COLUMN: Are all property owners treated the same?

•In a latest venture to improve the downtown Winder area, local officials have come up with another list of things which would spruce up and revitalize this section of Winder.

Here’s one thing I have yet to be able to figure out despite asking for years? Why are certain property owners in the downtown area allowed to get away with blight?

All one has to do is drive through Winder and the decaying buildings are obvious. I applaud the move by some to save structures such as the Granite Motel, but why was it ever allowed to reach the shape it’s in now? There are zoning regulations on the books for Winder but they are not being enforced, at least not for some.

Is it a case of who you are as to whether you are forced to keep your property from becoming an eyesore as well as a hazard? Seems so. If I get any other (believable) explanation I’ll pass it along. I’m not holding my breath, however.

•To say traffic in the downtown area has reached critical mass is probably the understatement of the year. Traffic was horrible when I moved here in 1997 and has gotten worse each year since then.

When will city leaders demand action on traffic? When are citizens going to demand action about traffic from city leaders? It should not take more than 30 minutes to get from one end of Winder to the other on a Friday afternoon. It has gone beyond being a nuisance. It is dangerous and something has to be done. Now.

•It’s nice to see such community spirit and pride concerning the upcoming return home of our local troops. Yellow bows can be seen throughout Winder signaling their upcoming return home.

What I hope, however, is that once they are home, we don’t simply put them out of our minds. While getting back home safe is obviously important, many times the adjustment is not easy. What these men and women are doing for our country obviously is not made up for in a paycheck. Don’t ever let them forget what they mean to each of us.

•When are the county commissioners (most of them anyway) going to learn that censuring the chairman doesn’t mean anything? And when are those who hide behind a computer and post comments about “impeaching the chairman” and “taking away the chairman’s powers” going to get it through their thick heads that the chairman answers only to the voters. If you don’t like the job he is doing, you can vote him out in 2012.

•In recent weeks and months, I’ve been asked something along the lines of “Why do you allow this column or that column to be published? I know you don’t agree with what’s said in it.”

The answer is simple. While I may not agree with what’s said in a particular column, I do not believe in censorship. To tell one of our columnists their opinion piece will not run only because I disagree with it, goes against everything I believe in from a Libertarian perspective.

Editorial-wise, I believe we have a pretty good mix of columns with differing views. We have some that lean right, some that lean left, some that are in the middle and some that aren’t political at all. It offers readers a chance to see points of view they agree and disagree with. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.

Besides, to run only what you agree with all the time would make things pretty boring in my opinion. I say let’s keep things interesting.

Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com