friends to the meeting on the 21st of January. I look forward to seeing you then, and to a more exciting and productive Henry County 912Project in 2013.

Cherokee Count y GOP

From CCRP Chairman Bob Rugg:

The Cherokee County Republican Party extends its congratulations to Brandon Beach for his successful rfor the Georgia State Senate, filling the seat vacated recently by Chip Rogers. We know that Brandon wido an excellent job of representing Cherokee County. Brandon is a Premium member of CCRP and we ofwhatever help we can to aid his transition into this new position.

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UPDATE ON HENRY COUNTY SHERIFF

KEITH MCBRAYER 

Sheriff Keith McBrayer had chest pains on Saturday morning, January 5th, and was taken to PiedmontHenry by his wife Susan.

 After a procedure in which two stints were used, he was recovering well. He is at home recovering sincMonday.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Us vs. Them

Posted by JOANI E SCOTT, Proof of Right - HTTP: / / PROOFOFRI GHT.W ORDPRESS.COM / 2 0 1 3 / 0 1 / 0 9 / US- VS- THEM /   

Following are excerpts from Scott’ s article. Please visit Proof of Right.

Them The Special Interests.

I’ ve been chronicling instances that have occurred in Henry County over the last four years of cronycapitalism, favoritism, and blatant quid pro quo from some of our elected official who’ ve been beholden Special Interests. Real estate developers; lawyers; bankers; certain civic and business groups  – deals habeen struck which have enriched many of them and in exchange campaigns have been financed in orderfor power to be retained. And the cycle goes on and on.

Like many of you, I had never really paid much attention to local politics until a few years ago when Irealized how corrupt things had become.

Us The Taxpayers.

During my research today for this article, I came across a cached version of a defunct website call HENR

COUNTY ONLI NE where I read an editorial letter written in 2002 by a similarly pissed off taxpayer thatnearly left me speechless (if that’ s possible). After reading it, I realized not a damn thing has changed inthe decade since she wrote it. It reads, in part:

“     Again, alongside the same hardworking, battle-weary citizens, we struggled through dirty campaigns to fight to dethrone two highly controversial and 

unpopular county commissioners who had taken advantage of their positions and lost sight of the will of the people and stood firmly to support the will of the developers, their strong financial campaign supports. 

The Gentleman s Agreement Argument Fail s The argument made by some of the Commissioners yesterday that, when it comes to these boardappointments, there is a  “Gentleman’ s Agreement”  to go along to get along. But if that were the case, wbother voting at all? If these appointments didn’ t matter to the rest of the county, why not simply alloweach Commissioner to make the appointment and be done with it? Those who think this vote is a formal

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are disrespecting the taxpayers. There’ s a reason why appointees must be voted on by the full Board of Commissioners.

Case in point, all of the members of the 2007 Development Authority were responsible for purchasing thCottonfields Golf Course for which we currently owe $12 million dollars. Every current taxpayer in HenryCounty will have to pay for it and that is why every Commissioner gets a say so as to who sits on theDevelopment Authority. 

Distr ict Thr ee Commissioner Gary Barham is one of Them.

Every one of Barham’ s appointments is a throwback to the same old Henry County good old boys groupthat has disrespected the taxpayers. Barham, with these appointments, has chosen the status quo.

Please visit Proof of Right t o read more: HTTP :// PROOFOFRIGHT .WORDPRESS .COM  /2013/01/09/ US - VS - THEM

Commentary : Stockbr idge Cit y Budget 

Recently Stockbridge approved a redesigned budget created by the new mayor. The mayor who was

ousted recently had presented a new budget for 2013. After looking at both budgets it is clear that thenewly designed budget was already in the works before the old mayor was ousted. The city adopted a$22million budget for 2013 up approximately 3% over last year. A special called meeting for adoptioncame on December 27, 2012.

