Water use could

become a significant issue for Fayette and Coweta residents to watch in

the 2001 Georgia legislative session, according to Mitch Seabaugh, who

will represent parts of Fayette and Coweta counties this year in the House

of Representatives.

A possible

move to create a regional state water authority could lead to the diversion

of Fayette's water resources to other counties in Georgia who haven't

planned as well, Seabaugh said.

While Seabaugh

approves a regional approach to water, creating a bureaucracy to govern

water resources isn't a good idea, he said.

"Fayette

County has done a great job of preparing to have the water resources they

need," Seabaugh said. He added that there is a possibility that some

of Fayette's water could be diverted to Fulton County to support its economic

development.

A water authority

could give Gov. Roy Barnes more power in the same way the Georgia Regional

Transportation Authority (GRTA) and education reforms did last year, Seabaugh

noted.

"My grave

concern is he'll do the same thing with water to have sole veto power

in what is done for water resources," the freshman legislator said.

In anticipation

of discussions about education reform, Seabaugh has decided that one of

his staffers will communicate full-time with local teachers, school administrators

and education officials. By having that be the staffer's only job, Seabaugh

hopes to get more input about the effect of education reform in the classrooms.

"It's

a very big issue," Seabaugh said.

There will

likely be proposals to restore pay for paraprofessionals in kindergarten

and first grade along with a measure designed to attract excellent teachers

to teach in school systems where they're needed most, Seabaugh said. The

latter could involve bringing back retired teachers to pitch in, an idea

that has received a lot of support, he added.

Seabaugh does

not support raising the legal driving age to 17 in what would essentially

be "feel-good legislation," he said. Rather, he would like to

lower the minimum age for getting a learner's permit from 15 to 14.

"Why pass

a law that would penalize good, responsible teen drivers for the actions

of a few irresponsible teen drivers?" Seabaugh said.

Also, if the

state decides to require all teens to take driver's education, it should

fund the system and use state troopers to teach the courses since they

are the best qualified people to do so, he said. Seabaugh also does not

support a movement to change the state flag, which has been criticized

as having racial undertones since it uses the Confederate emblem. The

current proposal would change the state's flag to its pre-1959 version

which was also used by the Confederacy, Seabaugh said.

If the Democrats

pursue that issue, they don't need the Republicans' votes to do so, Seabaugh

said, noting that Democrats control both the state House and the Senate.

In light of

the election mess that occurred in Florida over the U.S. Presidency, Georgia's

election laws may be revised, Seabaugh said. Currently, there is no deadline

to certify vote totals and that must be corrected, he said.

If there is

a push to create an electronic voting system, Seabaugh wants it to have

the best security available so the system can't be compromised.

Seabaugh also

wants to help small business owners on several issues, including a possible

raise in the compensation they receive for collecting state taxes.

Seabaugh urged

local residents to contact him and share their views on issues so he can

better represent his district. He has spent a lot of time since winning

the election in November "just listening" to constituents and

interested groups.

"That's

how I get my best ideas and how I can understand the issues better,"

he said.