Classifieds do not cost!
They pay!
Call 846-3188 for rates
adered
bS, if CI
a elect
ps it is
: is so/
I still
7, whet
Would Make a Good Book...
quiet reflectedSUnday after-upon ]! Readers Comments
de and events of
since moving my
a year ago, I am
to write a book. There
a generous portion
resting people and
perplexing are the
of our city coun-
ffter Christmas, one of
newspapers featured
,f each of the council
's and their wish for
rille's future.
)usly, all wanted to do
to deliver the City
created by
ghtened coun-
of a project
t known as "the multi-
dollar sod field deba-
theirs was a sincere
is an enigma to me
i very same group (less
cot and council mem-
has been so uncoop-
in recent attempts to
Lsville out of the
ma quality develop-
as the proposed
Park Golf
The enlightened
Harris and Ezra
,re went "all out" to
a truck stop for
ville because it Would
lte $15,000 a year in new
"et, these same enlight-
uncil people are doing
ing possible to frustrate
:ourage the delivery of
'.ct which would ulti-
generate over
00.00 a year in tax rev-
Harris and Mr.
are state they are
misle!d to the expressway
ffairs! hough just a few months
't to sO lsly these same council
. He t] vs had granted approval
lade ! signs on the southwest
:gin (J of Interstate 85. Oddly
ens) ij, there was no addition-
i efit to the city as is
,,,h.,,.i,w,.as tl bythe Audubon Park
lPment. The city
iZoeo?led the signs, only, on
.Jwn merit Why the sud-
woVman ; .
Ls a la ge or attitude, Mr.
in th re and Mrs. Harris.
are managing with so little
business. They are a very
important and necessary com-
ponent to the life and the future
of our city. Yet, they go ignored
and unappreciated by the city
fathers.
Audubon Park, in addition
to creating much needed tax
revenues, would deliver a large.
customer base for these much
deserving and frustrated mer-
chants. This is a fact which Mrs.
Harris, Mr. Whitmore and Mr.
Dorrough have not concerned
themselves, nor do I believe
they care.
In addition to their negative
attitude towards the signs, cer-
tain members of the council
indicated that the developer
had not provided enough infor-
mation. There is obviously a
problem. Either these city
fathers do not understandhow
to read plans or there is a hid-
den agenda of which our citi-
zens are not aware. I under-
stand that after the public hear-
ing on December 20, while sup-
posedly on break in a closed
room and in the Mayor's
absence, Mrs. Harris, Mr.
Whitmore, Mr. Dorrough, Mr.
Dollar, and city attorney Dan
Lee participated in private dis-
cussions regarding this project
and how they were to vote. Yes,
the vote was decided in the
meeting behind closed doors
which is a serious violation of
the "Sunshine Law." During this
same hearing on December 20,
the city attorney's representa-
tion as "agent of record" for
Dorothy Weaver and her off-
shore corporation "United
Investors" was publicly
exposed. It has been indicated
that this corporation is man-
aged by a Chinese Communist
bank in Hong Kong. This is the
same corporation which owns
a portion of the Audubon Park
development and this property
owner has refused to sell. I
understand the council vote
went as Mrs. Weaver had want-
currently enjoy is the
ff the signs on the south
exit ramp.
figns are too late for the
traffic to exit.
nal signs to the north of
it would certainly be a
:, providing exposure to
traveling southbound
tlanta. Having spoken
of the downtown mer-
I understand that
afcus-
traffic, several mer-
are forever closing their
threatening loss to the
ld future of our city. I
any of our council
Is, with exception of the
r, have ever visited with
must have found "common
ground."
Mrs. Weaver, through her
corporation, also owned the
property which was success-
fully rezoned for a truck stop.
