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| The Betrayal of Oaky Woods |
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| "Wittenbergs"
<psarab@alltel.net> Subject: FW: Save Oaky Woods Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:33:20 -0500 Folks,
If you are interested in working to save Oaky Woods here comes the first opportunity. There is much happening and we stand a chance of getting the job done.
If you choose to contribute, please make the check payable to: Save Oaky Woods and mail it as indicated to Alex Morrow.
Thanks,
Dave
P.S. This comes from Walt.
A move is afoot to procure and distribute "SAVE OAKY WOODS" bumper stickers. Procurement costs are around $400. I first heard of this effort at a meeting last week in Hawkinsville to which I was invited by an old friend, Thomas Hunt, with whom I attended Perry High School back in the late 50's. Had I known what this meeting would end up being, I would have asked if I could invite all of you.
The meeting was most informative and included presentations by The Wilderness Society, Houston County's own John Trussel and a very passionate, comprehensive talk by Neill Herring who is probably the most knowledgeable and respected lobbyist in this state and possibly the nation. Neill lobbies for the Sierra Club and several Riverkeeper organizations including the Altamaha Riverkeeper. I wish all of you could have heard his extraordinary presentation.
John Trussel who is on the Houston County Planning and Zoning Appeals Board (he is one of us) presented updated info on the Oaky Woods situation -- we can expect the Special Exception for the Waste Water Treatment facility off Kovac Road to be heard in the late November to early January timeframe depending on when it is resubmitted.
John also informed us that a group is planning to procure and distribute "SAVE OAKY WOODS" bumper stickers. As with every worthwhile effort there is a need for funds so if you are serious about saving Oaky Woods, we could use your help. Any amount you could donate will be helpful and appreciated. John expects the bumper stickers to be ready in a few weeks. If you would like to donate, contributions can be mailed to Alex Morrow, Attorney at Law, 109 Westcliff Blvd., Warner Robins, GA 31093 (he is the treasurer for the group). If you prefer, should you desire to donate, I will pick up your check and hand deliver it. John collected money from some of us at the meeting without even asking, so there are those among us who are indeed serious. Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Walt |
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Bird Hunters Bait Fields
- - Abuse of Wildlife at Oaky Woods [story]
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| http://ledger-enquirer.com Posted on Sat, Jan. 27, 2007 Oaky Woods purchase remains up in air SHANNON McCAFFREY Associated Press |
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KATHLEEN, Ga. - From a logging road overlooking the Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area, pine trees and hardwoods draped with honeysuckle vines stretch to the horizon. John Trussell gestures down to where Big Grocery Creek - barely visible - cuts through the woods. "That's where the bears gather," said Trussell, of Warner Robins. "And that's also where they want to develop." Plans to build up to 35,000 homes in the cradle of this popular hunting and recreation area have riled this middle Georgia community. Some of the ire has been directed at the man whose family home sits just on the other side of the tree line: Gov. Sonny Perdue. Under Perdue's watch, the state declined to bid on Oaky Woods when timber giant Weyerhaeuser put the 20,000-acre tract on the auction block in 2004. Letting Oaky Woods go was a colossal missed opportunity, claim some local residents. And Sonny - as most everyone here still calls the governor - should have known better. The land literally sits in his backyard. Perdue argues that the state didn't have the money at the time and that he would still like to preserve Oaky Woods, which is where he learned to hunt. The new owners of Oaky Woods say they are still willing to sell, if the state is willing to pay their asking price. Charles Ayer is one of four men who bought the property for about $1,600 an acre. In an interview with The Associated Press at his sporting goods store in nearby Perry, Ayer said he would put the asking price now at $14,000 an acre. That translates into a whopping $280 million for the full 20,000 acres. Ayer said he and his partners have already poured millions of dollars into the land for road and sewer plans. "People say they want to save Oaky Woods. Well, that's not a problem," Ayer said. "But they should be raising money." Perdue's amended budget for the current fiscal year calls for $50 million in grants for land conservation, which has given residents here some hope that the state may still have a hand to play. But Perdue's own connection to the property - and the property owners - could complicate things. In many ways, the governor is in a no-win situation. Criticized for not pursuing Oaky Woods, Perdue is likely to be under attack again if he moves to buy the land. It stands to affect his own property value and line the pockets of local businessmen, with whom he has ties. Perdue spokesman Dan