Mayoral race updates

Blake has some details on Charlie Maddox's second bid for Athens-Clarke County mayor, including a new campaign manager for 2010.

Assuming that Athens-Clarke County District Nine Commissioner Kelly Girtz gets into the race, which I feel like he's likely to do, then it would largely go down as Blake laid out. Girtz is supposed to make a decision in the fall regarding seeking the seat, but if he doesn't opt for it I wouldn't be stunned to see Spencer Frye, the executive director for Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, jump into to fill the young, progressive void.

Both Girtz and Frye have indicated they'd consider the mayoral seat if the situation was right, and, though this is pure speculation on my part, I'd assume that Girtz would have the first shot at the race based on his existing commission record and name recognition.

Of course, the town is overflowing with young progressives who would be good fits for the job and are liable to run, and there's always the possibility that Gwen O'Looney jumps into it as well ... which would make a truly interesting electoral battle with moderates, conservatives and liberals all being split into factions.

Cover your mouth!

Well, swine flue has hit Georgia.

Given that I've been absolutely stunned at the sensationalism surrounding this whole thing - particularly when most medical experts keep saying 'this is serious, but it's not likely to morph into a scenario where Will Smith is holed up in New York City rooting out the dead by day and fighting off the undead by night' - I'm having a hard time processing how to interpret all of this.

Still, it's arguably a serious thing to be concerned about, so everyone should take all the precautions they should be taking on a daily basis ... wash your hands regularly (particularly before you eat or touch your face), avoid sick folks, drink plenty of fluids, exercise, stay home if you're sick, etc.

A good place for questions and answers is here.

Millage rate increase on the table

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison has submitted the FY2010 budget for review by the Athens-Clarke County Commission, and it includes a marginal increase of 0.25in the millage rate up to 13.20. It's not terribly shocking, given the dire economic reports confronting the commission, and I would envision more cuts being pursued to either offset or altogether eliminate any rate increase.

This year's budget will tough for commissioners, but it's hard to not imagine the FY2011 being even more cumbersome to wrestle with.

There are three public hearings scheduled in May regarding the proposed budget. Two are at the Planning Auditorium on May 6 (5:30 p.m.) and May 14 (5:30 p.m.). The third and final hearing will be held at City Hall on May 21 (6:45 p.m.).

Water restrictions lifted in ACC

Athens-Clarke County has loosened its water restrictions as Mayor Heidi Davison signed an order permitting two day a week outdoor watering that will be in addition to existing restrictions. The watering of landscapes, hand washing cars and pressure washing is now allowed on an even/odd schedule from midnight to 10 a.m.

The new outdoor watering schedule is as follows:

Sunday
Odd-numbered addresses (end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.:
- Hand watering of plants only, 25 minutes
- Drip irrigation or soaker hoses, 60 minutes

Monday
Even-numbered addresses (end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8):
- Outdoor watering by any method is allowed between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.

Tuesday
Odd-numbered addresses (end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9):
- Outdoor watering by any method is allowed between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.

Wednesday
Even-numbered addresses (end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8):
- Outdoor watering by any method is allowed between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.

Thursday
Odd-numbered addresses (end in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9):
- Outdoor watering by any method is allowed between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.

Friday
- No outdoor watering of landscapes is allowed

Saturday
Even-numbered addresses (end in 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m.:
- Hand watering of plants only, 25 minutes
- Drip irrigation or soaker hoses, 60 minutes

Couple of things

- This is a good article on a good event regarding water conservation in the future. And while I agree with all of the points made, I do have to somewhat disagree with the aversion to reservoirs. If it hadn't been for Bear Creek's reservoir two years ago, we'd all be screwed. Yes, it was still depleted by evaporation and, yes, it cost a good bit of money to build and maintain, but you can't find anyone now who would argue it wasn't a beneficial thing to have. Likewise, the construction of new reservoirs to supplement the area would provide additional reserve supplies of water for the community. And, during times of substantial rain - like within the past two months - the reservoir would help alleviate some of the moisture that oversaturated some of the areas.

