Spray Painted Message, Politicized Chicken and Delayed Zoning Case

The hotly contested race for Gwinnett County Commissioner District 3 is not over just yet. Incumbent Mike Beaudreau fell just short of the majority vote needed to avoid an Aug. 21 runoff with former planning commissioner Tommy Hunter, who placed second in the July 31 primary. If you will not be able to vote in person on election day, be sure to request your absentee ballot in advance. 

We have been discussing TSPLOST on Dacula Patch since late 2010. From the beginning, local sentiment has seemed to be overwhelmingly against the 10-year, 1 percent transportation sales tax. The question, however, was how the more urban areas would vote. In the end, turns out the vast majority of voters sent a clear message about this plan -- they flat out didn't like it. I admit I was surprised -- pleasantly surprised -- that the measure was defeated as soundly as it was. Now we just need to come up with a viable plan B. What do you think needs to be done to address our transportation issues? 

Why does it seem that surveillance cameras are so often inoperative at the most inopportune times? A vandal decided to spray paint a message on the Dacula Library and, unfortunately, the library’s camera was not working at the time. Hopefully someone saw the perpetrator and will contact the police with information that will help bring this criminal to justice. Why on earth anyone would think spray paint on a building is an appropriate way to convey a message is beyond me. 

I wonder if McDonald’s and Burger King officials are wishing their CEOs had made a statement in support of the Biblical view of marriage. The response to “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” was incredible. I don’t entirely know what to make of it though. I like to think everyone who turned out was simply showing their support of an individual’s right to free speech and not, as some have claimed, to express hatred of homosexuals. What do you think? Were the people who participated supporting free speech, protesting gay marriage, expressing anti-homosexual sentiment or some combination of the three?

It looks as if we will have to wait another month to find out if the Gwinnett County Planning Commission will recommend relaxing the zoning restrictions that were initially put in place on a piece of property that was originally pitched as an upscale shopping center. For the sake the people whose property adjoins the development, I hope the stricter standards are upheld. We have plenty of vacant commercial space now. I really do not see where there could possibly be a demand for more run-of-the-mill developments.

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