GwinnettForum | Number 21.23 | March 23, 2021
GROUNDBREAKING AT THE GROVE development in downtown Snellville, an $85 million project, is in its first phase. Last week the city found an unannounced, surprise shot-in-the-arm. E.R. Snell Contractor of Snellville donated $500,000 to a Snellville foundation to go toward a public art statue of city founders James Sawyer and Thomas Snell. From left are Melinda Snell Franklin, Mayor Barbara Bender, Councilman Tod Warner, David Snell, Chris Snell, Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Emanuel, Councilman Solange Destang, Robin Snell, Councilwoman Gretchen Schulz, Billy Franklin and Councilwoman Cristy Lenski. The re-development of the downtown area originally came out of a Living Cities Initiative study several years ago.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Presidential action needed soon to save vast battery plant
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Can Gwinnett’s high quality school program continue?
ANOTHER VIEW: Why not call it the season for public begging on television?
SPOTLIGHT: Comet National Shipping
FEEDBACK: Two-edged sword: be careful what you wish for
UPCOMING: New GGC dean to lead School of Science and Technology
NOTABLE: County gets new parkland and buys new storage site
RECOMMENDED: A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Tuskegee Airmen P-51s excelled as bomber escorts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Assistance: this Mystery Photo is not a wine cellar
Presidential action needed soon to save vast battery plant
By Tim Echols, vice-chair,
Georgia Public Service Commission
COMMERCE, Ga. | Georgia leaders from both parties recognize that the supply chain for electric vehicles needs to go through our state. However, one ruling, by a little-known federal agency, has put the country’s green-energy goals and nearly 6,000 Georgia jobs at risk. The good news is that President Biden, who visited our state on Friday, has the chance to undo it. But he has to act fast.
Echols
Last month, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) quietly issued a ruling in a trade dispute between SK Innovation (SKI), a South Korean battery manufacturer, and one of its Korean competitors, LG Energy Solution (LGES). The effect of the decision, though, would be anything but discreet. It would force the closure of SKI’s enormous, brand-new factory in Commerce, the largest manufacturing investment ever made in the state. And believe me, when you drive north on Interstate 85 and see the facility, it is mammoth.
The effects of this decision are not limited to Georgia. The ruling will set the country back years in its clean energy goals, worsening an electric vehicle battery shortage that threatens our ability to move the transportation sector away from fossil fuels and toward clean, renewable energy supplies.
Rendering of battery plant, via PR Newswire
But hope is not lost. The law gives the president 60 days to disapprove of an ITC decision on the grounds that it does not serve the public interest. President Biden can effectively veto this misguided decision by April 9, and make good on his commitments to decarbonize transportation and add to high-paying clean energy jobs right here at home.
Georgia has the potential to become a major hub for clean energy technology, and in the wake of the pandemic, these jobs are needed more than ever. SKI’s 2.4 million square foot plant already employs 220 workers, and will employ nearly 2,600 if allowed to reach full capacity. SKI plans to invest even more to expand operations in Commerce—a total of nearly $5 billion by 2025—creating nearly 6,000 high-paying, full-time jobs. These investments would support an entire ecosystem of new business activity in the state. The cascading effects would include improved infrastructure, which will lower costs for existing local businesses and encourage new business to sprout up or relocate here. Higher-education grants provided by SKI will help prepare hundreds or even thousands of future high-tech workers with the knowledge and training they need to work in the burgeoning green-energy field.
This investment is also crucial for Biden’s environmental agenda. The transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. But batteries for electric vehicles are in short supply worldwide, and the vast majority of batteries are manufactured in China. SKI’s Georgia factory would supply enough batteries to power an additional 330,000 electric vehicles every year.
If the ITC’s decision is allowed to stand, the factory will close before it ever fully opens its doors despite the Herculean efforts of our governor and Economic Development team. The vast economic and environmental benefits that SKI’s factories would provide are more than enough justification for the President to disapprove of the ITC’s ruling.
