Dear Editor: The latest political forum (Oct.12) was a repeat of a theme used in several other forums sponsored by different segments of the Rockdale County community. The host, Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce, reinforced the theme using a Q&A showcase predicated on "all is fair in love and war" and "in politics there are no holds barred."
The genie had an opportunity to have a field day (evening). As in other preceding forums, an unspoken and unwritten agenda began to emerge. Unlike many others, the theatrics of the evening were documented live and in living color by and the audio visual documentation publicly displayed on Rockdale TV Channel 23. Unfortunately many Rockdale County taxpayers are Channel 23 "no shows," restricted by original and continuing design monitored and approved by the BOC.
One subtle confirmation of a secret agenda surfaced when each of the first group (Board of Education candidates) was asked to rate the Superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools. Of course, any person or entity can raise any question; concealed responsibility and motive is a countering challenge. Nonetheless one should ask why raise a question that targets a particular person rather than ask to rate education in Rockdale County. For example, questions have been raised about law enforcement in Rockdale yet the sheriff isn’t targeted by the questioner but maybe by one of the candidates for his job.
Another subtle confirmation of an unannounced agenda was when some candidates were permitted to take the stage with no opposing candidate to "debate" because of "no shows." For some unknown reason other candidates present with "no show" opponents were not accorded the same courtesy.
The theatrics of the evening included a "no show" candidate for Post 2, Rockdale County Board of Commissioners. The available candidate was permitted to take the stage unopposed for a solo performance by the defending incumbent. The unexpected acknowledgement of complicity of the moderator in addressing a question about the responsibility for the failed attempt to establish a County Code of Ethics preempted an original response from the incumbent. Further questions appeared to have presented selective difficulty in facilitating a response from the incumbent. However, there was a display of a brilliant alertness to subtleties that were springboards for the incumbent to acknowledge actions to abort a Code of Ethics, to avoid citizen input recommended for county development, to reduce crime including bullying, drugs trafficking, restricted public access to Channel 23, etc.
The value of access to Channel 23 government productions cannot be overstated. Yet, the currently employed original design perpetually restricts access to a large segment of tax payers.
Lewis Belcher
Rockdale County
Editor’s Note: According to the Chamber, the forum featured candidates in local contested races with opposition. Races with no opposition and congressional races were not covered. were also not covered in the forum