As a result of this rezoning, she
stands to make literally millions
of dollars and her attorney will
most probably be entitled to
certain fees. A previous article
in the Beacon, quoted the city
manager as saying the reason
the council voted in favor of
Mrs. Weaver and the Flying J
was because the city attorney
had told the council that if the
zoning was not granted, the city
would be ensnarled in expen-
sive litigation which the city
._.erchants, and therefore would lose Did any one of the
ot a clue" as to how they council members ever think to
• Way IS
ts the ee It....
watching Dr. James
y's program on TV last
Kennedy is Pastor of
Ridge Presbyterian
Florida). He had
lin Graham as his guest.
ley talked about the
titan's Purse ministry
Graham leads and
2hristians who want to
(and that is a mark
can make a dif-
ze, Franklin said some-
believe every person in
needs to hear. He
giving U.S. money to
of many of the
Countries in our
where people are hungry
of the basics of
only allow the lead-
those countries to "take
in Switzerland.,, He
went on to say that if
really want to help
who need relief, we
Send our money, cloth-
ld food to the missionar_
are committed to being
eople are who
said the mission-
wotdd see that the people
need help receive the
items. I applaud that
.at, My denomination,
n. Baptist Convention,
stationed in
130 countries, including many
of the poorest countries in the
world. We have a food and cloth-
ing distribution system in place
in the places where these min-
istries are needed. We use only
the missionaries to distribute
our relief monies. These mis-
sionaries are accountable for
their ministry to the Baptists
Who sent them.
When Jesus dwelt in our
world, He spent much of His
time healing the sick and feed-
ing the hungry. On one occa-
sion,Jesus' disciples asked Him
to send the people away so they
could buy food. He replied,
"They do not need to go away.
You give them something to
eat." (Matthew 14:16) It is not
only a distinguishing mark of
authenticity for a Christian to
care, it is also the command of
our Lord that we minister to the
needy of our world. How can
Christians have a clear con-
science at a well-filled table of
food when we know other peo-
ple whom God loves as much
as He loves us are hungry?
Most of our churches have
some means of ministry to the
people around us who occa-
sionally need help. When peo-
ple are in need, they usually
turn to a church. They should
be able to expect a caring
ask if the city attorney repre-
sented Mrs. Weaver prior to
casting their vote? How could
the city attorney represent the
best interest of the city while
protecting his client, Mrs.
Weaver?
Since moving here, my wife
and I have grown to love this
town and its people; however,
like any town or organization,
we sometimes tend to be com-
placent and apathetic about
daily events which ultimately
mold the future of our town. My
new year's resolution is to do
all that I can to eradicate this
apathy, always working
towards a prosperous future for
Hogansville through controlled
growth.
I believe that most of the cit-
izens of Hogansville feel the
same as I about the future of
our city. Also, I am sure none
of us enjoy the taking of our
hard earned money and paying
for a pervious mistake of the
Hogansville City Council. Let
us not allow this council to com-
pound a previous mistake. We
must have projects like
Audubon Park if we are going
to overcome this burden of
debt. Hopefully more of our cit-
izens will come forward and ask
Mrs. Harris, Mr. Whitmore, Mr.
Jackson, Mrs. Crocker and Mr.
Dori'ough how they plan to sat-
isfy this debt without continu-
ing to cannibalize our citizens
with taxes and excessive utili-
ty bills. They need to wake up
and smell the coffee. Whether
they realize it or not, we are
about to lose a great opportu-
nity. Mrs. Harris, Mr.
Whitmore, Mr. Jackson, Mrs.
Crocker and Mr. Dorrough need
to cease being obstacles, "take
a page out of our Mayor's book"
and do all possible to bring this
great project to our city and to
Troup County. Thank heaven
that our Mayor understands
how fortunate the city is to have
such an opportunity, and he has
been unwavering and diligent
in his efforts to make this hap-
pen for Hogansville. It would
certainly be a shame if the
developers of this project elect-
ed to move it to Grantville,
Meriwether County or Coweta
County. Maybe Mrs. Harris, Mr.
Whitmore, Mr. Dorrough and
Mrs. Crocker have a better plan
or maybe they will personally
assume a greater percentage
of the cost of carrying the
unnecessary $8,000,000.00 debt
of the sod field.
Before we lose it, I am hope-
ful that the council members
will realize that the opportuni-
ty to fulfill their wish for the
new year is "knocking at the
door," please donot turn it away,
or frustrate the developers so
much that they go elsewhere.
Respectfully,
Brian Christner
response from people who call
Jesus Lord, because He set the
example of caring. Now, there
is a program called "Souper
Bowl of Caring." It is simply an
appeal for churches to receive
an offering on Superbowl
Sunday and designate it for the
hungry people. It can be sent
to North Korean Hunger min-
istry of the Georgia Baptist
Convention, the Southern
Baptist Hunger Fund or used
locally. The local Ministerial
Association can use the money
for people in our own area who
sometimes need help with food
or other necessities.
