Tag Archives: john albers

The Roswell Chicken Man and His Fight For His Constitutionally Protected Rights

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Mr. Wordes earned his name “the Roswell Chicken Man” just how you might expect he would. He owns chickens (and turkeys). But what you probably wouldn’t expect is the hassle, hardship and heartbreak he has encountered in order to maintain his right to have these animals and his property.

Mr Wordes is currently battling the City of Roswell (City Manager and City Council) over his right to have livestock on his property inside city limits. The order of events goes a little bit like this:

  • December 2008: Roswell Zoning Department issues a warning for the chickens on his property. (At that time, the City of Roswell’s Code of Ordinances said “On less than two acres you MAY NOT have livestock except for poultry and swine.”) The City decided to issue a citation anyway. Mayor Wood attempts to step in and stop the city, but the city moves forward. Both parties head to court.
  • Spring 2009: Mr. Wordes hires former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes to represent him against the city. Both parties presented their cases to Judge Maurice Hilliard who issued a dismissal of the case against the Chicken Man.
  • Summer 2009: The Roswell City Council rewrites the law, without a ‘grandfather clause’, to make all but 6 chickens on a property illegal–directly targeting and affecting Mr. Wordes. The law further states that the ‘legal’ chickens must remain in a permanent enclosure.**
    (**Mr. Wordes property sits on a flood plain. 3-4 feet of water rises on his property when it storms. Because of this, the city would not issue a permit for a permanent enclosure, therefore making it ‘illegal’ for him to have his birds. This is important because after the storms and flooding in September 2009, a sewer backed up behind Mr. Wordes’ home causing 6 feet of water in the back yard and 4 feet of water in the basement of his home. In order to save his home AND his chickens, Mr. Wordes borrowed a BobCat to move the dirt around. He was subsequently issued citations for too many chickens, illegal grading of property and too many cars on his property. The City also would not submit requests for FEMA funds for the property. The property has flooded several times since this initial flood.)

  • The City of Roswell contacts Mr. Wordes mortgage broker, an elderly woman who has held his mortgage for the entirety of his 16 years in his home. With the threat of liens, citations and grievances, the City pressures Wordes’ mortgage broker into SELLING the note to another broker for 50 cents on the dollar. The current mortgage broker is attempting to foreclose on Mr. Wordes home.
  • Mr. Wordes reports to court for his citations during the flood. Judge Hilliard again rules in his favor stating that he is ‘grandfathered in’ to the new law, but must complete 180 hours of community service for the illegal grading and the excessive number of cars on his property.
  • Mr. Wordes is harassed by the Roswell Police Department as well. He is pulled over more times than we can count, thrown in jail on multiple occasions, and given a number of petty citations. It’s common for multiple police cars to sit at the end of Mr. Wordes street and ‘wait’.
  • The City of Roswell files a 55-page civil suit against Mr. Wordes in an attempt to take his property from him. This is the first civil suit to attempt to take a man’s property in the history of Roswell. A civil suit was filed in attempt to deny Mr. Wordes his right to a public defender, as he can no longer afford to pay for representation. Fortunately because of Mr. Wordes involvement with Georgia Carry, they have provided legal representation for him.
  • The City lists Mr. Wordes home on the ‘Roswell 2030 Plan’ as a green space and parks area, publicly announcing and solidifying their effort to take his property. (View the plan here http://www.roswellgov.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1552 –the road you’re looking for is Alpine Drive. Can you believe this? He is still the lawful owner of his property but the City has a 20-year-plan to dissolve that. Note that Mr. Wordes has offered to SELL his property to the City, but they have declined. Instead, they want to take the long and painful foreclosure route.)
  • July 2011: Mr. Wordes leaves his home to attend a political rally. When he returns home, he finds that all of his chickens have been let out and feed is all over the ground. The next day, his birds begin to die. Mr. Wordes realizes that someone has poisoned his birds. Over the course of the next few days, Mr. Wordes loses 1/3 of his livestock, including 45 baby turkeys (10 of which belonged to Mayor Jere Wood), 25 chicks and 6 adult birds. I spoke with Mr. Wordes personally and he claims there is no doubt in his mind who was behind the poisoning. He alleges that it was his next door neighbor who has rallied with the city through this entire process. You see, Mr. Wordes has a very private backyard that is surrounded by woods. From the street, however, it would appear that people were home because there were a couple of cars parked in the driveway. Unfortunately, Mr. Wordes posted on his Facebook page that he would be attending this political rally. Mr. Wordes has indications that lead him to believe that his neighbor monitors the page through other names (via his neighbors own personal website that has a page dedicated to ‘The Chicken Man’). Mr. Wordes alleges that this neighbor is the only one that would 1) know the seclusion of the property, 2) have access to the property in addition to knowing where everything is and 3) have a motive to commit such an atrocity. A police report has been filed, but is not moving forward at this point due to the lack of proof. The birds were taken to two different forensic labs to determine the source of poisoning but the necropsies have not yet returned. In the meantime, this has become an economic hardship on Mr. Wordes since he cannot sell the eggs from his hens since the poisoning.
  • Mr. Wordes is due in court August 10 at 2:30pm. The hearing is public at the Roswell Municipal Court. He will be arguing a probation violation for missing a ‘check-in’ over the time his birds had been poisoned.

