Fri, 09/03/2010 - 9:15am
Fri, 09/03/2010 - 6:44am
Fri, 09/03/2010 - 6:26am
Fri, 09/03/2010 - 6:00am
Thu, 09/02/2010 - 3:01pm
Thu, 09/02/2010 - 12:30pm
Thu, 09/02/2010 - 9:45am
1 comments.
1 comments.
Wed, 09/01/2010 - 4:50pm
Wed, 09/01/2010 - 3:20pm
Bickerton's in for District One
Sara Bickerton has announced her intentions to run for the soon-to-be-vacated District One seat on the Athens-Clarke County Commission.
Bickerton is a program coordinator for the Athens-Clarke Literacy Council, as well as the assistant program director for the Jack R. Wells Boys & Girls Club.
Current District One Commissioner Doug Lowry, who had been mulling a possible mayoral run, opted to not seek re-election.
Not another one
Submitted by paveplanet (not verified) on Fri, 03/05/2010 - 2:34pm.With all due respect to Ms. Bickerton (and she has done a tremondous job at the Boys & Girls club), this community and the leadership of the Mayor and Commission needs to stop filling itself with career government (or quasi-government) employees who never reallly have run a business. Yes, i know that there are a ton of reasons why a government should not be run as a business, but tell me one other government let alone a business that would spend as much energy as this one did over the past month dealing with cats among all of the other pressing issues? We are bound to get more of the same - kinda like inbreeding, isn't it? I am not in a district that is up for reelection, but I wish I was.
There are ...
Submitted by Johnathan McGinty on Sat, 03/06/2010 - 3:36pm.... a couple of ways of looking at this.
First off, I don't necessarily disagree with you from a philosophical perspective. Any elected body should feature a healthy balance of individuals coming from various backgrounds with various viewpoints. More folks who have some private sector experience is always a good thing, just as more folks who have a public sector experience is a good thing too.
Two caveats I'd suggest ...
- Athens-Clarke County is a community where a disproportionate number of folks serve in the public sector in one capacity or another. The local government, the University of Georgia, Clarke County School District and the two hospitals are the largest employers in the community. It's understandable, then, that a large number of those in office come from the public sector.
- I'd rather see, in this form of government at least, a mayor who has a diverse background with a heavy emphasis on business relations and private sector experience working with a commission that is well-versed in public policy and has roots in public sector service. The commission, ideally, should be a collection of educated technocrats given their hands-on role in crafting public policy. The mayor, by contrast, could be someone who is, for lack of a better term, a 'salesperson' for the community and is adapt at weaving in and out of various constituencies.
Not to say that increased private sector experience on any commission would be a bad thing, but the more essential things worth focusing on would be the campaign platform and proposed agenda.