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, emailpoll@rockdalecitizen.comor complete theonline form.

"Just wanted to share a secret tactic I use at fast food joints. I hate when the drive through person tells me to pull up and wait for my order. I have decided not to do it anymore. Now I just tell them I do not have enough time and I need my money back. This really puts them in a bind because apparently, it takes a lot of time and a manager to authorize refunding money. Usually while they are figuring all this out, my order comes up and I didn't have to pull to the side and hope they didn't forget about me."

"Has Oden figured out yet that the proposed Sunday sale of alcohol has nothing to do with restaurants? And could someone explain, if this passes, how it will create all those jobs that Oden mentioned?"

"We don't need a county manager. They get too much power and do no good for the people. "Just the good old boy net work.""

"The Rockdale Board of Education employs a lot of custodians that do not know how to use a computer or that even own a computer yet they expect them to go online and apply for insurance during open enrollment. When they ask for help at the county office they were told they would not help them. How do you expect them to do this without any help? It is not an easy process for someone that uses the computer daily but you expect them to do it without any help. What is wrong with this picture? Have we become so selfish or uncaring not to help our fellow co-workers. We should all be willing to help each other in any way we can. Remember we are suppose to be in this together."

"Dear Rockdale Citizen. I completely understand and agree with the cost-cutting practice of one weekend paper, and no Monday paper. However, you make your readers miss out on two days of comics, trivia, and other stuff. How about adding these to the weekend and Tuesday papers? Other than that, keep up the good work."

Editor's note: Thanks for your comments. Saturday's comics are published in the Sunday edition, so each edition of the Citizen does contain daily comics, trivia, etc. The comics have to run in sequence so that you don't miss any of the story line in some of the strips. Plus, we can't run comics ahead of the release date. We also run Saturday's TV page in the Friday edition and Monday's TV page in the Sunday edition.

"The citizens of Rockdale owe a great big thanks to Lynn Brown for taking one for the team, now maybe the BOE can function as it should. Thanks Lynn for getting rid of Garvin Haynes."

"This is to the person last week complaining about the plans for the industrial development and MARTA. First, do you realize that the area in question is already industrial? The problem is that many of the lots are overgrown, poorly maintained buildings, some abandoned, and some empty lots littered with junk! If anything, property values will climb a bit as you won't have to pass through dirty rundown industrial to reach your home. Now as to the MARTA station, you do realize that that is exactly what Rockdale needs? The local bus service, not so much, but having a fast reliable rail connection into Atlanta is the only way for Rockdale to even survive at this point. Those of you with 5-mile commutes to a local job have no idea how much you rely on people like me, that want the simplicity of the suburbs while still being able to get into the city for the higher-paying job and greater opportunity. If Rockdale's entire population of commuters to Atlanta disappeared tomorrow, the stores would lose massive amounts of business and possibly have to close for lack of patronage and your local job would suddenly cease to exist. As it is, this county's businesses are losing one customer in about a year, unless some miracle happens and a MARTA or commuter rail line is dropped into place within 12-18 months, I'll be leaving Rockdale for another suburb that isn't afraid to embrace good transit design. If you want to continue to ignore Rockdale's region in the region and maintain an isolationist stance, I'm sure Covington or Social Circle would suit your needs very well and get you farther away from the city. I'd also like to see your data that backs up the wild claim that crime increases when MARTA places a station. Have you even heard of Sandy Springs or Dunwoody? Those are two very nice areas around Atlanta, with excellent MARTA service, but they haven't dissolved into a criminal battlefield. Now I will say I am fully against any sort of low-income apartments. Transit Oriented Development should cater to the higher-end income population offering them ease of access to the regional economic center. The bottom line is that MARTA rail can only help Rockdale, not hurt."

"As a teacher, I have witnessed or heard about several crimes committed at my school by students. In light of the Penn State scandal where Paterno was fired for not calling police, I wonder if I should call the police even though the administrators know about it. The students have received punishment like ISS or suspension, but in my opinion these students should not be allowed to be in school. I would not want my children in school with them. I just don't know if it is ethical to go to the police when the administrators have already taken some action."

