Maddox press release
From the Maddox camp.
I intend to put up commentary about this a bit later on in the evening.
Who is with Charlie, who Charlie is with and why it matters to you
I am with those who are frustrated that Athens cannot attract well paying jobs Our government officials have acted irresponsibly in promoting economic development. Don’t let the smoke screen fool you. Poverty, housing and opportunity are explicitly linked to jobs and the current administration has failed miserably to pursue good, well paying jobs. While underfunding our job recruitment activities by hundreds of thousands of dollars, our current leaders have scared off opportunities for jobs coming to Athens.
As mayor I will fund job recruitment efforts in the manner needed. Moreover, I will repair the state and local relationships for job recruitment that have been destroyed in the past four years. Under my leadership we will focus on economic development to attract companies with the right characteristics for Athens. We will set ground rules for the protection of our environment, and we will consistently apply these rules so companies will understand what it will take to bring their business to our wonderful town.
Please understand, I am a life-long resident of this town. I will not support anything that will harm Athens or its citizens. But I will not sit idle as our current administration has done and allow our job situation to continue to deteriorate.
Major initiatives for economic development
1. Adequately fund economic development efforts:
- Increase local contribution
- Rebuild partnerships with local industry
2. Focus and carry out business recruitment based on our strengths rather than waiting for industry to come to us:
- Hospitality
- Animal Health
- Media Arts
3. Repair damaged local and state economic development partnerships with:
- Adjoining counties
- Georgia Department of Economic Development
4. Set clear and consistent guidelines for those who choose to do business in Athens:
- Protect our natural resources
- Incentivize desirable business
- Attract clean industry with well paying jobs
I am with those who seek real answers to our city’s problems
Poverty
Poverty is not a new problem. Too many Athenians have been suffering in poverty for decades. It is a shame that some only recognize poverty when the opportunity to gain or protect power is at stake. The one certain answer to resolving poverty is good, well paying jobs. We need jobs that pay enough to achieve a decent standard of living.
I have spent over three decades connecting people with good jobs. I know that we can no longer try to treat the symptoms of poverty while abandoning the honest search for the cure. We need jobs to bring economic stability to our most vulnerable citizens.
While I will happily embrace partnership with all who seek to alleviate poverty, I will not be content with inaction. The current administration has had four years to address poverty. I will not settle for their level of progress during my term as mayor.
Infrastructure
The fact that any effort has been a priority for Athens’ elected officials above clean water, efficient sewage/sanitation and fire protection is utterly despicable. One should not have to live in an area that gets special attention to have maintained roads, sewage/sanitation and fire protection. We need to get our priorities straight. When our citizens are protected and supported with even the smallest amount of government service, perhaps then we can talk about artistically designed bus shelters and other luxuries. Not before.
Housing
The current administration has had four years to address housing and the only result is a bustling bureaucracy whose methods keep even public housing projects from proceeding. Government officials have pursued an agenda of no-growth and the result has been repeated frustration for those who could help develop affordable housing. It doesn‘t take a city planner to know that families of four are not going to live in lofts above coffee houses. The proposed solutions are impractical, improbable and probably don’t matter since, like many suggestions, they will most likely never mature beyond the committee stage.
As chairman of the Athens Housing Authority, I only sought answers to housing issues, I demanded action. The result was assistance in the University’s construction of the East Campus Village. The village got 1,200 students out of neighborhoods and apartments and put them on campus near facilities and resources. At the same time, we worked with private developers to help them get low interest financing to build family homes. I will find and implement real answers to Athens’ housing needs.
Transportation
I am in favor of bike lanes, carpooling, efficient and reliable bus service and I am for all these things as they affect all Athenians. I want a partnership with local businesses to reduce the number of cars on the road. I want creative ways to fund and support a bus service that all Athenians will embrace. I believe in Andy Rusk’s idea to explore broadening sidewalks and I am not ashamed to say so. It’s a good idea and the current administration seems more concerned with who gets credit for good ideas rather than seeing good ideas implemented. I want the best outcome for everyone and I don’t need the credit.
Neighborhoods
Athens is a community. We share resources, opportunities and challenges. We are a community of neighbors and we should never consider a fellow Athenian to be anything less than a neighbor. It is the responsibility of elected officials to consider our whole neighborhood. Unfortunately and for too long, officials have prided themselves on what they can do for local constituents in the short term while community-wide projects that affect everyone linger and fester with no result.
I will vigorously defend the quality of life in our neighborhoods. I will seek to remove the disparity on ordinance enactment and enforcement. I will never support an ordinance that is not intended on being enforced uniformly in Athens and I will never support an ordinance that seeks to discriminate, separate or further divide this city. Athens is for everyone who lives here no matter who they are or who they know.
