Get Out and VOTE!

Please remember to get out and vote today. Polls close at 7 p.m., but results will start being tallied at 5 p.m. so the sooner you can get your vote cast, the better!

In Georgia, voters do not have to declare a party when they register, so you can request ANY party ballot when you go in to vote. If you want to be able to help select the DeKalb County CEO, you must ask for the Democratic ballot.  There is no Republican candidate, so the winner of the CEO primary election will run unopposed in November. 

For the school board members that are recommended by the DeKalb School Watch Blog and Get the Cell Out, remember Mc-Mc-Mc-Speaks.  Vote in your district for the candidate that starts with “Mc” and, if you vote in a super district, pick the one who “speaks” for you (Pam Speaks).

The last question is about cell towers – VOTE NO!

The last item on the ballot is the telecommunications tower nonbinding advisory referendum.  No one wants a telecommunications tower (cell tower) in their backyard or at their school, so voting “NO” will help protect your own neighborhood from this intrusion by big business.  It may be your only chance to actually voice your wishes on this subject if T-mobile is successful in avoiding public input by going around our standard process for safe tower siting in DeKalb, with the help of the school board.

It’s not legal.

Cell towers are currently not allowed to be placed so close to buildings that can reasonably be expected to be inhabited by humans, like schools and homes.  They have required setbacks from roads as well so that the “fall zone” of the tower will not include an area where you might expect to find people. 

So this ballot issue is asking if you want to give the school board the power to go around our local zoning laws, avoid the review of the county commissioners and deny the homeowners in an area from the opportunity to be informed or have their input considered on issues like these.  Do you have confidence in our school board to start approving zoning and building permits?  No?  Then let’s not give them more power by allowing them to start making decisions that are better left to those who have the knowledge and experience to do so wisely.

We do not need them

Don’t worry about how the wireless service providers will get into the schools.  They have plenty of alternatives.  They do not need a cell tower right next to the school for anything other than escaping their fair share of taxes and to profit off the residents in the community.  We should not approve the school board’s attempts to just hand over our land for 30 years - especially since we pay our taxes specifically for that land to be used in the education of children. 

You won’t be hurting the corporation’s bottom line or denying service to anyone by voting “No” on this issue.  Remember, cell phones are one of the biggest distractions in our schools these days.  In fact, students are prohibited from even turning them on during class and it is against the law for a minor to use a wireless device while driving or riding in a vehicle, so it really is not even advised that they bother bring a cell phone to school. 

The money will fund corruption, not education

But what about the money?  Don’t the schools need it?   Actually, no, not this kind of money.  Cell towers fund corruption, pure and simple. The funds are private and therefore are not allowed to be used for teacher salaries, textbooks or anything that must be provided by taxpayers through the General Fund. And, capitol improvements to buildings and other educational structures are paid for by our E-SPLOST dollars, so cell tower funds cannot be used in that way, either.  So, not only do cell towers have nothing to do with education, the money they might bring in will do nothing to help education, either. 

In other parts of the U.S. where they have allowed cell towers onto their school grounds, the money has simply gone into a slush fund used by top administrators and principals for their own personal meals, gas or hotels. The money has been used for special bonuses to employees for performance standards that are not publicized or known even to the employees themselves. The money is a reward for bad behavior that helps those who are corrupt remain in power.

We do not need cell towers on our school grounds. We do need quality representatives on our school board and a replacement to our current CEO who will not entertain offers that involve selling out our schools and avoiding the input of taxpayers, placing their safety and their property values in jeopardy. 

Get out and VOTE!

Above all else, remember to vote today because contrary to what you may have heard, the biggest problem facing DeKalb right now is not government corruption or a lack of cash flow. The biggest problem is voter apathy. Low voter turnout is what allows the corruption to continue. Not knowing the issues or how you will vote does not help dig us out of any of our financial difficulties.

It will take work, but today is a step in the right direction if you make time to do your civic duty - get out and VOTE DEKALB! 

For more information about the battle to keep our schools free from cell towers, visit www.GETtheCELLoutATL.org.