- While I think Bill Ayers actually has some good ideas regarding education, it's very difficult to escape that fact that, you know, he's insane, unrepentive and unable to see that 'nonviolent' and 'blowing stuff up' don't go together.

- I ask some questions about the police response to George Zinkhan's shooting spree.

- Listen Ron Fetch, I get that potentially there are some merits to the Fair Tax, but has anyone seen a letter to the editor on this thing that doesn't end with them pimping either Neil Boortz's book or the damn web site? This thing is nothing more than a money-making scheme for Boortz and the rest of the bunch peddling this gimmick.

- Um, it's a water tower ... it doesn't need to be pretty. Besides, Atlanta Highway needs a lot more work than that and, to be honest, that work is going to have to come from the folks who comprise that corridor as I don't see any help on the way in the foreseeable future.

On the response

I've gotten some feedback on it, and reading this story offers some additional perspective, but I've still got some concerns regarding the delay of the University of Georgia's alert system in the wake of George Zinkhan's shooting spree.

Perhaps I'm not understanding what the alert system is designed to do, but it does seem to me that 90 minutes is a rather distinctive amount of time to let lapse between the actual shooting and the official warning going out to the UGA community. If the system, as I understand it, was set up to provide quick alerts to avoid the nighmarish scenario that unfolded at Virginia Tech a few years back ... then I'm just struggling to see how letting an hour and a half lapse before it goes out is fulfilling its objective.

But beyond that, quite frankly, I haven't been awfully impressed by the response of the Athens-Clarke County police. Zinkhan was, for all practical purposes, given an hour's headstart on the authorities while they obsessively focused on the red jeep. Clarence Holeman, at times, has engaged in what appears to be wild speculation during his press briefings, and the UGA Police and Athens-Clarke County police have offered conflicting messages (i.e. ACC says Zinkhan's gone and there's no need to worry, while UGA has armed guards patrolling the campus).

I understand how chaotic this whole thing is, and I'm sympathetic to the intense focus and scrutiny that has come with the national media attention, but the initial response seems to be somewhat disjointed.

More like a passing suggestion

Um, yeah, now that I think about it, sending an alert an hour and a half after the actual shooting isn't really an alert.

The candidate no one wants

A lot of folks have been talking about how Nancy Denson's early declaration for mayor was done to 'clear the field' and put her in a commanding position for next year's election in Athens-Clarke County. And, sure enough, she's got plenty of experience and strong name recognition, and a buddy of mine told me she was out at a recent Athens-Clarke County Heritage Foundation event shaking hands and introducing herself as a candidate for mayor.

But, based on some things I've been hearing, her candidacy isn't the most popular thing in the community and is largely DOA.

First, Pete's column in Flagpole has taken a lot of wind out of her sails. This is a progressive town, and I've heard a lot of folks say that his column is going to hurt her in the long-run. And, speaking as someone who has worked on his fair share of campaigns in the area, there is a substantial portion of the local population that votes based on the Flagpole endorsement lists (rightly or wrongly). With Pete coming out against her so early, it's going to be very hard for her to work her way back into the mix.

Second, I think she stumbled out of the gate. With this community facing such massive challenges ranging from poverty to affordable housing to neighborhood stabilization to economic development, Denson wants to play small ball. She wants to focus on the basics, which fails to recognize the need this community has for the articulation of the next step of a grander progressive vision.

Lastly, her casual dismissal of the need for some decreases in property valuations isn't going to play well. You can't open your campaign talking about focusing on the basics because of a tough economy, but then show indifference to those directly affected by said economy. Nor can you attempt to concoct some mystical world where Athens-Clarke County is magically immune from the drop in property values. While I can concur that it's foolish to expect a massive drop in property taxes, I also have to think that she'd recognize that, politically speaking, folks aren't going to be happy when they get tax bill that looks the same as previous years (and, in fact, is going to be higher due to the elimination of the Homeowner's Grant Program at the state level).