The approved budget includes more than $9 million for the city’ s general fund which includes public woradministration, Stockbridge Municipal Court, police, parks, government buildings, city events, codeenforcement, executive and governing body funds. (A sizeable amount for a city of this size.)

The city is designating $11.8 million in non-general funds which include enterprise funds for storm watesewerage, sanitation, water, city events and funds for the Merle Manders Conference Center and Ted

Strickland Community Center. (Storm Water, sewerage, sanitation, and water are part of taking care ofthe citizens best interest. City events could be cut even more since there is no money for the Veteransevents. Then the funds for the Merle Manders and Strickland Centers should be from the renting of thosfacilities to various groups for meetings and such. Some ran on platforms of cutting funding for thesefacilities due to the budgets they have and they have turned around and are doing exactly what they ranagainst.)

Nearly $6.5 million is budgeted for capital projects in the city, which covers SPLOST funds and money fotransportation enhancement. (The citizens that live behind the Food Depot would hope that some of thmoney would go toward adding sidewalks, fixing the intersection of Nolan St., and overhauling the othe

areas of roads that are the responsibility of the city. Most of the roadways in the city are delegated to tCounty and State D.O.T. systems.)

The budget anticipates $9.2 million in general fund revenues, which is an increase from the $9.1 million the 2012 budget. (Hopefully, this will materialize. With businesses leaving and the economy on fragileground, it is hard to say.)

Stockbridge’ s hotel/motel tax budget will remain at $87,500 and permanent funds for the city’ s cemeterywill stay at $350. (Now this is just great. There are three cemeteries in the city that are considered city

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cemeteries The Stockbridge City on North Henry, Burk ’ s Cemetery on North Henry and the MemorialCemetery over on Cemetery Street. And they expect $350 to take care of the upkeep of these cemeterieThey can find money to build a sign that says Welcome to Eagles Landing that will cost way too much,they can spend nearly $1 million dollars to buy and revamp the old bank building, but they want to chokon $350 to the upkeep of the cemeteries.)

Folks let me tell you all something. The citizens of Stockbridge have not had to pay any property taxes some 34+ years now, so the announcement that the negotiations with the county will keep them frompaying property tax this year or the next ten years is hype. The city over the next ten years is only goin

to gain three tenths of one percent of its share from L.O.S.T. At the rate things are increasing in price twill be obsolete in four years.

The people want to know where the town hall meetings are held if any, they are wanting to know wherethe meetings are being held for laying out districts as promised for the city, they want to know why a citcouncil person who was voted out of office was reappointed to the position. (They have nothing againstthis person personally they just want to know the reasoning behind it.) They want to know when the nemayor is going to present a candidate or candidates for the office of city manager. Several have askedwhat is happening with the historical society (which is meeting in private since the city doesn’ t seem tocare.) They are wanting to know when and where new businesses will be relocating to Stockbridge to

bring jobs to those who are unemployed in the city. They want to know if the city is going to be run by mayor and three council persons for the foreseeable future because two of the council members are leftout of the loop. The African American community is asking questions as to why any funding was cut forthe Black History Gala. These are just a few of the questions and statements being made in thecommunity where no answers have been coming. Well, it is election year and there will be some newfaces; that is for sure.

VP Biden s Gun Cont rol t ask force

Statement from the NATI ONAL RI FLE ASSOCI ATION-NRA after their meeting with Vice-President Joe Bide

We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how muit had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment. While claiming that no policy proposalswould be  “prejudged,”  this Task Force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawf...ul firearmowners - honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans. It is unfortunate that this Administration continues insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gowners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen. Instead, we will now take our commitmentand meaningful contributions to members of congress of both parties who are interested in having anhonest conversation about what works - and what does not.

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Mr. Nick

We Are Henry MagazineW W W .WEAREHENRY.COM  

“Mr. Nick ”  (as he is fondly called by the students at Woodland Middle School) represents what Tom Brokdescribes as  “...men and women whose everyday lives of duty, honor, achievement and courage gave uthe world we have today….They are the greatest generation.”  