McLagan said the governor was trying to do what's best for Georgia regardless of what the critics say. "He was attacked when we were unable to purchase it, he will be attacked if we eventually can," McLagan said. Perdue was battered over Oaky Woods in the final days of his re-election campaign last year. What had been a simply local issue in Houston County exploded across the state. Democrats questioned how Perdue's own land, adjacent to Oaky Woods, ballooned in value after the sale. There were also questions about whether Perdue should have been involved in the state's decision not to pursue the purchase of Oaky Woods given that his own property is next to it and its value would be affected. Allegations of a conflict of interest don't seem to be keeping the governor from staying involved in Oaky Woods dealings. Ayer told the AP that he's talked to Perdue several times about the property, most recently as "a couple weeks ago" when Perdue said he planned to send Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Noel Holcombe to talk to him about the land's status. A spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources said officials remain interested in Oaky Woods, which is one of six priority areas in the state. Beth Brown said any purchase would likely require a partnership of some kind. "The state should not be looked upon as a sole source for funds," she said. Outgoing state Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Kahn said Perdue actions "have totally discredited him, yielding a conflict of interest that disqualifies him from dealing with Oaky Woods on behalf of the people of Georgia." Ayer acknowledged that Perdue is in a bind. "If he buys it from us now, he'd be accused of helping making his developer buddies get rich," he said. Perdue's involvement has complicated plans for the Oaky Woods development, Ayer said. The uproar against it largely grew out of the election-year attention. In the intersecting world of Houston County politics and real estate, Perdue and the Oaky Woods land owners have connections. Ayer said he and Perdue are friends, although he maintains they are not close friends and he has never been to Perdue's house. Another of the Oaky Woods developers, Charles McGlamery, bought 433.6 acres of Perdue's family land through Barrington Hall Development Corp. in 2003 for $2.9 million. Still, local residents are hoping Perdue somehow comes through for them. Trussell, an environmental enthusiast and hunter, said building in Oaky Woods is like building homes along the edge of the Grand Canyon. "You just don't do that," he said. Raye Jones, area manager for Oaky Woods, said hunters are mad. "They'll come and bend my ear, saying 'What was Sonny thinking?'" Jones said. Jones has been part of an ongoing bear study that found middle Georgia's largest pocket of bears congregates on the site where the development is planned. "I think Sonny is as fine a human being as I know," Jones said. "But if lets this land go, well, that would just be a really sad mistake." ------__ On The Net: Georgia Department of Natural Resources: http://www.gadnr.org Office of Gov. Sonny Perdue: http://www.gov.state.ga.us |
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| Posted on Thu, Jan. 25, 2007 http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/16539196.htm Ethics complaint filed against O'NealDocument charges Warner Robins lawmaker with putting Perdue's interests ahead of state'sBy Travis FainTELEGRAPH STAFF WRITERATLANTA - Allegations about a suspicious tax break that dogged Gov. Sonny Perdue and state Rep. Larry O'Neal during last year's gubernatorial race have re-emerged as a formal ethics complaint against the Warner Robins Republican. The complaint, filed by the former researcher for the the Democratic Party of Georgia who delved into the issue during the campaign, accuses O'Neal of violating state law and putting "the fiduciary interest of his client, Governor Perdue, above those of the state of Georgia." Edward Chapman, now a 22-year-old college student in Washington, D.C., called on both O'Neal, who has worked as the governor's attorney, and Perdue to publicly testify on the matter. O'Neal had a copy of the complaint in hand as he entered the House chambers Wednesday and said he's "elated" to see the issue come before the ethics committee. He called the accusations "dirty politics," said he'd cooperate with the committee and that he'd have more to say once the issue is settled. "The Democrats couldn't beat us in November. They want to dredge up old news," O'Neal said. Chapman's complaint has been received by the General Assembly's Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, Senate President Pro-tem Eric Johnson confirmed Wednesday. Beyond that, Johnson said state rules prohibit him from commenting on the complaint itself. Ethics rules passed in 2005 give legislators the power to police themselves on ethics matters. The rules also give a committee panel 30 days to review complaints. At issue is O'Neal's role in House Bill 488, which changed the tax code in 2005. The governor received a more than $100,000 tax break because of the bill, which O'Neal authored, and an amendment that made it retroactive to 2004. Chapman dismissed O'Neal's talk of partisan politics Wednesday, noting that he quotes prominent Republicans