FreedomWorks voices strong opposition of proposed 2 mill tax increase at this time as we don’t feel like the Board of Commissions has justified a need for an increase.

FreedomWorks and Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government will host another Town Hall meeting on October 29th at 7 PM at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center auditorium.

Among the topics sure to be discussed is the latest comment by Commissioner Kevin Kenerly who stated the county will need a tax increase of 2 mills in order to meet the budget needs and reduce cut-backs.

FreedomWorks grassroots coordinator Debbie Dooley stated, “after all the spending cuts, Commissioner Kenerly, who is not seeking re-election, requests a 59 million dollar or 2 mills increase. The Board of Commissioners needs to clearly and in detail define exactly what programs that will fund. We also request a detailed accounting of what programs have been cut and the amount of the cut. Public Safety programs are essential to the safety of our citizens. There are other areas that are luxuries and not essential during this time of economic hardship.”

We do not believe all the budget cuts have been responsible nor do we believe that all options have been fully exhausted before requesting a tax increase. We urge the public to send their suggestions for cost savings and ways to generate revenue to gwinnettbudgetcuts@gmail.com These suggestions will be discussed at the Town Hall on October 29.

Gwinnett property owners already saw a $200 – 300 increase in their property tax bill because of last fall’s unfunded State homeowner’s property relief grant. Gwinnett homeowners can not afford an additional $168 increase in this economic down turn. The Board of Commissioners, to their credit, has demonstrated that they will listen when the tax payers speak loudly and enmasse. We urge them to listen to alternative suggestions from the Gwinnett County tax payers before raising taxes by 2 mills.

The fact is we have every right to ask these questions. Every member of the BOC ran their elections based on lower taxes and responsible spending. The seats belong to the tax payers. We are their employers and they are accountable to us.”

For more information contact Debbie Dooley at 404-404-625-4986 or debbie0040@yahoo.com

Gwinnett County Public Schools is releasing today the proposed attendance zones for five elementary schools and one middle school opening in August.

The redistricting will affect the boundary lines for 29 existing schools and four clusters, said Greg Stanfield, the district’s planning director.

Maps of the proposed boundaries will be available today at affected schools and on the school district’s Web site, www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us.

“We want to balance enrollment to have the best distribution of students,” spokeswoman Sloan Roach said. “In this case, we are opening six new schools, and the redistricting process will allow us to create the student population for those schools.

The public is invited to provide input on the proposed boundaries. Input forms, available at schools and online, are due by Nov. 4.

Also a great follow up article on this by Bob Griggs at TalkGwinnett.com:
First of Many Bad Land Deals Finally Exposed.

The next time you hear Chairman Bannister try to blame anyone but himself for the mess Gwinnett is in then please read this article. It highlights the true cause of the mess. Is this the only mess? I wish but deals and work like this highlight how bad it has gotten. From Land Deals, to Trash Plans to an unnecessary Stadiums its a wonder we have a county anymore.

Also after reading this article I have to ask those in District 1 what the heck were you thinking when you voted.

From the AJC article:

The purchase, made as the county faced a huge budget shortfall, is another in a string of land deals that have raised questions about the board’s financial stewardship and cozy relationships between some commissioners and developers.

In August, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published stories detailing similar and questionable purchases the county has made, or attempted to make, since 2007.

After reviewing the AJC’s reports, District Attorney Danny Porter last week asked for a special grand jury to investigate those land deals and others by the Gwinnett Board of Commissioners. After hearing from the AJC about this purchase, Porter said he would review it for possible grand jury consideration.

Though Lasseter said she made the best decision she could, she acknowledges now that it might not have been the best use of taxpayer money.

“I’m not perfect. Maybe I made a bad decision,” she said. “Maybe we should have had Lorraine Green vote on it.”

You think?