This is not a close call: President Biden must act, and he must act soon. If not, the massive plant will be a monument to a failed effort to make Georgia the center electric vehicle supply chain. And that is something none of us want.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Can Gwinnett’s high quality school program continue?
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MARCH 23, 2021 | Last week’s discharge of School Superintendent Alvin Wilbanks from his post leading the Gwinnett County Board of Education came as no surprise. The Black majority on the board made good on its promise to voters to replace him.
Now the only immediate question is who will replace him. We anticipate, no surprise here, that the Black majority will come up with the “best qualified candidate” who just happens also to be Black. This is not racism on our part for saying that. The majority of the board itself already introduced racism into the operations of the board.
For years, Gwinnett County has seen its southern neighbor go through the pains of growth in many ways. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, DeKalb County had the reputation across Georgia as having the best school district in the state. The leader of that system then was Jim Cherry, who was their superintendent from 1947 to 1972, a long tenure that brought distinction to that school system for its high quality of instruction, and continual exceptional graduates.
Mr. Cherry led its school system through its period of initial integration. He was also instrumental in the development of the Fernbank Science Center, in cooperation with the school system. He retired in 1972 and died in Atlanta in 1980.
Wilbanks
Both Jim Cherry and Alvin Wilbanks led their school districts for over 25 years with neither of them being an educator with a doctoral degree. They were both simply solid individuals who were superb leaders. Each was recognized nationally in the education community.
When any organization has been at its zenith for years, it can expect to see a reduced status eventually. That certainly happened in DeKalb County overall, and in its school system in particular. Unfortunately, over the years, the DeKalb County government also got a reputation of being difficult to work with. Some even threw in the term “nepotism” about its operations. It got to the point that people in Gwinnett were saying “We don’t want to be like what DeKalb has become.”
In recent years, DeKalb’s School Board has seen more and more problems. Several persons have been picked to be its superintendent, only to stay a short time. At one time, they had three superintendents in three years. That does not speak toward an exceptional system.
So the question arises in Gwinnett: will its Board of Education follow the DeKalb model, and see the quality of its school program of instruction fall? Can the high quality of the Gwinnett educational program continue?
We’ll look to the Black majority on the School Board to provide the answer. We hope they are successful.
It was gratifying to see the graciousness of Alvin Wilbanks in his statement after essentially being fired. He said: “While I was prepared to fulfill my contract through June of 2022, recent discussions with the school board made it clear that would not be the case.
“I appreciate the support I have received over the years, and, especially most recently, from staff members, parents, and community members. I want you all to know what a pleasure it has been to lead this district, to be a part of the GCPS family, and to be a contributing member of this great community. I know that when the time comes, I will proudly hand back to the Gwinnett County Board of Education and our community a school district that is in better shape today than it was when I became superintendent.”
Go in peace, Alvin. You have served well. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.
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Why not call it the season for public begging on television?
By Raleigh Perry
BUFORD, Ga. | Again, it is one of those times during the year when the public television stations go into their begging programs. I have never figured out their rationale for the programming during these periods, but it seems that it is the same people giving the same spiel for the 100th time. Those presentations have gone on ad infinitum now for three weeks. It is about as boring as a box of rocks.
Perry
I found some information during the last session of begging. There is a station in upstate New York that does not do the standardized begging programming at all. They get their money by auctions. As anyone who has ever looked at eBay knows, things being on auctions, sell. One man’s trash is another’s treasure.
I like many of the shows on both of Atlanta’s public stations and when everything is going right, I record them and watch them later. This house is a newsy house, so we watch news quite a bit and then “Jeopardy” and depending on if I want to stay up another hour, we will watch one of the shows that we have recorded.
I must be able to get 300 channels on my television, but if you try to find a movie, they keep on running them over and over. We are not a sitcom family and I am certainly not one to watch those two people that over priced antiques, the pawnshop shows, nor certainly not the ones where they have a bunch of auctions to buy stuff in those storage bins or what you call them.