When you talk with Mr. Nixon you realize this soft spoken gentleman is an American treasure, and his lifexperiences put him up where the air is rare indeed.

Mr. Nixon was born in New Orleans on December 21, 1926, and raised in Houma, Louisiana. He becameMarine recruit in March of 1945 at the age of 18. Private Nixon was among the 20,000 Afro-AmericansMarine recruits who received basic training at the segregated Camp Montford Point, adjacent to CampLejeune in North Carolina. Most of the men trained at Montford Point went on to serve as members of support units in the Pacific theatre in World War II.

Private Nixon’ s first duty assignment was in the Norfolk Naval Yard. He laughs as he recounts  “...we wer

the first black Marines anyone had seen and we received mixed reactions from other Marines andcivilians….I just wanted to do my duty and serve like any other American.”  

Then U.S. Marine, Southern Nixon, Jr. received the assignment that proved to be a defining time in his liHe was sent to Hawaii!  “I was on Waikiki Beach every chance I got. The young people were very curiousabout us and very nice….One day a Marine Colonel came up to me and told me,  ‘he was proud because wanted to serve our country and we were a credit to the Marines’ . I still remember that day. We wereMarines and we had a job to do. We were proud and happy. Friendships were formed with the Hawaiianpeople…all in all, it was a great experience.”  

When the war was over, Marine Private Nixon joined the Air Force and served his country for another fo

years!

I asked Mr. Nixon if he had any advice for the younger generation. He paused for a moment and told me“Your time in service is invaluable for anything you want to do. Whether you decide to make it a career go to the next challenge that life offers you. Change comes slow and I am so glad I have lived to see homuch this country is changing every day. I have seen many different people and countries. I am proud thave had the opportunity to serve my country.”  

OBAMA PI CKS HAGEL FOR DEFENSE; ANTI -WAR, ANTI -I SRAELACTI VI STS REJOI CE

HTTP: / / W W W .BREI TBART.COM / B I G-PEACE / 20 13 / 01 / 0 7 / TAK E- THA T- OBAMA-P I CKS-HAGEL 

What more would you expect from our ANTI-ISRAEL President?

It is official: President Barack Obama will announce the nomination of former Senator Chuck Hagel asSecretary of Defense on Monday afternoon. In making his choice, the president has fulfilled the worst

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expectations of his foreign policy critics, while delighting anti-war activists and the anti-Israel left.

The Hagel nomination represents the return of the radical Barack Obama, hitherto hidden under anopportunistic anti-terror persona.

There is, as Bill Kristol observed last week,  “no case for Hagel.” His supporters cannot cite any substantireason he should be Secretary of Defense; instead, they argue that  “Hagel must be appointed in order tspite many of his critics.” Peter Beinart of the Daily Beast confirms that assessment with his weak defensof Hagel this morning: he must be appointed, Beinart argues, to destroy  “the Republican foreign policyestablishment.”  

Not to defend the country, not to strengthen our military, but to win a political argument.

Beinart--whose wife worked for the White House vetting operation, a fact that is rarely mentioned whencomments on politics but is perhaps relevant here--represents the left’ s consensus on Hagel. (And on otmatters--Beinart is so slavishly politically correct that he is careful to assign female gender to ahypothetical Martian in his piece.)

The case against Hagel is clear. He has opposed sanctions on Iran while supporting negotiations with

Hamas, the terrorist Palestinian group. He voted for the Iraq war but opposed it at a time when pulling owould have led to civil war and genocide. He has openly expressed bigotry against gays (for which he haoffered a belated apology). He prefers a smaller military and a humbler America on the world stage. Asdoes Obama.

Those pro-Israel, pro-defense Democrats who argued that Hagel was  “the wrong man, being consideredfor the wrong job, at the wrong time”  (as Alan Dershowitz put it) now face the reality that they have beeused, and abused, by Obama. Dershowitz in particular renewed his endorsement after being reassuredthat Obama would support Israel and stand up to Iran in his second term. Obama misled him, and tomany others.

