Didn’t Jack Smith get voters’ message in ’10?
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 4:43pm
Submitted by Letters to the ...
Submitted by Letters to the ...
What was Jack Smith, former Chairman of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners, thinking when he filed to run in the upcoming July 31, 2012 Republican Primary?
Does Mr. Smith think our memory is so short that we have forgotten about voting him and Eric Maxwell out of office almost two years ago? The voters clearly told them they had had enough of their brand of politics.
Smith is also the guy who gave us the 2009 SPLOST referendum full of special interest items the voters rejected by a 3 to 1 margin.
Many of us have not forgotten that Smith held a seat on the Board of Directors of his developer-friendly bank, Bank of Georgia, while serving as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.
In a taped 2010 debate, Smith told the audience he would be able to judge when there was a conflict of interest between the bank and his commissioner duties (see 6/1/10 The Citizen article link below).
The public and press, of course, have no right to monitor the bank’s loan activity to ensure there are no conflicts of interest and, if there were, that Smith would recuse himself (www.thecitizen.com/articles/06-01-2010/brown-chairman-smith-misleads-tie...).
I attended most of the 2010 monthly BOC meetings and heard the public voice their strong opposition to the West Fayetteville Bypass but Smith and his fellow commissioners, Robert Horgan, Lee Hearn, Eric Maxwell, and Herb Frady, displayed outright contempt to anyone who dared question them on that or any other issue.
After one meeting, I overheard Lee Hearn saying to a fellow commissioner that the large crowds would soon die out. But he was dead wrong. The crowds continued to grow in 2010 with each passing month and the public began speaking out more forcefully, ending in the voters decisively removing Smith and Maxwell from office.
Mr. Smith also represented Fayette County citizens at the Atlanta Regional Commission meetings where they developed future transportation ideas. One of the Smith-approved plans, Concept 3, included transit buses and trains through the county. Smith assured Fayette County voters that buses and trains would never come to Fayette, but ARC minutes reflect his support of the plans.
Misreading the public and arrogantly plowing ahead with his developer-friendly West Fayetteville Bypass was, I believe, the main cause of Smith’s downfall.
Some people that attended a party held the evening of the 2010 election (which was supposed to be a victory celebration) reported that Smith and Maxwell were shell-shocked and couldn’t believe they lost the election since the entire local Republican “establishment” had endorsed their campaigns in a full-page Citizen Newspaper ad.
At a meeting on 10/28/10, just five days before the general election, Smith introduced a resolution that was unanimously passed approving $579,000 “pay for performance raises” for certain employees. Since this was not on the meeting agenda, there was no way for the public to know that item was coming up. See Citizen article of Nov. 3, 2010 entitled “Fayette Commission’s unannounced non-agenda item: Raises for county workers” (www.thecitizen.com/articles/11-03-2010/fayette-commissions-unannounced-n...).
See also 10/28/10 BOC minutes (www.fayettecountyga.gov/administration/boc/archives/2010/actionagenda/10...).
The maneuver described above was not unusual under Smith’s chairmanship and the practice has continued under Herb Frady’s leadership. Frady’s tenure will end soon and hopefully Horgan and Hearn will be gone too.
In summary, I believe re-electing Jack Smith would be like backing the Titanic up and hitting the iceberg again. Don’t get “Jack’d” around anymore!
Jim Richter
Peachtree City, Ga.
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 3:53pm
#2
Did Steve Brown get the message when he lost
in Peachtree City? Face it, these folks love to be on the government payroll. Once they get on, they are hard to remove. Even they get voted out, they keep running, and sometimes we elect the bozos again.
Dumbarse voters don't help the situation.
I tried top tell everyone about Haddix...but NO.........
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 4:28pm
#3
Spy: You beat me to it
The enormous landslides that Brown lost to Logsdon and then later Ramsey would seem to indicate he "didn't get it" either, except he knew that if you're out of office and not running for a bit, people quickly forget. Oh yeah, if you do a total 180 on district voting and stop dissin' opponents of such as a bunch of racists, it probably helps a lot too, along with picking some goof like Smith to run against.