Listen, Denson has been a great public servant having devoted roughly 30 years of her life to serving the people of Athens-Clarke County. I've met her a handful of times, and I've found her to be kind, sincere and compassionate. And, while I do think she'd be a fine mayor, I still hold firm in my belief that she isn't the right person for right now.

Couple of things

- I'm not sure if a lot of folks realize George Zinkhan's shooting spree was actually a tragedy for the entire Athens-Clarke County community and not just an event that focused on the University of Georgia.

- Yeah, it is kinda lousy that property taxes don't appear like they'll dip down any.

- On a personal note, let me publically voice my deep disdain for all sorts of Palm communications products. I'm on my second Treo (since the first one was replaced last year for, well, not working), and this one just doesn't do anything it's supposed to (as evidence by a conference call I missed last night). It arbitrarily selects when and if I receive phone calls. It will randomly disconnect from email and then try to reconnect over and over again, thus draining the battery down. It gets no reception anywhere. It periodically 'freezes' up without me being aware ... also draining the battery down. So I've been to Verizon twice now to complain, plead with them to let me switch to a Blackberry and they won't let me do so until October due to my contract. Now, leaving aside the fact that they've peddled me an incredibly faulty product (twice!), I'm just mystified they refuse to let me merely pay for a new phone and switch my existing service while swallowing my existing payment for the Treo.

- Two observations regarding this story. The first is that, despite my own personal disagreements with the Neo-Confederate movement as well as that whole secession thing, I think the display of the document is a good thing. It spurs academic debate and provides a spotlight on an important period of history in The South (rightly or wrongly). The second is ... why in the world is a debate between a hippie and a redneck worthy of an Associated Press story?

Some perspective

Part of the disconnect, I think, that has surfaced in the aftermath of George Zinkhan's shooting spree is that this was an event that focused on the University of Georgia ... hence these students' responses calling for a lock-down of the campus. This is something that been perpetuated in the national media coverage, though not really by the local media (since, you know, those reporters actually deal with this community).

The only connection to UGA was the fact that Zinkhan was employed as a professor. The victims were individuals he had some manner of personal relationship with, and they lacked a direct connection to the university. The actual shooting took place off campus, and Zinkhan left the scene and fled to his neighborhood in Bogart before heading off to parts unknown.

If you're a new reporter at CNN or some youngster trying to work your way up the ladder by pulling the weekend shift at WSB, it makes sense to think 'UGA professor on the loose, campus gripped with fear' ... but, of course, that's a naive take on the situation that, quite frankly, is patently misleading.

And the fact that UGA President Michael Adams gave the greenlight to have campus police patrol the grounds with semi-automatic weapons only exacerbated a non-existent threat ... particularly since Athens-Clarke County police had repeatedly said there was no evidence to suggest Zinkhan was still in the area or targeting students.

I know the kneejerk reaction for many is to think automatically of UGA, but doing so in this case only heightened fears in a jittery community.

This is a tragedy for all of the community, not just UGA.

Sad attempts

Ah, Ernest Wilson ... so many inaccurate refutations, so little time.

- Is there any indication either of the proposals, or resulting compromises would have been imperfect? A statewide one-cent approach would generate large amounts of revenue needed to fill the massive gaps in funding our state has. A regional approach would have given local communities the ability to, first, determine if they wish to pursue a project and then set up a mechanism to provide for the funding of the project.

- The business community, by in large, is growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action taken on the transportation front. And the longer it takes to resolve this problem, the more businesses are going to avoid relocating or expanding in Georgia. Taking action now - after roughly four years of failed attempts - would soothe fears, reassure the business community and provide an early incentive to locate in Georgia.

- Plus, isn't there something fundamentally wrong in saying 'no problem, we'll fix it next year' ... primarily because that's what politicians always say? I mean, haven't we heard year-in and year-out that transportation would be 'fixed' and we haven't jack done yet?

- If Wilson is encouraging folks to avoid using toll roads, how is that helping anything? It would probably result in larger budget shortfalls, defaulting on bonds taken out to finance projects and an increase in traffic on roads not equipped to handle such loads. It seems to me that Wilson just unwittingly pointed out all the shortcomings of relying solely on toll roads to fund statewide transportation efforts.