"The commission of a committee to unearth the ever-growing concerns of the masses, well intentioned it may be, is a farce. The strings of the oligarchy have lengthened. Their control has reached far into the subservient class of teachers, like the Soviet satellite cities in Eastern Europe. To fix FLEX, allegedly, pawns have been recruited, though they must know that this plot has already been written. The deflection and unanswered questions about FLEX foreshadows the already established guidelines of the program. However, they continue to push, to coerce, and mislead, leading the masses into an abyss of hopelessness and passive resistance. Onward on the journey we must go, without a destination, we wander the desert in search of salvation. A committee with no power or authority is not a committee for revolution. A committee established after the fact, are only marionettes in a show under the patronages of the system of control."

"Teachers in Rockdale County are tired of having the rules of the 'hoop jumping' exercise that their evaluator calls an observation changed on them every year. It is high time we had the ability to provide feedback on those evaluating us! If students can now give feedback on teachers, why can't teachers give feedback on the administration? Or better yet those who placed the 'can't get out of my office to do anything' administration there in the first place? Have the results published in the Rockdale Citizen for everyone to see. Then the citizens of Rockdale County would know that those at the county office need not pass around any more of the Kool-Aid they have been asking everyone to drink for so long."

"'We do not need to create special privileges in the name of equal rights.' This quote is my comment to -- Rockdale Democrats select new Elections Board member, Caycie Dix. The Nov 16 article says, '...She is currently vice president of the NewRock Legal Society, an organization of local attorneys focusing legal needs of black and minority residents...' I hope she will remember that she now represents all Rockdale Democrats, not just minorities, and she is to serve the board and focus on all voters. By the way -- the quote was from an Oct 25 article by African- American Thomas Sowell."

Editor's Note: NewRock Legal Society is described on its Web site as a "volunteer minority bar association." NRLS President Phinia Aten clarifed to the Citizen that her group serves all residents regardless of race.

"How many people are in the local Republican party? Three? I'm a conservative who wants to feel represented on the board. All I feel now is that the Republican party feels the Browns and Bond are the only qualified people to serve on the board out of this whole county."

"I have always voted Republican, but for the past couple of years I have heard people throwing the slogan 'more of the same' around regarding candidates. It seems that our local GOP has embraced that slogan and taken it to a higher level with the appointment of Mr. Brown to the Elections Board. What a joke, the nightmare continues!"

"Now we get to waste more taxpayers dollars watching Mr. Brown argue with Ms. Dix over Mr. Bond. Unreal! It seems the only good faith appointment was Ms. Dix and even though I am a conservative, I hope she will be a fair voice of reason."

"I have seen this comment posted a few times in the poll in regards to teachers. Some people are telling the teachers to tell the administration what is wrong instead of complaining. We have done that. Teachers get ignored so much that we just don't waste our breath anymore. In fact, I once stated a situation that needed change at a meeting and I was talked down to in front of my co-workers that I just never spoke again at any meeting. It is bad enough to be disrespected by students, but then getting disrespected from my administrators just causes us to not care. The kids have more rights than we do, and they know this as a fact. The students know that if they get in trouble that all they have to do is call their parents to come to the school and complain to the principal to 'save the day.' We have no control in our classroom as we have no power. Once I assigned a detention to a student and the student ran to the administration to complain. I received a call from the administration to cancel the detention. After that experience, I have just stopped assigning detentions. The kids are not being held accountable for their actions. Administration doesn't like us writing referrals as that makes the school 'look bad.' I feel that more referrals show others that we don't play with bad behavior. When I was a student, if someone was bad you were sent to the principal's office for the paddle. Today, you breathe on a kid and then you end up in the office later to prove your case that you didn't touch the kid as the student lied about the incident. I have grown up in this county, and I have been proud of the education that I received. Being a teacher here lately is making me really disappointed as the schools are now being run by the parents and students, and it is just out of control."