Just once, wouldn't it be nice if.... (Atlanta, Gordon: bankrupt, incomes)

[Worren]

Of course this will never happen, but wouldn't it be nice, just once if we could elect leaders that were better than most of us? No hidden criminal activities. A spotless record. Leaders that would serve the needs and interests of the people they were elected to represent. Leaders that weren't prejudiced by any race, group or religion. Leaders that wouldn't immediately ask for more power or money or try to do things like they learned in other towns.

For the umpteenth time we have yet another power struggle going on in Augusta. Our Mayor wants more money so he can do things like he did in Atlanta. Commissioners who ran for office saying they would help keep taxes down are now championing a storm water fee. Not a tax but a fee. Unlike taxes, fees apply to everyone. Non profits, churches, senior citizens, etc; have no hope of being exempted from a fee. Even the nearly bankrupt Post Office. Fort Gordon and all Federal buildings paying fees to the city.

How about for the next election we find and elect people who advocate no new taxes. Or fees. And will not wait until elected to do an about face and ask for more. More what? Our pockets are not a bottomless pit. Our incomes are not rising fast enough to keep up with our tax and spend local politicians. One reason for the lack of money is the vast amounts of our tax money being spent outside of the county. Law enforcement vehicles being purchased from out of county dealers. Paying an Illinois company a huge amount to check Fire Hydrants. All the way from Illinois to check Fire Hydrants? You mean nobody in the county is qualified to go around and check the condition of Fire Hydrants? Whatever happened to the days when the Fire Department verified the condition of the Hydrants? Are they really too busy to do it these days? We have a bus service that is a joke. Routes that do not connect. Drivers that seem uninterested in their jobs. Busses that just aren't durable enough to last twenty years like they should. Oh, and an out of county company to "manage" our transit system. Guess nobody is qualified to manage a bunch of busses in Richmond County.

And how about the former traffic engineer who totally screwed up our traffic flow. Highway 25 down to two lanes. The lovely intersections between Bobby Jones and Peach Orchard on Windsor Spring road. Try to get through there any time of day. More traffic lights on Gordon Highway and Deans Bridge Road. A former ride down Highway 1 used to take five minutes. With the "Improvements" it now takes almost eleven. Cars idling and polluting while waiting for the new lights to change. The light on 15th street in front of the old Castleberry plant? Just sitting there swinging in the wind. In the middle of the block in front of an abandoned food plant. Traffic trap? On the rare times it's red you will get a ticket for going through. Can't they at least turn it off? I know the State did the Bobby Jones redesign design but why couldn't our own engineers have said this isn't the best way and gotten the project changed to meet the needs of the public. Speed limits designed to hamper rather than improve the flow of traffic. Same speed limits designed to increase revenue from traffic tickets rather improve safety. At least he's a deputy administrator so maybe our new Administrator will reel him in and stop some of the nonsense.

Think about it. We elect them to represent our needs and wants. Not theirs. They promised us change and improvement. Guess change and improvement looks like a shaft because that seems to be what we got.

Next election's coming. Please think this time and put people who are really interested in our welfare into office. People who might even promise "no new spending". Planning for growth is fine but not when it hurts the people who already live here and have to pay for the pipe dreams.

[TravelingMat]

I'm with you on the transportation issues and it's only getting worse traffic exiting 520 @ Peachorchard/Windsor spr ramp backs out into the travel lanes daily forcing all thru traffic into the center lane and speeds to drop below 40 it's a pileup waiting to happen. That exit ramp is atleast 1/4 mile from the traffic light and splits into 2 lanes. The entire Windsor/peachorchard 520 triangle is becoming a nightmare with every new business that opens in the area.