should the new council worry about joey preston

I just spewed soda ... one moment while I clean it up.
Ok.
Let me provide a C-L-U-E to you and others who think that Ron is "done." There is this little thing called Greenpointe, and no, it's not some environmental group. Ron is doing something that Freemantle and the other neo-Tillmanists can't and won't do (we'll step over the don't know how to part): Constituent Service. Yes, thats right - Ron is listening to his voters and is attempting to stop the landfill from being dropped in one of the fastest-growing portions of the county.
If you smell something fishy, let me spell it out.
The neo-Tillmanists are hard at work, making sure Ron has to "take one" by having the landfill placed in his backyard. The reason: Payback and a concerted effort to slow growth. If anything, what the neo-Tillmanists have done is provide Ron with enough political fodder to ensure he NEVER has to lose his seat. All he has to do is fight the landfill and point out the neo-Tillmanists on council and how they seek to destroy Powdersville via placement of a dump and ... voila ... perma-member of Council from District 6.
Better-still (or worse still, depending on where you stand) is the fact that Ron can leverage his new-found political capital to direct his constituents to help unseat the neo-Tillmanists who sought to put the landfill in Powdersville.
My advise to the neo-Tillmanists on council: Get behind Ron and the Planning Department and fight Greenpointe. Failure to do so will likely result in a loss at the polls in 2010.
- SSHM

-sshm

You're right again.  You did so well in predicting all the other races in the June and November.  Let's see you predicted Meadors (wrong), Thompson (wrong), McAbee (wrong), Greer (wrong) and the guy who ran against Cindy ( I forgot his name).  I even remembered you advocating a write in campaign.  That is successful, just about every time. he he!

I only wish I could be as smart as you. 

After the investigation by county council is completed, you can come back and run your little motor all you want. WHEN THE FACTS ARE IN! Until then, if I want to have an opinion there is corruption (based on what I know and believe) and that is what I want to say then fine. - cromagnon

      Let me see if I understand what you're saying, Cromagnon.
      If I read that correctly, you're saying you can run your motormouth all you want to here BEFORE THE FACTS ARE IN, but the rest of us have to wait until AFTER the facts are in?
      And you think I'M arrogant? HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR.
      Hypocrisy does, indeed, have many names. One of them is "Cromagnon." HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR.
      Let me put it to you this way, Cromagnon: As you know, there is a team of moderators who determine who stays on ATZ and who doesn't, so I'm not going to do a thing as an individual about you and 1-Opinion. But if you continue to do what you're doing to EVERYBODY who disagrees with you - which is to indicate that they have no right to an opinion on here unless it agrees with yours - I will ask that panel of moderators to ban your screen name and any others who take that approach.
       We are all entitled to an opinion, by the way. I do pay taxes in Anderson County every time I shop there, which is frequently since I prefer Anderson to Greenville by far, for a lot of reasons. And I'm not as far outside that "loop" as you think I am.
        Now, continue your fact-challenged rants all you want to, but please, in the future, show others the same courtesy they we're showing you for now. Let 'em speak, or it will be YOU who is told to STFU, not them, until you get some real facts. And I say that as a MODERATOR who has watched how you deal with others with whom you disagree, not as JDTippett, who cares little or nothing about what you think or say about him.
        Do we understand each other now? You are absolutely entitled to your opinion that there is corruption in Anderson County government. Nobody is challenging that right, although many are challenging that conclusion you have reached before those facts are in.
        Likewise, I am absolutely entitled to think you are a small-minded, vindictive person who is more interested in getting revenge on somebody, for whatever reason, than you are in the future of Anderson County and its residents.
        Fair enough? State all the opinions you want to. The personal attacks on other ATZ members stop right now. And no matter how you try to spin it, this isn't about JDTippett. It's about your overall attitude toward other members of ATZ that is not conducive to debate.