and General Assembly journals to back up charges in his nine-page, heavily footnoted complaint. Many of those footnotes reference articles from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which covered the controversy extensively during the campaign, and Telegraph articles in which O'Neal responded. Chapman worked for the party during the campaign and researched the tax bill and related land deals involving Oaky Woods in Houston County and a tract of land in Florida, state Democratic Party spokesman Emil Runge confirmed Wednesday. Chapman said he has since left the party and is working on his college degree. Chapman is accusing O'Neal of manipulating the system to give Perdue the tax break, then covering his tracks. "The only conclusion that I can draw is that, as a lawyer, (O'Neal) was putting Perdue's interests ahead of the state's," Chapman said Wednesday in a telephone interview. But O'Neal has said repeatedly the change to the tax code was needed to bring Georgia law in line with federal law and that the Georgia Department of Revenue recommended the change. As for the amendment making the change retroactive and giving Perdue the benefit of the tax break, Chapman accuses O'Neal of using his influence to have that added by Senate leaders instead of doing it in the open when the bill was before O'Neal's own committee - Ways & Means. O'Neal called that allegation "absurd." In his complaint, Chapman calls O'Neal and Perdue liars, based on their comments on the matter during the campaign. A call seeking comment from Perdue's communications director Wednesday was not returned. This is the second ethics complaint filed to the joint ethics committee this session by affiliates of the state Democratic Party. The first - in which outgoing party Chairman Bobby Kahn accused Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, of an improper relationship with a lobbyist - was quickly dismissed as the committee cited a lack of evidence. That shouldn't be a problem with this complaint, Chapman states in his letter to the committee. "If this complaint does not meet the evidence threshold as established by the committee then nothing short of a videotaped confession will," the letter states. "O'Neal's lack of personal integrity and actions on behalf of his client have significantly damaged the Legislature as an institution; it is my hope that this Committee can reverse this damage by fully investigating this complaint and holding O'Neal accountable for his actions." State Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry, who represents Houston County along with O'Neal, said Wednesday afternoon that he hadn't seen the complaint. But he said O'Neal is "above the table when it comes to any legislation." "Ethically, he's as strong as you're gonna get," Tolleson
said. "To file a complaint against him looks like partisan politics to
me." Information from The Telegraph's archives was used in this
report. To contact Travis Fain, call (404) 659-8735 or e-mail tfain@macontel.com |
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| Posted
on Tue, Jan. 23, 2007 http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/editorial/letters/16520665.htm Simple reasoning I don't know much about politics, but I do know what bothers me about the Oaky Woods situation. While I have read or heard many different reasons why people don't want this "city" built in the Oakies, mine is very simple. Once again, animals of all sorts are being driven out of their homes by us oh so compassionate humans. I'm glad animals can't talk, for I would not want to be the one to explain to them why they once again must leave their havens so our over-populated species can take over their space. I hope when the first bulldozer or backhoe shows up in that area, a big black bear jumps up and bites the equipment operator right on his backside. I am not against progress, but some areas need to be
protected. Oaky Woods, in my opinion, is one of those areas. It is an
awesome place. Alan Rushing Posted on Mon, Jan. 29, 2007 http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/editorial/letters/16557077.htm Neglected environment I'm thoroughly ticked off. Once again another beautiful woodland environment is neglected by its proprietors and abused by its visitors. I am talking about the section of Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area that is located north of Robins Air Force Base between the water treatment plant and the Ocmulgee River. In these woods I have enjoyed many hours of peaceful walking down dirt roads and trails which weave through and around the retention ponds and wetland areas. I have watched otters, alligators and herons. I saw my first Ibis and Anhinga there. I found my first archeological site there, though it was deemed unnoteworthy. This is where the Echeconnee Creek and Ocmulgee River meet. This is where white herons nest. This is where history and pre-history can be found. This is where pretty wild flowers and sweet blackberries grow. For years I have shared and respected this land alongside rattlesnake and wild boar. Now these woods have fallen into disrepair. How can that be? I will tell you. Forest fires kill plant life. Tire tracks scar land where birds once nested. Plastic bottles, shotgun shells and broken glass deface landscapes. People - disrespectful, negligent, uncaring people - create the disrepair. Anything can become target practice. I highly recommend that you go visit these woods. Bring your