- Just because the Georgia Power bill was 'bipartisan' doesn't mean it's not an awful bill.

- Also, you can pretend it's a sound investment in a long-term energy strategy for Georgia, but doing so would require that you ignore Georgia Power's actual admission that the majority of the rate hike will go directly to its shareholders.

- Notice, however, no attempt to dispute the fact that Rep. Bob Smith voted to scrap the Homeowner's Grant Program, thus raising your property taxes by roughly $300.

- Finally, I am upset that Smith and his buddies failed to take a mature approach to solving our transportation crisis, thus shortchanging us yet again on this matter. And I'm upset that he felt it was more appropriate to vote to raise fees, raise property taxes and cut the capital gains tax, with the latter sending 92 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest five percent in the state.

ACT shooting (UPDATED)

UPDATE (5:47 p.m.): The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identifies the three victims as Ben Teague, Marie Bruce and Tom Tanner. None are students as previously reported. In addition, it has several accounts from the shooting itself.

Absolutely awful news on Twilight day as three people were shot and killed at the Athens Community Theater, while another was wounded. According to the University of Georgia Police Alert, Professor George Zinkhan is listed as a suspect ...

UGA Professor George Zinkhan is a suspect in a shooting off campus.

George Zinkhan is a white male in his mid 50s with a goatee or beard. Current information is that he was last seen wearing a polo shirt, blue shorts, and a backpack. He was last thought to be in a red car in the area of Prince Avenue. Use extreme caution if contact is made.

Call 911 if you know his location. Please do not call 911 for information.
Please do not call UGA Police asking questions. Only call to provide information that you may have regarding this matter.

Having a suspect at-large, presents a threatening situation.

You are encouraged to use your best judgment in taking precautions during this time.

Zinkhan is a Coca-Cola Company Professor in Marketing at UGA's Terry College of Business.

Hope

As is the case with most of her writings, I really enjoyed Rev. Lisa Caine's column regarding charity and societal change. I think it strike a nice balance between the necessity of charitable actions for not just the Christian community, but the global one as well, as well as making an educated case for challenging the societal status quo (i.e. asking 'why' do we have so many poor people?).

As one would expect, such honest discussions of faith, responsibility and Biblical context are almost instantly 'refuted' in the comments ...

When Jesus walked on earth, the Roman Empire, "the most affluent nation in the world" governed Judea. The poor were everywhere. Jesus in his own words said "the poor are with you always."

As long as human beings work their will on earth, the poor will be among us.

The Church (Christian members of the body of Christ) are admonished to care for the poor. Jesus nor any word of the New Testament ever encouraged anyone to force or even ask any government or army to care for the poor.

I see this a lot, and what this is, actually, can be simply described ... it's the Americanization of the message of The Gospel. It's ignorance of the context surrounding the events of both the Old and New Testaments, and, instead, an attempt to neatly fit the message into a preconceived concept or worldview that makes sure everything stays nice, comfortable and non-threatening.


As Rob Bell put it in Jesus Wants To Save Christians ...

Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers. It's a book written from the underside of power. It's an oppression narrative. The majority of the Bible was written by a minority people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian Empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire to the Roman Empire.

Knowing this, I've always wondered how we - living in the wealthiest, most powerful nation in the world - can truly comprehend what the Biblical writers were talking about it. Because from our perspective, where everything is warm and cozy, it's difficult to imagine where this narrative comes from.

So we rationalize that when Jesus says that we'll always have the poor with us, we assume that means it's OK to strive for the status quo ... and we don't particularly care about the fact that He was also making a strong statement about what an inclusive church should look like, as well as responding to a specific question at a specific time regarding a specific incident (his annointing of oil, thus symbolically preparing him for crucifixion).

