Elliott Brack’s Perspective
NEW for 9/11: On hate crimes law, Senate campaign, illegally-dumped tires
Click here to read the latest edition. IN THIS EDITION:
TODAY’S FOCUS: Background on how Georgia’s hate crimes law got passed
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Wayne Johnson bases Senate campaign on student loan reform
ANOTHER VIEW: Support a proposal to rid our area of illegally dumped tires
SPOTLIGHT: Northside Hospital
FEEDBACK: Government not intended to be all things to all people
UPCOMING: UK firm to bring 100 new jobs to Gwinnett County
NOTABLE: PCOM student-doctors offer free flu shots at Lawrenceville ministry
RECOMMENDED: The Book of Joy by The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu (with Douglas Adams)
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Author Mary Hood is two-time winner of the Townsend Prize
MYSTERY PHOTO: One major clue about this Mystery Photo: no mountains!
LAGNIAPPE: Winn DAR chapter represented at Eutaw Springs ceremony
BRACK: Study this list of 21 Senate candidates to pick your preference
By Elliott Brack | There are 21 Georgians competing independently for the Senate seat vacated by former Senator Johnny Isakson to fill the two years left on his term. The seat is presently held by Kelly Loeffler, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp. The 21 candidates will all run in a Special Election, which people are calling a “jungle election,” since anyone can run who qualified without being nominated by a party.
BRACK: Athens professor has forward thinking ideas in Senate race
By Elliott Brack | The 2020 election will be unusual, in that Georgians will vote for two U.S. Senators in November. Incumbent David Perdue is running for another six year term, opposed by Democrat John Ossoff. In a distinctive second U.S. Senate race this year, there will be 21 people battling in a “jungle election” to see who will fill the remaining two years of Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term. That means that the winner will probably immediately be running for a full six year term in 2022.
BRACK: Like before, President Trump introduces the fear card
By Elliott Brack | You could almost see it coming. Desperate to retain the presidency, now Donald Trump has introduced the Fear Card in the 2020 race. Shades of Richard Nixon!
One also wonders if he is influencing enough of the many terrorist groups for them to start agitating so that they can deliberately clash with protesters, to then allow President Trump to “send in the troops,” making him appear as the law-and-order candidate.
BRACK: These days, I look forward to getting more robocalls!
By Elliott Brack | It’s good to get a new play toy. And this one gives me so much power! It’s a new telephone system for our house. The old three-phone set went kerflurry, so we started looking. Came up with a three-phone Panasonic system that is more modern, causing the new excitement. Cost was reasonable at $52, which I seem to remember was cheaper than the previous three-phone set.
BRACK: Governor’s idea of news seems more reasonable than AJC’s
By Elliott Brack | Governor Brian Kemp’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic has certainly been wishy-washy if not questionable. His lack of understanding that local officials, particularly mayors, by definition ought to be able to order their populations to wear masks seemed unreasonable. If the local mayor thinks that his area is severely threatened by the pandemic, as an emergency measure, the mayor should protect his citizens and have the inherent right to order masking.
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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