Jewish legislators are unsettled by the choice of Hagel, a man who once railed against the so-called“Jewish lobby.” Sen. Chuck Schumer has refused to endorse Hagel. Even far-left Barney Frank, who coveJohn Kerry’ s Senate seat, opposes Hagel. Perhaps now we will be spared the absurd, empty boasts of thlikes of Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has insisted that PresidenObama  “has been a better, more consistent friend to Israel than previous administrations.”  

It is amusing to watch liberal pundits like Michael Tomasky and Andrew Sullivan fall all over themselves excuse Hagel’ s anti-gay views:  “It's really not hard to imagine that what Hagel thought on that issue in1998 isn't what he thinks today,”  says Tomasky.  “So much has changed.” Hagel’ s anti-Israel, anti-” neocoviews trump everything else.

The left likes Hagel for the same reason President Obama does: he offers a chance to punish theRepublican opposition, first by making them argue against one of their own, second by assigning him thtask of slashing defense budgets and capabilities. And all under the veneer of a contrived  “bipartisanshipthat unifies the ascendant anti-war left with the rejected isolationist right.

Welcome to the new,  “flexible,”  second Obama term.

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Obama to Nominat e Hamas & Hezbollah Support er as CI A Director 

DAN I EL GREENFI ELD, FRONTPAGEMAG.COM  

Just when you thought that Chuck Hagel was as bad as it was going to get, wait until you meet JohnBrennan. AMERI CA, MEET YOUR NEW CIA DI RECTOR.

Brennan gave a speech to Islamic law students at New York University, where he was 

introduced by Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America. Mattson, who 

had been involved with the Obama inaugural prayer service, had come under fire then for her organization ’      s longstanding terrorist support.

During his NYU speech, Brennan defended the administration ’      s highly unpopular move to try al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court (which the administration eventually backed away from). He claimed that terrorists are the real victims of  “     political,economic and social forces,”      said that Islamic terrorists were not jihadists, referenced “     Al- 

Quds ”      instead of Jerusalem, and described the 20 percent of former Guantanamo detainees returning to terrorist activities as “    not that bad ”      when compared to ordinary criminal 

recidivism.

During a talk at the Nixon Center in May 2010, Brennan said that the administration was looking for ways to build up “    moderate elements ”      of the Lebanese terrorist organization 

Hezbollah.

Two weeks later, at a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),Brennan defended the Islamic doctrines of jihad as “    a holy struggle ”      and “    a legitimate tenet of  

Islam.”       

And Brennan has had a great track record so far. A TRULY SPECTACULAR TRACK RECORD WHI CH MAKES HI M

UNAMBI GUOUSLY qualified to replace Petraeus.

a known top U.S. Hamas official had been given a guided tour of the top-secret National Counterterrorism Center and FBI Academy at Quantico under Brennan ’      s watch, several former top intelligence and defense officials again called for his resignation.

Last month, it was revealed that Brennan was implicated in a serious intelligence breach detailing an ongoing counterterrorism operation led by British and Saudi intelligence agencies that had placed an operative deep inside the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) 

organization. The White House leak forced the termination of the operation and the immediate withdrawal of the double agent, infuriating our foreign intelligence allies.

Just two weeks ago, internal White House documents obtained by Judicial Watch through a FOIA request revealed that Brennan and other White House officials had met twice with Hollywood filmmakers preparing a movie about the killing of Osama bin Laden, providing them 

unparalleled access including the identity of a SEAL Team 6 operator and commander along with other classified information. Amazingly, these high-level White House meetings between Brennan and the Hollywood filmmakers took place just weeks after the Pentagon and CIA had 

 publicly warned of the dangers posed by leaks surrounding the successful SEAL raid killing bin Laden.

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