COLUMN: What's happening to Jackson County's towns?

• Hoschton has been about as close to bankruptcy as a town can get without actually turning off the lights at city hall. A favorable lawsuit settlement this week may help the town dig out of that hole, but that lucky break isn’t a forever solution. The town needs leadership. But consider the tone of a meeting last week where a councilman got angry at citizens and during the meeting said they were “sons-of-bitches.” Some leadership.

• In Nicholson, a citizen slapped the mayor’s wife last week. But that’s the least of the town’s problems. Over the last couple of years, the town has fragmented into warring camps. Some of that has to do with allegations of insider bids and other government issues, but much of it is simply backbiting and small town gossip and family feuds that have gotten out of control. What do others think about Nicholson when they read some of the inane comments being posted on this newspaper’s website? Are there any adults left in the town?

• Arcade finds itself in a financial hole after several years of flying high and running the town on the backs of motorists who were unfortunate enough to get caught driving in the city. But when the speed limit got raised along the bypass, the town’s key source of income declined overnight. City officials appear to have reacted too slowly to that, using reserves until the reserves have played out. The town now has no room for financial error.

• Of course there’s Pendergrass, a town so bizarre it defies belief. In addition to financial turmoil and nepotism, the town is under a GBI investigation for possible misuse of public funds, its citizens are contemplating a recall and this newspaper has had to sue it to hold open meetings and to turn over public records. What a mess.

The common thread in these four local towns can be summed up in one word: Ego. All four governments have come unwound because city leaders have governed more from ego than common sense.

All four towns have over the last few years attempted to be something they’re not — bigger.

Arcade annexed a large amount of property under the idea it would boom with mega-subdivisions. It wanted its own water system so it could “control” its “destiny.” Leaders thought the town would explode with growth. Instead, it all fell apart.

Ditto for Pendergrass. The city approved hundreds of new building lots under the idea the town would be the “next big thing” along I-85. Like Arcade, it attempted to finance a growing city government through police fine money, a move that has destroyed the reputations of both towns. Now, like Arcade, Pendergrass is broke. It was all just ego by city officials who have a stake in the area’s real estate and attempted to use the city government as a vehicle to further their private interests.

In Nicholson, ego also came to the forefront over the last few years. Rather than a small town, Nicholson wanted to be a big town. Officials attempted to start a police department through the backdoor, but that all blew up with the Pendergrass scandal. When a town emulates Pendergrass, you know trouble is ahead.

In Hoschton, ego also ruined the financial standing of the town. Wedged next to Braselton, which had been booming in recent years, some Hoschton leaders felt their town, too, should boom. The problem is, Hoschton doesn’t have I-85 or Chateau Elan to anchor growth.

Hoschton overreached while its leaders began to function more as a social club than a responsible government. Problems were shoved aside and ignored until they collapsed on the town with full weight.

The moral of the story: We all complain about the state government and the federal government, but the real problem is right here in our own back yards. Big egos aren’t just in Washington or Atlanta, they exist in our own little towns, too.
Maybe local government is where citizens should focus more attention today.

Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.