Who is Janet Smola and why is she lying about Carl Avrit?

I attended the hearings a few days ago at the State Capitol where a board heard two complaints:

Case 1: Claude Paquin had filed charges of conflict of interest against the pro-SPLOST organization, the Fayette County Board of Education. Mr. Paquin presented eye-opening, Board of Education internal memoranda and letters which showed a close and clear working relationship between our Board of Education and the company which would get about $3 million in underwriting fees if SPLOST won. Eye-opening!

The board's lead counsel strongly recommended prosecution after Mr. Paquin's testimony. Unfortunately, this Democratic board, which is a lap dog for the National Education Association, unanimously dismissed Mr. Paquin's most excellent case.

Case 2: Janet Smola filed charges against pro—child, anti-SPLOST activist Carl Avrit for his funding of an anti-SPLOST telephone campaign, flyers, etc., and that the telephone calls had lied about the SPLOST.

It quickly became apparent that Ms. Smola had done poor due diligence regarding her charges. Even though it was well-known that Mr. Avrit was anti-SPLOST via his letters to the editor which were printed in local newspapers; and even though Mr. Avrit's phone number is in the local phone book, Ms. Smola had never attempted to call Mr. Avrit to see if her charges would be accurate.

Ms. Smola's presentation was pathetic, and even though she was shown to be a liar on most issues, she refused to apologize to Mr. Avrit. The board's lead counsel was quiet on Ms. Smola's complaint.

Unfortunately, this Democratic hearing board, which is a lap dog for the National Education Association, was shocked — shocked! — that Mr. Avrit's truthful and accurate telephone calls had not identified his organization's name, rank and serial number and unanimously recommended further prosecution on this one Mickey Mouse charge.

Jesus Christ said that “lawyers and priests would choke on a gnat and swallow a camel.” Jesus would have said the same of the members of that State Capitol hearing board. What a waste of taxpayer money. What a waste of Mr. Avrit's time and money. Must we now obtain a license to speak?

William J. Bryan III

Peachtree City

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