GwinnettForum | Number 20.68 | Sept. 22, 2020
A NEW MIXED UNIT DEVELOPMENT venture is being proposed in Peachtree Corners, along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Jones Mill Road. For more on this story, see Notable below. (Click to enlarge)
TODAY’S FOCUS: What one longtime police officer thought on keeping the peace
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Several topics today: but be sure to check out this new video
ANOTHER VIEW: Tariffs mean only one thing: they increase the price for consumers
SPOTLIGHT: Howard Brothers
FEEDBACK: Enjoy reading Forum columnists, such as George Wilson on MMT
UPCOMING: Several new physicians joining Northside Hospital Gwinnett team
NOTABLE: Developer erecting build-to-rent apartments for middle market
RECOMMENDED: Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Washington’s “Atlanta Compromise” speech highlights Exposition
MYSTERY PHOTO: Tall column with intricate carving is this week’s mystery
What a longtime police officer thought on keeping the peace
By Ashley Herndon
OCEANSIDE, Calif. | Wow, when I think back, I know I cannot and most likely did not take every chance to thank my Mother for all she provided and decided. One of those important decisions was to join the Morningside Baptist Church, when it was in a small white building on Highland Ave. in the heart of Morningside.
Herndon
This became a seminal decision. Today with all of the horror in our country I think back to a lawman, an important lawman to me and to the City of Atlanta, Police Chief Herbert Jenkins. The church moved to its current location on Piedmont Road, the Chief moved to his home, I think at 612 Morningside Dr., a convenient confluence. The wisdom he brought us was considerable, along with his kindness, smarts, and stability.
Chief Jenkins was born in Lithonia in 1907. He joined the Atlanta police force in 1932, and was made chief in 1947. He served as chief for 25 years until retiring in 1972. A high school dropout, when he retired, he served for 10 years and was a senior research associate of the Center for Research in Social Change at Emory University. He died in 1990 and is buried next to his wife at the Rockbridge Baptist Church cemetery in Norcross.
Lucky for me and several other boys. He became our Sunday School teacher… and what a teacher he was! Now that was bragging rights. We did not just learn about Joshua, Micah, Mark, and Jesus. We learned about life and its exigencies as well as it gifts.
Below I am sharing the introduction to one of Chief Jenkins’ books, Keeping the Peace, 1970. It seems most appropriate in today’s climate.
“Respect for the law is the policeman’s Hippocratic Oath. It is his guiding star of survival in a democratic society. The newest police recruit can never hope to move forward as a career policeman without this fundamental principle. Respect for the Law. But in a democratic society laws are not handed down from above but are made, and unmade, by men. Laws come and go, and men come and go, but the democratic process continues-firmly embedded in law and order. Policemen are society’s full-time employed agents to uphold the law and reserve order.
“Day in and day out for the past 40 years, I have been a witness to drastic changes in law enforcement. Many of these changes have come from within the police departments themselves. Many more of them have been forced upon us from without. Concurrent with the social revolution within the larger community have come changes in the police departments of the nation. They have brought a change in attitude, in ways of doing and thinking, and an increasing understanding that the old methods will not suffice for the future.
“I do not think the future looks bleak. We in law enforcement are beginning to respond positively to the great changes taking place in America. In far too many instances, unfortunately, the response to these pressures has been an unlearned and violent one; in some cases, we have been guilty of gross indifference. At other times we have been uncertain, perplexed, and confused about what our response should be.
“However, modifications in law enforcement are being made and it is the purpose of this book to give the general public as well as the officer on the beat some awareness of the continuing changes in police practices and modern methods of law enforcement.”
Change requires re-imagining again, as times change. Thank you for those words from afar, Chief Herbert Jenkins.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Several topics today: But be sure to check out this new video
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 22, 2020 | Today let’s address several different topics.
With Georgians electing two senators in the November 3 election, there is some confusion as to the manner to pick the seat Johnny Isakson once held.
One race, to fill the seat held by David Perdue, is done conventionally, with three candidates, Republican Perdue, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Libertarian Shane Hazel.
The other Senate race, as we have reported, is in a special election where there is no party nomination, allowing anyone paying the $5,220 qualifying fee to seek the office. And 21 Georgians stepped forward wanting to win that seat. Unless the winner gets 50 percent of the votes plus one more vote, there will be a runoff. Yep, anticipate a runoff.
