9/11: Home by Dark; On Phillip Beard; On Trump and Clinton

Click on image to see a larger version.

DULUTH LAYOUT: Here’s a clear indication on this plat of what downtown Duluth will be like in a few months. Work began this week on a new location for Dreamland Barbecue in the top middle of the plan. Areas of West Lawrenceville and Main Street indicate what will be locating in these facilities. The area is getting the name of Parsons Alley, in reference to the previous operations of the Parsons family, which had retail activities and its warehouse in this area. The entire area connects with the Town Green on the south side of West Lawrenceville Street.

TODAY’S FOCUS: Saturday Performance in Gwinnett for Home by Dark
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Beard To Continue as Senior Office Holder in Gwinnett
ANOTHER VIEW: Trump and Hillary Get Caught with People Quoting Them Correctly
FEEDBACK: Here’s Ten Commandments for Rational Debate
UPCOMING: Lawrenceville Embarks on First Economic Development Plan
NOTABLE: Citizen’s Budget Review Panel Hearing Requests for 2016 Expenditures
RECOMMENDED READ: Love in the Anthropocene, by Dale Jamieson and Bonnie Nadzam
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Scarcity of Females in Early Georgia Forces New Outlooks
TODAY’S QUOTE: What People in the Expensive Seats Can Do
MYSTERY PHOTO: Only One Person Recognized Last Mystery
LAGNIAPPE: New Elementary School Rising in Norcross

Home by Dark coming to Gwinnett Performing Arts Center Saturday

By Ann Bates

DULUTH, Ga., Sept. 11, 2015 | Continuing the run of its Gwinnett concert series, Home By Dark’s September 12 show will feature acclaimed songwriters Marcia Ramirez and Emily Shackelton at 8 p.m. at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. The show promises an experience filled with storytelling, improvisation and musical performances hosted by Home By Dark founder and songwriter James Casto.

Home By Dark began in 2007 with the simple idea that bringing songwriters and instrumentalists together on one stage to perform and tell their stories would create an experience that was bigger than the music itself. From its origins as a small concert at a garden nursery in Milton, Ga., Home By Dark has grown into often sold-out performances at venues across North America and now the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center. Since its inception, Home By Dark has drawn audiences to view distinguished songwriters who have written popular songs for music’s biggest stars, including Ray Charles, Miranda Lambert and Trisha Yearwood. No two Home By Dark shows are alike, as audiences are invited to become part of each performance, filled with music, laughter, emotion and optimism.

Founder James Casto says: “I set out to create a concert experience that breaks down the barrier between the performers and the audience. Our goal is to elevate the songwriters and instrumentalists to perform their very best and to communicate their music and personal stories in an honest, genuine way.”

Marcia Ramirez is a songwriter and singer whose career has taken her across the country, performing as a solo artist and onstage with stars such as Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Pam Tillis and Tanya Tucker. A Nashville mainstay, she has performed at venues such as the world famous Bluebird Cafe and is a popular session singer, having been credited on albums by John Berry and Hank Williams Jr. among many others. Marcia has penned hits for Australian country music star Melinda Schneider, The Whites, Nashville Star finalist Rachel Williams. She is currently touring with pop legend Christopher Cross, in addition to writing and recording for a new project to be released this year.

Emily Shackelton is a celebrated singer and songwriter from Biwabik, Minn. She honed her musical skills at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she was awarded grand prize in the coveted John Lennon-BMI Foundation Songwriting Scholarship Competition.  She has appeared on NPR’s Prairie Home Companion as a performer, and her songs have been featured on ABC’s hit drama Nashville and the corresponding soundtracks sung by Chip Easton, Lennon and Maisy and Hayden Panettiere

The September 12 show will benefit The Make Lemon Aide Foundation for Cerebral Palsy (CP), an organization dedicated to raising awareness about CP, training CP therapists and funding research. For more information, please visit www.makelemonaide.org.

• Tickets for Home By Dark range from $20-50 and are on sale now. Buy tickets at com, AXS.com, The Arena box office or by calling (770) 626-2464.

Phillip Beard’s got a right to be proud of accomplishments in Buford

By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum

SEPT. 11, 2015 | The big story from announcements of people qualifying to run in city elections in Gwinnett came out of Buford. It was old news, but with a twist.

