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Martha Randolph Stevens Park

Jimmy Smith

McIntosh Community

            May 14, 2020

                                   

Jeff Whitten Editor

Coastal Courier

Dear Mr. Whitten

Please allow me to shed some light on a long ago happening on our beautiful Liberty County Coast. 

Way back in the old days of our county only a handful of people lived on or near our waterfront. 

I have heard of the Legendary story, about forty acres and a mule  of what happened to our coastal property after the War Between The States. War. Allegedly after the Federal Army defeated the Confederate  Army a condition of the peace was to award the former Slaves with forty acres and a mule for each family. Something along this line is our history. 

As time progressed and eventually advalorem  Property Tax was imposed land ownership actually became a burden to those less fortunate land owners. Gradually over time most of our property ownership transferred to those among us who were more fortunate. The more well to do amassed ownership of most of the property.

As Liberty County developed thru and after the great Depression years dirt trails became roads and eventually they were paved by local  and State governments. Liberty County had two beautiful Islands named St. Catherine's Island and Colonels Island. St. Catherine's Island was separated from the mainland by the Inter-coastal waterway  and therefore to this day it is only assessable by boat. In the twenties until the  early forties Colonels Island was separated from the mainland by a few hundred feet of Marsh which was under shallow water for a short period of time at high tide. 

When the local officials erected a causeway to Colonels Island and later built a road to the southeastern side of the Island  Mr. Hammond Eve deeded a beautiful parcel of land on the bluff of the North Newport River at Halfmoon to the people of Liberty County. Along about the same time large landowner Mr. John Porter Stevens gift deeded a parcel of the eastern most tip of the mainland  to the African Americans of Liberty. It was accepted belief by all that the the Eve property was for the white people only and whites were excluded from the Stevens property. This remained accepted until I became Chairman of the County Commission in 1999. 

During my campaign of 1998 it became an issue that we needed to capitalize on our beautiful coastal property.  Our county had approved every single Sales Tax revenue Proposal to come before the voters. However there were only three commercial operations east of I-95 in our county. Those business owners all combined only collected and reported minimal amounts of sales tax. During my campaign I became committed to changing that. 

During my Administration,1999-2002 we in cooperation with the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) erected a fishing pier and enhanced the boat ramp at Sunbury. About the same time we erected a facility for social gatherings at Halfmoon on the Eve property which had been given to the county many years ago. 

I have seen the Stevens deed to the county for the Martha Randolph Stevens Park. There is a condition in that deed which instructs that if the property ever ceases to be used for public recreation: "The Superior Court Judge should hold an auction and sell the property to the high bidder". It also says that the proceeds of the sale should benefit our African American people. 

The property ceased to be used by anyone and remains behind a locked gate with virtually nobody using it for anything. I hope Chairman Donald Lovett or his opponent Graylin Quarterman (whoever wins) along with the new Board of Commissioners will abide by Mr. Stevens wish and sell this property to be used as commercial only for the betterment of us all. A waterfront restaurant and boat ramp would generate much tax revenue and create a substantial payroll for employees.  

Sadly we remain the least developed coastal county and the Fire Protection and others services such as road maintenance etc on the east end is a heavy burden on the rest of us who own property in this county. 

Sincerely yours

Jimmy Smith 

Butch Beaver July 4th, 2020

Jimmy Smith shared a post.

Admin · July 4

Robert Butch Beaver Jr.

July 4

(This is rather long, and I honestly expect it to be fully read by no more than maybe 15 or 20 people, and that’s okay. I’ve said before that I look at FB as a small town newspaper that publishes my opinion pieces. Most of my FB friends, I believe, lean to the Right although I don’t know, or actually care, how far they lean one way or the other. Freedom of expression without the need to attack those with whom one disagrees appears to have become an anachronism. Arguments about America’s grand experiment were the stuff of the Federalist Papers. It was their eloquence and brilliance that were fundamental to our government structure and its responsibilities/authorities. As we approach what may be the most contentious election in modern day history, I am drawn to reflect on certain things. The following is my reflection on America today and it’s “big picture” future.)