Explaining this special election isn’t difficult, but it has raised a few questions. The best explanation we have seen has come from one of the candidates, in a 3.25 minute video, which is distinctly original and refreshing. Only the last 24 seconds promotes the campaign of Wayne Johnson, one of the 21 candidates.
It should be worth your while to watch this, for its creative and simple explanation. We commend it to you. To see it, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSQb-ojKBGA&feature=youtu.be
It was surprising for me to see a ballot drop box at the library when I visited this week. Elections Supervisor Kristi Royston says that these drop boxes are at all 15 Gwinnett libraries. That will make it easier for most of us to drop off an absentee ballot at the library, rather than driving to one of the seven satellite voting places. Here’s a big Attaway! to the elections board.
Georgia’s weather has been substantially cooler and wetter this summer, with no long spells of hot, hot weather. However, the mild summer has brought heavy rains, compared to the 30 year average.
So far in Georgia this year, we have had 47.12 inches of rain, well above the eight month average of 33.83 inches. We are on a course to hit 60 inches of rain in 2020, but even that is below the record rain of the last 30 years, which measured 70.03 inches in 2018.
Ever heard of Owen Wister? He’s the person considered the father of the western novel, his being , The Virginian. He’s a native of Germantown, Penn. (1860), went to Harvard, became a lawyer in Philadelphia, but became ill and went to Wyoming one summer, and became fascinated with the West. He’s the author of one of the most remembered cowboy quotes: “When you call me that, smile!” He also is the author of a biography of Ulysses S. Grant. He died in Rhode Island in 1938.
Book sale: We got a personal message from Amazon today that surprised us. You may recall that our 2008 history book, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, is also available from Amazon as an e-book, at a price of $9.99. (The e-book is also available at Barnes and Noble.)
Amazon notified us today that a copy of the e-book had been sold….in Japan. Part of the notification was in Japanese. Now, why anyone in Japan would want a copy of this Gwinnett book is beyond me. Perhaps they have a relative in Gwinnett, who wanted them to know something about this vast, populous and diverse county. Anyway, we’re glad to make the sale. Anyone know how to convert yens to dollars?
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Tariffs mean one thing: They increase price for consumers
By Raleigh Perry
BUFORD, Ga. | When President Trump started imposing tariffs on countries like China and Mexico, among others, he stated that those tariffs would be going into the U.S. Treasury. That is not the case. I could not say how many people believed what Trump was repeating this and told me that was the case.
Perry
The tariff on products coming into the U.S. from China, or any other country, are paid by the importer, and thus increased the cost of that product. The importers base their price on the goods that they are importing on the costs of the components that they have to import to assemble those products.
If the importer was selling finished goods that are imported, the tariffs imposed would increase the cost of the merchandise that was being imported. For instance, if the importer was bringing in DVD players from China, the cost on the importation would be paid by that importer. The cost would increase if there was a tariff on that product, in addition to the cost price.
The import tariff would not affect the Chinese at all. There would be a possibility that the importer might either quit buying Chinese products or get those finished goods or products from other countries in order to offer a lower price to U.S. consumers.
I am not sure if the Chinese shippers are affected at all on the imports since I see more and more products coming into the U.S. from countries like Vietnam. (There were no new tariffs on products from Vietnam, nor Singapore nor Malaysia and even Thailand.) The probability is that the Chinese had plants in those countries making those products to avoid the U.S. tariffs.
On components, the same thing was happening. Auto parts that would go on new automobiles assembled in the US, if these parts were imported from China, would increase the cost of the cars that those components went into. That would make the prices of those cars rise – maybe not by much, but they would rise. Manufacturers and companies that import finished goods could, of course, absorb those increased tariff costs, but my bet would be that they would pass those higher tariff cost along.
There were many articles written at the time telling American consumers to buy what they need before the prices increased from tariffs, so if they were looking for new television sets or new cars, the buyer would not pay the higher price.
We get a huge amount of fruits and vegetables from Mexico, which also had tariffs put on them. In some instances, prices on those products rose and rose quickly because fresh vegetables and fruits have a limited shelf life.