There Phillip Beard will have no opposition again in the city election. In November he will re-elected chairman of both Buford City Commission and also of its School Board. That’s no surprise. After all, he’s held those offices since August of 1975, longer than any elected official in Gwinnett, as of January 1, 2016, for 41 years and four months. And he’s held longer than any other elected official in Georgia, except for Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt, who’s served in that capacity since 1971.

In 1975, Beard replaced East E. Robinson, who was in office for 29 years, who went into office in 1946. Robinson succeeded Earl Simpson, who went on the city commission in 1929, when the present system for Buford elected officials was put in place.

It should be mentioned that those serving on the Buford commission or school board do it without any pay. They see their efforts as public servants.

Some facts: when Beard went into office in 1975, the Buford city budget was $1.75 million, while the Buford schools budget was $310,000. Today the city 2015 budget is $109 million, while the schools budget is $42 million. There were about 5,000 people in Buford in 1975, with today’s population at approximately 13,000. The Buford schools had 800 students in1975, and 4,300 today.

Beard

What is Beard most proud of in his time in office? He replies: “Our schools. Four months after I went into office, we made a decision to shut down our police force and let the county police our city, which was costing us $400,000 a year with 23 officers, and concentrate on our schools. It’s estimated if we had a police force today, we would have spent well over $100 million since then for policing.”

Buford instead funnels its tax dollars to its schools, now taxing at 12.9 mills, compared to 20.5 mills for the Gwinnett School System. Plus, Buford residents pay no property taxes.

People in Buford also have benefitted from having low residential utility rates, set in 1973 and not changed since. Back yard garbage rates are $2 per month, water rates are a dollar a month, with sewer rates 50 cents per month. “We’ve never touched them,” says Beard, “since I have been in office. We make money with these rates.” Beard notes that commercial rates are higher, but still relatively low. The city also has the fifth lowest gas rate, cheaper than all the marketers of gas.

Beard adds: “We haven’t grown much residentially, and 3/4s of our budget comes from commercial tax dollars. However, a recent building flurry has 600 new homes going in the city, with prices starting at $400,000 and up to $1 million per house. These people often want to live here for our fine school system.”

A new element that will bring in the substantial revenue for Buford will be taxes on 4.4 million square feet of commercial warehouses now underway in 10 different buildings. “Our developers can rent these facilities for 25-30 cents per foot cheaper than in other parts of Atlanta.”

Most of Buford’s 9,000 acres is in Gwinnett, though 2,000 acres are in Hall County. As a result, Buford also gets SPLOST monies from both Gwinnett and Hall Counties.

Phillip Beard has a right to be proud of his accomplishments while chair of the two governmental bodies in Buford. He’s earned it.

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Trump and Hillary get caught with people quoting them correctly

By Debra Houston, contributor

SEPT. 11, 2015 | Pop up some kernels and settle back with your clickers, America. It’s time for “Campaign ‘16 Presidential Reality TV Roadshow!”

Thus far, Republican and reigning reality star Donald Trump leads the pack. (Like you’re surprised.) His first move: Shore up the military vote by questioning Senator John McCain’s hero status. See, the North Vietnamese captured McCain way-back-when. Yep, everyone knows POWs aren’t heroes. And when did you serve, Donald? Could you please speak up? (What a stupid question.)

Moving right along, the Trumpster has also campaigned hard for the Hispanic vote by … get this … calling all Mexican immigrants rapists, drug dealers, and criminals. Hold the phone! Donald clarifies: “Some I assume are good people.” Whew! Thanks for not overgeneralizing, sir.

Last but not least, The Donald solidified the female vote by calling Rosie O’Donnell fat and Fox Anchor Meghan Kelly a bimbo. Yes, indeed, you will take care of “the women” if elected.

Meanwhile, Democratic contender Hillary Clinton struggles. You’d think she’d have reality TV wrapped up after the 1990s. Talk about bimbos. There was a full eruption. Yet Mrs. Clinton soldiered on.

Give her credit, Donald. Hillary scores points for making some low shots of her own. Tactic One – innuendo. Consider: “Now, extreme views about women, we expect from some of the terrorists groups . . . But it’s a little hard to take from Republicans who want to be president of the United States.”

Stop the press! Hey, that wasn’t innuendo. Why, she compared Republicans to Isis. What about Tactic Two? Connect-the-dots. Example: She said Republicans wanted to take Mexican immigrants back across the border in . . . um . . . boxcars?