Currently, Mayor Jere Wood, Councilwoman Betty Price and Senator John Albers are all standing behind this brave man. These public servants have exhausted their resources, but remain vigilant with their personal support. All three should be commended for their continued support for Mr. Wordes.

The Roswell chicken man needs your help.

  • If you are a resident of Roswell, I encourage you to call your councilman or woman. Let them know what they are doing is WRONG. A few of these council people are up for election this November (Becky Wynn and Rich Dippolito). How about vote them out? Why would you want someone who denies us of our rights granted by the laws of government? You can also call or email them and let them know how shameful their actions are. Nothing will change if we all stay quiet.
  • Call the news stations, local and national. These villains need to be exposed. The city cannot get away with this. We must stop fearing the government and stand behind those who are fighting the good fight.
    -Huffington Post scoop@huffingtonpost.com
    -Fox News hannity@foxnews.com or oreilly@foxnews.com or kelly@foxnews.com
    -WSBTV newstip@wsbtv.com or 404.897.6276
  • Visit www.roswellchickenman.com to donate to this cause.
  • Spread the word. Tell everyone you know. This isn’t JUST about the chickens. It’s about the city and the personal vendetta they have against a citizen. It could easily be you or me, just in a different context.

“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”- Thomas Jefferson

LINKS
Roswell Patch Article 8/2/2001 http://roswell.patch.com/articles/roswells-chicken-man-heads-back-to-court
Roswell Patch Article 7/3/2011 http://roswell.patch.com/articles/roswell-chicken-man-cries-foul
CBS Atlanta Coverage http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/15037844/roswell-chicken-man-says-someone-vandalized-his-property-and-poisoned-50-of-his-birds
Facebook Support Page: http://www.facebook.com/RoswellChickenMan#!/RoswellChickenMan?sk=info

Town Hall Meetings & Why You Shouldn’t Go to Them

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What do you think of when you hear the phrase “Town Hall Meeting”?? Democracy? Voicing your opinion? One-on-one time with your representative? Nope. Not me. I think…”Re-election”.

It may just be me, but I think that town hall meetings (here on forward referred to as THM) are becoming more and more popular, or maybe we’re just hearing about them more in a vile attempt on our representatives parts to reach us, the constituent, “the people”. It seems like everyone from Barack Obama to Rep. Gabby Giffords to our glorified city councilmen & women (a.k.a. State Senators) are hosting them.

Have you every been to one? Luckily, I have, so I can share my experience with you. As someone with an interest in North Fulton County, I attended a town hall meeting hosted by Senator John Albers. It was formally arranged with a venue, newsletter invitation and a decorous start time. I was greeted by about 5 other constituents and about 15 volunteers from the Albers campaign team (this I know because I was one of them). People were scattered around seats like a 3pm viewing of the new Fast & Furious movie. The Senator was then “introduced” (wait, I thought this was supposed to be some community get-together, not an event to honor a celebrity?) . He began talking to at the crowd few constituents that braved the event and there was a question and answer session to follow (brief, because whats to talk about?) Then we left.

Not much was accomplished, not much was established…just a little gloating on the part of a local politician. The same one that is “one of us” and “wants to hear from us”. I can say with confidence that 5 people don’t represent the greater population of Roswell. But BOY OH BOY would you think they did. Of course this event (yes, we went from THM to event) was highly publicized–with photos–and let me tell you, from the angle the photo was taken, you would have thought that house was PACKED!