China produces 80 percent of the rare earth elements that go into electronics and other products that are used by American manufacturers. That is one reason that Trump wanted to buy Greenland, where the glaciers are quickly receding making extraction of rare earths easier.
Overall, any tariff is not a tax on another country, such as China. It is nothing more than a tax that you, the consumer, pays when you buy imported goods.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Howard Brothers
Today’s sponsor is Howard Brothers, which has retail stores in Alpharetta, Doraville, Duluth, Oakwood and Athens. John and Doug Howard are the “brothers” in Howard Brothers. This family-owned business was started by their dad, and continues to specialize in hardware, outdoor power equipment and parts and service. Howard Brothers are authorized dealers of STIHL, Exmark, Honda, Echo outdoor power equipment and Benjamin Moore paint. Howard Brothers is also an authorized Big Green Egg, Traeger Grill and YETI Cooler dealer.
- Visit their web site www.howardbrothers.com.
Enjoy reading Forum columnists, such as Wilson on MMT
Editor, the Forum:
To George Wilson’s points about spending and modern monetary theory (MMT): I agree completely that politicians of all stripes will gladly spend other people’s money, and especially as it helps them build, maintain, and grow power. And, this is regardless of political party, as the thirst for power is not unique to a given political party or economic system or country or time or place. It is built into the human condition.
Regarding MMT: it is a theory which sounds good, though makes no allowance for human behavior. Unfortunately, therefore, it is a theory which will fail in practice, as does every program theory or idea which does not take into account human behavior. I enjoy reading GwinnettForum columnists, and encourage them to continue to write.
— Randy Brunson, Duluth
Pleased to see comment about governmental spending
Editor, the Forum:
Amen! to everything George Wilson says in his column on government overspending. It’s his best column ever. The current administration has no qualms about so-called deficit spending. When Democrats are in office Republicans scream loudly about deficit spending.
— Alma Bowen, Gainesville
These changing times results in changing a hair salon
Editor, the Forum:
Regarding Sara Rawlins contribution, “Here come hair appointments to enter political world”, my mother, who is a very independent lady of 95, and who we all trust will be 96 in July of next year, has a standing appointment to have her hair done each and every week. She has used the same hair salon for several years and with the same hairdresser. Mother wears a mask for her hair appointments. She did, however, change beauty salons because her hairdresser did not wear a face mask..
— Elizabeth Truluck Neace, Dacula
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Several physicians join Northside Hospital Gwinnett team
Several new doctors have joined Northside Hospital Gwinnett.
Zaman
Dr. Saif U. Zaman is a duel fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon. An Atlanta native, he specializes in foot and ankle injuries, fractures, arthritis, cartilage restoration, ankle instability, deformity correction and minimally invasive techniques. His offices are with Northside Hospital Orthopedic Institute Sports Medicine including at Lawrenceville (771 Old Norcross Road, Suite 105) and Braselton (1255 Friendship Road, Suite 200).
Kelli
Dr. Heval M. Kelli is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and specializes in general non-invasive cardiology and preventive cardiology. He has extensively published and presented with a focus on preventive cardiology, both nationally and internationally, utilizing mobile health technologies to bring health education and care to his patients.
Dr. Kelli lives in Gwinnett County and sees patients at Northside Hospital Cardiovascular Institute’s Lawrenceville location at 721 Wellness Way, Suite 210.
Levengood
Guynn
Dr. Gary A. Levengood and Dr. Clay Guynn, and their team at Sports Medicine South of Gwinnett, have joined the Northside Hospital network of providers.
Sports Medicine South is the proud provider of many sports teams and athletic programs throughout Gwinnett County. Sports Medicine South of Gwinnett is located at 1900 Riverside Pkwy. in Lawrenceville.
General Surgeons of Gwinnett, a Northside Network Provider is pleased to welcome Dr. Georgia Hill to its practice. She will see patients at the Lawrenceville, Snellville and Johns Creek locations.
Hill
Dr. Georgia Hill has joined General Surgeons of Gwinnett, a Northside Network provider. . She will see patients at the Lawrenceville, Snellville and Johns Creek locations. She is a board-certified physician and she specializes in general surgery. She also has a special interest in surgical oncology.
