Archive for the ‘Leadership’ Category

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

A mutual salute on Father’s Day

By Jim Frederick

As Father’s Day approaches, I am reminded of a question I have been asked many times over the past 16 years: “Aren’t you worried about your son serving in the Army during these times of world conflict?”

My answer is always the same: “No. I am concerned, but not worried.”

My son, you see, has wanted to be soldier since he was about seven years old.

As a child, when Adam was asked where he wanted to go to school and what he wanted to be when he grew up, his unhesitating reply was, “I am going to go to West Point and be a soldier.”

In 1993, my son graduated from Douglas County High School in Douglasville and he did, in fact, attend West Point. He graduated in 1997 and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. These past 16 years have provided him the opportunity to do what he wants to do: be a soldier and fly helicopters. He serves in the best Army in the history of the world and works with the …

Continue reading A soldier’s Father’s Day »

Moderated by Tom Sabulis

On May 21, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled in favor of establishing district voting in Fayette County, where countywide at-large voting has been the norm. The national NAACP had sued the county to change its system to give black candidates a chance in local elections. The county voted to appeal that decision. Today, the NAACP says the time has come for district voting, while the Fayette County Commission chairman says the issue should not be forced.

Commenting is open below.

Fayette mutes black voters

By John Jones

As a child of the Jim Crow era South in Americus, I marched to protest inequality. A lot has changed since then, but not in Fayette County.

Because of great schools and increasing property values, my wife and I thought Fayette had the best quality of life in metro Atlanta. Being near the Atlanta airport was important, since I am a commercial airline pilot.

The black population was about 13 percent when we relocated in 1997, so I …

Continue reading Fayette County voting feud »

Moderated by Rick Badie

The push for a comprehensive immigration law continues in our nation’s capital. The goal: Adopt a credible, bipartisan plan. Today, the president of the Georgia Farm Bureau calls Senate Bill 744 imperfect but necessary so crops won’t rot in the fields. A  Tea Party Patriot raises numerous concerns about the proposed legislation and two other authors write about the “essential economy.”

Georgia farmers need immigration bill

By Zippy Duvall

While most Americans agree the current immigration system is a mess, nobody advocates doing nothing. But nothing is exactly what we’ll get if the U.S. Senate fails to pass its immigration reform bill, SB 744. Without Senate action, America will be stuck with its broken immigration system for the next several years.

The Farm Bureau supports passage of the bill, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. Our country cannot afford to continue with an immigration system that …

Continue reading Immigration Reform »

Moderated by David Ibata

Today we explore the South in the second decade of the 21st century. A cultural historian discusses “Dixie”; the word stirs emotions from nostalgia and pride to anger and bitterness, yet few agree what it really means. A geographer tells why the South’s economic prospects are brighter than in other areas of the country. And a social observer lists trends in race, ethnicity and attitudes that are dramatically reshaping the region.

Dixie: What’s in a name?

By Coleman Hutchison

In the recent dust-up over country singer Brad Paisley’s song “Accidental Racist,” most of the attention has fallen on the song’s description of a Confederate flag on a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt. The song’s reference to “Dixieland” has drawn far less comment and ire.

Why? After all, Paisley’s protagonist — “just a white man comin’ to you from the Southland/Tryin’ to understand what it’s like not to be” — seems to think that the flag and the nickname …

Continue reading Dixie »

Moderated by Rick Badie

A group of bipartisan lawmakers wants solar energy to be a regular, though voluntary, source of power for our homes. Read about their proposal, House Bill 647, as well as an energy expert’s assessment regarding sun power as a rate reducer.

Solar lowers rates, creates jobs

By Rusty Kidd, Tom Kirby and Terry Rogers

If you could check a box on your monthly electric bill that could save you extra money, would you?

You may soon have the chance, thanks to a new bill we introduced the last week of the 2013 legislative session: House Bill 657, the Rural Georgia Economic Recovery and Solar Resource Act of 2014. It creates a 100-percent voluntary program for customers of an electrical utility like Georgia Power to “sign up for solar,” even those who can’t install solar themselves. Customers simply choose to use more solar energy. They will see their rates reduced over time. because the sun never sends a bill for fuel.