Engage Gwinnett Citizens Committee Members
Stakeholder Group, Representative

District 1, Kelly Kelkenberg

District 2, Kevin Kovalchik

District 3, Bob Griggs

District 4, Jeff Mahaffey

HOA, Paula Hastings

Citizens for Responsible Government, Lan Nguyen

FreedomWorks, Julianne Thompson

Environmentalist, Carol Hassell

Not-for-profits, Demetrius Jordan

Unity Gwinnett, Herman Pennamon

Asian Community, Cookie Lee

Hispanic Community, Jose Perez

Faith-Based, Norwood Davis

Young Professionals, Asif Jessani

Seniors, Bill Atkinson

Rotary, Scott LeCraw

Gwinnett Municipal Association, Randy Meacham

BOE, Rick Cost

Post Secondary, Julie Post

Community Improvement Districts, Chuck Warbington

Hospital System, David McClesky

Partnership Gwinnett, Mark Tibbetts

Council for Quality Growth, Michael Sullivan

State Delegation, Charles Swain

Constitutional Officers, Jim Pack

Courts, George Hutchinson

DA and Solicitor, Charlotte Nash

Athletic Association, Chris Whitlock

Small Business, Dave McMullen

Large Employer, Renee Byrd-Lewis

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Millicent Crawford, Duluth

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Dick Goodman, Suwanee

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Dan King, Duluth

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Paula Krone, Norcross

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Laurie McClain, Suwanee

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Jack Mason, Buford

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Keith Roche, Lawrenceville

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Keith Shewbert, Norcross

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Kip Stokes, Auburn

Publicly Self-Selected Citizen Representative, Glen Williams, Snellville

10 citizen members (and 12 alternates) of an eventual 42 total members of a group that will study the Gwinnett County budget were chosen last night. The remaining 32 members will come from other segments of Gwinnett County.  They will provide feedback and recommendations to the BOC on budget matters.   The group called Engage Gwinnett will be led by Bill McCargo and Mike Levengood.

The committee will begin meeting Oct. 8 and will meet every other week through March. Two more public meetings are planned – one for the mid-point of the study and one for near the end.

Each of the sessions will be televised on the county government cable channel, and residents can also receive information at www.engagegwinnett.com.

In addition to the member selection, nearly 150 people provided feedback and suggestions on how to conduct the study, which Chairman Charles Bannister called for after a public outcry over a proposed tax increase, which was defeated, then a public outcry over cuts in services.

“This is a very complex situation we are dealing with,” McCargo said. When we have financial issues, we have to make tough choices. … It’s not easy to take a look at a government the size of ours. … We need to be able to determine what are our needs as a community and what are our wants.”

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government is hosting a Town Hall Meeting sponsored by FreedomWorks at the Gwinnett County Justice and Administration Center on August 27th beginning at 7:00pm in the auditorium.

A citizen’s blue ribbon panel will address topics such as budget cuts, taxes, trash plan, land use and county land acquisitions.

“The purpose of this event is to gather citizen input and recommendations from business professionals in Gwinnett County. We formed this organization so that the true feelings of Gwinnett taxpayers could be heard. For too long our government has been influenced by a small group of people rather than by needs and opinions of the voters. We plan to change that and strongly encourage Gwinnett citizens to attend this Town Hall,” said Sabrina Smith, one of the event coordinators. She continued, “In recent months we have seen what a difference can be made when citizens become active and stand up and are heard.”

Elected officials will be invited to make statements at the beginning and be available to answer questions that may arise.

For more information contact Sabrina Smith at gcfrg@yahoo.com.

Since this post was originally made there has been a list of names on the panel.  While some, all, or none of the names may be appealing we think this is one more opportunity for the citizens of Gwinnett to get to ask questions and HOPEFULLY get some answers. You need to be there and be heard.