So we theorize that when Jesus told us to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's it must mean that government should be left alone to do as it wished ... rather the recognize the powerful political statement He was making. As Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan argued for in their collaborative work The Last Week, Jesus's brilliant response proved to be an indictment of the Pharisees since he requested to see what the coin looked like ...

In the Jewish homeland in the first century, there were two types of coins. One type, because of the Jewish prohibition of graven images, had no animal or human images. The second type (including Roman coinage) had images. Many Jews would not carry or use the coins of the second type. But Jesus's interrogators in the story did. The coin they produced had Caesar's image along with the standard and idolatrous inscription heralding Caesar as divine and Son of God. They are exposed as part of the politics of collaboration.

The Bible isn't an argument for a particular type of political ideology or philosophy, and Jesus didn't come to say that conservatism or liberalism is the best course of action. Those are constructs of the human mind, and we have debates and discussions, coupled with real life experiences, to see what works and what doesn't.

The Bible is, however, a powerful narrative that challenges the existing political, economic and religious thought of the day ... and today. To not properly research and understand the context of what Jesus said or who was in charge or what was going on in that particular land is to only glean a surface knowledge of the Scriptures.

And that lack of context is how we get an entire profit-driven industry built around the propagation of things like Left Behind that speak of a future apocalypse and Anti-Christs and New World Orders and raptures. It leads to fear-mongering, rather than embrace Revelation as the brilliant letter of hope to an oppressed church that it rightfully is.

So, yes, Jesus said that we'd always have the poor with us. The real question, then, is what did He mean by that? Judging by His repeated requests that we care for the least of these, I'm going to assume the message focused more on community rather than poverty.

Music for the moment

Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do) by Kris Kristofferson
The Life by Kenny Chesney
Hell On The Heart by Eric Church
Ain't Dead Yet by Ashton Shepherd
Fishin' In The Dark by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Expressions

I thought I enjoyed watching the reactions of David Lynn when Carl Jordan spoke at Athens-Clarke County Commission meetings. Then Ed Robinson got elected, and the reactions are even more entertaining.

Audible sighs and all.

Missing out

I have to agree with Hillary and think that the University of Georgia is making a rather boneheaded decision in not seeking to serve a venue for the World Cup.

However, what's even more disconcerting about this whole ordeal is the fact that it seems that UGA President Michael Adams is relying on the 'dog ate my homework' excuse as justification ...

Staffers in UGA President Michael Adams' office did not actually realize they had the letter until Tuesday, four days after the deadline to respond, university spokesman Tom Jackson said Tuesday.

I mean ... Mother of Mary. Isn't that kind of a fireable offense? I'd reckon to believe that had they actually had the appropriate documents in front of them in a timely fashion they may have opted to give this thing a go. But because they 'misplaced them' they've latched onto a cop-out rationale for this.

Missing out on millions in potential revenue because you couldn't find a letter is, well, kinda bad.

Can someone check Adams's taxes? Did he file them on time this year?

And here's an example ...

Because great minds apparently think alike, my buddy Spencer - who is the executive director at the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity - brought to my attention his organization's 'Brush With Kindness' program ... which would be equipped to handle what I talked about earlier this morning.

This program works to provide repairs and renovations to low-income communities at lower costs than private contractors in much the same way the Habitat model operates less expensively when building homes (i.e. volunteer labor and paid staff construction specialists).

Again, there are a variety of ways this could be done, ranging from private contractors to numerous non-profits (Athens Land Trust comes to mind as well). My point being that the existing infrastructure is in place to execute these tasks, and, in my opinion, they'd be effective uses of additional Community Development Block Grant money.

More on the CDBG recommendations

I've been talking a good bit about the upcoming allocation of stimulus funding through Community Development Block Grants and Rapid Re-Housing money, and I wanted to touch on another point that I noticed in the recommendations made by the Athens-Clarke County Human and Economic Development department.

One of the proposals includes allocating $50,000 for the retro-fitting of low-flow toilets in low-income households. While it's not an awful expenditure of money by any means, I do seriously think there are some flaws with this proposal. Some are philosophical (kind of) and others are pragmatic.

