Rockdale Citizen

"The conduct of the school board of Newton County is on the same level as Clayton County with its infighting and governing along racial lines with what appears to be no regard for the CHILDREN of our county. The only difference is the Clayton folks just didn't like each other and the Newton folks vote along racial lines. NOTHING GETS DONE! I am embarrassed! ... Do we have children running the board who throw tantrums when they do not like something? There have been numerous complaints about the principal at Alcovy High School from both parents and teachers but guess what ... those complaints landed on the desk of one of two people -- the principal's husband or their good friend who was hired by the husband. So, do we think this issue will be resolved? And what is the end result? I really do not know but can only speculate that many of the teachers will leave this school and go to other systems where nepotism is not allowed. Leading to another question -- what company, agency, government allows a husband to be a direct supervisor of his wife? So, here is how it works: teacher has issue with principal and is advised to take it to the director of Human Resources (good friend of principal and husband) who then tells his supervisor (husband of principal) about the complaint and, yep, you guessed it -- NOTHING is done. BTW, these relationships are public knowledge, at least by many, as the Principal, who received anonymous negative comments in the Citizen Post, is suing the Post for the names of the folks who wrote in. Principal doesn't know first amendment rights? YIKES! Surely to goodness the judge will toss this case. But in the meantime because the board is racially balanced in favor of the principal, her husband and their good friend, nothing will be done about this. People!! These are the folks making decisions about your children's education! Do you care at all?? I'm certain you do and encourage you to educate yourself on the qualifications of the candidates for school board positions in the upcoming elections. The ultimate losers of this type of behavior is our CHILDREN. What have they done to deserve this? Please ask yourself this question."

"ATTENTON PORTERDALE RESIDENTS. Be advised that when you renew your auto tags you are paying 57% more just because you reside in Porterdale. Newton County taxes you at a 34.676 rate while Porterdale is a whopping 54.568 rate. You can thank the Porterdale City Council for their tax and spend mindset."

"Qualifying for elected offices in 2012 ends a few days from this writing. Already it seems prominent Democrats on the west side of Newton County have pushed gullible "Republicans" (RINOs, Republican In Name Only)) into races in middle and eastern sections of the county. Their plan is to elect Democrats in West Newton and their GOP helpers elsewhere. Of course, their goal is to keep a long held grip on power that they can't otherwise have without their candidates on the ballot all over Newton County. My message to those who will vote in the July 31 Republican Primary: Take a close look at your candidates and make sure they are their own person, they share your core beliefs and they are clean of Democratic influence and fingerprints. Otherwise, nothing will ever change and the good ole boys will run this county forever."

"Congratulations to all of the Citizen Staffers who won awards from the Georgia Associated Press Association! Congratulations to Michelle Floyd, Crystal Tatum, Barbara Knowles, Aimee Jones and to Erin Evans! A BIG CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Erin Evans for winning the 2011 PHOTO OF THE YEAR AWARD! Keep up the good work!"

"There is a big political surprise brewing in a school board race. Someone is going to be embarrassed in late July and is not the election, just an eye-opening announcement. Who could it be? And what is it? Stay tuned next week to the same bat channel and same bat time. Late July will be here before you know it. Oh, does anyone know how to post to ah Facebook."