That leads me to the why. Why do politicians host town hall meetings? They aren’t to sway an elected officials’ opinion on a topic. They may be for constituents to present ideas for officials to work on legislation for…but I’m not convinced. They may be an opportunity for constituents to complain about legislation that was passed during session (like, maybe about a bike law that was passed in such a vague fashion it makes you want to cringe because you know that a 5 year old could pick out the issues with the contents (or lack there of) of the bill) but the legislation is already passed, so there isn’t really much action that can be taken. That really only leaves one thing: re-election.

Town hall meetings aren’t about the people, they are about the politician. They are about looking like they are constantly out in the public, talking, mingling, etc. They are an image thing. It’s all about staying in the public eye. Thankfully, voters are wising up. Stepping up to the plate and doing their research and realizing that image isn’t everything and it’s more about what legislators can actually do for the community and its’ people.

Thumbs up, Geraldo!!

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I had originally planned to discuss the recent fabrication by Senator John Albers (R-56) that he had something to do with the implementation of child identification kits in the community (Falsely, seeing as though they were not his idea, nor did he have any larger role in implementing them than any other member of the Alpharetta Public Safety Foundation), but given the events of the last 3 hours (and the fact that Senator Albers needs minimal press due to the fact that he galavants around town tooting his own horn anyways), I felt it was necessary to address the Osama Bin Laden “victory” instead.

I had just finished watching The Real Housewives of Orange County when Andy Cohen started his show ‘Watch What Happens Live!’ with “Where were you when you found out Osama bin Laden was dead?” Hmm, I don’t know. I didn’t think it happend yet?? Oh, but it had! Curious, I changed the channel to Fox News. I don’t always particularly care for them but, hey-it was better than CNN or CBS. Geraldo was on. He always adds a painfully, yet usually unnecesary, emotional spin to things. Multitasking, I thought I heard him say “Obama is dead.” No way. Rewind. Yep, he said it. If you YouTube “Geraldo Obama Osama slip up” you will see not only the nice footage but that this isn’t Geraldos first Obama/Osama slip up.

Irritated with the nonsense, I switched to my Facebook to see what others were saying…sadly, I was met with more nonsense. “Yes we can! Change is here y’all!!”, “It took a Democrat to do it!” and complaints of Obama being referred to as “Mr Obama” instead of “President Obama” flooded my News Feed. Is this really happening??

It may sound extreme, but seeing all the outrageous postings, media and text messages, I really considered throwing my TV, computer and cell phone right off my balcony.

The fact of the matter is….right now our country is more vulnerable than before. Killing Osama bin Laden is not the end of the road, merely a fork. While a figure head, OBL really is no more than that. It seems like a bold statement, but did OBL personally carry out any of the attacks? In fact, he personally never took credit for any of them…Who did? His followers. The intricate web of al-Qaeda ties spread throughout the world is no different than deciphering how you know friend #646 on Facebook. Worried yet?

Right winger, liberal progressive, anti-government tyrant or conspiracy theorist, it really doesn’t matter. You should be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed enough to understand that al-Qaeda is not done. Sleeper cells will wake. Our people have taken to the streets to celebrate. Our leaderS are thrilled. But soon this will fizzle some. The US government will in turn make suggestions about what we should do next. And with suggestions, come legislation. (**It would behoove the American people to pay close attention to legislation in the coming months. The US has a tendancy to lose liberties in times of tragedy, urgency and most importantly, when people are “rallying ’round the flag”, so to speak. The greatest example: the USA PATRIOT Act**)

All of this leaves me with some pretty deep questions. In terms of power plays, this is a victory for the US, a ‘plus one’ on the scoreboard, but at what cost? If you so believe everything the government has told you in the last 10 years (without doing any independent research on your own) then why are you making this political? And why are you not thanking the troops? Why are you sleeping more soundly tonight than you did last night? And most importantly, do you really understand what’s next for our country?

Post Post, Tweet Tweet…Dollars Lost

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With the explosion of social media over the last 5 years, it seems like you can’t see anything or anyone without a reference to Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Advertisements for products encourage you to “Like” them on Facebook and celebrities want to be “followed” on Twitter. All of these seem like great forms of networking, but there is one realm that has me questioning its’ benefits and efficiency: politics.

Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, has a very active Twitter account, and President Obama uses both Twitter and Facebook to post about what he is doing and his upcoming 2012 campaign. U.S. Congressman and Senators alike use both forms to update constituents on legislation, debates, etc. But lets be honest…these representatives aren’t personally blogging, tweeting and posting. Most will even admit to it…they don’t have the time or the interest to personally do it. So why don’t we talk about the representatives on a local level, who don’t have the staff or budget to have someone do it.

The Georgia legislative session just wrapped up last week and I realized that I knew a lot of more than usual in terms of what was going on down at the Capitol this spring, mainly because it was all over my Facebook page. It seemed like every time I checked my page, my News Feed was flooded with minute by minute updates of what was happening RIGHT THEN. Seems like a positive, right? We constantly complain that politics is too secretive and too many decisions are made behind closed doors. But with constant updates, posting of pictures of each other on the Senate and House floors, one has to wonder…what did they actually accomplish down there this session??

I took note of several representatives who posted what day of the session it was and what was on the calendar. It then seemed to be followed up with a picture of the calendar, who was speaking and even a personal photo with someone who appeared that day. Sen John Albers and many representatives have Facebook pages that they update personally and use to keep in touch with the public. I think it would be worth your time to look at them and see if you think any of them were posting too much. (Hint: The answer is yes. I actually sat in a marketing meeting to discuss the use of social networking and one of the referenced legislators was frowned upon because of how excessive he had become.)

I actually saw a Senator complain that the last day of the session had a full calendar. If you have followed my blog at all, you would know that the Georgia Senate allocated TWO DAYS of Senate time (more like, tax payer time) to “honor” professional athletes. Maybe if they hadn’t done that, the calendar would have been a little more free for the final days to discuss important things like immigration (which passed, but in a painfully weak manner) and the budget. And if the calendar is so full, then stop posting every hour, get off Facebook and get to work!

I’m all in favor of Senators and Congressmen posting what was accomplished that day,but don’t you think that could be done at the end of the day? A nice summary of what happened, what bills were debated, etc etc. It is not necessary, however, to post every two hours that you had lunch with someone from your district, your kid visited (with an added photo) and that your wife just got bifocals! Frequent postings serve no purpose and are a WASTE OF TAX-PAYER DOLLARS. It seems to me that legislators have become too enthralled with the fame of being in the public spot light that they’ve forgotten that they are public servants and it isn’t all about the photos or opportunities to meet people they see as celebrities. Legislators get so caught up in “staying in the minds of constituents” that they end up portraying the message that they aren’t really doing anything down there at the Capitol, except adding friends and expanding their Mobile Uploads folder.

And lets face it…if they were really acting as “public servants” as so many of them like to remind us in their monthly newsletters, they wouldn’t have to tell us all of the things they have accomplished because they wouldn’t be looking for praise….They would simply being doing their jobs.

Honor your father and your mother…and all the athletes, the waiters and the guy down the street…

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Do you remember when you were in middle school and every night you wished you would meet Nick from the Backstreet Boys? Or Britney Spears? Or Kobe Bryant? You planned what you would say if you got that chance, knew exactly what you would wear…it would be just magical!

Well, today our Georgia Senators got a little taste of that magic. So thank you for paying your taxes!!

Today, March 29th, the Georgia Senate honored the Atlanta Falcons during session. Yes, you read correctly…honored. On tax payer time and money, a sports team was honored at the Capital. On the count of three…you can get mad…1…2…3!!

Why on God’s green Earth are we honoring professional athletes in the middle of the business day while the Senate is in session?? What have they done for the state of Georgia?? Some argue their playing abilities and successes bring a great deal of revenue to Georgia. Okay, yes, they do. So now we are honoring people because they do their job?! You score a touchdown, manage a team effectively, coach a winning season and now you all get a giant pat on the back down at the Capital!!! Next week, we’ll be bringing in all waiters that did not spill any drinks in the month of January!

With illegal immigration climbing every day, public school education lagging-with many of our schools closing their doors, Medicare and Medicaid fraud costing us millions every year and a pending national health care act that stands to change all medical practices as we know it, I find it hard to believe that we have any time to honor the Falcons.

And what’s more…why are we honoring professional athletes (who again are simply “living the dream” and doing their jobs)?? What happened to honoring service men and women who lay their lives on the line for us, their fellow soldiers and our freedom? THAT justifies honor.

What a disgrace.

Thoughts??