Failure And Irony

The failure of America
during my lifetime is the desegregation of our public schools. Brown vs the Board of Education was decided in 1956, but it wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that desegregation became hard and fast law. As a HS senior in 1968, I was a fly in the wall in my HS guidance counselor’s office. In preparation for integration, both the white HS and the Black HS took the
same achievement test. The results were jaw dropping. The white school was comfortably above the national norm; the black school’s scores were abysmal. White eighth graders were easily ready for HS; the black eighth graders were at the fifth grade level in verbal scores and at the fourth grade level in math. The disparity was too great to overcome immediately, but instead of leadership at the federal and state level coming to grips with what I believe was a nationwide problem, the inertia of such a huge undertaking resulted in taking the path of least resistance and and that meant rounding down. Seeing this decline as inevitable, the economically comfortable white middle class began to establish local private schools as a counter response. This essentially re-separated many American school districts back into “separate but equal” systems. This failure marks the beginning of America’s inevitable decline on the world stage.

The irony of America in my lifetime has been the Fourth Estate and its fall from grace. As a student of the Soviet Union and its propaganda machine in the early 80’s, I was justifiably proud of our free press. The evening news and the morning paper were held in enviably high esteem by the American public, regardless of political leanings. I watched that freedom sullied and contaminated with self righteous journalists intending to influence through their “reporting. “ And I drew the obvious observation that this influence was increasingly Left leaning. The media’s increasing lack of candor led to finger pointing and allegations regarding objectivity. (William F. Buckley, Jr was a brilliant wit who was among the first to make astute observations of journalism’s decline.). Today’s MSM is viewed with a healthy skepticism from the Left and Right. Throw in the internet, and journalism has become a Spaghetti Western.

Our modern day adversaries, the Soviets/Russians and the Chinese, have long taken advantage of both declines.

The Russians have taken the tack of fomenting distrust of the media. As a student of Soviet propaganda back in graduate school, I was always proud that America had a free and open press. I have watched as the media’s freedom has devolved into defiance and dishonesty. Nowadays, we don’t quarrel; we argue heatedly and actually dislike those whose opinions differ.

The Chinese have taken the tack of economic influence. They have invested in America through loans and acquisitions of American companies. Because the Chinese exercise great control over their population, they have created the world’s most vast manufacturing structure. Not only do the Chinese make just about anything, they have slowly made themselves the sole source of too many manufactured goods. They have also successfully demanded access to our intellectual property and have inundated our colleges and universities with “students” sent to America to learn and to steal. And because they pay full tuition costs, we actually compete for those student thieves.

And “now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

Are we at a point in American history where we no longer have the wherewithal to overcome our disadvantages and disagreements? Can we elect a government of, by, and for our people ever again? Can we trust the fourth estate to inform us? Can we move our manufacturing capabilities back to American soil?

The Right says we must try.

The Left says we must instead embrace globalism as the means by which to establish a world order dedicated to making all humans equal. With equal education, equal healthcare, equal income, and equal civil rights.

The former faces the reality of human foibles and the competitive nature of human behavior. The latter is steeped in idealism and the hope that all humans are willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

It all boils down to the mantra of Marxism-Leninism, postulated by Marx and put into effect by Lenin:

From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.

It doesn’t work and nothing under our sun will make it work until humans lose their competitive nature. We ain’t there yet. If you disagree, then you are marching to the wrong drummer.

The failure and irony I described at the beginning are my opinion and nothing more or less. I’ve put a lifetime of thought into the two, and they are my conclusion to draw.
The hard way out is to roll up our sleeves to make America great again. The easy way out is to ignore our history and pretend we can make it go away by giving money to everyone who wants some and erasing our past with paint and explosives.

This opinion piece is full of things that I didn’t discuss. It is hugely incomplete, but I went to the trouble to explain myself vis-à-vis the threat posed by our biggest adversaries exploiting our fractured society.

I encourage all to do the same.

If nothing else, vote, vote, vote. (Only once and in person)