Major actions concerning quality of life
- Fully embrace and support the Athens-Clarke County mentor program.
- Remove fees for after school athletic programs for low income children.
- Create a priority list for infrastructure needs and begin action on the most dire.
- Affirm, support and partner with the Athens Housing Authority to attract and develop affordable housing through low interest loans.
- Implement the already passed Floating Homestead Exemption which will protect senior citizens against skyrocketing assessments and taxes.
- Comprehensively survey the city with regards to transportation needs.
- Host weekly meetings in which residents can “Meet with the Mayor” to give insight of their concerns.
I am with those who want to see the right thing done for the right reason I pledge to consider issues as they concern all Athenians. I will listen, learn and give weight to the faintest voice and the loudest cry because everyone deserves a good life in Athens. I do not and will not take public service lightly. I am proud to have been involved with those who have been serving this city for years:
Chairman, Athens Housing Authority
Director, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia
Advisor, The Salvation Army
Director, Samaritan Counseling Service
Director, Athens Area Habitat for Humanity
Director, Athens Neighborhood Health Center
Director, Athens Diversion Center
Director, Mercy Health Center
Court Appointed Special Advocate
President, International Association of Workforce Professionals (Georgia Chapter, 2 terms as president, 8 terms on board and State Representative at the national level)
I am with God
I am a Christian and an ordained minister, and I will make no apologies for it. I believe in the commandment to love each other and that how we treat the least amongst us is how we treat God himself. It is my mission to extend love and community care to all of our residents. I am unabashed in my belief that we all deserve fair and thoughtful consideration from our elected officials.
I am with Athens
I am an Athenian. I was born on Chase Street, lived in Broad Acres and played football and basketball at Athens High Industrial School. I have worked as a police officer, insurance agent, factory worker, bartender, waiter, and have worked for 32 years for the Georgia Department of Labor serving Athens.
I am with my family
I have raised four children and a great niece in Athens. My family continues to benefit from the recreational, cultural and quality of life enhancements Athens offers and it is my position that you and your family should have and enjoy these things as well. I want my children to have the chance to get a good job and raise a family in Athens, just as you would like your children to have the same option.
I need you with me
Take a quick look in the newspaper or on the Internet and you’ll see what I am up against. My opponents cannot stand on their records, so they have resorted to hype and innuendo. We need to take back this city from those who are holding it hostage. We need to release the small businesses that are strangled by the whim of this current administration. We need to give our impoverished kids more than talk and political acrobatics. We need to build a future for you and your children and me and my children.
I need your vote on November 7th. I need your support right now. I need you to raise the issues, speak out and be heard. November 7th is your chance. November 7th is our chance, together.
Faithfully,
Charlie Maddox
I intend to put up commentary about this a bit later on in the evening.
Who is with Charlie, who Charlie is with and why it matters to you
I am with those who are frustrated that Athens cannot attract well paying jobs Our government officials have acted irresponsibly in promoting economic development. Don’t let the smoke screen fool you. Poverty, housing and opportunity are explicitly linked to jobs and the current administration has failed miserably to pursue good, well paying jobs. While underfunding our job recruitment activities by hundreds of thousands of dollars, our current leaders have scared off opportunities for jobs coming to Athens.
As mayor I will fund job recruitment efforts in the manner needed. Moreover, I will repair the state and local relationships for job recruitment that have been destroyed in the past four years. Under my leadership we will focus on economic development to attract companies with the right characteristics for Athens. We will set ground rules for the protection of our environment, and we will consistently apply these rules so companies will understand what it will take to bring their business to our wonderful town.
Please understand, I am a life-long resident of this town. I will not support anything that will harm Athens or its citizens. But I will not sit idle as our current administration has done and allow our job situation to continue to deteriorate.
Major initiatives for economic development
1. Adequately fund economic development efforts:
- Increase local contribution
- Rebuild partnerships with local industry
2. Focus and carry out business recruitment based on our strengths rather than waiting for industry to come to us:
- Hospitality
- Animal Health
- Media Arts
3. Repair damaged local and state economic development partnerships with:
- Adjoining counties
- Georgia Department of Economic Development
4. Set clear and consistent guidelines for those who choose to do business in Athens:
- Protect our natural resources
- Incentivize desirable business
- Attract clean industry with well paying jobs
I am with those who seek real answers to our city’s problems
Poverty
Poverty is not a new problem. Too many Athenians have been suffering in poverty for decades. It is a shame that some only recognize poverty when the opportunity to gain or protect power is at stake. The one certain answer to resolving poverty is good, well paying jobs. We need jobs that pay enough to achieve a decent standard of living.