—————–***UPDATE***——————4/2/2011

More MAGIC!!

On Friday, the Georgia Senate once again honored an athlete. This time, it was Auburn quarterback, Cam Newton. Even as a loyal Auburn fan, I still do not see a place for this in the Senate. Senator John Albers (R-56) stated on his Facebook page during the FIRST blog that they honored the Falcons because “they were a huge source of revenue for the state”. If that is the justification, then what business does Cam Newton have being honored in the Senate? It’s true that he is from College Park, but any subsequent revenue he would have produced would be directed toward Auburn, no? So it appears that even the justification that Senators provided does not always apply. (Note- Senator Albers responses were directed toward the questions of another constituent on his Facebook page, not mine. He chose not to respond to my inquiries on his page, despite his declaration that he was willing to answer questions that ANY ONE may have…it appears that he does not like to be challenged, as I was consequentially deleted from his Facebook page for asking questions.)

Georgia SB-63…Preventing Fraud…and a bunch of other hidden stuff too

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On March 14th, the Georgia Senate passed SB-63 which “requires that Medicaid cards integrate a computer chip that includes a digital photograph of the card holder”. Sources claim that Medicaid fraud costs U.S. tax payers $60 billion a year, and $26 million just in Georgia.

According to Senator Albers, a Republican from Roswell, the legislation will “preserve the Medicaid program for those who truly need it”. It is apparent that an overhaul of the current system is necessary to save Medicaid (if that is what we, as a state, intend to do), but this bill is nothing short of inappropriate. Unfortunately, it was introduced, sponsored and pushed through the entire process by Republicans.

The original bill stated that “patients will also provide a fingerprint scan when they enter the office and before they leave”. Supporters of the bill claim this will prevent providers from charging Medicaid for services that were not rendered since the patient will verify everything before he/she leaves. At some point in the process, the Senate Health & Human Services Committee dropped the fingerprint ID stipulation and it was not included in the final bill.

Thankfully, this is only going to be used as a pilot program to ensure that it is beneficial and cost effective…but even in a trial period, one must ask:
1) How is this any different from a national ID card that so many conservative representatives vehemently oppose?? While it will only apply to Medicaid participants, I can’t help but be incensed by the idea of a photo and computer chip installed on a card that people will be carrying in their wallets. Who’s to say that this won’t be used by the government in a more overbearing manner later on down the road??
2) Many opponents to this legislation claim that there will be a significant administrative burden on the offices when this is implemented. The doctor’s will be required to have the appropriate technology to facilitate the new measures this legislation requires. According to Senator William Ligon, the program will initially cost about $26 million to implement (Note: this is the same amount of money the state loses each year on the Medicaid fraud). By increasing the cost of doing business for these medical offices, we risk further increasing the costs to the patients, which in turn affects the Medicaid program.
3) How much will these “smart cards” cost the Medicaid program and it’s participants?????????????? Who will eat the cost? The program? The participants? The tax payers?

The Republicans in the Georgia Senate very much so missed boat on this legislation. It is imperative that we establish programs that are cost-effective and efficient. I’m not so sure Senate Bill 63 is going to facilitate in this movement……

————**UPDATE**————
————(3/23/2011)————-
I spoke with Senator Albers last week in regards to both this blog and his legislation (SB-63).

Senator Albers wanted to clarify that the cost of implementing the legislation would only be $3 million, contrary to the $26 million his colleague earlier stipulated. He claims the reduction in cost is due to the elimination of the fingerprinting portion of the program.

Senator Albers continued to point out that I did not have a “better solution” for the Medicaid program despite my assertion that this blog is analytical and an editorial and that I am not an elected official.

Senator Albers also emphasized that Medicaid is a voluntary program that participants do not pay in to, unlike Medicare. He used this to justify the implementation of computerized chips in the cards and compared them to credit cards.

After our conversation, Senator Albers and I agreed to disagree on this issue. I stand firm on my implications that this program is vulnerable for misuse down the road and does not seem to be cost effective. Senator Albers maintains that this is the best plan for Georgia and that it is not a fascist move. He mentioned the use of a similar proposal in the future for the food stamps program. For more information, or to contact Senator Albers, visit www.senatoralbers.com

————-*UPDATE*————
————-(3/28/2011)———–

This article was sent to me after the posting of this blog and it’s update by two different readers.

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/medicaid-smart-card-idea-885664.html