Here is an update sent out by Jere Wood, my choice for Mayor of Roswell, Georgia:


Campaign Issues

In five weeks you will have the opportunity to choose who will be Mayor of Roswell for the next four years. You deserve to know where I stand on the issues. This week I address how the city spends your tax dollars. In the coming weeks I will be sending out emails on other important local issues that effect you.


I am interested in what you have to say. If you have any questions about property taxes, how the city spends your tax dollars, or other issues please contact me at mayorwood@mayorwood.com and I will personally answer your e-mail.


City of Roswell Spending, Budget, and Property Taxes

The economic downturn has hurt Roswell businesses and homeowners, but because we were prepared, it has not resulted in a tax increase, nor caused a reduction in the Fire and Police protection that keeps Roswell safe, nor taken away from the Recreation and Parks Department that makes Roswell the best place to live in Georgia. Just as Joseph advised the Pharaoh to save in time of plenty, Roswell set aside over $26 million in good years as a “rainy day fund” – enough to make it through today’s economic famine, even if the economy does not get better for several more years.


Operating Budget

In response to falling revenues, early this year we cut Roswell’s 2008/2009 operating budget by $1,500,000.00. For the current 2009/2010, I proposed cutting $10 million from the previous budget. Two million dollars of this was to come from the operating budget, accomplished by not funding non-essential programs and by eliminating vacant non-essential employee positions. The remaining $8 million was to come from cutting capital expenditures.


By a vote of 4 to 3, the Council adopted my 2009/2010 operating budget with no substantial changes. The budgeted operating expenses adopted by the majority do not exceed conservative revenue estimates. The three dissenters argued that we should furlough employees to save money.


Capital Budget

I budgeted payment for capital expenditures from money saved in prior years, as I have done every year I have served as Mayor. The Council unanimously voted to add $2.2 million in expenditures to my proposed capital budget, including the three who voted to furlough employees. Later the same three Council members voted against spending $1.1 million for 22 new police cars. These three now claim that the City budget we passed constitutes deficit spending, even though operating expenditures are less than projected revenues, and we are not spending money we do not have, nor are we borrowing money to pay for capital expenditures. Roswell still has $26 million in our rainy day fund, enough to handle any contingencies.


Property Taxes

I have always been conservative regarding fiscal policies and careful how I spend your money. Under my leadership, Roswell has cut its property tax millage rate 17%, reduced the number of City employees per capita 26%, and cut operating costs by 5% adjusted for inflation. We have invested $101 million in parks, City buildings, and other capital projects and have grown our investment funds from $24 million to $65 million. We earned a AAA bond rating, the first city in Georgia to do so.


I am the only candidate for Mayor who has proven to have the ability to lower your City property tax rate and provide you the best City services available in North Fulton County at the lowest cost. If you want to keep your property taxes low and the cost of City services down, re-elect me as your Mayor on November 3rd.


Visit his site at MayorWood.com

Here I am, busy with real work for the last two months and not enough time to devote to political blogging. I’ve been reading the few press releases that have come my way and I’ve seen a trend. Maybe I just need to get use to this.

It’s the art of slamming someone while trying to kiss their butts. The need to posture and get your point across is essential but do you have to qualify your statements with an apology or a show of respect? Just say what you want, especially you Ox!

With all due respect and appreciation for the Supreme Court of Georgia, I am deeply disappointed in the decision today to reject the challenge to touch-screen electronic voting machines,” said John Oxendine. 9/28/09

Team Ox, here’s my advice, don’t pull any punches. There are plenty of undecided Republicans out here (ME)… Show us what you have.

Oxendine said he respects the work being done by Governor Perdue and like many Georgians he realizes there are no easy answers. “I do not wish to criticize the Governor and continue to offer my support in these trying times,” said Oxendine. 9/28/09

Speaking of candidates for Governor…
Is Karen Handel still running? I don’t think I’ve seen a press release in months. Did Austin Scott ever stop running across America like Forrest Gump? Has Roy Barnes accepted a cage match fight with David Poythress? Does Ray McBerry have any money left?

The Jewish Policy Center announced that it will hold its next national policy forum event in Atlanta, at Greenfield Hebrew Academy on Sunday, October 25, at 7:30 pm.

Hosted by nationally-syndicated radio talk show personality Michael Medved, the event is titled, “Radical Islam and Rogue Regimes: Security Challenges for America and Israel.”

The panel for October 25 features Douglas Feith, a former Undersecretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration, Michael Ledeen, a former advisor in the Ronald Reagan administration, and Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“This group of experts will tackle today’s toughest topics,” said Matthew Brooks, Executive Director of the JPC. “From the Iranian nuclear challenge to getting America off oil, we plan to cover a lot of ground.”

The Greenfield Hebrew Academy is located at 5200 Northland Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30342.