I have, however, found some other programming that I do like. We go quite often to NHK, a Japanese channel. It is a lot like the BBC channel in that it gives a period of news and then shows things you have never seen or thought about before. The news always is in English and some of the other shows are also, but those that are not are subtitled or they have a voice over. The Japanese are very creative and most of their families that are not employed in big companies are carrying on a family business that might be 200 years old or more. The Japanese shows do not present any shows that demonstrate the only way to solve a problem is with guns.
My wife and I have also become enthralled, however, with sumo wrestling. Every other month, there are about 14 days of sumo wrestling on, an hour or so per day. Sumo is not like that stupid wrestling that we have over here to entertain troglodytes.
Like everything of this nature, there is a bit of ceremony. The wrestlers are just trying to get each other down or out of a ring. Then, very politely, the loser bows to the winner and the winner is given something, maybe money, and they go to the next match. Most individual matches do not last more than a couple of minutes. You see men that are agile to be so big. It is quite a feat. Try it, you will like it.
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Two-edged sword: be careful what you wish for
Editor, the Forum:
Once again George Wilson’s views are the “Pot calling the kettle black.” The accusation that Republican voter legislation is to suppress votes and gain a ‘one party State’ is absurd. I believe the legislation is designed to assure that votes being cast are in fact legal and legitimate. How is that voter suppression? My opinion aside, H.R.1 is in fact legislation designed with such liberalism as to let almost anyone vote, no identification, regardless of citizenship status. It is a power grab, the intent to make a ‘one party state,’ Democrat. The bill is so one-sided it should be renamed ‘For the Democrats Act.’ As for gerrymandering, the Democrats are quite adept at the art, when in power.
The idea of doing away with the filibuster is a two-edged sword. The purpose was intentional, that is, to slow legislation down. Why? Because the hurried passage of certain legislation without adequate debate is both unwise and dangerous. George seems to feel that when Republicans use it, there is no justification, except to stymie Democrats. The idea of ‘private interests and oligarchs’ running the Government is paranoia. If a piece of legislation is good for the country shouldn’t it have bipartisan support? After all, the Democrats claim they want unity and bipartisanship. Oh, I forgot, those are just politician’s words.
Be careful what you ask for George.
— Jim Savadelis, Duluth
Many central downtowns have no grocery stores nearby
Editor, the Forum:
Your article on the proposal for a building in front of the new art center is right on track, not only for blocking the new art center, but how many more apartments and how much more traffic is going to be jammed into downtown Lawrenceville?
I understand all these suburban cities trying to build a central walkable community, but they fail to realize that most of these people do not work there or work from home.
This is just adding more parking problems and traffic to their downtown, which keeps others away. The other problem I have noticed is that few of these cities have any type of grocery that is in a “walkable” distance to these multi-family housing units. Lawrenceville does not even have a farmer’s market anymore.
— Dan Mackaben, Lawrenceville
Use of guns reflect the heart and mind of the user
Editor, the Forum:
Thank you for your thoughts regarding the recent shootings. Yes, these are sad, tragic, and crimes against humanity. Legislation to ban guns or severely restrict access and use won’t stop the shootings. Those with ill intent will always find ways to carry out their carnage. Guns, like pencils, computers, and electric saws, are simply tools. Their use, and what comes from them, is nothing more than a reflection of the heart and mind of the person who controls them.
–Randy Brunson, Duluth
Voter suppression, yes, suppressing the illegals
Editor, the Forum:
George Wilson “Republicans are dependent on voter suppression…”
I say America is dependent on voter suppression, suppressing the illegal votes.
— Ron Buice, Buford
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, and include your hometown. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
New GGC dean to lead School of Science and Technology
Chavonda J. Mills, Ph.D. will become dean of Georgia Gwinnett College’s (GGC) School of Science and Technology (SST), effective July 1.
