Commissioner, don't switch to decaf

After a considerable amount of head-scratching, we can find only one plausible excuse for Columbia County Commissioner Lee Anderson's bizarre vote Tuesday favoring a bill in the Georgia Legislature that would restrict cities from growing.

He was asleep.

You see, House Resolution 962, which has already passed in the state assembly, recognizes "National Sleep Awareness Week." The proposal county commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday to support, House Bill 962, the "Fair Annexation Act," would restrict the ability of cities such as Harlem and Grovetown to grow through annexation.

It doesn't make sense otherwise. See, though Anderson in October voted in favor of Columbia County's controversial consolidation proposal, he now opposes it unless other commissioners meet his conditions: more money for his rural district, and guarantees that would allow Harlem and Grovetown to continue growing through annexation.

Yet there he was Tuesday, raising his hand along with all four other commissioners, going on the record in favor of legislation that would restrict the ability of cities to expand their boundaries by annexing county property.

If Rip Van Anderson hopes to prevent a mutiny in his district - which encompasses both cities - he'd better wake up and get his message straight: He voted for consolidation before arguing against it, and now he's voted against annexation after arguing in favor of it.

Commissioner Anderson, maybe you should have some coffee with those waffles.