You miss the point of the editorial gang.
  Mr. Cunningham is being FORCED to choose between a no-win deal. Accept or be dismissed.  Just as he was forced to drop pending litigation on behalf of employees being , lets face it, mentally tortured by tactics and methods being used. I would hope we the People could enforce such new and far-reaching tactics on members of Council, Assessors, Mayors, Sheriffs, Directors, School Administrators or any politically entwined person, based on "the will of the people".  Especially when taxes ARE raised, services ARE reduced, necessary staff ARE fired discriminately and file lawsuits against the county for millions, and our business climate IS growingly scared away en masse for dealing with inept and careless governmental rulers who go back on their word and nullify contracts willy-nilly.

People have told me alot about you Tippett and it is all proving itself to be true. Let me see if I can break it down real easy for you since your overtaxed thinking process didn't capture it with your "Let me see if I understand what you are saying." statement. No you are wrong you didn't get anything of what I said.
In my humble opinion, you are a class A coward for using your admin privileges in the way you do. You can't say that about me because I have no such privileges, all I I can do is express my thoughts, subject to your erasure, changes or deletion.

Let me explain myself again really simply. You know that is the sign of a real expert. Not how complicated a thing you can explain, but that you take something real complicated and break it down so anyone can understand

You have side A
You have side B

They are discussing issue C

Side A can have any opinion they like about C
Side B can have any opinion they like about C

Side A and side B don't have any requirements as to what and why their opinions are about C

The county council is investigating C

Side B calls Side A a liar (claiming trumped up charges of corruption). If side B does not provide unequivocal proof about Side A to justify calling Side A a liar then they are attacking the voice of Side A not the issues regarding Issue C. If you want to have an opinion about A, wait until the investigation is complete. Then that will prove your opinion about A. I don't need proof to have an opinion about C. You can accept it or not. Do you see me stating your opinion about C being a lie? And if I call you a coward now, it has nothing to do with your opinion of C it has to do with your use of the admin position to control peoples opinion about C, of which I have first hand experience to have an opinion about. No investigations required.

Now my point is if you want to talk about Issue C all day long and voice your opinion about what you think issue C is and isn't, well have at it. But when you attack Side A for their opinion of issue C and call them liars or any of the other choice things you have elected to say, then you are attacking the voice and the right as a citizen to speak of issue C.

If I am A and Tippett is B and the issues of Anderson County are C. Tippett knock yourself out all you want about C, but don't call someone a liar (unless you can prove they are lying- then it stops becoming whether the issue is a lie or not but whether the speaker is a liar) until the facts are in to attack A. You are attacking me because of the subject matter, not because of some nebulous need to meet your requirements of proof. Why does anyone have to PROVE anything to YOU to be able to post on this board provided FREE byt eh local newspaper? I am not calling your take on the facts a lie. I just think you are uninformed because no one thought you trustworthy.

A month ago your little site had a few posts a day. It was you and Pappy and wyatt and a handful of others farting and pooting back and forth hee heeing and carrying on. The fellas at Hankeys were laughing at how dead your forum was. No interest, no one wanting to venture into the landmine field of your moderators. It took some people with an opinion other than yours to wake this site up and now the site regularly crashes under the load for all the people trying to of people login in during lunch in Anderson County and read the newest additions. Get your self and your priorities in mind Tippett. No one died and left you God of the opinion.

       I'll respond to that, Cromagnon, as soon as I send it over to the guys in crypto to figure out what the hell you just said.
       People have told me a lot about you too, Cro, but as a courtesy to you, I'll keep it to myself.  

So if  train  "A" leaves Penn Station, New York at 11:30 am, traveling at 54 MPH toward California with 375 passengers, and train "B' leaves Antiock, California station at 3:15 pm, traveling eastwards over the Sierra range at 35 mph,with 185 passengers, encountering a strong storm midway between Iowa and Illinois,  at what time will your posts make sense?
BTW  JD, he said we was pooting!!   Guess he's listening to ZN again over at Hankeys!

If you had any remote clue who I am, I might would be impressed. Until then guess on. But I definitely positively know who you are. I post through zombie ports with spoofed MACs. Let SSHM explain it since he is your resident computer expert. What you think you know, is exactly what I want you to know (or make you think you know HARHARHAR), nothing more nothing less.