See! Republicans want to round up immigrants like the Nazis rounded up Jews under Hitler and sent them off in boxcars to death camps! Now that’s what I call subtle.

But wait! A new tactic emerges. The Clinton camp says Hill will take on a softer persona, a lighter and brighter, sunnier and funnier Hillary Clinton.

This TV critic thinks she’s making a grave mistake. Just ask Donald. Nice people never win on reality TV.

Stay tuned.

Here Are Ten Commandments for rational debate

(Editor’s note: A Norcross City Council meeting on Tuesday night began at 6:30, and lasted until 11:45. Some 200 people were in attendance to have a discussion with the Council on proposed zoning changes. After the meeting, one citizen sent this, which we print as comment on rational debate.—eeb)

Editor, the Forum:

For those of you who expressed interest in this after last night’s Council meeting, I thought I’d post this list, also called “Ten Commandments for rational debate.” Enjoy, and let us all debate rationally!

(P.S.: Here’s a link from Relatively Interesting: http://www.relativelyinteresting.com/10)

1. Thou shalt not attack the person’s character, but rather the argument. — AD HOMINEM

2. Thou shalt not misrepresent or exaggerate a person’s argument in order to make them easier to attack. — STRAW MAN FALLACY

3. Thou shalt not use small numbers to represent the whole. — HASTY GENERALIZATION

4. Thou shalt not argue thy position by assuming one of its premises is true. — BEGGING THE QUESTION

5. Thou shalt not claim that because something occurred before what is happening now, it must be the cause of what is happening now. — POST HOC / FALSE CAUSE

6. Thou shalt not reduce the argument down to two possibilities. — FALSE DICHOTOMY

7. Thou shalt not argue that because of our ignorance, a claim must be either true or false. — AD IGNORANTIAM

8. Thou shalt not lay the burden of proof onto the person who is questioning a claim. — BURDEN OF PROOF REVERSAL

9. Thou shalt not assume “this” follows “that” when it has no logical connection. — NON SEQUITUR

10. Thou shalt not claim that because a premise is popular, it must therefore be true. — BANDWAGON FALLACY

— John Outler, Norcross

• SEND FEEDBACK AND LETTERS: elliott@brack.net

Lawrenceville embarks on first economic development plan

The City of Lawrenceville is embarking on a new chapter with the unveiling of its first-ever Economic Development strategic plan. Together with elected officials and board members, the community – led by a steering committee of key stakeholders – revealed a strategy for future development as well as an implementation plan to accomplish the goals therein.

Mayor Judy Jordan Johnson says: “This plan is a result of City Council’s vision for the City of Lawrenceville and serves as the voice of our community. We recognized a compelling need to foster an environment that will attract jobs and raise the quality of life Lawrenceville already enjoys today.”

The purpose of the strategic plan is to set the standards and a pace necessary for Lawrenceville’s continued growth, advancement and development. The plan outlines six economic development goals that inherently reflect the community’s specific needs – supported by statistical trends, community input and market data.

RKG Associates, Inc. – an Atlanta-based multi-disciplined consulting firm – spearheaded the process to derive the plan under the direction of a select group of key stakeholders identified as the plan’s Steering Committee. Members of the steering committee include:

• Phil Wolfe, Gwinnett Medical Center
• Stas Preczewski, Georgia Gwinnett College
• Jennifer Stephens, Georgia Gwinnett College
• Anthony Rodriguez, Aurora Theatre
• Bryan Lackey, Gwinnett County Planning & Development
• Nick Masino, Partnership Gwinnett
• Clint Dixon, US Auto Sales
• Beverly Dryden, Lawrenceville Neighborhood Alliance
• Carolyn Wright, Historic Lawrenceville Business Alliance
• David Still, Downtown Development Authority
• Kevin Cleveland, RACO General Contractors
• Brad Cox, Brad Cox Inc./Resident/Property Owner
• Maryanne Grimes, Central Gwinnett High School
• Allen Hoskyn, Impact 46
• Herman Pennamon, Jr., Pennamon Consulting
• Leijla Slowinski, Lawrenceville Housing Authority
• Ronnie Ford, Atlanta Attachment Company
• Joanie Perry, Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs/Downtown Resident

Development of the plan is the first step in an ongoing process to implement a vision and a future for Lawrenceville. Multiple different studies, the City’s comprehensive plan, statewide initiatives like the Main Street Program, and Gwinnett County’s economic development initiative, Partnership Gwinnett, were among the elements researched to create a starting point for implementation and execution.

