The two-hour limits

Granted I was kinda hard on some folks in this post, but it's been building for a while and perhaps I used an ax when a scalpel would have been more appropriate in my criticism. Still, after a conversation with Athens-Clarke County District 10 Commissioner Mike Hamby earlier this morning, I'm still somewhat puzzled by the response of the downtown business owners.

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison and Hamby both sit on the board of the Athens Downtown Development Authority and, during the March 10 meeting where the idea of the petition emerged, heard the concerns levied by some of business owners downtown regarding the one-hour parking limit. At the meeting, Hamby told the group he was more than willing to reconsider the time limit and would gauge the interest among the other commissioners.

He told me that, based on his conversations, he felt confident there would be enough support to convert all of the downtown parking spots into two-hour ones with each hour costing $.50, though he said he would remain firm in keeping the fines at their recently raised levels. Hamby added that the ADDA was aware of this work and that the proposed revisions would be discussed at the next commission meeting, and he encouraged the group to be engaged in the process.

This additional background leads me to this conclusion ... if these business leaders knew the one-hour time limit would be reconsidered, and that there was a willingness to put in place a new two-hour time limit, why the need to publically complain about something that would change anyway? To me, at least, it seems like a rather counterproductive strategy to want to voice such strong disapproval of something that you know, in good faith, is going be changed to accommodate your wishes.