Several Middle Georgia residents hope to have a bigger impact on the state.
They’re now learning as part of the Leadership Georgia Class of 2013, with meetings across the state. The group next moves on to Dublin, beginning Thursday, in its efforts to learn more about issues confronting the state.
Members of the class include State Rep. James Beverly of Macon; Robert Andra Jenkins of Sandersville’s M.C. Smith Funeral Home; Frank Edward Seagraves of Musella, from Crawford County schools; Jessica Lanier Walden of Macon, an independent creative agent; John Gray Walker of Perry, from Walker, Hubert, Gray & More LLP; and Stephen Calvin Wray of the Dublin-Laurens County Development Authority.
May I have another?
Earlier this month, the National Republican Congressional Committee declared that “Nancy Pelosi’s campaign arm is throwing John Barrow under the bus,” adding that “even Nancy Pelosi and her Washington Democrats are admitting that John Barrow’s Days in the House are numbered.”
How does this vicious attack on the Democratic representative of Georgia’s 12th Congressional District take shape? The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is giving him money for his 2014 campaign. How dastardly!
Redistricting made the district more strongly Republican, but Barrow handily defeated a challenger in November whose race was aided by $1.7 million in National Republican Congressional Committee money.
Coming together
Several meetings of the group working to combine Macon and Bibb County governments are scheduled for next week.
At 2 p.m. Monday, the consolidation task force’s Facilities Committee will meet. The Finance Committee will meet at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The full consolidation transition task force will meet at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, the Human Resources Committee will meet at 1 p.m.
All meetings will be held in the offices of the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, 175 Emery Highway, Macon.
Out with the old
The consolidation of the Macon and Bibb County governments is sometimes called a merger, but the websites sure won’t be.
A request for proposals by the Middle Georgia Regional Commission for a new website for the transition process says the new site also should be capable of being used by the new government -- without a trace of the old one.
“Because the website of the Transition Task Force shall be representative of a new government entity ... the selected firm shall utilize only newly generated photos, videos, and custom-designed graphics on the website,” without using any items from the existing city or county sites.
Proposals of up to $13,000 would be paid through a Knight Foundation grant. Proposals are due March 27, with the new site to be online by the end of May.
High-tech patrols
Bibb Animal Welfare had mounts for laptops installed this week into the department’s vehicles. The laptops, once they are fully operational and placed in the vehicles, will improve communication among animal welfare officers, said Animal Welfare Director Sarah Tenon.
“(Information) now goes directly to the officers,” she said. “It’s now real-time information.”
Such information could allow, for example, officers who find a stray pet to return it to the owner rather than take it back to the animal shelter. It also will allow the three officers currently working in the department to coordinate how they patrol, she said.
Tell us how you really feel
The president of the American Federation of Government Employees, J. David Cox Sr., issued a remarkable news release this week protesting a U.S. House budget proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Cox criticized provisions, such as a plan to reduce the number of federal employees through attrition: “If all 20 aircraft mechanics at an Air Force base retire, should the Defense Department be prohibited from replacing any of them?”
But the vitriol of Cox was unusually descriptive in other areas, in ways rarely seen in such releases: “The House Budget released today should be an occasion for fresh outrage, even if its contents are as stale and odiferous as a garbage can holding the carcass of a dead dog.”
Transportation discussion
The Macon Area Transportation Study’s Policy Committee will host a special work session to discuss the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan at 9:30 a.m. March 27 in the Bibb County Engineering Annex, 760 Third St., Macon. The draft plan is available online at www.MaconBibbPZ.org.
Hart helps seniors for better job title
Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart planned to spend much of Friday delivering meals to homebound and hungry seniors as part of the “Mayors for Meals Day” campaign brought about by the national Meals on Wheels program and its Bibb County affiliate.
Hart, of course, isn’t a mayor -- though he hopes to become one through this year’s elections for the new Macon-Bibb County consolidated government.
Meals On Wheels of Macon & Bibb County Inc. serves 991 clients with another 315 people on the waiting list, according to a statement.
Telegraph writers Phillip Ramati and Mike Stucka contributed to this report.
