Larry you have done a great job. I got the same mailer today. The things she says she wants to change if she is elected are the things that should have already been addressed while she was commissioner. She says she wants to bring jobs and businesses to Henry County-this will be difficult knowing the economic downturn that is occurring. A magic wand will not bring this about. Solve traffic congestion-why hasn't she already led the way to do so. Instead of appeasing a special interest group for a mall. Equip our law enforcement to fight crime-does she not think the leadership in our law enforcement can not do their jobs. Preserve parks and greenspace-what other sites will be in danger?
Larry, keep up the good work my friend.
The Doctor

Larry,
Watch your back! Hell hath no fury like an unethical woman scorned. I tore my mailer up and threw it in the trash as soon as I made it inside from the mailbox.

Larry,
You know darn well that the zoning on North MT Carmel was the former District II Commissioner‘s doing. You, and about 10 other people and I discussed the zoning at length back in 2004. Also we discussed how that the park would be filled with the people from the subdivision across the street if the zoning were approved. I think it was you who said that the park would help the developer sell lots at the taxpayers expense.

REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING
HENRY COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
9:00 A.M., TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004

XII. Rezoning(s):
A. Lake Erma, LLC – RZ-04-43; Commissioner Freedman,
District 2 (Exhibit #10)
Lake Erma, LLC of Stockbridge, GA requests a rezoning
From RA (Residential Agricultural) to R-2 (Single-family
Residence) for property located on the western side of North
Mount Carmel, in Land Lots 138, 139 & 151 of the 6th
District. The property consists of 62.18+/- acres, and the
request is for a single-family residential subdivision. Report
prepared by Jason Gaines, Planner II. Municipal Planning
Commission recommended Approval September 23, 2004.
C. Project True North – RZ-03-35; Commissioner Freedman,
District 2 (Exhibit #12)
Project True North of McDonough, GA requests a rezoning
from RA (Residential Agricultural) to R-2 (Single-Family
Residence) for property located on Mt. Carmel Road, to the
east of Chambers Road, in Land Lots 115 & 142 of the
6th District. The property consists of 97.6 +/- acres, and the
request is for a single-family residential subdivision. Report
prepared by the Legal Department.

Comment [sm9]: The Board
approved the Consent Order
from Superior Court with
corrections

"Add to this the promotion to Director with a $16,000 raise for the daughter of her campaign treasurer"

What you said here is that this person did not deserve the raise and she only got her raise and position because her mother was connected to BJ‘s campaign. This is an out and out lie told by you a number of times on this blog.

This employee has worked for the county a long time and before BJ was elected. She has been a great employee and been very productive. You have publicly embarrassed this person and her family. For what? The only thing I can guess is that your hatred for BJ has so consumed you that you are willing to attack an innocent, good person just to get another hit on BJ. Do you know or even care that these lies of yours are causing harm to an innocent person’s reputation that can not easily be undone?

Wow Larry, as a friend may I suggest some professional help. The bashing of BJ has gone way beyond politics.This has gotten personal. If BJ wins this election your wife is going to have to hide all sharp objects. You have the right to voice your opinion But,"DAMN".
Best wishes on your recovery
Dan

The Jodeco Bridge project was in the works long before BJ took office and Larry knows this. It has been needed for many years with a combination of 1-75 extension which BJ NEVER tried to have put on a back burner.

I agree with DJ wholeheartedly. This BJ bashing goes way beyond politics it has the appearance of an unhealthy obsession. The only thing that Larry has correct in his posts about BJ is the spelling of her name. It doesn’t matter what he says the poet or the ghost hunter will agree.

Just because something was started before a commissioner takes office doesn't mean they can't treat it as their "own" and have their own influence for their benefit.

If you are talking about the Jodeco Bridge project?? I sure it will benefit BJ and the hundreds of other people who travel Jodeco Road daily.

Mr. Stanley, I don't always agree with you but I think you've hit the nail on the head with this one. That woman terrifies me. No, the thought of that woman as commission chairman terrifies me. She has no place in local politics, seeing as she only cares about her own personal agenda and not that of the citizens she is supposed to work for.

We don't need a "republican" creating social programs as payback for her cronies. That Life Styles department basically was still put into motion with the same people running it.

If you are talking about the Jodeco Bridge project?? I sure it will benefit BJ and the hundreds of other people who travel Jodeco Road daily.