Mills
Mills is currently a professor and chair of the department of chemistry, physics and astronomy at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. There, she broadened the department, adding new concentrations in forensic chemistry and physics education. During her 15 years at the university, she secured nearly $2 million in grants including a $650,000 grant from the National Science Foundation this year to retain and support high-achieving, low-income STEM students through graduation.
Mills spent her formative years in metro Atlanta. The Decatur native had an early interest in the STEM field, which was encouraged by her teachers from her elementary school years through her time at Columbia High School. Mills holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Spelman College, B. S. in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Florida A&M University.
She holds a patent in the development of synthetic flavonoids as methods of treatment of HIV infection and other pathologies and has published in the areas of medicinal chemistry and science education. Mills is a graduate of the 2016 HERS Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education and 2017 AAC&U Emerging Leaders Program. She is the co- founder of the Georgia College Women’s Leadership Faculty Fellows Program.
Mills said she was attracted to GGC because of its mission and vision. When she assumes her new role at GGC, Mills plans to live in Gwinnett County with her husband and two daughters, ages 9 and 6.
County gets new parkland and buys new storage site
Gwinnett County has new parkland, and has purchased a vacant supermarket, which it will use for storage of files.
Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners accepted the donation of 88 acres of a former golf course east of Pleasant Hill Road in unincorporated Duluth for use as passive greenspace and acquired a vacant grocery store in Lawrenceville for use as a records retention and management facility.
Benjamin A. Wood and Anthony L. Wood donated 88 acres of the former Northwoods Golf Club site near Club Drive. Because the property is landlocked, the owners also offered a 30-foot-wide easement to Club Drive to the south, and will be an addition to the park system.
The parcel, tucked between two neighborhoods, combines rolling hills, wetland areas and small patches of woods. Users would be also able to walk along the eventual Sweetwater Creek Greenway.
Commissioners also authorized the purchase of the former Ingles grocery located at 1050 Grayson Highway in southern Lawrenceville. The $5.2 million acquisition includes 11.3 acres and an 87,393-square-foot store. The building will be renovated to replace the current Records Management Center at 455 Grayson Highway, which is nearing capacity. The building, vacant since 2019, will house and manage records for courts and county departments as well as supplies for the Office of Emergency Management.
Duluth group seeking to preserve ancient Knox cabin
A log cabin dating back nearly 200 years is in danger of being torn down by a developer. It is one of the oldest tongue-and-groove cabins in Gwinnett. The Knox cabin, on Georgia Highway 120 east of Duluth, was the home of many generations of families, including John Knox, the first Mayor of Duluth.
Candance Morgan, president of the Duluth Historical Society, says: “The benefit of saving this cabin is to preserve a lifestyle of pioneer culture that is vanishing. It could be a learning tool for the young to be able to touch, explore and research the design of free supporting buildings that were made with hand-made tools by blacksmiths. Our children, our schools, our city, and business would all benefit by bringing more educational venues and tourism into our town.”
The Society has started a Go Fund Me page to save this cabin. The initial target amount is $70,000. To make a contribution to the site, go to gofundme.com/f/Duluth-Historical-Society-help-save-cabin. Or checks can be mailed to the Society at P.O. Box 599, Duluth, Ga. 30096.
Roundabout coming to area near GJAC building
The Gwinnett Board of Commissioners on Tuesday awarded a contract to build a roundabout at the intersection of Langley Drive and Constitution Boulevard near the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in downtown Lawrenceville.
Summit Construction and Development, LLC, was the lowest of six responsive bids received on the roundabout project at just under $1.2 million. This project will convert the existing intersection to a roundabout to improve traffic flow and safety as drivers travel through this intersection. The project includes the installation of lighting, drainage structures and curb and gutter. This project is funded by the 2014 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
PCOM student wins Dr. Oz show scholarship
Thomas
PCOM Georgia Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine student Kayla Thomas (DO ’21) has been awarded a Diversity in Medicine scholarship from The Doctor Oz Show. The award is part of the #MoreBlackDoctors campaign and is intended to help empower, support and advocate for more diversity in medicine, while combating racial bias, according to the show. She is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Intercultural Studies. The #MoreBlackDoctors Scholarship is a $10,000 scholarship awarded to students who are underrepresented in medicine.
