Shut me up? Not on your life. Getting elected with under 9% turnout - and then by 600 votes - proves only that apathy can get anyone elected. I am convinced that the $92,000 she spent was raised through promises of patronage. Zebras cannot change their stripes.

I am still looking for the disclosure expense item for the commercial spots run on Fox News Channel. And it would be nice to know where the $38,000 in personal loans came from. Without personal investments or wealth beyond your own home, spending $92k for a $57k job opens many questions.

Mathis is not the first Chairman to merit watchful eyes. She will not be the last. I will echo an earlier comment: It will be up to the board to act with dignity, common sense and commitment to the taxpaying citizens.

Yes, you are correct Larry. That is an awful lot to "pay" for that salary. More interesting will be the payoff in personnel over the next six months or so at the county. Not to mention all the big time donor paybacks.

Larry, remember what a wise gentleman said before, "follow the money."
Dark Knight

First of all, I would like to thank Josh and all the bloggers who participated in the live blog tonight. It was very interesting to watch. I would like to thank Prof. Wells for his logical insights tonight.
Now Ms. Mathis has won the position of Chairman. I truly wish her all the best because it is not going to be an easy job. And the taxpaying citizens will be watching to see how she conducts business.
The path to the answer is there. Look closely and it will appear.
The Doctor

O.K.
The only people in Henry County who can complain, protest the tax increase that is coming, traffic jams, parks and perks for the BOC chair are the 9% who actually voted. The rest of you need to write your tax check,wait on the traffic to start moving and oh yeah SHUT UP you got what you didn't want. Watch out retirees your pension just got at least 10% smaller but not to worry SPLOST will make up the difference.....
Don Henderson

I think you're wrong on this one Doc. The taxpaying citizens won't be watching Mathis or anyone else on the local level. If they were paying attention, 91 percent of them wouldn't have stayed at home yesterday and certainly half of the 9 percent who did bother to vote would not have voted for Mathis.

The only hope we have is that the other commissioners will keep her under control. I'm actually more concerned about what happens in two years when we could get 2 Democrats on the board with Mathis. I've lived here almost 50 years and love this county, but I'm thinking in terms of an exit strategy.

Long live democracy!!! 9% -- what a freakin' joke.

Dutch, thank you sir. My idea was that maybe people will wake up here one day.
But I believe it is too far past midnight to save what is left of the county I grew up in. 9% of the voting public is a sad statement on how people feel about our county. It is not the Henry County of the late 1960's and it has grown into one of the large mega counties around the ant hill known as Atlanta.
I will probably die here as my health continues to decline. I have the good memories of the Henry County that was and hope that the citizens like the Henry County they have today. If they think it is great today they should have been here 40 years ago.
And if they have the good fortune to be here 40 years from now they may not like what they find. Keep up the good work Dutch.
The Doctor

I hope Mrs. Mathis realizes that she now represents the entire county now, which means she will be held accountable to more people and at a higher standard than before. Some of the BoC members will act as a safety net to her doings. However she will need to be watched very close by the true Henry Countians that care. And to those that care about the county and it's taxpayers the words follow the money mean more now than ever before.

Dark Knight

I hate to admit it, but I think Henry County will not be the same in the next decade as it is today, and since I have only lived here a short time and have only been visiting here the last ten years, I can only imagine what the area was like in yesteryear. But judging from what I have heard and some of what I have seen, I can assume that the past was full of wonderful things here in Henry County.

One of the things causing this change for the worse is the mess that is going on in Clayton County and the exodus going on now to escape the foolishness there is causing Henry County to be infiltrated by people who are used to chaos and do not have the fundamental respect for a peaceful, serene, neighborly community. Many of them are used to living in area where crime runs rampant and the children are raised like a bunch of timberwolves who do not respect property or the rights of others. As they come here, they look for better neighborhoods, schools, and safer streets, but they inevitably bring their Clayton County habits with them. I know this sounds very generalized, but in the last few months there have been disturbances in my neighborhood and the residents that have caused them have all been recent move ins from where? You guessed it-Clayton County. In addition, the police have had to be called to the area a few times to deal with cars parked in the street or in other people's yards, or who come in being noisy and disrespectful of the peace, and guess what their car tags read? Do I have to answer??

What is happening here is happening in a lot of places across Georgia. I sometimes long for my hometown in Southeast Georgia, where the sheriff can still be seen drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola on the courthouse square with the mayor, and the teachers at the local high school still have well known reputations for being tough, or in some cases, strict and demanding. Shopkeepers water hanging flower baskets outside their storefronts early each morning so customers can enjoy the scenery as the walk down the sidewalk and come in to the stores. Neighbors still lean over fences and talk politics and discuss what is going on in their families. Doc, I am sure you remember the days when this happened in Henry County. Sadly, as this has disappeared in the mess that is metro-Atlanta, it is disappearing all over Georgia as well. Our young people see no value in community. They live inside technology, their tv screens, cell phones, and I-pods. They can barely speak English, and their respect for authority is almost nonexistent. In the wake of this we get crumbling societies, poor schools, and low voter turnout. Voting and trying to help be a part of the solution rather than part of the problem is just too much work, that is unless some fast talking hot shot comes along, raises his fist, and shouts "Change," or "Yes, We Can." The sad thing is that he does not have to explain that change because his supporters don't really want specifics. They just want a pretty face and a lot of fast talk. One of my students told me she was supporting Obama so she look forward to taxing the rich to help the poor. I just shook my head and said, "Well, what Obama should tell his poor supporters is that when he helps them get rich, he will then steal from them to give to some other poor bloke, so they might as well just try to stay honest and poor." Sadly enough, this is the wave of the future. I, like you, sometimes feel powerless to help change it.

Prof. Wells, thank you my friend. Yes, things were very different back then. I knew everyone on the square in McDonough and most of the surrounding area. Now I am the stranger when I make it to McDonough. Keep up the good work sir, because Henry County needs some young new voices who know the meaning of my world.
The Doctor