The Jodeco project took money away from widening I-75. The developer of a mall that will be on the exit was going to back out if Henry County didn't make the bridge a priority.

A story was done on the project and the urgency of the developer is apparent.

I also have copies of letters from Henry County to GDOT, one signed by Mathis, saying that Henry County's priority was the Jodeco Bridge over I-75.

I need to search for them, I can post them tomorrow if you'd like.

To Now the Truth and DJ, I accept your defense of BJ as loyalty to a friend. But this post is not bashing anyone.

I quoted her words, and then added historical references.

The Bark Park was BJ's project. It did not cost much, they say, but it is still a waste of tax dollars. It does not matter that Freedman allowed the zoning on N. Mt. Carmel, what else is going on in District 2?

Regarding Ms. Reagan, I never impugned her credentials. But she knew that BJ created the department and the position without proper authority. Guilty as charged. Her Mama being BJ's campaign treasurer makes it pure cronyism. Guilty as charged. The department she would head was being 'sold' as zero-impact to the budget - and she knew that was a lie. Guilty as charged. Sorry, not my definition of "innocent."

You say BJ never tried to sidetrack I-75 lanes? The Jodeco bridge will benefit everyone? Please read this. There is no plan (or money) to widen Jodeco Road or to the complete the Campground Extension. And neither is in SPLOST III. All the "good" from the 10-lane bridge will result in a tremendous log jam!

I do not hate BJ Mathis. Nothing of the sort. She is a fine wife, mother and civic leader. Just one who needs to remain at arm's length away from the public treasury.

I repeat to my friends: This post contains facts. Take what I actually said, not what you interpret it to be, and tell me what is false.

Larry you have done an outstanding job on bringing out the truth about Mathis.
With the primary just a week away you know that all of the Mathis supporters will be out like a heard of locusts. I just wonder how many truly believe what she says and is blinded by the political theater of it all. And how many have a financial stake in her becoming chairman. Any way you look at it she is wrong for the county taxpayers. We need a true leader.
Dark Knight

Please do post the letters showing that BJ wanted the Jodeco road project to be a priority over the I-75 project and not in conjunction to the project. I think you will find that there was NO money asked to be taken away from the funds from I-75. I also believe that you will find that funding for these two projects come from different fund allocations at GDOT and one can not be taken from another. One is the Road project funds and the other is Bridge project funds.

Also if you notice the article in ABC was written in 2007 and this group made a fortune on land they sold in the area from investors and speculators after they released this information.

Do I think a mall in this area is possible, of course I do because it is prime real estate. But as of now we have nothing more than a few well placed press releases and rumors.

There has not even been plans submitted to HC planning for such a project has there?

Personal Agenda, Mary?

BJ's personal agenda consist of serving all the citizens of Henry County to the best of her ability and high intellect and guidance from above. If you have knowledge of any other personal agenda that BJ has besides the welfare of all the citizens of Henry County please share it with us and tell us where you get this information.

At the time BJ wrote her letter to the GDOT there was much going on between our legislative delegation and the GDOT. All the while the mall was already in the press - and BJ had designated her SPLOST III transportation projects.

The GDOT letter did not say, "Take money from A and place it on B." Rather, it said "As District Two Commissioner the bridge is my top priority."

She knew, as did many others, that letter was reinforcement behind the delegation NOT getting the unanimous board vote it needed to move mountains at the GDOT.

Get you talking points straight on this. Too many people were active in the issue. The wording of her letter hit the exact mark she intended.

My involvement came through SPLOST and discussions with state representatives and county officials. There was no secret that both the Shailandra mall on the west, and the PD on the east of the bridge were the motivating factors.

At the time of her letter to GDOT everyone involved knew it was about pushing transporation funds to benefit development.

Preserve Parks & Greenspace

"We saw how high density housing on N. Mount Carmel provided lots so small the folks needed the Bark Park just to walk their dogs! Then, too,"

Larry,

How can say that you were not trying to make the readers think that BJ was to blame for the high density housing on North Mount Carmel Road? Why else would you have put it in your post? Why did you choose to mention the high-density housing and not make it clear that the former commissioner did this? Many times it is not as much what you say but the pertinent facts surrounding events that you omit which slants the readers in the wrong direction, a direction you want to take them.

First read this letter from Chairman Harper, March 27, 2007.

Next see the Mathis Letter, August 1, 2007.