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 10:32am
#4
Don't Back Jack!
The only good thing about Jack Smith running is all the fun puns we can use with his name. "Don't back Jack" "Jacked up" "Kick back Jack" "Don't get sidetracked with Jack" "The drawbacks with Jack". This list of headlines is endless.
All fun aside, Thank you Jim for reminding Fayette County what Jack Smith is about. It was especially nice reading the refrencing that you included in letter.
I attended the TIA debate last night and it was refreshing talking with the new candidates Randy Ognio and Dave Barlow. If you have any doubts about these men please talk with them. They are more than happy to tell you what they believe in and where they stand in regards to the issues of Fayette County. I even have my newly minted yard signs that I display proudly in my front lawn.
It was also interesting to see Lee Hearn at the event. Watching Mr. Hearn NOT work the crowd for his upcoming election was no surprise.
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 12:31pm
#5
Definition of "JACKED"
I agree Josh ! This is fun.
According to the Urban Dictionary.com, the definition of "JACKED" is :
1. JACKED
Origin from 'hijacked': as the past-progressive meaning stolen in a violent fashion. Commonly refers to robbery, theft, misuse, seizure, possesion.
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 10:08am
#6
We've Been "Jack'd Around" One Too Many Times
Truth, I agree completely. If there is a pie out there, we can be sure Jack has had or does have his finger in it.
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE just this past weekend that there was/is a connection between the Waterlace developer and Jack. Is anyone surprised?
The Waterlace and Haddon Stone developments have been purchased from the bank by the Reynolds Plantation developer.
Mr. Reynolds would be in line to make a huge profit if Jack could regain his seat on the BOC and push through with Phase III of the W. Bypass. There just might be a little something in it for Jack, too.
Remember, Jack told us the W. Bypass isn't a developers' road. We've known from the beginning that there is almost 2,000 acres sitting along the W. Bypass owned by various developers and just waiting for the road to go through so they can develop it. However, we didn't know until Jack was out of office that there is another huge development known as "West Fayetteville Neighborhoods" that was being hidden by former Mayor Ken Steele and our three remaining commissioners.
If Jack thinks we have forgotten that as Commission Chairman he also sat on the Board of Directors of the developer friendly Bank of Georgia, he's got another think coming.
If Lee Hearn thinks we've forgotten that his relative owns a chunk of the "West Fayetteville Neighborhoods" development, he's got another think coming.
Ognio and Barlow have absolutely no baggage.
Jack and Lee, each, would bring along a boat load of connections, lies, deception, political obligations, arrogance, and a complete disregard for "We the people."
Wed, 06/06/2012 - 12:52am
#7
Don't Jack us again please!
Take a look around town and notice the candidates with yard signs posted at the banks. This may be a sign those candidates most likely will not be looking out for "your" pockets but "theirs" indeed? Stay clear of CPA and Attorney candidates and go for the grassroots candidates who think and live like you, such as a small businessman or the average voter or enslaved tax payer. The "insider" candidates need not apply, we are on to your tricks. Transparency is a must!
Jack Smith would have the backing of the three holdover commissioners, the developers, and the TSPLOST advocates, even though endorsements by all the "who's who citizens" didn't do him any good in 2010. Take the time to look at his list of contributors a little bit further down the road.
In 2010, Mr. Smith won high honors bestowed upon him by the ARC, for which the Fayette voters did not reward him at the polls. Perhaps his supporters figure that his mission now is to create a runoff so that Dave Barlow won't win in the Republican primary election. To the same end, there's already one other Fayette candidate with an old family name that's sure to wedge the pie into three slices.
Can you imagine how the holdover commissioners would feel if the 3 to 2 majority started swinging in the other direction? They're not about to bow out gracefully. Look for more mud to start slinging soon.