More Regulations Proposed for Crematory

Snellville City Council member Kelly Kautz made a motion during Monday evening's council meeting for the City of Snellville to enact an ordinance to regulate and measure the emissions that are released from the Cremation Society of the South facility at US78 and Abington Road. The motion was seconded by Council Member Warren Auld. The new ordinance would apply to this crematorium and all future facilities of this type within Snellville's city limits.

Looks to me that this will serve two purposes:

• It will alleviate the fears of residents that the emissions from the crematory are harmful. Yay! This will free us up to smoke cigarettes on our front porches without worrying!

• It will eventually raise the taxes of all residents, because the money to pay for all these new regulations has to come from somewhere.

I think Kautz and Auld mean well on this issue -- I really do. I think they are trying to negotiate a resolution that will help their constituents feel better about all the mess-ups at City Hall.

But in my opinion, to create more regulations just opens up a big can of worms and more cost to 18,000 residents to make perhaps 1,000 of those residents happier. Good investment? What do you think?

Related Links:

Snellville sees no legal way to stop crematory
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
By BETH WARREN Two Snellville city officials delivered some
news Monday night that dozens of residents gathered at City
Hall didn’t want to hear: They see ...

Debate Continues in Snellville Crematory Controversy
MyFox Atlanta - Atlanta,GA,USA
Citizens gather at a hearing in Snellville concerning the opening
of a crematory near their neighborhood. ATLANTA (MyFOX Atlanta)
-- ATLANTA (MyFOX Atlanta) ...

Warren Auld Urges Zoning Inquiry

"Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld, a civil attorney, said the controversy may merit a formal probe by a citizens panel. He has asked City Attorney Michael Williams to verify whether the city's
charter would allow the independent review.

A citizen-led investigation isn't needed, Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer said Tuesday.

He said new City Manager Russell Treadway is already tracing the history that allowed the Cremation Society of the South to transform a former house on U.S. 78 into a crematory."

...More from the AJC

Snellville City Manager issue continues

This excerpt from the Atlanta Journal and Constitution continues the saga from Wednesday's post =

"The mayor said then he could do the job just as well until a permanent city manager was hired.

However, State Attorney General Thurbert Baker reviewed the issue and issued a written opinion earlier this month making it clear that a mayor cannot also serve as city manager under Georgia law. Mayors aren't supposed to give direction or orders to city employees publicly or privately because that's the duty of city managers, Baker wrote in his opinion.

The mayor said Wednesday that Baker's opinion is not binding, a comment that angered Auld.

"His comments suggest he believes he is above the law," Auld said."

Full AJC Story

I asked around to friends and family for opinions and one said,

"The people of Snellville didn't elect him [Oberholtzer] to serve as City Manager, they voted him in to be Mayor.

Isn't it amazing that simplifying something does give you the answer you need?

Speak out on Oberholtzer's self appointment as City Manager

What do you think about Mayor Oberholtzer appointing himself City Manager? Opinions are all over the place on this. Depends on who you ask...

Some people say he was totally right to do it because it was an emergency situation - the Mayor himself says that previous Snellville mayors Clower and Harrell did it - yet others say it's Oberholtzer's fault that it became an "emergency" situation in the first place - and I've even seen other comments that this was Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer's "plan" all along.

Some folks are likening it to dictatorship. Mayor Oberholtzer says that the City of Snellville has great department heads and that the city practically runs itself.

Attorney and City Council member Warren Auld is looking into the legality of it all, looking for a precedence and he said he hadn't found any as of the date of the AJC news article.

Check out this AJC article, but remember to come back here and tell me what you think!

As my mom would say, at least this gives us something to talk about.