LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF CAMDEN COUNTY MEETS: WATCHDOG SPEAKS

By R. A. Pearson

The Libertarian Party of Camden County and Southeastern Georgia met on May 16, 2009, at the Silver Star Steakhouse at 219 Osborne Street in downtown St. Marys. The guest speaker for the event was Winston Barlow, President of the Camden Watchdog Committee, a group of citizens concerned about the recent attempt to raise property assessments in Camden County. As event organizer Anne Orr pointed out, “The Watchdog Committee is a non-partisan organization; however, it shares many common interests with the Libertarians, especially exactly where our tax dollars are going.”

Mr. Barlow spoke on the short history of the Watchdog Committee and read the mission statement of the group. He then noted the extreme interest in the community at the time the original inflated assessed values appeared and how the community responded with large turnouts at Watchdog and county government hearings. He warned that now that the county government seemed to have backed down, public apathy might set in and indicated there needed to be several ‘watchdogs’ at every governmental meeting in the county, be it county or municipal to keep an eye on attempts to raise taxes and to check on wasteful governmental spending. Mr. Barlow also indicated he expected a raise in the millage rate this year. He closed by handing out several brochures on property taxes and assessments.

The Camden County Watchdog Committee has a web site at www.camdenwatchdog.com where interested citizens can obtain information on their meetings and activities.

After the meeting, which lasted about an hour, the attendees who wished stayed and enjoyed a nice lunch at the Silver Star Steakhouse and discussed political and major news topics for about an hour. The staff of the Silver Star Steakhouse did a great job on the food and service as usual.

At this time the Camden County Division of the Southeast Georgia Affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Georgia is awaiting final approval by the state headquarters for its official status. The next meeting is planned for the latter part of August. For information on the time and place of the next meeting of the Libertarian Party of Camden County keep an eye on the Clarion Issue blog at www.clarionissue.blogspot.com or contact Anne Orr at anneorr@mindspring.com .