• Citizens, neighbors and visitors of Lawrenceville can download and read the plan here.

Dreamland Barbecue underway in Duluth; Opens in 6 months

On August 10, the Duluth Downtown Development Authority executed a formal Development, Purchase and Sales Agreement with Dreamland Restaurants of Atlanta, Inc. to construct a 6,500 square foot Dreamland Bar-B-Que restaurant. In addition, Dreamland selected Christian Brothers, Inc. (CBI) as its general contractor. Construction activities are underway with removal of the existing warehouse structure. Construction of the facility is anticipated to take six months, with Dreamland being the first of an expected 11 total retail sites on the Parsons Alley Block area, totaling some 42,000 square feet of new and adaptively-reused space.  The project also includes a central outdoor plaza to anchor the redevelopment at the top of Duluth Town Green. Dreamland will employ 75-100 full-time staff in Duluth. The firm has six locations in Alabama and one other in Georgia in Roswell.

Asian-Americans plan Rice Festival at Gwinnett Place on Sept. 26

The Asian American Resource Center (AARC) will present a Rice Festival on Saturday, September 26 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Gwinnett Place Mall. AARC has successfully held Rice Festivals from 2005 to 2011 with different formats each time.

Rice Festival is AARC’s annual cultural and fundraising event that supports cultural awareness and the continued improvement of inter-group relations by sharing the diverse Asian culture with the metro-Atlanta community. The Rice Festival celebrates the Asian American community’s diversity by a showcase of the tastes, sounds, and sights of Asia.

AARC was founded in March 1997 by Rev. Henry Jee. His wife, Connie Jee, now leads the Center as its Executive Director after his death in 2002. We provide Transitional Housing Program, Homelessness Prevention, Benefits Screening, Counseling/Consulting, and English Language/Civics Program.

• For further information, contact Esther Yun at esther.yun@aarc-atlanta.org or call 770-270-0663.

Author Homer Hickam will visit Norcross on Oct. 18

Hickam

Homer Hickam is the bestselling and award-winning author of many books, including the Number 1 New York Times memoir Rocket Boys, which was adapted into the popular film, October Sky. A writer since grade school, he has also been a coal miner, Vietnam combat veteran, scuba instructor, paleontologist, and engineer. He splits his time between Alabama and the Virgin Islands. He will discuss his newest book, Carrying Albert Home.

Gwinnett County Public Library invites you to meet Hickam on October 18 at 3 p.m. at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center, 10 College Street, Norcross.  This is a free event and books will be available for purchase and signing. For more information, call 770-978-5154 or visit www.gwinnettpl.org.

Citizen’s Budget Review Panel hearing requests for 2016 expenditures

Presentations are underway by Gwinnett County departments and agencies on their business plans and financial resource requests for budget year 2016. The presentations are being heard by the budget review team, made up of five Gwinnett residents who have volunteered to help Commission Chairman Charlotte Nash set priorities and make recommendations for the 2016 budget.

New to the committee this year are residents Lisa Burleson of and Santiago Marquez of, while review team veterans Mark Brock, Burt Manning and Latabia Woodward are returning. Burleson is a retired district level administrator from Gwinnett County Public Schools and Marquez is CFO/VP of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Brock is building maintenance director for Gwinnett County Public Schools, Manning is a retired real estate appraiser and assessment administrator, and Woodward works as a strategic planning principal for Georgia Power. Woodward and Burleson are alumni of the first Gwinnett 101: Citizens Academy class held in the spring.

The business plan presentations will be recorded for airing on the TVgwinnett government-access cable television channel and viewing on demand at www.tvgwinnett.com.

The Chairman’s 2016 budget proposal will be available to the public and news media on November 17 prior to a public hearing that will be held on December 7. By county ordinance, the Board of Commissioners must adopt the annual budget during its first meeting in January.

Babrick is new development director of WES Foundation

Babrick

When Everyone Survives Foundation (WES Foundation) announces that Sarah Babrick is its new development director. She comes to WES with seven years of experience in fundraising and development. Babrick will be responsible for annual development plan, donor relations, event organization and execution, social media initiatives, and brand awareness.