binoculars, walking shoes and a water bottle. See how beautiful they
can be and maybe together we can find a way to save them. Brenda L. Sapp |
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| Ga Gov Sonny Perdue betrays the
public trust. Personal Profits trump and condemn Nature
Conservancy plans to benefit generations to come... Democrats too
stupid to see the Light... |
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Shipp: Connect the dots on Perdue's land dealhttp://onlineathens.com/stories/122406/opinion_20061224073.shtmlMark Taylor and his Democratic campaign consultants owe Gov. Sonny Perdue an apology. In their campaign for governor, they accused Perdue of trying to get rich off an investment of $2 million in swampland near Disney World. The Democrats were wrong. The Florida tract was nearly worthless. C'mon, Mark, tell Sonny you're sorry. Of course, there remains a tiny question about the governor's transaction: Why would Gov. Perdue pump $2 million into a piece of junk property way down in Florida? Answer: Perdue was not attempting to get rich off the Florida deal. He was trying to skip - or at least delay for a long time - paying $300,000 in federal taxes on $2 million he had received from the sale of land owned by the Perdue family in Georgia. He used the Florida property as a parking place for his money from the Georgia deal - a place that would shield him from taxes. He created the appearance of having used the profit from the Georgia sale to invest in land of similar worth in Florida. That's where the tax relief comes in. According to press reports, Perdue bought the Disney World property without ever seeing it just one day before a 180-day grace period expired - a period that allowed him to reinvest money from the Georgia sale without facing hefty taxes. No wonder Perdue chuckled during campaign debates whenever the Florida land deal came up. He facetiously offered to sell the Florida land to Taylor for "$20 million or $10 million." Perdue knew Taylor and his bloodhounds were barking up the wrong tree. The Democrats never dreamed that the governor, known to be a shrewd businessman, would pay a whopping $2 million for nearly useless real estate. They believed Sonny was simply trying to turn a profit the old-fashioned way. They also thought that Perdue would never have the audacity to work with Stan Thomas, a Perdue appointee to the state economic development board, to acquire the nearly worthless land and sidestep the $300,000 tax on the sale of other property. Or that the state legislature would help out Sonny with a bill that gave him a $100,000 tax break on the Georgia-Florida land deal. The Democrat's failure to recognize that Perdue and his pals were such a daring and clever lot may account for Taylor's landslide election loss. A smarter opposition research team and a wiser electorate might have put two and two together. Perdue had already raised eyebrows with the notorious Oaky Woods deal, in which he refused to permit the Nature Conservancy to buy the 20,000-acre hunting preserve in Houston County for use by the state for conservation purposes. Instead, the land was turned over to developers who plan a gigantic real estate project. Gov. Perdue, of course, had acquired land adjacent to the soon-to-be commercially bustling Oaky Woods. In just 18 months, the Perdue tract increased 150 percent in value. More curious campaign operatives also might have wondered why Perdue was so adamant in supporting laws aimed at keeping secret the details of economic development proposals - and why the governor refused repeatedly to follow the tradition of his predecessors and make public his tax returns as well as his sources of income. Perdue said he did not want to follow the custom of putting his business in a blind trust while he served as governor. He said, in effect, that he had too many irons in the fire to allow a trustee to take over. Boy, he wasn't kidding! There were other clues regarding Perdue's style and motives. He has taken an active role in trying unsuccessfully to defeat two Georgia Supreme Court justices whom he believes are not his allies. ºWhen he failed to beat them in elections, Perdue set out to expand the court by two seats (to be appointed by him) - though nearly every expert and the present justices say the expansion is not needed. One might get the impression our governor is trying desperately to create a friendly appellate bench. Wonder why. He also has appointed Catherine O'Neil, wife of U.S. attorney David Nahmias, to the prestigious Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Why would a federal prosecutor's spouse accept such a potentially problematic post in an administration that is under scrutiny? Oh, I forgot. Many of these folks currently in the spotlight - mostly Democratic retreads calling themselves Republicans - don't lose much sleep over conflicts of interest, oaths of office and other such minor matters. • Reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 440755, Kennesaw, GA 30160, or e-mail shipp1@bellsouth.net. Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 122406 |
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