"Did you read that Newton Fire Service Chief Mike Satterfield announced his retirement in the April 25 edition? Satterfield served 31 years in the Hall County Fire Service, 21 years as Chief. Satterfield had a real retirement from Hall County and did not have to work, he just wanted to bring his expertise to Newton County to improve our department. Satterfield lasted five years before announcing his resignation from the Newton County Fire Service. Satterfield was quoted in the Newton Citizen as saying "he's faced challenges in both Hall and Newton, but none more daunting that in the years 1982 to 1983 and in the past three years when tough economic times dictated scarcity of resources." "It's easy to manage when you have all the resources you need, but it's tough to manage when you have your resources taken away, no new resources and existing resources are moved," he observed. "You have to really think outside the box and do some things that are not traditional, not standard and accepted ways we do business in emergency service. We've had some of that." He gave examples of moving staff and equipment to serve dual and sometimes triple purposes; pitching in to keep the administrative end of the business running smoothly; and even cleaning their own offices. Did you get it? The Chief got fed up; he had had enough of our Commissioners and all entire budget cuts, to the point that he could not do his job, and it was not fun anymore. He had a good retirement and did not have to put up with it. You have to have a certain number of personnel and equipment at each fire station to meet minimum standards. He could not do it, even with moving people and equipment once, twice and three time a day trying to meet the minimum with the current manpower and equipment. End result. We do not meet standards. We will most likely stand outside your home that is on fire and squirt water on it from the driveway, even if your family is inside. We do not have enough people for an interior attack with current staffing. Thank you Newton County Commissioners, Ewing, Fleming and Henderson."

"Several years ago I served on a Newton County Grand Jury. It was an eye-opening experience to hear all the criminal cases that were presented. We are not living in Mayberry anymore. I also learned that a Grand Jury is allowed to civilly investigate county offices and they can inspect county offices and operations. I think our current Grand Jury should do both. With all the political shenanigans of Commissioners Ewing, Fleming and Henderson over the past few years, it is an embarrassment to good government. I bet the readers can suggest a lengthy list of topics for the Grand Jury to look at."

"I don't know about ya'll but I am sick and tired of hearing of all the back stabbing, colluding, sneaky plotting and scheming by Commissioners Mort Ewing and Tim Fleming. Both of you conspirators know you cannot win another election so leave already. Good riddance!"

"Has it happened already in Newton County? After scanning headlines in both local newspapers today, we now seem to be in the lurch of major crime increases here at home. One after the other after the other stories reveal that we are the new Fulton, Clayton and/or DeKalb counties. Who is to blame for this conversion of a quiet, friendly county we once enjoyed? All of us knew what was happening back in the 90s but were unable to convince our past Boards of Commissioners of the outcome. If you look at former commissioners, you can see their penchant for unbridled construction, small houses whose taxes wouldn't even support the services required for the influx. The Commissioners were also in bed, so to speak, with the developers, letting them run roughshod over the entire county. What good is a 'development overlay' when it can be changed as often as the winds change. The great hype over our new 50-year development overlay is much overrated based on the recent past history. What is it good for? Apparently nothing except to provide jobs for some bureaucrats. Even with public outcry in the Commission meetings by citizens living in areas which were doomed to change went most often unheard by the commissioners. I certainly hope the commissioners have finally learned a lesson here. Commissioners from the 90s and early 2000 eras were responsible for this mess we call our home. I would like to have had a photo of each of them to post here so you could all see who they are. And, in conclusion, there are many other things their stupidity has given to us. How do you like the traffic problems and the burgeoning school budget for new school construction? The crime and all these other problems are gifts from our Newton County Board of Commissioners."

"I guess, we the average citizen simply do not have the knowledge of the elected. Here we are, taking a big loss on house values, the BOE has serious problems with budgets, county employees being furloughed, gas way up, people losing their homes and others just trying to keep theirs. So, the thing to do, is to want to spend $1,650 million (about) on a trail with a tunnel. Now everyone knows what the word "about" means. Add to that an over-ride cost factor of 10 percent or another $165,000 and you come up with a far better cost, IF it is done today in today's money. Looks as if we are going into the TUNNEL BUSINESS. All you drivers and walkers that pass by the turn-around, how many people have you ever seen walking toward or even using the tunnel. Since its opening, I haven't seen a single person using it. Good way to spend our tax dollars. In today's climate, people do not walk, they ride in cars to go somewhere. But again, we the average do not enjoy using the check books as well as others."

"Yesterday, May 20, I attended church. The singing was very nice, the pastor gave a heartfelt message and a little (girl) gave gave her life to Christ and will soon be baptized. However, not one time did I hear anyone express a bad opinion about the Covington Police Department, a unit that leaves their home and family on Sunday and other days as well to protect us."