Babrick says: “Our mission is simple, we will stop when there is a cure for leukemia.” Babrick states in regards to thoughts on the foundation: “The passion of WES hits very close to my heart and I am privileged to be a part of an organization that strives to fight leukemia. With advances in medical technology, we are closer than ever to finding a cure. I hope to find others that will step alongside me and help support those researchers working diligently to overcome leukemia.”

When Everyone Survives Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 established by the Smith family after their 22-year old son, Wes, succumbed to Leukemia in 2005. The Foundation’s primary purpose is that of collecting and distributing funds for leukemia research. Once a year the Advisory Board of WES, consisting of medical professionals, distributes grants to research around the country.

• For more information, call 770.595.3573, email sarah@wheneveryonesurvives.org or visit org.

Love in the Anthropocene

A book by Dale Jamieson and Bonnie Nadzam

Scientists are now discussing whether humans now live in the Anthropocene era, characterized by complex technological, communication, and engineering systems. Dale Jamieson, an environmental scientist, has teamed up with Bonnie Nadzam, a novelist, to describe love in a world in which human technology has replaced our natural environment.  In the short story, “Fly fishing”, a grandfather tries to teach his granddaughter the experience of fly fishing. In “Carbon”, friends try to deal with engineering a city sea front threatened by raising water levels that will force tens of thousands of homeless people to be relocated to ‘sanctuaries’ in the central states.  The last chapter asks the question how will love arise in a world without nature as we know it. This 214 page book is a profound insight into the conflicted interactions of human emotions and an environment dominated by manmade designs.  This is a meaningful read.

— Al Schneiberg, Sugar Hill

An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb

Scarcity of females in early Georgia forces new outlooks

(From previous edition)

Fertility among immigrants in early Georgia was also stunted by the fact that males outnumbered females two to one in these early years, while children accounted for only about a quarter of the new arrivals. Although many settlers decided to abandon the colony in light of these hazards, and many Malcontents complained vociferously, other survivors improvised and adapted to their new circumstances.

The scarcity of females forced many settlers to overlook ethnic differences. Lutheran Salzburgers reluctantly married Reformed Rhinelanders, while Highland Scots, Irish, and French Swiss proved equally willing to hurdle linguistic and cultural obstacles in the quest for marriage, and more important, household economy. Sephardic Jews intermarried with Christian women, and many British men (most of them Indian traders) formed expedient unions with Creek females.

Kinship contacts and common interests began to tie Georgia’s early migrants together in the 1740s. Anglo-German links, for instance, were more amiable in the aftermath of the frightening war with Spain that had forced many coastal settlers to flee inland. After James Edward Oglethorpe‘s victory at Bloody Marsh repulsed the Spaniards on July 7, 1742, the former refugees sent letters to Salzburg families thanking them for their kindness and including coffee and silk ribbons as tokens of their gratitude.

The pattern of settlement changed dramatically with the arrival of royal control in Georgia (1752-76). Although plenty of settlers continued to stream into Georgia from the Old World, the bulk of white immigrants now came in a series of waves from other British American colonies, attracted by the prospect of cheap and fertile lands. Of those newcomers who applied for land, and stated where they had migrated from, about two-thirds had arrived from the Carolinas, while about a fifth came from other Atlantic colonies—especially the Caribbean and the Chesapeake. The remainder hailed from the British Isles, with particularly strong representation from northern Britain and northern Ireland.

(To be continued)

• To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

Perhaps today’s photograph gives you a hint

Take a close look at today’s Mystery Photo. Does that building in the far back right tell you something? Figure out where this photograph was made.   Send your answers to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include the town where you live.

Only one GwinnettForum reader responded as to the location of the previous Mystery Photo. Michael Green of Milton figured out: “The Westview Abbey is a mausoleum that was built in 1943 in Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery.  It is one of the largest mausoleums ever built and has space for over 11,000 entombments.” The photo was sent in by Marlene Buchanan of Snellville.

New elementary school rising in Norcross               

The structural steel shows the outline of a new elementary school rising in Norcross on Price Place, which is expected to be open by the start of school in 2016, next August. The new school, which is expected to be named by the Gwinnett School Board later this month, is being built on the site of the former Summerour Middle School, which moved into new facilities this year at the former Norcross High site off Beaver Ruin Road. Contractor for the school is Carroll Daniel Construction Company of Gainesville. Construction cost of the school is $ 17,083,632.

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