I have spent over three decades connecting people with good jobs. I know that we can no longer try to treat the symptoms of poverty while abandoning the honest search for the cure. We need jobs to bring economic stability to our most vulnerable citizens.
While I will happily embrace partnership with all who seek to alleviate poverty, I will not be content with inaction. The current administration has had four years to address poverty. I will not settle for their level of progress during my term as mayor.
Infrastructure
The fact that any effort has been a priority for Athens’ elected officials above clean water, efficient sewage/sanitation and fire protection is utterly despicable. One should not have to live in an area that gets special attention to have maintained roads, sewage/sanitation and fire protection. We need to get our priorities straight. When our citizens are protected and supported with even the smallest amount of government service, perhaps then we can talk about artistically designed bus shelters and other luxuries. Not before.
Housing
The current administration has had four years to address housing and the only result is a bustling bureaucracy whose methods keep even public housing projects from proceeding. Government officials have pursued an agenda of no-growth and the result has been repeated frustration for those who could help develop affordable housing. It doesn‘t take a city planner to know that families of four are not going to live in lofts above coffee houses. The proposed solutions are impractical, improbable and probably don’t matter since, like many suggestions, they will most likely never mature beyond the committee stage.
As chairman of the Athens Housing Authority, I only sought answers to housing issues, I demanded action. The result was assistance in the University’s construction of the East Campus Village. The village got 1,200 students out of neighborhoods and apartments and put them on campus near facilities and resources. At the same time, we worked with private developers to help them get low interest financing to build family homes. I will find and implement real answers to Athens’ housing needs.
Transportation
I am in favor of bike lanes, carpooling, efficient and reliable bus service and I am for all these things as they affect all Athenians. I want a partnership with local businesses to reduce the number of cars on the road. I want creative ways to fund and support a bus service that all Athenians will embrace. I believe in Andy Rusk’s idea to explore broadening sidewalks and I am not ashamed to say so. It’s a good idea and the current administration seems more concerned with who gets credit for good ideas rather than seeing good ideas implemented. I want the best outcome for everyone and I don’t need the credit.
Neighborhoods
Athens is a community. We share resources, opportunities and challenges. We are a community of neighbors and we should never consider a fellow Athenian to be anything less than a neighbor. It is the responsibility of elected officials to consider our whole neighborhood. Unfortunately and for too long, officials have prided themselves on what they can do for local constituents in the short term while community-wide projects that affect everyone linger and fester with no result.
I will vigorously defend the quality of life in our neighborhoods. I will seek to remove the disparity on ordinance enactment and enforcement. I will never support an ordinance that is not intended on being enforced uniformly in Athens and I will never support an ordinance that seeks to discriminate, separate or further divide this city. Athens is for everyone who lives here no matter who they are or who they know.
Major actions concerning quality of life
- Fully embrace and support the Athens-Clarke County mentor program.
- Remove fees for after school athletic programs for low income children.
- Create a priority list for infrastructure needs and begin action on the most dire.
- Affirm, support and partner with the Athens Housing Authority to attract and develop affordable housing through low interest loans.
- Implement the already passed Floating Homestead Exemption which will protect senior citizens against skyrocketing assessments and taxes.
- Comprehensively survey the city with regards to transportation needs.
- Host weekly meetings in which residents can “Meet with the Mayor” to give insight of their concerns.
I am with those who want to see the right thing done for the right reason I pledge to consider issues as they concern all Athenians. I will listen, learn and give weight to the faintest voice and the loudest cry because everyone deserves a good life in Athens. I do not and will not take public service lightly. I am proud to have been involved with those who have been serving this city for years:
Chairman, Athens Housing Authority
Director, Food Bank of Northeast Georgia
Advisor, The Salvation Army
Director, Samaritan Counseling Service
Director, Athens Area Habitat for Humanity
Director, Athens Neighborhood Health Center
Director, Athens Diversion Center
Director, Mercy Health Center
Court Appointed Special Advocate
President, International Association of Workforce Professionals (Georgia Chapter, 2 terms as president, 8 terms on board and State Representative at the national level)
I am with God
I am a Christian and an ordained minister, and I will make no apologies for it. I believe in the commandment to love each other and that how we treat the least amongst us is how we treat God himself. It is my mission to extend love and community care to all of our residents. I am unabashed in my belief that we all deserve fair and thoughtful consideration from our elected officials.
I am with Athens
I am an Athenian. I was born on Chase Street, lived in Broad Acres and played football and basketball at Athens High Industrial School. I have worked as a police officer, insurance agent, factory worker, bartender, waiter, and have worked for 32 years for the Georgia Department of Labor serving Athens.
