Articles by: Elliott Brack
BRACK: Mitchell Stephens now heading John D. Stephens, Inc. operations
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | A long time Gwinnett enterprise has another person in charge these days, though the company operates much the same as before. The company is John D. Stephens Inc., run for years by John D. himself of Snellville. Today his former companies are run by his youngest son, Mitchell, 47, while the father concentrates his efforts in another company with work around the Atlanta Airport.
BRACK: A look at when cities in Georgia were chartered
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Officials in the county seat of Lawrenceville have been selling themselves short. Perhaps it’s because when new people come into office in Lawrenceville, and that the institutional memory went the door. For the Lawrenceville officials have been saying recently that they are the second oldest city in Metro Atlanta.
BRACK: Lilburn will be site of Gwinnett’s first distillery by January
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | By January, Gwinnett may have a distinctive new business venture up and running—-its first distillery.
Hope Springs Distillery in Lilburn is the concept of a Norcross couple who decided to “hire ourselves” when they were looking for something “legal to do” as they left full-time employment.
BRACK: Remembering a friend who served a unique nonprofit board service
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | It’s best to have all types of people making up a nonprofit board.
A good board consists of people coming at problems from several different angles, creating a board of advisers who can successfully lead the institution toward a good path. You want full and fair discussion, and not people who are essentially “Yes” persons who go along with whatever someone proposes.
BRACK: He’s our nation’s new president; We wish Donald Trump solid success
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | An out of state reader prompted today’s entry when he asked a question about the election.
What really concerns me seriously are the protests and riots by the young. It is obvious that they do not know the mechanics of government, and I suspect this comes from more than a generation not studying the basics of civics.
BRACK: Democrats in Gwinnett ran much stronger than in years before
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | The United States is a great nation. It is resilient, and can survive Donald Trump. Be pleased and calmed knowing that.
The nation’s best period of government, it appears to us, is when Congress doesn’t necessarily rubber stamp everything the president sends forth. (The very best time we feel is when one House of Congress is of a different party than the president.) We suspect it won’t be long before the legislators find that they’ll need to limit the reach of the presidency. That would also have happened had another person been chosen to lead our country.
BRACK: How ‘bout those Cubs? Berkmar marks 50th anniversary
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Today we’ll give you a breather and never mention something that has focused our attention for the last few months, if you get the drift of the thought.
HOW ‘BOUT THOSE CUBS! It was great to see normally an unsung key leader of the Cubs, the former Atlanta catcher David Ross, have a very good game, slamming a home run in what is perhaps his last game in professional baseball. After all, he’s 39, and crouching behind home plate must be much tougher now than previously.
Here are GwinnettForum’s choices in Tuesday’s General Election
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | In this last edition of GwinnettForum prior to Tuesday’s election, we’ll give a run-down of our views on the various races, as a guide to the election. Details of these endorsements were printed in previous issues.
Here are our choices in elections where there are at least two opponents:
Gwinnett Forum | Nov. 26, 2024
“Bureaucrats write memoranda both because they appear to be busy when they are writing and because the memos, once written, immediately become proof that they were busy.”
— Editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly Charles Peters (1926-2023).
Continuing objectives
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests that Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His list:
- Move statewide non-partisan judge and school board elections to the General Election.
- Adoption of the 2023 Transit Plan for Gwinnett.
- More creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett.
- Advancement and expansion of city historical societies.
- Require establishments that serve alcoholic beverages to halt sales of such products at 1 a.m., and close by 2 a.m.
- Require the Georgia Legislature to meet only once every two years.
- 21st century salary for the Gwinnett County Commission members.
- Remove chewing gum on sidewalks at entrances of post offices and other governmental buildings.
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging and straws in Gwinnett and require instead the use of paper products.
- Condos instead of apartments for Gwinnett.
Interested in Gwinnett history?
Now re-printed in its third edition, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the award-winning history of Gwinnett County, is once again available for purchase. It sold out of its first two printings. The book won the 2010 Award of Excellence in Documenting Georgia History from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. The book is available at Old Town Antiques at 93 Main Street in Lilburn.
- The history of Gwinnett is also available as an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $9.95.
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