Dr. Hill is a graduate of The University of Georgia, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. She received a certificate in Biomedical Sciences, as well as a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Group seeks rezoning of Peachtree Corners land
A development group is seeking to amend the Peachtree Corners comprehensive plan from “Industrial Corridor” to “Employment Corridor” that calls for light industrial and office parks along Governors Lake Parkway.
The proposed development would be a 75 acre mixed-use development, to include a hotel, office space and residents. The land for the proposed use is mostly wooded property south of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and west of Jones Mill Road.
The developers are MJE Corp. and WG-75 Partnership LP of Marietta and Lifestyle Family LP and Mansour Properties LLC of Roswell. They are the owners of the 75 acres. The Governors Lake area is now largely characterized by a mixture of office, hotel and light industrial uses as well significant amounts of undeveloped land. The City Council is scheduled to take up final consideration of the Governors Lake master plan in October.
The master plan breaks up the 75 acres into seven “pods” labeled A through G with each pod containing a mix of uses, including recreational and entertainment facilities, offices, retail and restaurants, hotels, multifamily residential and single-family residential.
Developer focuses on apartments for middle market
Atlanta Developer Jim Jacobi has formed Parkland Residential, a new homebuilding company focused on creating a build-to-rent community in the Peachtree Ridge High School district. This distinctive community was designed using stacked townhomes with rear-entry garages, an abundance of park space and each home facing a park, green or street.
Parkland Residential will focus on the underserved missing middle market. This building strategy provides diverse housing choices and generates enough density to support transit and local amenities.
Jacobi says: “With this in mind, I launched Parkland Residential, a new company focused solely on build-to-rent communities. Our strategy is the opposite of the typical exurban rental communities. We find infill redevelopment opportunities where traditional apartments are unwelcome and rezone it as a build-to-rent community, thus helping satisfy the missing middle housing demand.
Missing middle housing goes hand in hand with affordable housing. Many consumers want to live near work but cannot afford to. Having other options for housing is important. Not all rentals have to be apartments.
Parkland Residential’s sister company is Parkland Communities, Inc., is a privately-owned multifaceted real estate development and investment firm specializing in residential properties. For more information on Parkland Communities, visit www.ParklandCo.com.
PCOM professor wins top faculty member of year
Assistant Professor Carrie Smith Nold, who has been a faculty member in the PCOM Georgia Department of Physician Assistant (PA) studies since its inception, was recently named the Georgia Association of Physician Assistants’ 2020 Faculty Member of the Year.
GAPA President Negin Bauer, says: “Carrie Nold has proven to care deeply for her PA students in their education and training. She is a superstar PA professor and her students often speak highly of her. GAPA is proud to recognize her achievements and present her with the 2020 Faculty of the Year award.”
Nold notes that her favorite part of her job is working with students in either lecture, lab or a small group setting. She says: “Our students have to learn so much in such a relatively short amount of time. Anytime I can engage them beyond PowerPoint slides and include active learning activities in the classroom, I do so.”
According to Nold, one of her favorite activities occurs during the program’s yearly lecture on viral hepatitis. She divides students into groups and assigns them to either draw a picture or write a poem or a song about hepatitis B. She said, “The students are always so creative! At the end of the day, they typically perform very well on those test questions because they have done something to make the material their own.”
The GAPA award is not the first one Nold has received. A graduate of the Augusta University Master of Physician Assistant Program, Nold received the Eugene Stead/John Palmer Award of Professionalism and the Teaching and Service Award from the Physician Assistant Department at Augusta University.
Before coming to PCOM Georgia, Nold worked in outpatient neurology and rehabilitation medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in the Neuroscience Department. During this time, she co-managed the myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy clinics, while diagnosing and treating other neuromuscular diseases. She later completed an Academic Teaching Fellowship with the physician assistant program at MUSC.
Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: This book covers the formative years of Adriaantje Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston, who would become Audrey Hepburn, the actress and global humanitarian. Early on as a child, she achieved the goal of becoming an acclaimed ballerina in Arnhem, Netherlands. When Holland was invaded by the Nazis, this struck her family hard and life became tenuous. Audrey endured the Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 during which her weight got as low as 80 pounds. Still she was part of the Dutch Resistance, playing an active role tending the wounded during the ‘Bridge Too Far’ battle for Arnhem. As the Nazi regime died, she continued her career as a ballerina and fell into acting, becoming famous. Her later years serve the United States Children’s Fund or UNICEF visiting famine gripped countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. An engrossing and heartrending portrait of the life of a brave and multi-talented woman.
