This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 3, 2018

Call the grand jury

The current desire by some Macon-Bibb elected leaders for an investigation into the county’s finances sounds similar to the request by some Macon Water Authority leaders years ago, which resulted in a grand jury investigation.

I believe a grand jury investigation of the county’s finances is long overdue, especially since there has been no evidence that county leadership has the financial acumen to avoid irreparable harm to the county’s property taxpayers and county operations and welfare for the future.

I was serving on the grand jury that investigated the Macon Water Authority and was part of the sub-group within the grand jury which spearheaded the investigation, questioning Macon Water Authority staff, then compiling and reporting information to the overall body for discussion and decision making. We found “conditions” that needed prompt attention, developing a requested action list which was presented to the water authority after review/approval by the supervising judge.

The grand jury requested that the water authority report back to the grand jury relating to actions taken on the listed items. I understand all listed items were addressed and confirmed to the following grand jury.

We found several unanticipated conditions, one being that the Macon Water Authority staff person responsible for inspecting commercial eating establishments’ grease traps had been threatened about his findings.

As a professional engineer, I was well aware of the importance of a good operating grease trap to maintain a good operating sanitary collection and disposal system for excellent public health. I also knew that cleaning a grease trap was a very unpleasant task, having been introduced to it at boot camp as a recruit in the Korean War.

T-SPLOST is not dead

Right after the recent election, our paper put up a front page article “...T-SPLOST Fails,” (May 24) and the expose highlighted some possible reasons why it may have failed along with the slant that this tax grab by our local politicians is dead in the water. “Whoa, Nelly!” was the expression Keith Jackson used to give us football watchers — and I want to use it to alert all fellow Bibb citizens.

First, Bibb County has what is called a Macon Area Transportation Study group of three separate but complementary committees. Now MATS and the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan is the region’s way of planning and building all things for planes, trains and automobiles (and for bikes and pedestrians, too).

Second, our mayor briefed about two years ago in his MATS Policy Committee meeting for another regional T-SPLOST vote, even after we voted it down in 2012. So, to this, we had the recent one. And as part of the brief, the county’s financial manager told us that the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 offers two mechanisms for funding transportation at the local level: a regional sales tax of combined many Middle Georgia counties and a county-only sales tax measure that can be put on a Bibb-only ballot. In other words, he and the commissioners can prompt a “County Transportation Sales Tax” measure, and, you guessed it, Mr. Mayor will indubitably force one on the ballot in November. So we will get to 8 percent, maybe even 9 percent with the OLOST someday. Talk about stifling our local economy.

We owe this quandary to our local state legislatures. They approved the allowance of local politicians to add more tax layers like this one on us unsuspecting citizens, and so all of us Georgians can feel more tax pain together.

Thanks, Walter

I would like to comment on two recent columns in The Telegraph by Walter E. Williams a professor at George Mason University and writer for the Creators Syndicate. His articles are always factual and do not present biased information to convince his readers to his way of thinking. I cannot say that about other contributors to this fine paper. Also, my best to Samantha Max who will soon join The Telegraph as part of the Report for America program. She mentioned in a May 18 article that public distrust in the media is higher than ever, and I agree. Biased reporting could be a reason. Two of the worst are Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald and Thomas Friedman of the New York Times along with CNN, MSNBC and others.

Williams’ column on educational fraud (April 26) was an eye opener to me. The fact that so many college applicants are not adequately prepared for college and professors are dumbing down their courses so students can stay in school should mean something. Possibly that academia is putting more emphasis on brainwashing these young minds to the far left than educating them. The uneducated are easier brainwashed. There are institutions who will not allow a conservative speaker on campus.

Williams’ column on Democrats losing the black vote (April 17) said they must keep 25 percent of the black vote to have any chance of winning national elections. That is why Democrats support illegal immigration, voting rights for noncitizens and not showing proper identification when voting — to make up the difference for losing the black vote. Blacks are starting to realize that they have been voting Democrat for years, and the poor blacks are still poor. Remember Abraham Lincoln, who freed the slaves was a Republican.

The thing I do not understand is why the major media outlets and universities want to move the country far to the left and become more socialistic.

Amusing

I was highly amused by David Brooks’ column about fantasy by President Trump (May 29). It tickled me to see he used examples of “wire tapping” and “Mexican rapists.” Such out of context speech or speech that is not politically correct seemed to serve well his thesis.

Where were his references to fantasy of the last president’s terms in office — Benghazi, Operation Fast and Furious, the IRS punishing conservatives? Need I go on? Weren’t the Obama administration’s reporting and speechifying on these and others pure fantasy? Isn’t the world of whomever is in power a world of fantasy?

Bitter pill

Racism is a bitter pill to swallow. Roseanne Barr claims that the insomnia drug Ambien caused her racist Twitter outburst. Let’s hope that the manufacturer of Ambien, Sanofi pharmaceuticals, has a treatment for burn injuries because Roseanne has really torched her career.

More worthy of a month

Some us that served our country know of the pain of losing family and friends in wars. While we only give one Memorial Day to many extremely poignant events, we afford a month for black history. Maybe it never seemed justifiable while we were taking down our Confederate statues and flags. History is a truth that cannot be changed. Most of us with a clear understanding of all of the facts can understand how the million of men and women that severed us all (black and white) could only get a day.

Slavery and repression exist today. If you want a true picture of enslavement, look no further than World War II. At least 6 million Jews were exterminated just because they were Jews. History has not served us well. We are on path of total destruction by a group whose holy book says non-Muslims must die.

As I write this, America is allowing more Muslims to enter legally. Our borders are still wide open.

Before any of you start ranting, please explain the why of it all.

This story was originally published June 3, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 3, 2018."