Times have changed for solar in …

Continue reading Solar Power »

Moderated by Rick Badie

Today, a University of Georgia professor and his graduate assistant offer research findings that show county comprehensive plans, mandated by the state, may create jobs in the long term. Meanwhile, an executive of a teen advocacy group implores us to take the lead in educating youth on financial matters.

By Jeffrey H. Dorfman and Jennie Allison

Long-range comprehensive plans are done by all county governments in Georgia thanks to a requirement in the Georgia Planning Act of 1989. Because Georgia’s history with mandatory planning is still quite short, and strong property-rights beliefs are held by citizens, plenty are skeptical of the benefits of such planning.

Comprehensive planning incorporates many types of planning such as land use, transportation, environmental, social and regional planning. Planning helps a community envision its future and decide the direction it takes. While the resulting plans look over a long period, comprehensive plans are …

Continue reading County comprehensive plans »

Moderated by Rick Badie

Looks like we will eat and shop our way out of the Great Recession. Partially, at least. The retail and food services industries led the nation’s job growth in April with 29,000 and 38,000 jobs, respectively, reports the U.S. Department of Labor. Atlantans love to dine. Here, fashion rules. Today’s guest columnists offer a regional perspective on the report.

Resilient restaurants a testament to the people

By Karen Bremer

Americans and Georgians alike may have recently been surprised by the employment figures released in early May by the U.S. Department of Labor. However, these numbers came as no shock to restaurateurs. In April, the job growth of the restaurant industry rose nationally by 38,000 people.

For all of 2012, the number of restaurant jobs in Georgia grew by 11,800. These numbers demonstrate the resilience and strength of the restaurant industry in job creation.

Our sector continues to grow as the average American dines out five times a …

Continue reading Job growers: Retail and food services »

By Rick Badie

News of employment activity in downtown Atlanta was topped off recently when we learned Coca-Cola expects to relocate at least 500 workers to the city core from the ‘burbs in Cobb County. Is Atlanta experiencing a sustainable in-town jobs migration? Today’s guest columnists weigh that possibility as well as its regional significance.

Back-to-the-city crowd wins

By Greg LeRoy

I have seen America’s future prosperity. It is downtown, and it gets to work by public transit.

That’s why companies like Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Athenahealth, ExactTarget and Asurion Insurance Services are moving jobs into Atlanta. Like smart companies in most U.S. cities, they are voting with their feet for a winning urban future.

There’s no stampede yet back to the city. The long-term thinning of jobs continues. However, a recent Brookings Institution study found that “job sprawl” slowed during the Great Recession, if only because job loss was greatest in outlying areas. That …

Continue reading In-town job growth »

Moderated by Rick Badie

Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration — citing state and local taxpayer costs — has asked the feds to substantially cut the number of refugees sent here from war-torn regions. Today, the mayor of Clarkston says he understands such a request, noting the strain on resources the new arrivals have created in that DeKalb County city. A resettlement executive, though, says we should welcome all foreigners.

Slow influx helps us prepare

By Rick Badie

In 1997, Emanuel Ransom was interviewed by The New York Times about refugees that were being settled into the DeKalb County city of Clarkston. What Ransom, a decades-long resident of the town, told the reporter shames him today.

“A lot of Clarkston residents are being left out totally. Nobody wants to help,” he said of the refugees. “It’s just give me, give me, give me.”

Now Ransom is the Clarkston mayor, the first African-American to hold the post. Even though he has asked the federal government to …

Continue reading Refugees in Atlanta »

The cheating scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools is a tragedy.
Students were cheated out of an appropriate education. Parents were misled about progress their children were making. Taxpayers’ money was misused, and those same taxpayers are funding investigations and prosecutions.
Along the route this scandal took, some leaders, upon recognizing the situation, acted quickly to respond and change the course of the situation. For example, when Erroll Davis took over as APS superintendent, he immediately sought to rid the district of teachers alleged to have cheated, a process that included painful tribunals. He also set up remediation efforts for affected students.
The tragedy is compounded because this scandal has dragged on for years. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard sought indictments more than a year after state investigators, appointed by then-Gov. Sonny Perdue, issued their report. Now we likely face a long and arduous prosecution, as Howard seeks to prove a …

Continue reading Set the record straight on APS, then let’s move on »