We had a bit of rain, which we probably needed. But the real story is that it has been unseasonably cold. Today’s porch temperature was 23 at 8:00, and yesterday’s high was about 36. The forecast low Friday night is 19 and Saturday’s forecast high is 37. There’s a little rain in the forecast for the weekend, but the cold weather is forecast to continue next week.
We’ve had some fairly high winds, and most or all of the leaves are down, at least here. One more heavy leaf blowing episode, and we should be done for the year.
The deer are up in the yard, eating what’s left of the acorns. We had a pretty heavy mast crop this fall – that’s wildlife biologist talk for acorns and other edibles. But this is a tough time of year for the deer, with most of the green stuff already eaten, and the acorns getting a little scarce. At least Georgia’s seemingly interminable deer season is about to end. The firearms season for deer and bear ends January 12th. You can always go to a Wildlife Management Area that isn’t having a deer season if you want to hike, but I for one am relieved when the firearms season is over, and we can go where we want without worrying about hunters.
I did not expect this to happen, but Lamar Paris was defeated for Union County Sole Commissioner in the November election. Union is one of seven counties in Georgia that have a sole commissioner. I think Texas used to have two as well, but it looks like Georgia is now the only state with a sole commissioner form of government. It exists in Bartow, Bleckley, Chattooga, Murray, Pulaski, Towns, and Union counties.
Lamar has been in office for 25 years, and he has pursued a very progressive agenda, especially for a mountain county. He has completed a number of public works projects, upgrading parks and building community centers and fire stations. As anyone who has been to Blairsville recently can attest, the county has done a lot to attract business in the last ten years as well.
He was defeated by Harold Collins, who won 54.71% of the vote. Lamar is a Democrat, and Collins is a Republican, which surely helped. But the key to the election seems to have been resentment of the outsiders and tourists. According to the North Georgia News, November 13, “Collins ran on a platform of returning the balance of power to the permanent residents of a county that he views as having become ‘a playground for tourists and the approximately 9,500 property owners and investors which are non-residents of Union County.'” He has also vowed to slow down growth, and keep the county as rural as possible. There seems to be some resentment of things like the Butternut Creek golf course, the View Grill at the golf course, and the Byron Reese historic site. Collins appears to think that these things ought to make money, instead of just serving the public.
By the way, here’s a link to a neat summary of the powers and responsibilities of county government in Georgia.
https://www.naco.org/sites/default/files/event_attachments/DRAFT_Georgia_012022.pdf