Someone has said that the
church is like a football game.
You have 22 men on the field
doing all the work and they des-
perately need a break. You have
50,000 people in the bleachers
watching as spectators and they
certainly need some exercise!
Well, here is a good opportuni-
ty to get some exercise. Do
something for somebody who
needs help and do it in the name
of our Lord through the agency
He has established: the church.
He will receive the honor and
you will get the good feeling of
His approval. Make it a "Souper
Bowl of Caring" Sunday instead
of just a Superbowl Sunday.
Harold Willis
The newspaper business is hard on
cars ... so I bought a Saturn.
The newspaper business is hard on cars. I know because I've been through
three vehicles in the space of seven years.
In this business I make, multiple trips around Harris County on a weekly
basis. Then, during the school year I make numerous trips away from Harris
County to cover high school and sometimes middle school sporting events, and
believe me that Harris County has some very long-distance football games.
That's just the routine work. I also have occasions when I must travel quickly to
cover breaking news.
: My ability to do my job is largely based on having dependable transporta-
tion. That is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
In December 1999, I found myself in the market to buy a car once again.
Attempting to avoid incurring the new-car depreciation that takes place in the
first two years of owning a new car, I began looking for a one to two-year old
car in excellent condition.
Buying a car is not on my list of favorite things to do. I do not like the hours
of negotiations involved and still feeling like I paid too much. I do not like the
idea of a salesperson acting as an intermediary between me and a "manager".
Does any car customer really believe that a salesperson is negotiating with a
''$r';6;n their behalf? And how many times have you wanted to 10ok at a
c&rdn'a c&i" Iot,"onty to have salespeople descend on you like a flockofbuz-
zards. Further, I absolutely hate it when salespeople attempt to coerce me into
buying a car that I really do not want.
The Saturn Difference
I decided to consider a Saturn based largely on the experience of a friend,
John Davis, who purchased one several years ago. John's Saturn had been
involved in an incident and did not incur any major damage. Add to this the fact
that I have a 14-year old daughter who will begin driving before too long. I
needed a car that was not only dependable but safe as well.
Saturn of Columbus was not the only car dealership I contacted, but they
were by far the friendliest and the most customer-oriented. Instead of trying to
sell me just any car off the lot, Selena Johnson and Milan Trosclair listened to
what I wanted and needed. For about two weeks, as cars were received at
Saturn of Columbus, Selena or Milan would call me and tell me what was avail-
able, the options the car had, and the price. There were no hidden charges and
no high-pressure sales tactics. I appreciated their effort.
On the day I bought my Saturn, Milan called with a good selection of vehi-
cles available and we went to the dealership that evening. We were given plen-
ty of time to view all of the cars available and the prices were clearly marked on
each car. There were no high pressure sales tactics. In fact, we had as much
time as we wanted to look at each car.
Milan clearly and patiently explained all of the features in each car that we
looked at. He noted the warranty available on each vehicle and made sure that
we knew what was covered and what was not covered by the warranty on each
vehicle. In addition, Milan also explained the inspection procedure conducted
on each Saturn that had been traded in.
We purchased a 1997 Saturn SL2 that evening and I was very impressed at
Saturn's policy of no-haggle pricing. The car had virtually all the options avail-
able and Milan made sure that everything was in working order -- even to the
power mirror. And they even filled the gas tank before I left.
Saturn keeps track of you after the sale. To date, I have received a number
of mailings from Saturn and they have constantly asked how we were treated at
Saturn of Columbus. This fact is, we were treated very well. Just this week, I
received yet another letter from Saturn. This one had another spare key for my
car. This key was enclosed in a slim pack designed to be kept in your wallet --
so you shouldn't ever lock this key in the car.
Looking for a car?
If you are in the market for a car, I suggest you give Saturn of Columbus a
call. I highly recommend them and do so without any reservation. Ask for
Selena or Milan and tell them I told you to call.
Saturn of Columbus is located at 1661 Whittlesey Road, Columbus.
That's near Hollywood Connections. The telephone number is 706-322-9927, or
1-800-741-4503.
A.J. "Andy" Kober
Editor - The Harris County Journal
