[tpc] - Guest Post by Samuel Hay, III - Hey, What's The Problem?

The Piedmont Chronicles   

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

*Ed. Note: The following is a post by multi-generational Newtonian, Sam Hay, and his .02 vis-a-vis all things Newton Co. It's a big, hot mess, friends, and Mr. Hay raises many, many valid points. Lord help us - it really is that bad. And the powers that be seem more interested in rearranging the deck chairs on the proverbial Titanic. My word! But remember, you beautiful, awe-inspiring readers, the problem has been going on for generations now in the home county. Rome wasn't built in a day, and we won't fix this epic clusterfuck overnight. But we've got to truly start in earnest. The time is now. We need a kick-ass, Rock Star edition of The Board, and come the first week in January of '17, I think we just might have it. Per usual, I remain optimistic. And as always, thanks for reading!

Hey, what's the problem? 
A guest post by Samuel Hay, III 

~ special to The Chronicles ~ 

JDA. Newton County owes millions in taxes collected and spent illegally according to the JDA, Multi County Authority Contract/Agreement.

Water supplies are going to be at a critical level withing the next two weeks. How could that be, you ask? Well the short answer is that Tommy Craig fought to keep the Thomas Hydro Drinking Water Plant off the table and the Commissioners agreed. Spend $250 million on a Bear Creek Reservoir that would have had no water instead of getting $53 million in free equipment from General Electric for a plant that could have produced 100 million gallons per day at $1.75 per thousand gallons instead of the $4.75 per thousand gallons from the Bear Creek Reservoir, if it had ever even produced a drop. And 25 years later General Electric would have given the plant to Newton County. Dont believe me, I had the contract in my hand!

Having found out, finally, the Library Board had a bid to replace the HVAC unit for less than $200,000.00. and they had a grant already in hand for around $100,000,00 BUT NOOOOO, someone on the Board was pressing to spend a million dollars to replace the unit with the same type of outdated, inefficient unit. So the County Commissioners, without an independent bid, HOCKED THE NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE THE MILLION DOLLARS.

GAZEBO...the County, who owns the town square, turned it over to the City to "MAINTAIN" and now the City wants to build a dinky looking Gazebo on the square which will completely ruin the view and the long loved and recognized landmark. IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT. The Commissioners can stop this ridiculous project by voting "NO".

Election coming up. Do you know why so many people prefer to get bused to the polls rather than getting an absentee ballot? Because if they get an absentee ballot they cant get their pint of whiskey or their twenty dollar bill. I would like to point out that the Secretary of State investigated this problem some years ago because the local authorities turned their heads. They came up with the evidence and two named suspects to be indicted and imprisoned. The only problem was that the State or the Fed didnt do the prosecuting. They left it to the local District Attorney. Well, that was pretty stupid because the local District Attorney was one of the people who was guilty of BUYING VOTES!

Tommy Craig is still pulling a lot of strings. Ezell Brown keeps him fed by continuing to use his legal services when we are spending over a million dollars with another firm to attempt to straighten out the mess he made over the years already. And JC Henderson and Keith Ellis are bound, tied and gagged by TC to do his bidding. This is just crazy.

The powers that be, namely the above mentioned, have placed Newton County in a position of financial disaster trying to make the landfill look worse than it really was so the people/commissioners could more easily be convinced to give up the grandfathered in expansion permit for a REGIONAL LANDFILL. This impending disaster will continue to raise its evil head as long as JC Henderson, Tommy Craig and Keith Ellis are walking the streets. There must be one hell of a payoff at the end of the rainbow for these people to throw an entire county full of good people under the bus. That financial disaster is overdue repairs, Federal and State violations of toxic materials flowing into the Yellow River that could lead to millions in penalties, Lack of funding to make the necessary repairs. And I have to note, there seems to be not one single entry on the proposed SPLOST list for funding to fix these long overdue problems! WE WILL HAVE TO VOTE NO ON SPLOST FOR THIS AND MANY OTHER REASONS. How the people could even consider putting JC Henderson back in office after he supported TRASH MOUNTAIN is beyond me. His district MUST come up with a viable, capable, honest candidate to replace JC HENDERSON.

Why is Keith Ellis clear cutting so much timber belonging to the citizens of Newton County? If he cut everything we own it would be a drop in the bucket as far as paying bills is concerned. Most people believe there is an ulterior motive. I can quickly name several possible ulterior motives.

Newton County probably owns more surplus property than any other county in Georgia, per capita. Why? Well each story has a different angle but we need all this property back on the tax roles and we need that tax money NOW. We are broke. The first thing that needs to go is the GAITHER PLANTATION AND THE LAND FOR THE DEFUNCT BEAR CREEK RESERVOIR....that is after giving back to the Emmett Denby family their homestead. He has nothing to show for a lifetime of hard work. It took every penny of what the County paid him for his land in legal fees. Tommy Craig punished that family because they wouldnt bow down to him. You know, they say that some people, when they die, just go straight to hell.

Newton County has so much debt it is technically bankrupt. You dont have to file any court docs to be bankrupt. You just have to have so much debt without the assets to be able to pay it back. We, folks, are BANKRUPT. Instead of focusing strictly on the most severe problem we face, JC HENDERSON and a few others still want to add more and more pork to the budget and to SPLOST. These people have no business sense nor do they care about how much debt the people are loaded down with. WHAT IF we default and the banks start coming here and foreclosing on your homes and property? They can do that you know. The County is just a small stepping stone between their full faith and credit of taxation and the banks owing your home and property.

Since the little JDA owes over A BILLION DOLLARS with no way to repay it if their only renter moves on, IT IS WAY PAST TIME THEY GET REELED IN. Enough Said. That Board who thinks they are financial geniuses are going to take such a hit, there may be criminal charges filed against them for their lack of management capabilities. I think it may even be too late to hire in a professional to straighten it all out. Do you realize the Board itself has been making all these decisions on their own without outside help in the areas of sales, acquisition, negotiation, financing, world class legal advice, and a whole lot more. These guys get up in the morning and go to work.Then they meet up and talk about the JDA! Incredible, not a single one works primarily for the JDA or has the experience to keep from being conned by world class negotiators.
You just dont send a boy to do a man's job!

I can go on but I need to take a break from all this to keep my brain from exploding.