Rockdale Citizen

The Citizen Poll is a weekly compilation of reader comments on subjects of local interest. The Citizen publishes as many comments as space allows. Comments, which may be edited for space or content, are published anonymously on Sunday. To submit a comment, call 770-483-7108, ext. 402, e-mail: poll@rockdalecitizen.com or complete the online form.

"How many more teachers have to leave Conyers Middle School before someone at the county office wakes up and realizes that the students more than anyone else are getting the shaft because of how the principal runs the school? Another good one goes off to greener pastures ... best of luck. You cannot be easily replaced!"

"Once upon a time, teachers in Rockdale were respected by their students and supported by their administration. Coincidentally, test scores in Rockdale ranked among the highest in the state. Here's a thought: how about we restore the respect, dignity, and authority of the teaching position back to the classroom and see what happens? The teacher is the adult in the classroom, not the student. Students should be accountable to the teacher, not the other way around! It's up to the administration to gauge the effectiveness of the teacher. Why should the opinions of slackers and disciplinary problems count toward the evaluations of hard-working professionals? It doesn't work in the home, and it won't work in the classroom, either! This policy will only succeed in driving more of the good teachers out of Rockdale and turn this school system into a clone of DeKalb County's."

"Wow!! Just left Big Haynes Creek Nature Center in shock. Why you ask? Well I took my grandchild for a nature walk (1 /11) on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. The first thing that alarmed me was a box laying on the ground in the parking lot. Went over to pick it up and throw away, but wait ... it said fetish clothing. Had a picture of a half naked woman on it. As we walked in the beautiful park over to the canoe launch, I saw four people standing on the dock. As we got closer I noticed an older man, young man, and two young females. But wait, one was wearing booty shorts, brat with hearts over the hummm, let just say the area where cold shows ( it was a cool day) and stilettos. They were taking very provocative pictures. Before I could turn around, my grandchild saw them and said 'that's just wrong.' Out of the mouths of babes! Why is this allowed to happen in a family park? What can be done, if anything?"

"What is with this weeks poll? Three opinions ... that's it?"

"I am sorely disappointed in the BOC (Rockdale Board of Education) not investigating teacher morale problems at the schools. It is poor leadership from the top Superintendent Sam King. He has appointed principals who have done nothing to improve the educational atmosphere. From personal experience my wife and I have BOC do something!"

"The administrators at the Olivia Haydel Senior Center have overstepped their authority. They require the seniors to sign waivers for using the exercise equipment that is poorly maintained. The room should be larger and have newer equipment. They also require seniors older than the staff to sign agreements to limit what they can access on the Internet -- as if they are supervising children. By now they have seen everything in their life. They also require an annual usage fee for using the computers in the Senior Center, e,g, to supposedly pay for Internet access. Yet the center wants to allow county departments to use the computers for training county employees whenever they need to. It should be the county paying to have the computer lab every time they need it. There are no fees for using the exercise room, WII or pool table at the center, why do you want to charge for computer usage? Do we need to violate the first amendment rights of seniors while using the Internet?"

"I would like to comment on the Christmas Parade. That was the most unorganized parade. Conyers really needs to work on that. Seems like the only reason people show up is for the candy! If they put some barricades up all along the route people wouldn't run in the streets and get in the way of the floats. The lack of participation from the police department was pathetic. The floats were coming so far apart that at one point people started leaving. In parades floats are supposed to stay together. There wasn't even as many floats as last year. Now I understand why. Wake up Conyers! If you want people to come to your events, you need to make them better!"

"Once again, SSEMC had the right of way workers out using chainsaws, etc. at 7 a.m. this morning. Seven! Could they not start such noisy work at a more decent hour of the day? Some of us are stay home moms (who may have happened to be up half the night with sick kids). Just seems like 8 in the morning would be a more decent time to make such noise outside of people's homes."

"A year or so ago, a woman became concerned over the difference between cane sugar and corn sugar. She became so concerned, in fact, that she sought out experts on the subject and learned that 'Your body doesn't know the difference. Sugar is sugar.' Since learning this life-altering fact, she has felt compelled to share this information with the rest of the country. Several times each day, at tremendous expense, she visits us on television to reassure us that 'sugar is sugar.' Where would we be today if this lovely lady hadn't taken it upon herself to resolve this question that has weighed so heavily on our minds for generations and then to freely share the answer with us. Don't try to tell me there aren't good people out there."

"MARTA would only bring more thugs to Rockdale, which we have plenty of them any way."----

"I was wondering if the drunk passenger in the city of Conyers truck pulling a float during the christmas parade was part of the festivities."

"Last week a serious accident involving a death occurred on Rockbridge Road within the county limits. The only entrance/exit to one neighborhood was completely blocked for over an hour and a Lifeflight Helicopter landing on scene. Where was this story in the local newspaper? Why wasn't it listed as 'breaking news' on their online page? What were the circumstances of the accident? None of this information was ever reported by the Citizen; in fact the "breaking news' for that evening was a notice about their website being back up ... Tell me what's wrong with this picture?"

Editor's note: The accident to which you refer was serious, but it was not a fatality. The driver of the car is recovering in an Atlanta area hospital, according to the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office. The Citizen endeavors to report every fatal accident that occurs in Rockdale and Newton counties. Due to the high number of auto accidents that occur daily in our coverage area, we do not generally report those that are not fatalities unless they have a significant impact on traffic.

"Rockdale Citizen Poll -- 12-4-2011, 12th paragraph. To the person who wrote concerning the White House labeling 'Christmas Trees' as 'Holiday Trees,' please refer to ...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/christmas/ornaments.asp ... and/or ...

http://www.factcheck.org/2011/11/we-repeat-still-a-christmas-tree/ ... for facts concerning your claim. It's better to NOT repeat what you receive in emails, read on blogs, see/hear on Faux News or hear via radio stations whose editorial content is slanted to one political party. True journalism provided by reputable newspapers and magazines are excellent sources for truth. Snopes.com and FactCheck.org are, also, good sources to expose false rumors."