Quick Poll
Should local school systems consider dropping some or all sports to help offset budget deficit problems?
- Absolutely: 34
- Probably: 26
- Not Sure: 11
- No Way: 76
- No Opinion: 0
Total Votes:
Published Wednesday, September 22, 2010 in Opinion
Our neighbor Chris Clark good choice to lead the Georgia Chamber
Editorial
We applaud the selection of Peachtree City resident Chris Clark as the new president of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Clark was the unanimous choice to succeed Georgia Israel, who is retiring next month.
We have found Clark to be one of the bright young rising stars in state government during the past decade. He began his public service in 1997 as president of the Hawkinsville Chamber of Commerce. He later became president of our neighboring Fayette County Development Authority. In 2003, he was named deputy commissioner with the state Department of Economic Development and, in 2007, was named executive director of the state Environmental Facilities Authority. Since 2009, Clark has been commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Clark has been a friend of Coweta County in the area of economic development, and certainly during his tenure as DNR commissioner he's been a strong proponent of developing the Chattahoochee River Bend State Park in the western edge of our county.
As a state employee, Clark earned the reputation as a manager who could restore struggling agencies. That reputation has served him well in DNR, an agency that faced massive budget cuts during our state's budget crisis.
Clark has expressed excitement about his new chamber job and says his focus will be on boosting jobs.
"I can't think of anything more important than creating jobs," he told Morris News Atlanta Bureau Chief Walter Jones.
He believes the state chamber can help improve the state's quality of life, build consensus between urban and rural Georgia and provide a strong voice at the Capitols in Atlanta and Washington.
His background in economic development bodes well as the state chamber strives to strengthen Georgia's economic development efforts.
He's a good man for this important job as our state looks to snap back from the economic downturn and once again create jobs for our work force.
Comment On This Story
Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.
Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.
Could you please list one single accomplishment Chris can claim during his nearly 2-year tenure at DNR? It seems he accomplished nothing. All 5 of that agency's divisions still operate as silo's, and the good ol' boy system within that agency has not been altered one iota! Yes, he is a nice enough guy, but as for effectiveness?Good riddance!
Posted by State Staffer at 1:35 PM
Not a good choice. What will he do without Sonny telling him how, where, when to do it. I am sure there were better choices for the Chamber. I'm sure we will get another one once Sonny is out of office.
Posted by Paul at 12:40 PM
Where in this glowing pitch is it said that Chris Clark jumped from Hawkinsville to Fayette and state roles as he was Sonny Perdue's campaign manager.
GEFA is where a lot of state money was handed out, and a lot of deals were brokered. Perdue's private forest that DNR wanted to make a state forest (see Oaky Wood's scandal) is a central theme in this DNR appointment, and Clark leased the private land from Sonny's buddies for $12 per acre per year, dropping free WMAs in the national forests. The DNR staff is glad to see him go--the first Commissioner with no background at all in any aspect of DNR's activities--except in re-directing money where he's told. On to the Chamber--and we'll see how anti-environment you really are. Meanwhile, Georgia's land and water has degraded (EPD failures) and our parks are in peril. Way to go Sonny and Chris--what leaders.
Posted by Oaky Woods Scandal at 9:37 AM
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Emailed
- Commented
- Store clerk shot during robbery; non-life threatening injuries
- Blunt force trauma killed wreck victim
- Middle school students facing drug charges
- You will have to renew driver's license in person starting July 1
- Man in Blue: Will Smith called up by Kansas City Royals
- Suspect remains at large in burglary of One Roof Outreach
- Motel Fire: Three families displaced; fireman's injuries minor
- Suspects sought in T-Mobile robbery
- Graduation Day: 1,500 will receive Coweta high school diplomas
- Summer HEAT program now underway in Georgia
- You will have to renew driver's license in person starting July 1
- Man in Blue: Will Smith called up by Kansas City Royals
- HGTV's Green Home at Serenbe open through June 24
- Middle school students facing drug charges
- Chattahoochee "endangered river?" Planned water reservoirs seen as hazard by national group
- Suspects sought in T-Mobile robbery
- Summer HEAT program now underway in Georgia
- Registration open for virtual schools
- Northgate High set to graduate 420 seniors Thursday
- Suspect remains at large in burglary of One Roof Outreach
- Summer HEAT program now underway in Georgia
- Do our police put too much emphasis on seat belt law?
- Pastor's Corner: Are you born that way or not?
- You will have to renew driver's license in person starting July 1
- Man in Blue: Will Smith called up by Kansas City Royals
- High school graduation a significant milestone in the life of a student
- Chattahoochee "endangered river?" Planned water reservoirs seen as hazard by national group
- Unemployment rate dropping, but it still has a long way to go
- Georgia's jobless rate declines to 8.9 percent in April
- Jabaley: Grantville water park could be finished by July 4
Right man and the right time!
9/23/2010
Link To This Comment
Had the DNR had one of it's traditional enviro-geeks at the helm (look no further than Noel Holcomb), as it historically has had, rather than the fiscally responsible Clark, DNR and most of it's core programs/people would have all but been lost. That's a fact!
Posted by Tim at 10:13 PM