Dealing with the latter first, I've asked around to some friends and colleagues in the construction industry regarding the cost of retrofitting. My initial impact, upon seeing the proposal, was that $50,000 was a lot of money to swap out some toilets and, by posting such a big number, there was little way you could effectively spend it all.

However, it appears that the cost and installment of the low-flow toilet isn't the biggest concern, but rather additional costs that will almost invariably result. For instance, one local builder said that most of this retrofitting will be done in older homes (since the majority of low-income families are living in older homes). In turn, these older homes often have numerous other challenges and infrastructure damage that needs to be addressed, and much of that damage - rotted wood - is found around in the bathrooms near water fixtures (i.e. toilets).

As a result, as the toilet is removed, a variety of things will become apparent. For instance, the flange may not fit the new fixutre or be stable enough to support it ... and switching out an older flange often requires an adapter, as well as a new wax ring.

Not terribly shocking, but now, this builder said, you're just scratching the surface. Since most of the rotted wood is located near water fixtures, there stands a good chance that the floor will have to be repaired or replaced. In turn, that means the floor covering, typically vinyl, will need to be replaced in addition to the sub-floor and, as often the case, the floor joists.

Adding to the problem is that since toilets are often situated on or near the outside walls, then the potential exists for rotted wood along the outside walls and load-bearing walls, meaning an even more extensive repair.

All of a sudden, what appears to be a rather simple solution - replacing a toilet - has morphed into a much more costly, extensive renovation project. One of the folks I spoke with who was either overseeing or managing some existing renovation projects said that virtually all of them had required this type of renovative work in the bathrooms.

While those conversations were eye-opening to me, they also paralleled a nagging philosophical problem I had with the recommendation - again, if one can label it that - which is that if this money is supposed to be providing a stimulus to the economy and is being funnelled through a grant program aimed at providing services to those in need (more or less), then why just do low-flow toilets? Why not allocate more money and use it to provide more significant renovative work in the low-income community? Rather than have it be accidental through the toilet initiative, why not pool together some of the small chunks into one big chunk of funding, thus getting more bang for your buck?

Let private contractors bid for the services or just allocate them to the Athens Housing Authority or another non-profit and put them to work fixing up homes.

There's roughly $360,000 sitting there in federal money that could be put to good use, and it would be nice to see this one-time burst of money be spent in a way that brings about a long-term, net benefit.

Missing the point

I'm trying to sort out why, exactly, Robin Lenderman wants to 'flush' out the sitting Athens-Clarke County Commissioners. It seems to me that they're very resistant to across-the-board water rate hikes, which, of course, is a proposal coming from staff and not the actual elected commissioners.

Seeing how they haven't voted on anything as of yet, there's not really any need to take a stand over anything yet. And, again, seeing how the commission is likely to develop an alternative plan that either eliminates or reduces the across-the-board rate increase, I don't really get Lenderman's point ...

We've conserved so much water, the county now wants to raise the water rates. How ridiculous is this? We need to take a stand and absolutely refuse. Let's just go back to using more water.

Of course, the drop in demand of water has result in shortfalls in the budget for the Public Utilities Department (though, then again, raising the price will only further weaken demand ... so there's that too). And, despite the recent end of the drought, going back to wasteful water habits isn't a prudent course of action either (though I do think the commission should opt to let folks water twice a week rather than just once).

Couple of things

- Expanding bus service to Oconee County and Madison County is something that should have happened a long time ago, but it's nice to see an honest discussion going on. To be honest, though, I'd much rather see a focus placed on the development of an interconnected model system (i.e. light rail or a 'people mover') that would link Northeast Georgia's rural communities with the metro hub of Athens-Clarke County.

- I want to be rather clear on this since, well, it may be construed in a weird way. But, while not excusing the actions of either Donna Dunning or, for that matter former Georgia basketball coach Jim Harrick, Tony Cole is nothing more than a self-serving punk.

