I just read a flier that is being circulated in Walker County which asked us to vote for certain candidates who reflect a Christian moral consciousness. There was a list of 14 items, all of which are mostly relative to the federal government and mainly one that I could tell is relative to local government, and that is low taxes. So, I am sure they didn’t know Walker County has the second lowest taxes in the State of Georgia.
I am also sure they didn’t know that Paul Shaw has a problem keeping facts straight most of the time, such as the county is $60-80 million dollars in debt, when the county really has no long term debt at all!
Mr. Shaw said that he would call a referendum for a five-person board of commissioners which he would have not authority at all to do. On his website, he said four of the five should be from cities which represent only 25 percent of the population. That leaves all of us who live in the unincorporated area (75 percent) one vote, and remember we can only be a candidate for one of the five commissioners if we live outside the cities.
I am a Christian and I don’t appreciate the Tea Party trying to tell me who to vote for. I think they should do more homework, and probably more church work, and we should be able to make up our own minds about who to vote for.
Lawrence Lewis, Chickamauga
Conflicting facts and figures, and what Bebe calls or does not call a debt or liability, is why numbers go up and down. We are in $30,000,000 in liabilities. Shaw has updated his estimates since the original statement of $60,000,000.
Shaw plans to take the five member board through the legal process. He's never claimed he'd have the power to wave a magic wand and create a binding referendum.
No one should tell you who to vote for. But all candidates and parties push their opinions during elections, and a mailer is no different from a commercial on TV or and ad in the Messenger or a billboard. You don't get out of your car and curse at a billboard because it's telling you to vote one way or another.