I am with my family
I have raised four children and a great niece in Athens. My family continues to benefit from the recreational, cultural and quality of life enhancements Athens offers and it is my position that you and your family should have and enjoy these things as well. I want my children to have the chance to get a good job and raise a family in Athens, just as you would like your children to have the same option.
I need you with me
Take a quick look in the newspaper or on the Internet and you’ll see what I am up against. My opponents cannot stand on their records, so they have resorted to hype and innuendo. We need to take back this city from those who are holding it hostage. We need to release the small businesses that are strangled by the whim of this current administration. We need to give our impoverished kids more than talk and political acrobatics. We need to build a future for you and your children and me and my children.
I need your vote on November 7th. I need your support right now. I need you to raise the issues, speak out and be heard. November 7th is your chance. November 7th is our chance, together.
Faithfully,
Charlie Maddox
posted by Jmac at 4:40 PM
4 Comments:
OK, well most of this is total horse-feathers based on...what?
In the last four years, we've seen a lot of growth and economic development and lots of jobs created. Many of those jobs went to people who live outside Athens-Clarke County because so much of our workforce has been measured and found lacking. The competition for good jobs at every level is pretty fierce around here and there are lots of folks commuting in from surrounding counties to take these jobs.
Heidi has an outstanding reputation and rapport with everyone involved in economic development at both the state level and the surrounding counties. I challenge the Maddox campaign to be specific. It's an easy challenge for me to make because I know they can't back it up.
I have to say that after running for Mayor for over a year, the voters can't possibly have much confidence in a campaign or a candidate that waits until less than 12 days before election day to finally issue anything substantial. "Substantial", in this case, is being as kind and generous as I can be. It's all still vague and unsubstantiated.
Heidi has been up on her web site with her record, her accomplishments, her vision, and her positions on the issues since she announced. Further, she has a link to everything she said and every stance she took from the 2002 campaign so that the voters can easily compare what she ran on in 2002 with what she's accomplished in her first term. How many candiates for office have ever done that? Beat that if you can!
Now, don't get me wrong. I like Charlie as a person but he hasn't offered anything other than platitudes and vagueries for 12 months. Even now, there's no substance other than some promises that he doesn't seem to know that he can't really keep about some problems that he can't prove actually exist or rest with the Office of the Mayor.
If you are looking to vote for "Anybody but Heidi" then, Charlie may be your guy. If you're interested in what's best for Athens then, I think you need to look at what Heidi has achieved and ask yourself if that's the kind of record that doesn't deserve a second term.
Heidi may not be the "perfect Mayor" in your eyes but, elections are about choices - choosing among those on the ballot. You decide if, on balance, Heidi hasn't made this a better place than she found it.
ElectHeidi.com - for real information for voters that wish to make an informed choice.
Thanks!
Al
Hey Al. Put your money where your mouth is. Heidi's has been touting McCann Aerospace as some economic development accomplishment. If this is true, have someone from McCann write into this blog with their support for Heidi's efforts in regards to economic development.
Here’s your big chance to show us Heidi’s stellar economic development track record.
Hey Al here are some specifics:
1. The Governor. He has been to Athens several times and Heidi has not shown up once. If we want projects he would be a good person to talk to. It certainly does not help to call him to the carpet for the redistricting effort an hotel motel tax.
2. Craig Lesser: He has said on a number of occasions that he will not bring anything to us unless they ask to be next to UGA.
3. Melvin Davis: Heidi does not have an "outstanding reputation and rapport" with Melvin. When you all had your town hall meeting at the library to discuss (or shout negative things about the chamber) redistricting, nobody asked him what he thought. Also, Heidi is the laughing stock of MACORTS. Do you really think surrounding areas take her seriously?
If we are serious about what is best for Athens we can't afford to vote for Heidi, especially if we base our vote on her record. How about some specifics on the jobs Heidi created that went to the workforce outside ACC? Waiter and waitress or coffee shop attendant don't count by the way. FYI The workforce assessment that Novartis did was for the region, not just our county.
...Heidi has an outstanding reputation and rapport with everyone involved in economic development at both the state level and the surrounding counties...
This comment is pretty ridiculous. The Mayor has her strengths, but regionalism and statewide economic development relationships are not among them. Ask any of the adjoining county commission chairs, Craig Lesser, the Governor, or anyone really involved at the state level in serious economic development and they will tell you that Athens doesn't have a chance at significant projects that aren't UGA related. I don't think its been a focus at all for this administration.
Post a Comment
<< Home