03 January 2017

[TPC] - The Road Ahead

- TPC -
~ est. 2010 ~
[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]


Greetings, you fine and fabulous readers! It's been a while since we've conversed and we've missed you during the holiday break. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's.

So...now we get to spend the next few weeks trying to remember to write a 7 instead of a 6 on our checks and other documents. How could it possibly be 2017? It just doesn't seem right. Oh well, time marches on, and so do we. 


Newton County Politics


As I write this, the newest edition of the Newton County Board of Commissioners is having their very first meeting at the Historic Courthouse on the Covington Square. There seems to be a widespread sense of optimism throughout the home county, albeit somewhat guarded and cautious. A large and general consensus seems to feel very good about Mr. Stan Edwards being the new Representative from the 1st district. Several feel that he can be the statesman and communicator to put together a voting-majority coalition to finally start getting the hard decisions made and doing the right things while doing things right. A sizable but smaller group feels equally good about Ronnie Cowan bringing his strong intellect and ability for analysis to the table for the greater good of the home county. And more and more, there are good feelings and thoughts about Marcello Banes being a free & independent Chairman of the Board with a strong & genuine desire to help to get this ship in the right direction. 

We'll see... 

What are the most pressing issues for this current board? Hell, what isn't? It's going to be a tough row to hoe and I agree with the words that some have shared in the past few days that they will need at least a little bit of time to get their legs under them. But once that happens - and one would think that this needs to happen sooner rather than later - this board will have a laundry list of items to consider and there will be several tough decisions to be made. What's most pressing? Landfill and the convenience centers? JDA? Additional and more in-depth forensic audits? A move to zero-based budgeting? Streamlining operations and cutting bureaucratic redundancies? The list goes on and on. What's important to you? After all, you, as Citizen and Qualified Elector, are the most important person in this county. You are The People! And you are in charge. You need to talk to your representation. Here's their contact info: 
2017 OFFICIALS OF THE
NEWTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

Marcello Banes, Chairman (Elected/2017)
O: 678.625.1201
M: 404-805-5094
F: 770.784.2007
Stan Edwards – District One (Elected/2017)
O: 678-625-1200
M: 678-294-9166
F: 678.625.1221

Email: asedwards@co.newton.ga.us

Lanier Sims – District Two (Elected/2011)

O: 678.625.1200

M: 404.585.1922
F: 678.625.1221
Email: lsims@co.newton.ga.us

Nancy Schulz – District Three (Elected/2009)

O: 678.625.1200    

M: 770.337.7562

F: 770.784.2014


J.C. Henderson – District Four (Elected/1997)
O: 678.625.1200
M: 770.896.3826
F: 770.784.2014

Ronnie Cowan – District Five (Elected/2017)
O: 678-625-1200
M: 678.313.4607
F: 678.625.1221
Email: rcowan@co.newton.ga.us


In terms of the road ahead for The Piedmont Chronicles, well...we're just going to keep doing what we're doing. An eye on local events, politics, and issues as well coverage of music, the arts, culture, local history, and human interest stories. Ellis Millsaps is still our main (and only) contributing writer, and we might be putting out a few new things and features, too.

I hope this post finds you well and I hope 2017 is the best year yet for all of us.

Best,

M.B. McCart 


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