The event is free to the public, but registration is required. The JPC’s toll-free RSVP line for this event is (866) 351 8847. Reservations can also be made via email: info@jewishpolicycenter.org

U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., today joined with 37 of their Senate Republican colleagues in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner calling for an end to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, which has been used to assist troubled banks, financial institutions and automakers.

The authority for the TARP is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2009.

On Jan. 15, 2009, Isakson and Chambliss voted to oppose the Bush administration’s request to access the remaining $350 billion in TARP funds, citing their disappointment and frustration over how the administration spent the first $350 billion. Isakson and Chambliss also strongly opposed the Bush administration’s decision to use TARP funds to bail out U.S. automakers.

The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Secretary Geithner:

As we approach the termination date for authority to spend federal funds allocated to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) (PL 110-343), we ask you to allow the authority to expire on December 31, 2009. As you know, the latest TARP report shows a significant amount of unobligated funds. Ending the authority for TARP would help improve the Federal debt going forward and reduce the need to increase the debt limit, which Congress has raised three times in the last 14 months.

When Congress passed EESA last October, the financial markets were in a downward spiral, and our country was facing an unprecedented credit crisis. Then Treasury Secretary Paulson requested $700 billion in federal funds to purchase toxic assets, which were at the heart of the financial crisis. Congress was told it was imperative to act quickly before the financial markets crashed, taking with it the pensions, savings and investments of hardworking, American taxpayers. As you know, the Senate passed EESA on a bipartisan basis, including the support of then-Senator Obama. Subsequent to the enactment of this legislation, however, TARP has been used by the federal government to acquire ownership stakes in banks, financial institutions, and automakers. This direct investment certainly was not the intention of Congress in passing this legislation. In fact, Congress explicitly rejected legislation to provide federal funds to bail out car manufacturers.

Based on your comments to the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel on September 10, 2009, it appears that you believe that our financial markets are recovering. In addition, borrowing costs are down for both business and consumer lending and banks are reporting stronger balance sheets. While we understand that our economy is still recovering, we believe it can function without added TARP funding. Additionally, the cost to the taxpayer if TARP authority was extended could be substantial. Already the taxpayer is expected to lose tens of billions of dollars on funding that was provided to GM, Chrysler and AIG.

As elected officials with the responsibility to the American public when it comes to overseeing taxpayer interests, we urge you not to extend TARP. To the extent you have concerns that allowing TARP to expire after this year would jeopardize the progress made in the recovery of our financial markets, we would remind you that Congress stands ready to work alongside the Administration if future action is required. This program should expire on December 31, 2009, and all TARP repayments should be returned to the Treasury for debt reduction.

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today applauded the first meeting of the newly created, 10-member Financial Crisis Commission that he helped create and urged its members to focus on investigating the causes of the current economic crisis rather than on Congressional efforts to overhaul financial regulations.

Isakson also urged Congress and the Administration to avoid a rush to judgment on pushing for new financial regulation to fix the mistakes that led to our economic collapse. Instead, Isakson said the Financial Crisis Commission should be allowed to complete its year-long audit and investigation of all the factors leading up to the collapse and then to make recommendations on how to prevent it from happening again.

“I hope members of Congress and the President will give this Commission time to act. It does not make any sense to pass new laws before we get an objective evaluation to find out what went right, what went wrong and what we must do to prevent it from happening again,” Isakson said. “I trust members of the commission understand the importance of making sure we don’t miss the mark, that we stay focused and we get the answers to what caused this financial collapse. It’s what the American people deserve.”

The panel held its first meeting on Sept. 17, 2009. Phil Angelides, who served as the elected California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007, is chairman of the Commission. Former House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas is vice chairman.

Isakson originally introduced legislation to examine the causes of the current economic crisis in January 2009. On April 22, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment by Isakson to the Senate’s version of the financial fraud bill to create the Financial Crisis Commission. President Obama signed the legislation into law on May 20.

Sign the online petition to tear down the GA 400 toll.

I received this email from the North Fulton and Friends Tea Party List.

URGENT!!!

We urgently need your physical support!! We learned late last night that the Roswell City Council has called an emergency meeting for tomorrow, Thurs. – Sept. 3 – at 5:00 pm at Roswell City Hall in the Council Chambers. Despite our having approval through Mayor Jere Wood for well over a month, some of our ELECTED City Council members are just now having second thoughts about opening the City Hall building for access to the restrooms during the North Fulton and Friends Tea Party scheduled for Saturday, September 12. We are expecting many WWII vets and senior citizens to attend. These bathrooms will be much more hospitable and accessible for their use than the port-a-potties we will have located to the very back of the grounds. It has been recommended that we have as many people as we can to show public support at this emergency meeting. We need you to be at the meeting by 4:45 pm to fill the Council Chambers and help us remind our ELECTED City Council members that City Hall is the Peoples’ building, paid for by OUR tax dollars, and that our City Council members have been elected to serve us, “We the People”.

Please RSVP to me so we can get an idea of how many of you will be able to come show your support.. THIS IS IMPORTANT for all of us.

Thank you!!!
In Freedom!!