Now read the ARC testimony by Henry residents, August 22, 2007.

If there was never concern that the bridge would take funds away from I-75 lanes, why did Judy Neal and others testify??

Mathis pulled out all the stops to get the bridge!

Thanks ONLY to Reps. Lunsford and Davis, the I-75 lanes have already begun construction.

Thanks to the Henry BoC the county will now invest $70 million toward the bridge.

But remember there is no funding for Jodeco Road widening or the Campground Extension.

We must learn that history can be twisted and made to appear it never happened. General Eisenhower warned us (in WWII):

"'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened"

NTT, Please address the evidence I posted. Let's not sidetrack on that one zoning...

to the best of her ability and high intellect

They say the manipulative mind is, in many ways, superior to average people. No doubt Al Capone and Richard Daley were very intelligent.

Nineteen comments, 2 Mathis supporters --- AND nobody refuting the evidence. Pretty cool, huh?

As Dan said earlier, "Damn!"

Git- R- Done Larry. Very good work.

Um, larry, you da man!
Thank you.

“Regarding Ms. Reagan, I never impugned her credentials. But she knew that BJ created the department and the position without proper authority.”

How can you say what this person knew or did not know? Also if you took the time to check facts instead of repeating gossip you would have found that BJ had nothing to do with the raise.

My hope is that your family never needs an organization like Life Management. My family has not been as fortunate. I only wish that this program had been in place years ago. Two hundred thousand dollars is a very small price to pay if they can reach these families in crisis. There have been several families who have already been helped in the short time they have been in operation. The cost of keeping just one person in jail for a year is astronomical. The benefits of keeping them out of jail and reaching them when they are young helps to make them useful members of society. I am sure you know that the death of the two teens by gang members was a deciding factor for BJ’s push for this program.

It is horrible to see the pain a family goes though when their children are involved in drugs, robbery and even murder. Over and over again you hear them say we knew they were headed for trouble but we had no place to turn. Well thanks to BJ and people like her there is a place they can go for real help. Yes there was an increase in what was originally projected but the program is also more extensive with farther outreaching than what was first proposed.

Life Management is another personal agenda of BJ’s. Many thanks to BJ and the others whose agenda is to make a Henry County a better place.

Busy Bee, Actually the BoC did good regarding Life Styles:

Henry County government recently demonstrated the correct approach in regard to Mathis' back-door attempt to create a Life Management department. The board as a whole left alone the funding allocated for the Juvenile Court system, and placed before the judges the opportunity to seek funding for any specialized programs on an individual, as needed basis. The Juvenile Court judges, who face such problems daily, were given the roles of (1) determining need for such programs, and (2) requesting funding from taxpayers' pockets. Both the commissioners and judges agreed that government should not 'manage" anyone's life.

Reagan kept the raise, but her position was placed under the Juvenile Court. The Mathis scheme was reigned in.

NTT, I will acknowledge "Many thanks to BJ and the others whose agenda is to make a Henry County a better place.... for politicians and others who would soak the taxpayers to buy votes and secure position.

Thank you for confirming the social ills that provoke liberals to feel they owe a great debt to others.... and the fact they want to pay that debt with Other People's Money.

Mathis' Department of Patronage and Cronyism, like Nash Farm and misuse of transportation funds, has been a boondoggle.

Please give some credit where it is due. You know I verify facts and soures. We have worked together before, so please do not insult me. (fyi, I have the executive summary detailing the department's creation and requested budget allocation. I know of what I speak.)

Remember this:"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have...The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."- Thomas Jefferson

I wished that my county employee family member that has served this ocunty for 11 years now would get a $16,000 raise - wonder if there is any positions on bjs campaign staff......

Hey "Now the Truth",

Are you the "D Judson" from the "Losers Bracket" letter to the editor in the Herald?

Just wondering. Seems like kind of the same attitude and all.

Mmmmm, looks like someone needs anger management?

Mmmmm, looks like someone needs anger management?

Pot, meet kettle.

Yes Jason you and Mary are identical twins.

Awww, "DJ" doesn't like getting called out. Most of your comments here have been personal attacks, nothing more. If anyone here has anger issues, it is you.

I was just wondering if DJ has any original thoughts or are they all the thoughts of his goodpal BT

Oh, like a BFF? I can think of other meanings, but "best friends forever" will do for a PG13 blog.

Birds of a feather and all that.