I GREW UP IN THE 60'S LISTENING TO GROUPS LIKE SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE

I remember singing along with my sisters and friends to "I am everyday people, " as it had a catchy tune and cool lyrics. We grew up to accept all people, even though we were not as diverse as some. My graduating high school class had one black student, and I believe she was one of only two black students in my high school because Fairdale, Kentucky was probably 99% white in 1973. I have a picture in an album with this black girl standing with me and a small group of friends on graduation night (about 300 graduates that year at Fairdale High School). We were all one, the class of 1973 ready to make our mark on the world.

So one can say, that my journey in life that led me to live in Bibb County, Georgia was a different world for me with the population being much more diverse here than in Fairdale, Kentucky. I was awakened to the cold-hearted truth that many people did not adhere to the we are everyday people concept, and I was bluntly told by a neighbor in 1981 when my family moved here to get my 2 1/2 year old son preregistered for a private school to get him on a waiting list, and was told that First Presbyterian Day School would be a good choice. And the lady that told me this was a first grade teacher in a public school. My husband and I had sunk all of our money into our home, and had lucked out with owner financing at 12% interest (this at a time when mortgages were being financed at 15% and gas at the pump was sky high). This is not what a 26 year old with limited finances wanted to hear, which is that our family was going to have to come up with private tuition and drive from Northeast Macon to the other side of town for private school. The only private schools that I was familiar with were the Catholic schools in Louisville, Kentucky, and the one Catholic elementary school in Fairdale.

I firmly believe that this private school problem that we have in Bibb County creates inflation and is the force that drives small businesses out of town. If people would have supported the public school system when integration came about, we could have had a superb school system. Instead, we have business owners that inflate their prices in order that they can afford to send their children to private schools. The question is what are we going to do to solve the problem? We can build new schools until the cows come home, but this is not going to solve the problems in our County without coming together and tearing down the wall that divides us.

In Macon, we have the black one that won't accept the white one that won't accept the black one. And the Christian that won't accept the Jew that won't accept the Christian and the Democrat that won't accept the Republican that won't accept the Democrat and so on and so on and scooby dooby doo. It is sad, is it not?

I have to get something else off my mind. When running for office, Mr. Richardson, Macon Telegraph, did not want to get to know me when I was running for office because of a reason to immediately put up a road block to what I was trying to convey to him. I felt the cold shoulder, as soon as I started talking to Mr. Richardson and knew that he could not accept me because in his eyes I was running against someone that was member of his own race and the fact that I was a Republican did not help either. He did not know me nor did he care to know me, but he cannot publicly admit the truth. Enough of that. And, the critique does not stop with race or political party, as I know that I was used by the Bibb County Republican Party and Charles Bishop to help get Charles elected. And, I venture to say that I was very instrumental in putting Charles in the winner's circle. My office lot looked like the Republican Party campaign headquarters of South Macon! My one regret is that I did not help Joan Dixon when her husband called me about parking her trailer in my parking lot when she was running against Alan Freeman. I realize that I could have put her over the top, and I wish I would have helped her. Joan was one of the nicest people that I met, while I was running for office, and I realize that Alan was running on everything that I am against. I am against big money backing someone to get elected for future political gain.

Now, another person that does not know me at all is Jami G on 940 talk radio. When, I have called the show she has been downright rude to me, as she has angered many people that call into the show. Jami, even went on to smirk that David Corr and I should do something for society, instead of being opposed to a sales tax vote. You see, she is being narrow minded and not realizing that we see what we are doing as trying to make society better by being in opposition of redistribution of wealth through excessive taxation. She does not know me, she does not know that I have had clients terminally ill that are out of work that I do tax returns for free or that I have called a client to come to my office at Thanksgiving to fill their trunk with groceries because it was a mother that was abandoned by her husband with no money and two hungry children. If I know a client is struggling, I just charge the electronic filing fee and the cost of printing the return. In order to make ends meet, I sign up to teach classes on a contract basis because I try to give value pricing to my clients. You see, Jami and others like her have the audacity of critiquing those in the community that they do not know. I am a staunch conservative, but I firmly believe that I care more about the impoverished people in Bibb County than any so-called mover and shaker. An old saying is that "people that live within glass walls should not be throwing bricks." I probably messed up this quote, but it is close nonetheless and the message is there.