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
“Atlanta Compromise” speech highlights Expo
On September 18, 1895, the African American educator and leader Booker T. Washington delivered his famous “Atlanta Compromise” speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. Considered the definitive statement of what Washington termed the “accommodationist” strategy of Black response to southern racial tensions, it is widely regarded as one of the most significant speeches in American history.
Two years earlier, Washington had spoken in Atlanta during the international meeting of Christian Workers. That audience, comprising northern and southern whites, responded favorably to his speech, in which he advocated vocational-industrial education for Blacks as a means of improving southern race relations. In the spring of 1895 Washington traveled to Washington, D.C., with a delegation of mostly white Georgians to solicit support from Congress for an exposition on social and economic advances in the South.
Washington pointed out to a congressional committee that since emancipation, Blacks and whites had made advancements in race relations that should be highlighted in an exposition, and he urged federal support for the event, to be held in Atlanta. This speech, along with his 1893 address to the Christian Workers, prompted the exposition’s board of directors to ask Washington to speak at its opening exercises.
Washington’s speech responded to the “Negro problem”—the question of what to do about the abysmal social and economic conditions of Blacks and the relationship between Blacks and whites in the economically shifting South.
Appealing to white southerners, Washington promised his audience that he would encourage Blacks to become proficient in agriculture, mechanics, commerce, and domestic service, and to encourage them to “dignify and glorify common labour.” Steeped in the ideals of the Protestant work ethic, he assured whites that Blacks were loyal people who believed they would prosper in proportion to their hard work. Agitation for social equality, Washington argued, was but folly, and most Blacks realized the privileges that would come from “constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing.”
Washington also eased many whites’ fears about Blacks’ desire for social integration by stating that both races could “be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” Washington’s speech also called for whites to take responsibility for improving social and economic relations between the races. Praising the South for some of the opportunities it had given Blacks since emancipation, Washington asked whites to trust Blacks and provide them with opportunities so that both races could advance in industry and agriculture. This shared responsibility came to be known as the Atlanta Compromise.
The speech was greeted by thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Clark Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, moved forward to the speaker’s platform and proclaimed the speech to be “the beginning of a moral revolution in America.” Washington’s words, telegraphed to every major newspaper in the country, were greeted enthusiastically by whites—both northern and southern—and by most African American leaders.
(To be continued)
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Tall column with intricate carving is this week’s mystery
This issue’s Mystery Photo is a rather tall column, with ornate writing and symbols on it. Just figure where it is, and what it represents, and send your thoughts to elliott@brack.net, including your hometown.
The mystery photo in the last issue was simple, as Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. recognized, saying:
“Today’s mystery photo is of the Utah State Capitol Building. Completed in 1916 and designed by Richard K.A. Kletting, this impressive structure is located less than half a mile from the famous Salt Lake City Tabernacle. The building is five stories high, with 52 outdoor columns and a copper dome that is 285-feet high.”
He adds: “The Capitol’s walls and 24 columns are made out of Georgia Marble from the quarry in Tate, Ga., about 40 miles north of Atlanta.” The photo came from Robert Foreman of Grayson.
Others recognizing the photo included Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va., who told us: “There is a beehive sculpture in front of the Utah State Capitol with the word ‘Industry’ inscribed. The beehive is the Utah State Emblem and ‘Industry’ is the Utah State Motto. Utahns relate the beehive symbol to industry and the pioneer virtues of thrift and perseverance.”
In the last issue, we left out the comments on the Button Gwinnett Memorial in Savannah from Lynn Naylor of Norcross. She sent along the inscription on the memorial. It reads:
This Memorial to
Button Gwinnett
Born 1735 Died 1777
Georgia Signer of The Declaration of Independence
President of Georgia
Whose remains, buried in this cemetery, are believed to lie entombed hereunder. Was erected by the
Savannah – Chatham County
Historic Site and Monument Commission
with monies contributed by
The State of Georgia – The City of Savannah
and the Georgia Societies Of The
Sons Of The Revolution, Daughters Of The American Revolution
Society of Colonial Wars and Colonial Dames of America
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