Just Getting Caught Up

Just seen that Jonathon was fired from the T&G. Sorry, but it is taking me awhile to get caught up. I believe the last article wrote by him was telling everyone to visit my blog to view open records. And boom he is gone!!!!

That would explain why my letter was shorten in last weeks paper. Here is that letter in full:

Sheriff’s office throws constitution out the window

Dear Editor,
I am writing in response to Ms. Judy Godley’s letter “Berry must choose which side of the fence to be on.” I would love to agree with her, but the laws of this nation say that this man is innocent until proven guilty. I would think a family of law enforcement officers would know that, and why this case? I am sure Berry has defended many people who have broken the law in Camden County, why now? Could this be a political attack like we hear the Sheriff say all the time when Berry points out his wrong doing? Yet, all Berry is doing is defending a man we are to assume is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

My only question to Ms. Godley is where are your other letters? The letters about the Sheriff defending a convicted murder, bringing a convicted meth maker back to the county, and of course the letter about the Sheriff’s best friend and convicted felon. Where were those letters Ms. Godley? Let’s be fair Ms. Godley, if you’re going to complain about a conflict of interest, I would expect to see a letter from you next month criticizing Ms. Sears for voting on Sheriff Office matters as she is an employee of the sheriff and should not vote on these issues. What is the difference between Berry defending a presumed innocent man and Sears voting on Sheriff Office matters?

No I am not an advocate for Berry in fact I am encouraging all the citizens of Camden County to vote out the present establishment. I do applaud Mr. Berry for standing up and informing the people of Camden County of what we have been saying for years about the Sheriff’s Office, but I can’t overlook the years that he overlooked these issues.

Starting April 1, 2008 I will be starting the election campaign “Clean the Slate in ‘08” on my blog. We have been telling the truth about all the elected in Camden County for 2 years now. Please join the conversation at http://www.schoolpolice.blogspot.com/. Your comments are important and will be read by all the elected as the follow this blog daily. Some have said it is worthless and that just means they don’t like the truth to come out. Also anyone who feels they have been done wrong by the government can submit their information have it posted for comments. Maybe someone else has had the same problem and we can get it solved threw public exposure. If an elected official has done nothing wrong, they should have no problem defending themselves in public. All issues pertaining to Camden County should be solved in public after all they are our representatives doing our work, not their own work. Together we can make a community that we can all be proud of, so remember to “Clean the Slate in ‘08”

Rick Rogers

So I guess they have already started their censorship. Yet I remember reading two letters that promoted local businesses and that is free advertising for them and they make money off that. And this was a recent editorial on the first day of spring:

From the T&G:
Let there be light
Yesterday was the first day of spring, and the warm sunshine has been wonderful. Let's hope that this same bright light can shine through our local governments, too.Do you stand for open government? Do you want to know how elected officials are making the decisions that affect Camden County, this state and the nation?
This is Sunshine Week, a national initiative to inform the public of the importance of open government and freedom of information. It began as a result of Sunshine Sunday, which was created by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors in response to some new legislation Florida legislators were trying to enact in 2002. This new legislation would have placed greater restrictions on the state's public records laws. During 2002, a total of 300 exemptions to open government were defeated, thanks to efforts of the FSNE.Sunshine laws, which protect open government, are not just for journalists. They are for you, the hard-working taxpayers. The people who elect the public officials they feel will best represent them best in office.Sometimes, as we all know, officials forget the people who put them in office. Decisions are made behind closed doors, away from public eyes. However, this is not an option. In fact, it is against the law.Public bodies can discuss certain matters behind closed doors, but they can't decide anything.

As taxpayers, we should always assume that everything in government is open record. There are some times, as we said, when an "executive session" or closed-door meeting is legal.These exemptions are inspecting a physical facility under its jurisdiction, discussing future acquisitions of real estate, consulting an attorney about potential legal action and personnel issues.What constitutes a meeting of public officials? Anytime a quorum gathers. It does not matter if that is drinking coffee at McDonald's or walking down the beach of Cumberland Island. If enough members gather in order to conduct business, this constitutes a meeting, and certain laws must be followed.Anytime a meeting is to be held at a location that is not the regular meeting place or time, a 24-hour notice must be placed in the legal organ to notify the general public.The Tribune & Georgian, the legal organ of Camden County, takes seriously its responsibility to keep the taxpayers informed. If any of our three city councils, school board or county commissioners meet, we expect to be there. And if any of these groups decide to change their normal meeting time or place, we will inform you, the taxpayers. And if we ever learn of any illegal meetings, you will also be the first to know--and legal action will be taken.The Tribune & Georgian is 100 percent for open government and keeping the taxpayers of Camden County informed. This is your county and home. You, the taxpayers, deserve to know how all public business is taken care of.You have our promise that we'll do our part.

They started off with a bang.

Shame on you Alan.

Jonathon if you are reading this please email me and tell us the rest of the story.

Until then my subscription is done.