Bunch of smart alecks huh. Okay talk about the subject all you want. If you want to call me a liar, prove I am a liar. When you have stoppped talking about the subject and have turned it around to me. Then prove what you are saying about me. You try to mix the two issues as a distraction just so we can stop talking about the corruption in Anderson County and the investigation that is going to nail some of these very people to the wall. Some of your buddies Tippett.

Oh Goody here comes the thumbs posse again. Let's see where your moderator rules come in now Tippett. I thought you had your little troops straightened out about abusing the thumbs. Do we have a duplicity of standards here?

I want to join with some of the others in saying that I was shocked at Foster's race-baiting column.  The validity of Cunningham's contract is an ethical and legal issue, not one about race.

-lee-cole

I guess no one is familiar with the Eastwood story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSL2360132920080523

A "journalist" should be presenting fair and balanced views This is not usually the case bu there is hope. I realize that this was an editorial but it was a slanted, malicious editorial that ignored all the other highly relevant facts involved in this issue and attempted to make the subject solely about race. The former council knew what they were creating. Look at the county now. Preston and those five left a legacy where anger and division were the only possible outcome. Well men and woman, I say job well done. Clearly they had the best interests of the county in mind when they threw us all under the bus last November. Foster is just irresponsibly adding fuel to the fire. He has a right to his opinion. I don't have to like it or support it. Racism is something I will not tolerate either real or trumped up. In some respects Cunningham shares responsibility for the position he is in. He could have always declined the contract knowing it would become a source of discord and asked to be made Interim Administrator. Additionally he could have stated his hope to be considered for the job on a permanent basis in the future. Like unbiased press that didn't happen either.

       Now, here's the funny part of this exchange, Cromagnon - and, humor-challenged as you seem to be, I'm sure it'll fly right over your head.
       There is exactly ONE PERSON in the upper echelons of Anderson County administration that I know well enough to consider a "buddy" of mine, and HE isn't one of my sources. Any others there are acquaintances, casual friends, or just people who actually DO consider me trustroworthy. They ARE sources.
       You know as little about me as you think I know about you, don't you? I guess I should be beholden to you for the laughs, but for some reason, I'm not.
       When did they change the rules back requiring journalists to present a "fair and unbiased" view of the news? That apparently went out with Woodward, Bernstein and Watergate and is so far out of the mainstream view nowadays that the entire Sunday New York Times is more like a three-pound comic section.
        I don't post here as a "journalist" by the way. This ain't a newspaper. Most people nowadays don't have the ability to separate news from opinion, anyway, so why bother? Fred Foster's column, for example, was an OPINION PIECE, not a news piece. It wasn't supposed to be "fair and balanced."
        Does anybody else here understand that, or am I the only one? I mean, some have painted the AIM as a left-wing publication because its editorial pages lean about 45 degrees to the left, even though its publisher leans about 45 degrees or more to the right like I do. All opinions are represented and allowed. Just like here, only we don't have to adhere to the same "standards" that they have.

Tippett,
Do you not realize how circuituous your argument is. Someone cannot claim corruption until someone has been convicted of it? How would the FBI ever develop a case against anyone, if before they were allowed to THINK there is corruption or INVESTIGATE possible corruption, they had to produce someone already convicted of corruption. Your defense of your position is nothing more than a defense of the actions of some of your friends. It isn't a citizen wanting to know his taxes are being put to good and honest use. It is defense of certain people not the principle or character of the issue.

Sorry driving through a county and spending money does not qualify you as a taxpaying, voting, resident. Trying to equate the two only gives credence to the fact you are attacking the voice and not the issue because it has no standing under any definition of a constituent.

Once more, someone forgot to read what was written at the top of the AIM page:  Editorial page.
Maybe he's inferring they do away with the editioials like they did with the Straight talk bits? Suppress the opinions!!!

       Cromagnon, you can claim whatever you want to claim. Your problem is you keep stating as FACT something that has yet to be proven.
       There is nothing "circuitous" about my stance based on the the American justice system.
       Allegation + FACT = Conviction
       Allegation + allegation repeated as fact  DOES NOT EQUAL A FACT
       Allegation presented as fact = WITCH HUNT
       Now, if I told you I have an ownership interest in a parcel of property near Pendleton, would I have a right to speak in your closed little world, or would that be insufficient?

