With everybody coming out of their winter slumber, here are nine “thoughts” for 2009. None of these constitute a plan. They are merely subjects to be considered in the coming year.
1. Multi-man commission. The voters have spoken. Now it’s time for someone (like our state legislators and commissioner) to get to work. It’s understandable if our commissioner maybe isn’t real excited to be charged with creating a plan to add other faces to his office, but the majority rules, and his responsibility is to carry out the will of the voters.
2. Animal Control, part 1. There are really two needs here. One, quite urgent, is to protect people from aggressive dogs running loose, whether they are truly strays or just nasty pets of neglectful owners. An aggressive roaming animal is a situation where law enforcement needs to move. There is no reason someone should live in fear for themselves or children, because a big mean dog wanders their street.
3. Animal Control, part 2. Less urgent is the need to do something about the strays. These dogs, whose only crime is lacking a home, are a nuisance and a big one, but let’s hope our commissioner and sheriff will show some restraint and craft a workable system, while keeping a diligent eye on costs and manpower and long-term commitments. A solid, long-range plan is infinitely better than something done quickly to appease the public.
4. Airport Tech Park – It has a fancy name, but in reality, the tech park, both inside and outside “the horseshoe,” remains a muddy mess. It has progressed at the pace of a glacier since it was first proposed in 2004. We challenge all parties involved (contractors, the commissioner, airport and development authorities) to have this project ready to go by year’s end. And we mean really ready, where a company could buy or lease a space, open a business and start hiring. This is the brightest prospect among our economic possibilities, and one wonders what impact the tech park might have had on our local economy as real estate declined had the facility opened when planned.
5. Fix the wooden bridge. This no-brainer is, according to recent reports from the City of Jasper, something that could be finished before the jonquils bloom.
6. Create some bona fide attractions before promoting tourism – Thus far, notions of tourism in Pickens County have fallen flat; utterly flat; nothing; going nowhere; nothing to see that is open on a reliable basis. But there is potential here if someone could develop or expand a sure-nuff attraction, whether it’s antique stores in picturesque Talking Rock or something involving our marble heritage or maybe the fact we’re the first mountain town tourists reach driving north from Atlanta. Instead of having tourism meetings, we need an “attraction-development committee.”
7. Raise local SAT scores to the national average – Our students consistently beat the state average, but that’s really not much to brag about, considering Georgia is the perennial doghouse contender for education in America. A better goal is for our students’ average scores to beat the national average.
8. Shop locally. Say it again: If you want local businesses to sponsor things from recreation teams to a new church roof, you better visit local merchants when you’re spending.
9. Biggest challenge: courthouse renovation. Not only will millions be spent ($17 million budgeted in the original SPLOST), but whatever we build will dominate the streetscape of our county seat for the next generation, maybe two. What project could be more visible than a new building dead-center on Main Street? But serious issues await (including parking; how to create a bigger building while keeping the marble facade of the present structure; space limitations imposed by the existing land parcel). The whole process is now slowed by the national economy that makes bonds a treacherous option and could affect the amount of sales tax collected to fund the new building. Let’s not just hope for the best here. The commissioner and his advisory panel must do their homework and lead out on this project with enough forethought to achieve success. |
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