This is Viewpoints for Sunday, May 20, 2018

The best candidate for a little-known (but vital) office

Georgia’s primary election is Tuesday, and there is a contested race for the District 3 seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. I’m supporting Lindy Miller for this position because I believe in her knowledge, experience, and character.

The five-member PSC regulates utilities in Georgia, and the economic and environmental impact of this commission means that Lindy needs your vote. PSC members are elected statewide.

Lindy is a native Georgian and lives in Decatur with her husband and sons. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She also co-founded a renewable energy company, Cherry Street Energy, after spending 13 years at Deloitte.

Even more important than her resume, though, is Lindy’s commitment to positive change. She has spent the last year visiting with and listening to people across the state as they shared their concerns and priorities. Her insight into utility policy and trends in renewable energy means she can bring new jobs to our state while being a good steward of the environment. Georgians pay an awful lot to meet our energy needs, but Lindy is clear that no one should have to choose between keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.

I support Lindy’s candidacy without reservation. As you consider all the contested elections in this primary, please know that voting for Lindy Miller for Public Service Commission is a crucial investment in Georgia’s future.

Taxes, taxes, taxes

Over the past 10 days I have received two mailings from the Georgia Transportation Alliance urging my family to vote for yet another SPLOST. This time a T-SPLOST which should finance in part much needed road and bridge repair in our area. It is no doubt that these projects are needed and have been for some time.

The magnitude of the problem has not been addressed with such gusto until now. Urgency is the word, and safety and traffic flow are suddenly at risk. Amazing! For decades our elected and appointed “leaders” charged with superstructure maintenance have been asleep at the wheel.

The only solution is to look to the taxpayer for bail out money. Seems like a Georgia Department of Transportation shell game for spending half a billion dollars to correct a problem (I-16/I-75 interchange) that they created in the first place. The money for this memorial to the transportation thinkers and planners could have been used for rural and urban improvements, thus eliminating a need for a SPLOST. But, we had rather do second things first at the tune of $500 million while smaller communities continue to be plagued by decades-old inaction. Sad!

Deplorable service

A short time ago, garbage billing was changed requiring citizens to pay a yearly garbage fee in advance, which I did well before the deadline. Part of that fee is for the collection of yard trash in addition to regular garbage and recycling.

This letter serves to bring to light the deplorable service the Glenwood Forest area has been receiving since then in regard to yard waste pickup. On May 11, no leaf/yard debris was picked up yet again for the second week in a row making missed pickups for five of the last seven weeks. Adding insult to injury, in a space of 10 minutes between 4:45 and 4:55 p.m., a solid waste truck passed in front of my house three times. Three!

Historically, I am not one to make waves, but lately I have been using the SeeClickFix site to report missed pickups. Each time P Raines has dutifully “acknowledged my issue” by email, a truly worthless acknowledgment as nothing has been fixed or changed. Perhaps I can sue the city for breach of contract or have a portion of my fee returned since my bagged yard waste is not being collected 75 percent of the time. Rather than reporting to your useless website, I may have to start putting all of my yard trash in the green garbage bins, even though waste management has requested that not be done, to ensure my stuff is collected.

Disappointed in proposed drug plan

I am disappointed in President Trump’s proposed drug plan. During the campaign he promised that the federal government would negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare. This will not happen. Medicare officials claim there will be a modest increase in premiums for Medicare Part D. They want to reduce the cost for patients who have serious chronic illnesses. They want to spread the expense of medications across all Medicare participants. The President also promised that consumers would be allowed to import low-cost prescriptions from abroad. This too will not happen.

It would be better if the government would allow Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to combine their drug requirements and negotiate their drug buys together.

This seems to be a ploy by Republicans to negate their failure to repeal and replace Obamacare. They are desperate to claim an achievement on health care. They do not want address the fact that some voters are losing their health care coverage.

‘Holy’ city indeed

More than fifty-five dead and more than 1,200 wounded along the Gaza border as America celebrates the moving of its embassy to the “holy” city of Jerusalem. Holy indeed. Certainly, this milestone in Jared Kushner’s peace plan ranks as a highpoint in his accomplishments as a “special assistant” to The Donald.

At least the diplomatic social scene in and around our new embassy will be familiar to “Trumpettes” as Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay move their legations there, too. At least they should be familiar since our border patrol has done all it can to keep their citizens out of this country. Should make lively dinner conversation among the only four delegations there.

Since Trump chose Pastor Robert “Jews are going to hell,” “Islam is evil,” “Mormons belong to a cult,” “Catholicism is a product of Satan’s genius” Jeffress to do the invocation, perhaps he can import Joe Arpaio to say grace at the first Cinco de Mayo festival in JerUSAlem. At least that is in keeping with what DJT thinks is appropriate.

Some choose to be uninformed

Hillary Clinton wasn’t personally involved in the Uranium One deal. The deal had to be recommended by nine different federal agencies before being approved by the President. This information is easily available, but some folks choose to be uniformed.

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, May 20, 2018."