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
From Elizabeth Neace, Dacula: Recently, I read, enjoyed, and was touched by John Grisham’s A Time for Mercy, which brings back Jake Brigance, the attorney in Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill. The story revolves around individuals who have been accused, convicted, and in some cases are serving time in prison, even on death row, while proclaiming their innocence. It tells, also, of the abuse they receive while awaiting delayed justice. Brigance is one of the attorneys working with a non-profit group investigating to find the truth, innocence or guilt, in each of several cases. This is Grisham’s second novel on the subject. Interestingly enough, he is on the board of directors of a non-profit that works to free innocent people.
- 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
Tuskegee Airmen P-51s excelled as bomber escorts
While Charles Dryden and his Tuskegee Airmen of World War II comrades performed many duties, it was as bomber escorts that they excelled. By the end of the war, many B-17 and B-24 pilots of the 9th and 15th air forces began to request “those P-51s with the red tails.” All totaled, Dryden and his fellow Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 15,000 combat sorties, destroying more than 250 enemy aircraft as well as 950 railcars, trucks, and other motor vehicles. They never lost a single escorted bomber to enemy action.
Tuskegee Airmen
But this success came at a high price: sixty-six of Dryden’s fellows were killed in action, and thirty-two became prisoners of war. On July 26, 1948, U.S. president Harry S. Truman signed the executive order that desegregated the U.S. military.
A command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, including combat missions during the Korean War, Dryden retired in 1962 after 21 years with the air force. That same year, he also retired from his post as an Air Science professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C. A job at Lockheed-Georgia later brought Dryden to Atlanta where, in 1978, he founded the Atlanta Chapter Tuskegee Airmen Inc.
Dryden received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Hofstra University in 1996. The following year brought further attention to his accomplishments: Georgia secretary of state Max Cleland proclaimed him an “Outstanding Georgia Citizen”; he participated in the opening of the Museum of Aviation display “America’s Black Eagles: The Tuskegee Pioneers and Beyond”; and he published his autobiography, A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman. In 1998 he was inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.
Dryden remained an important friend and supporter of the Museum of Aviation for the rest of his life, often speaking to youth and college groups to encourage them to seek careers in military and civilian aviation. In July 2007 he flew with around 200 students from the Aviation Career Education program in Atlanta to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, to present the museum with a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen in March 2007.
Dryden died in Atlanta on June 24, 2008. Former Atlanta mayor and U.S. ambassador Andrew Young delivered the eulogy at Dryden’s funeral.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Assistance: this Mystery Photo is not a wine cellar
Check out the Mystery Photo in this edition. We’ll help steer you in one direction by telling you in advance this is not the walkway of a storage for wines. You figure out the rest, then send your answer to elliott@brack.net to include your hometown.
Sometimes an item right before you is never recognized. Not many Gwinnettians were up to spotting the last Mystery Photo, a view of Sims Lake Park in Suwanee, sent in by Shyla Nambiar of Suwanee.
Way up in Palmyra, Va., George Graf identified the park, saying: “Sims Lake Park is one of Suwanee’s most popular parks not only because of its proximity to several neighborhoods, but also because of its many amenities and idyllic environment. The 62-acre park includes a seven-acre lake and 1.2-mile looping trail. The park also includes a partially covered playground, a pavilion available on a first-come basis, picnic tables, outdoor classroom and public art.”
Others recognizing it were Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill; Tim Keith, Sugar Hill;and Holly Moore, Suwanee.
Mountain Park Community Association meeting is March 25 at 7 p.m., virtually. Gwinnett School Board Chairman Everton Blair will be the speaker. Submit topics or questions for the speaker to MtnParkCA@gmail.com , with “School Board Meeting” in the Subject line. A Link to Zoom meeting will be sent closer to the date. For more details, visit https://www.MountainParkCommunity.us.
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