Julia Gasaway is a former Habersham County teacher and the mother of House District 28 State Representative candidate Dan Gasaway. The opinions expressed in this letter are hers.
Dear Editor,
When one reaches my age, memory isn’t dependable. However, during the past ten years I’ve been reminded about revenge and bullying.
Think back to 2008 when the courthouse debate was raging. Do you remember the purchase of the unusable acreage bought at over one million dollars on which to build the new courthouse? Who benefited from that? Who was the chairman of the County Commissioners when this purchase was made? What criteria were used to determine that this Hills Crossing plot would work? It was outside the city limits. There was no water or sewage to it. It could not be graded deep enough for footings for a building as large as a courthouse. Besides, the committee had recommended building the new courthouse on the site of the old North Habersham High School, which the county already owned.
Dan Gasaway questioned the commissioners, especially the chairman Jimmy Butterworth, about the suitability of this expensive acreage. Butterworth was angered by the embarrassing questions. Once when Dan was visiting me, he answered a call from Butterworth. After this I advised him not to answer any more of Butterworth’s calls. In the Northeast Georgian the next week was an article about Dan suing the county.
Butterworth obviously didn’t know that mothers always give advice, not just lawyers.
This was doubly unexpected because Dan had been working in the election of Butterworth as District 28 representative. What caused this rift in what had been a beneficial relationship? Who benefited from the purchase of the land? Could this embarrassment underlie the harassment that’s been going on since 2008?
Julia A. Gasaway
Green Valley, Arizona (formerly of Habersham County, GA)
