November 4, 2017

Bill Lusk sent the above mailers to seniors.  Quite a few contacted me and asked for my take on this mailer.  Here goes . . .

Well, the short answer is that Mr. Lusk has done nothing for seniors and his platform at his website includes no initiatives for seniors.  To understand Mr. Lusk’s sudden passion for seniors and their issues, you need to understand Laura’s Bentley’s history and platform.

Ms. Bentley has long had a passion for seniors and their unique issues.  Bentley’s passion for seniors led her to volunteer at Milton’s Senior Center.  Eventually, the Senior Center hired Bentley as Assistant Manager.  Every weekday, Ms. Bentley works with Milton seniors.  Through her interactions at the senior center, Bentley became aware of the issues that seniors face in Milton.  In particular, she became deeply concerned about high and rising property taxes facing seniors . . . taxes that might force seniors from their homes.  Laura educated herself on the issue and found that Milton offers 3 specific exemptions for seniors.  And much to her dismay, she found that many seniors were not taking advantage of these exemptions–often, because they were unaware of them.  Bentley felt the City needed to be more proactive on this issue.  Accordingly, Bentley began advocating that the City should reach out to seniors and assist them with maximizing their available exemptions.  And she made this goal a plank in her campaign platform.

More importantly, Ms. Bentley has made her senior exemption initiative a key element of her stump speech at her meet-and-greets.  Apparently, word got back to Mr. Lusk and he got religion on the whole senior issue.  However, let’s look at the facts more closely.

First, the obvious question:  What has Mr. Lusk done for seniors over the past 12 years?  Hmmm . . . interesting question.  The answer is nothing . . . zero . . . zip . . . zilch . . . nada (for our Spanish speakers) . . . a big goose egg.  In fact, in his list of accomplishments at his website, nothing for seniors is listed.

Of course, Mr. Lusk will claim that he “fought the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to rescind Property Value Assessments” and that helped seniors.  (BTW, the Board of Commissioners supported the rescission.  It was the Board of Assessors that opposed the rescission . . . that is a basic fact to get wrong.)  However, I was involved in fighting the property tax increase and I can tell you that Mr. Lusk was MIA.  Don’t believe me.  Watch this video of the first Council meeting discussion of the tax increase.  Lusk says nothing.  And he doesn’t strike me as caring much about the topic.

I attended multiple town hall meetings on the tax increase and spoke at one of these meetings.  Mr. Lusk attended one town hall meeting and said nothing.

Lastly, I attended and spoke at the all-important Board of Assessors meeting in downtown Atlanta.  Also speaking were Mayor Lockwood, Council Member Kunz, Commissioner Bob Ellis, Senator John Albers, and Fulton Commission Chairman John Eaves.  And again Mr. Lusk was MIA . . . he did not show up . . . he did not speak.

So it is fair to say that Mr. Lusk has done nothing for seniors and does not propose (in his platform) to do anything for seniors.  Frankly, even his mailer is pretty darn lame.  What does it mean “to fight for Senior Homestead Exemptions”?  And does it really matter that Lusk is a senior?  What matters is his record for seniors . . . he has none.  And specifics about what he would do for seniors . . . there are no specifics.

Conversely, Laura Bentley has a specific, substantive, and implementable initiative for helping seniors.  Through her work with seniors, Bentley understands senior issues . . . she will be a strong advocate for seniors.

Please forward and share this post with your senior friends, neighbors, and family members.

Advocating For Seniors,

Tim Becker