John Cook
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On the article Lilburn City Council Agenda, May 13
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On the article Lilburn City Council Agenda, May 13
John Cook
2:14 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
ReplyWill the new touch screen voter system have a paper audit trail? There have been news reports that current electronic systems without built-in internal paper trail are susceptible to voter fraud.
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On the Blog Post Restoring Public Trust
John Cook
4:06 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Partnership Gwinnett is an invention of the Gwinnett Chamber to force taxpayers to contribute public funds to their private organization of businesses.
It irks me that the fundraisers at the Chamber were so lazy regarding soliciting from member businesses that they cooked up this Partnership Gwinnett scheme in order to defraud the taxpayers of Gwinnett into involuntary donation to their organization.
Keep in mind that Partnership Gwinnett only does what chambers of commerce across the nation do anyway. The same would be done without taxpayer contributions. It only accomplishes the purpose and mission of all chambers. Yet the other chambers manage to do so without involuntary taxpayer contribution of public funds to their "private" organization.
In fact, the Gwinnett Chamber considers themselves such a "private" organization that they refuse to disclose how they use our public funds.
And our elected officials (who supposedly represent some of the best and brightest minds in the County) are so easily deceived regarding the supposed benefit to taxpayers. Any supposed benefit is not disclosed to taxpayers--neither by the Chamber, nor by the County.
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On the Blog Post Restoring Public Trust
John Cook
2:07 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Read this list that shows what kind of phony goals are included in this contract that gives the Gwinnett Chamber $500,000 of our tax money:
"Refine and refocus..."
"Leverage existing business visits..."
"Optimize Target Councils..."
"Outreach to..."
"Support the growth..."
"Continue collaborating..."
"Develop talking points..."
"Continue to enhance..."
"Review effectiveness..."
"Continue partnering..."
"Work with..."
"Ensure that Gwinnett County continues to..."
"Consider establishing..."
"Foster policy and incentives frameworks..."
"Leverage resources..."
"Outreach to sponsors..."
"Support early-stage discussions..."
"Enhance talent development..."
"Effectively promote..."
"Explore ways..."
"Encourage greenfield development..."
"Capitalize on the potential..."
"Better integrate representation..."It's government double-speak that hides the truth. Yet, they dare to label this as "more transparent." Is this sort of veiled language really worth a half-million per year of your tax dollars?
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On the Blog Post Restoring Public Trust
John Cook
2:05 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
ReplyAt the same time the Gwinnett Chamber was refusing to report what they accomplished in return for the millions they had already received from taxpayers, the county agreed to the new contract with the Gwinnett Chamber with no accountability and no goals to justify $500,000 MORE from the taxpayers. The BOC said this contract was supposed to provide more transparency and better accountability. What a joke! This new contract has no measurable goals.
Is "refining", "refocusing", "optimizing", "considering", "fostering" and "enhancing" worth $500,000? This contract is simply phony justification for the county to continue to give taxpayer money to the chamber to do what chambers do anyway.
I wonder why the county needs to pay the chamber to "ensure that communication and coordination between Gwinnett's higher education institutions is ongoing and robust"? Can't Gwinnett Tech and Georgia Gwinnett College talk to each other without the county paying the chamber to "ensure" it?
I wonder why the county needs to pay the chamber to "continue efforts to improve public safety in Gwinnett County and its municipalities" and "ensure working relationships between the GPD and local partners are open and productive"? Can't the county talk to the GPD and the cities without paying the chamber to “ensure” it? Is the county saying the working relationship between the Gwinnett Police Department and local partners will be closed and unproductive unless the taxpayers give money to the chamber?
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On the Blog Post Restoring Public Trust
John Cook
12:15 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
ReplyThis is sad. The Gwinnett Commissioners were so proud that they voted for an Ethics Ordinance to restore public trust. However, there is a significant difference between ethics laws that re-define the dictionary definition of bribe vs. personal integrity. Integrity cannot be legislated.
The BOC could easily get the information and turn it over to the public, if they desired transparency. The question is why it has not already been done.
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On the article Arrest Report: Shoplifting, Shoplifting and More Shoplifting
John Cook
4:51 pm on Saturday, April 13, 2013
ReplyLilburn police should put a placard in all stores: WARNING # # shoplifting arrests last week!
Perhaps if people know others have been caught, they would wise up.
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On the article April 8 Snellville City Council Meeting Agenda
John Cook
12:38 pm on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
ReplyWhat is this agenda item:
Official City of Snellville color scheme -
On the article Gwinnett School Board Approves $63.5 Million for High School Construction
John Cook
12:31 pm on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
ReplyThe article mentioned increases in previous years attendance in Gwinnett School System.
Officials are projecting enrollment to grow to 166,667 students by October 2013.
Has the enrollment been greater than the 166,667 in recent years?
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On the article Speak Out: What Do You Think of the Blue Trees in Norcross?
John Cook
2:07 pm on Sunday, April 7, 2013
Well, I certainly hope people will come to see the blue trees so the business at the restaurants and shops will be boosted. If it helps these businesses, I suppose we will be seeing the trees painted a different color every year. After all, we can say it's to save the trees even though it's really to boost business. Oh yeah, and let's not forget that it's also called "art," because art is more important than nature itself. Even though the paint is non-toxic, that paint is composed of chemicals that will wash down the tree trunks into the dirt and will be there, or will wash down into our water table to remain in our water supply for years. And let's not forget all of the air pollution that will be brought into our neighborhood by those metro area tree gawkers. This nebulous idea that we are saving the trees somewhere else may make us feel all warm and cozy inside, but it is yet another example of government gone amok! It's another example of "The Emperor's New Clothes," but the mayor and Council appear to be nakedly exposed as gullible on this one.
John Cook
4:30 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
I have a suggestion for the community garden. The areas between the garden plots are being filled with rock gravel. However, wood chips would be equally useful for this purpose. The wood chips are free from our Lilburn City chipping program. The wood chips are also much more friendly to the environment. The gravel has to be mechanically processed, and then trucked to the site, increasing the carbon footprint of the community garden.