Your problem is you think you are the center of the world Tippett. Everything has to be proven TO YOU and to your satisfaction for someone to state it in their opinion. Why don't you let the people who claim it isn't true because they are the ones it is about complain about it. Let them "come after me" for stating my opinion. It isn't your job to defend them by calling me a liar to discredit my voice. How do you know I don't have all the proof I need to make that statement. Do you not think I am wise enough to know the consequences of defamation. If I didn't hold the proof I needed, in a secure lock box, do you really think I would go so far to say what I say? That is proof enough you have no idea who I am. If you think I would risk all I would be risking so your little forum here could have some fun, you are four cents short of a nickel. What you say about me has nothing to do with the American justice system. It is your attack on me for all the reasons you have previously stated. When the investigation is over and it proves me wrong, then you can call me a liar to your hearts content. Until then follow the rules like everyone else and stop attacking the voice.

I have heard NO response from you about the no-bid contracts that have been given out by Preston. I have heard no explanation from you or anyone else about the credit card charges being bnroken down to smaller increments to fly under the radar of audits. Those are acts of corruption. What else do you call giving out 20-30-40 contracts without bids.  At prices way more than a properly bid contract. Your glossing that over or pretending it isn't happening, just means you either have no conscience to recognize right from wrong, or no savvy about law or business to know the difference. Because I know what I have seen, I can say it with confidence. Because it isn't shown to you doesn't change that or not make it so.

Your problem is you think you are the center of the world Tippett.

-cromagnon

Based on your compulsive need to reply to everything posted by JD, you certainly are lending credence to your belief that JD is the center of YOUR world.

Sad. Do you ever get out of your mother's basement much?

As for spoofing mac addresses and "shadow ports" ... /yawn. Even folks using TOR networks can get tracked down and located. Besides, I've yet to meet anyone that system savvy in Anderson - they just don't exist here. If they did, they could certainly make at least enough $$ to move out of mommy's basement.

- SSHM

/yawn glad to know how you think it looks haha. p! i'm good. haha ic u break laws.

JDTippett said:
   Cromagnon, you can claim whatever you want to claim. Your problem is you keep stating as FACT something that has yet to be proven.
       There is nothing "circuitous" about my stance based on the the American justice system.
       Allegation + FACT = Conviction
       Allegation + allegation repeated as fact  DOES NOT EQUAL A FACT
       Allegation presented as fact = WITCH HUNT
       Now, if I told you I have an ownership interest in a parcel of property near Pendleton, would I have a right to speak in your closed little world, or would that be insufficient?

A witch hunt implies their has been no findings of suspect behavior. I think it has been shown clearly from different areas that suspect behavior exists. You can threaten, howl, pump your fist all you like, it isn't going to change that fact. Most people who are under scrutiny do the same things.
Your anger is misplaced in that no one has sought our your misdeeds. It is greed that revealed them to the public. Jimmy Davis had to get that one last deal through before the council changed. The revelation of the methods being used to fly under the radar, by dividing up the charge into multiple charges, was explained as standard practice by an employee in EcoDev, a poster here told us about the method of financing purchases instead of purchasing things, the flood of information that is coming out is not my device but of Preston own doing. because I point it out and have the ability to recall and post it makes this, or what county council, is doing a witch hunt?

I wonder if accusations of illegal activity on a forum is discoverable in a legal case?  If such comments are discoverable, I'd be careful about implying anyone has acted dishonestly.  I'm just say'n.

I would imagine it is, unless the party in question doesn't really want them discovered. Then it would just be a cheap threat. The street to discovery is a two way street. They say the truth makes a great defense! Whistleblower laws protect good people from people with bad motives.  As more step forward what will be your excuses then? I'm just say'n

Sad. Do you ever get out of your mother's basement much?
. Besides, I've yet to meet anyone that system savvy in Anderson - they just don't exist here. If they did, they could certainly make at least enough $$ to move out of mommy's basement.
- SSHM

-sshm

BIGGEST LAUGHS OF THE DAY!!!!!!   Thanks SSHM!!!!!