Those to be involved with the panel:
Mary Kay Murphy – Gwinnett County Schools
Sabrina Smith – Gwinnett Citizens for Responsible Government
Demming Bass – Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
B.J. Van Gundy – E2 Assure
Butch Poss – United Gwinnett Community HOA Alliance
Bob Griggs – Talk Gwinnett
Jim Pack – President (retired) Gwinnett Federal Savings & Loan
Jeremy Brand – What a Waste Gwinnett
Bruce Levell – Gwinnett Village CID
George Thorndyke – Commercial Property Consultants
Sgt. R.E. Long of the local Police Union
A Representative of Save Our Dacula Library
Danny Porter – Gwinnett District Attorney
Butch Conway – Gwinnett Sheriff
And Gwinnett elected and appointed public officials

Please feel free to call Sabrina at 770-572-5888 or send me an email at GCFRG@yahoo.com if you have any questions or suggestions.

Read more: http://www.talkgwinnett.net

The firm hired to draw up a study for Gwinnett County’s solid waste plan told officials Tuesday the report should be completed by mid-October.

So we have to wait until October to see what the consultants are going to recommend. I find it interesting it that it takes that long to compile feed back from 600+ people when the majority of those said they wanted their own choice. So who was one of the 328 that were contact by phone? Would love to hear from you.

At a special briefing held at the courthouse in Lawrenceville, Abby Goldsmith of the consulting firm R.W. Beck reported it had collected opinions from about 650 people. Of that number, 330 had registered opinions at one of the eight public forums held this summer. Another 328 had been contacted by phone or e-mail.

County Administrator Jock Connell will step down at the end of the year, the county’s chief executive officer said Wednesday.

Commissioners have chosen Planning and Development Director Glenn Stephens to replace him, a move expected to become official Tuesday.

“Jock has been the king pin, if you will, since my Day 1,” said Chairman Charles Bannister, who took office in 2005 when Connell became administrator. “He’s performed admirably. … He’s been a great teacher to me.”

Please click on the link above to sign the online petition.

“What A Waste Gwinnett” has joined the trash fiasco fight. Go to their blog to find out about them.

GDP Article by Jamie Ward: Water bills rise with new plan
Tiered pricing policies upset residents

The tiered pricing structure, which customers see on their bill as “Summer Surcharge Tier 1″ or “Summer Surcharge Tier 2,” has one goal in mind, Gwinnett Water Resources Department spokeswoman Lynn Smarr said: conservation.
“The goal of conservation pricing is to reduce excess discretionary water use, such as outdoor irrigation, by making water use increasingly more expensive,” Smarr said. “Conservation pricing encourages smart water use and helps protect our natural resources, all the time and not just during drought conditions.”

Confused? Following that? Us either. It wasn’t enough that during the drought that the residents of the county cut their consumption by almost 20% all on their own but now with the drought over the Water Lords feel they need to charge us into smarter ways?

Smarr said for summer surcharges to appear on a customer’s bill, the user must exceed two boundaries. First, for tier 1, they must exceed 10,000 gallons in the billing period and must have exceeded their winter average use by 125 percent.

Smarr said typical residential usage is about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons per month.

Once summer usage exceeds 200 percent of the winter average, the price structure advances to tier 2.

The rate applied to each tier to calculate the additional summer surcharge gradually increases, too. In tier 1, 97 cents is the rate used. In tier 2, the rate jumps to $3.86.

Effective Jan. 1, a three-tiered approach will also be implemented in addition to the increase for the “volumetric charge” for each 1,000 gallons of water that passes through a water meter. The current charge is $3.86. On Jan. 1 the increase rises to $4.11. Then to compute the third tier of pricing for usage that will exceed 12,000 gallons per month, the rate used will be equal to twice that of the volumetric rate – $8.22.

That is just astronomical jumps in prices. People will be hurt by this financially and most don’t even understand it is going on. People be careful. Know that this can affect you. The need for revenue by these entities will make them think any plan is a good one.

“Our approach to managing revenues and our water resources is a tiered rate structure that will encourage conservation during peak months and during the highest demand period,” she said. “As a public utility, we are required to generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining, which means we have to generate enough revenue to maintain our infrastructure and to provide a level of service that optimizes value and cost.”