- Granted, I think this forum has all the elements of articulated insanity, but whatever. The real question, however, is ... why not? That is, if 'going green' generates new business, is more cost-effective and fosters energy independence then, um, why shouldn't we do it? Ignore massive quantities of scientific evidence if you want, but embrace the economic common sense that strongly suggests green initiatives are a good thing.

- Some bright, intelligent and strikingly handsome young man had a letter to the editor published.

- Speaking of fame, my friend Carissa got quoted in an article regarding 'GMOA On The Move.'

GMOA On The Move

I have to give a plug for my old place of employment, and share their blog ... which is putting together a contest to guess where the next exhibition location will be for the museum.

You win a free prize if you get it right, so go on.

More thoughts

Safe to say, my post regarding the first round of Athens Area Community Foundation funding drew some interest. I spoke with Ben from Flagpole about it, and I received a very cordial message from Delene Porter, the foundation's executive director. She and I, hopefully, will be able to get together for a cup of coffee to chat about the foundation and OneAthens as a whole.

In the meantime, a few additional things worth mentioning include ...

- It was noted to me that the foundation is intended to be an entirely separate entity from OneAthens, meaning its central purpose does not parallel the aims of the latter (i.e. combat poverty). Instead, the foundation is set up to work like most foundations and spread its money to various agencies and organizations throughout the community that address a variety of issues. As a result, the funding of the Cedar Shoals choir is legitimate because it's more of an arts and culture expenditure that has, admittedly, some added benefit since it provides a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the participating students.

- Porter was kind enough to forward me some common misconceptions regarding community foundations, and I agree with most of them. I still have philosophical differences regarding the impact of any type of competing fundraising entity on the fundraising market as a whole, despite the explanation given in the forwarded document.

- I'm also still not of the mindset that a community foundation is entirely what Athens-Clarke County needs. Or, I suppose more to the point, that the way this particular one is set up will best serve the community. Again, churches, groups and individual donors work to provide these small gifts to address one-time programming needs (as Missions Committee chair at First Baptist Church of Athens, we also received a request to fund a summer camp scholarship at the YMCA ... as, I'm sure, did every other church in the community). There might be a more effective and efficient way to allocate those resources, and I still tend to lean toward paralleling this project more along the lines of the Challenge Grant program the local government uses as part of the Community Development Block Grant (and, as an aside, restructuring how CDBG is currently allocated ... but, I suppose, that's a whole other post).

Punished for doing the right thing

Athens-Clarke County, as a community, uses 3.6 million gallons of water per day less than it did three years ago. This is largely due to a combination of restrictions, market forces (i.e. why garden during a drought) and voluntary conservation efforts in order to meet a common challenge.

This good behavior, however, has resulted in the Athens-Clarke County Public Utilities Department wanting to raise rates by 13 to 15 percent on users starting this summer.

Now - leaving aside the fundamental problems associated with rewarding good behavior with punitive measures - if I recall correctly from my Economics 101 class, if you raise the price on a good, there's a pretty decent chance you'll see a drop in demand.

I get that they owe $16 million per year for selling some bonds so they could upgrade some sewer facilities, but I'm still struggling to figure out why they want the people who conserved water - who did so after the same people asking for this rate hike requested them to ramp up conservation - to pay more.

If I was a commissioner, quite frankly, I'd look at Bob Snipes and Gary Duck and say 'I respect the predicament you're in, but this is your problem, not mine ... you asked for us to conserve water, and it sucks it's hurting your bottom line, but we need some better options and more open-minded thinking than what you're giving us.'

Duplication of services

I figured I'd be in enough disbelief when I first began perusing the results of the first round funding from the Athens Area Community Foundation. Of course, once I read the editorial praising its potential to address the 31 percent poverty rate in Athens-Clarke County my silent disbelief morphed into an audible 'What. The. Hell.'

I've been waiting to see how this allocation process would look, and, well, I must break with the opinion of the Athens Banner-Herald and conclude that it's the mess I feared it would be.

There are numerous problems with this existing model, many I've discussed in great detail before. The first one, obviously, is the fact that this new foundation is directly competing for private money with existing agencies, organizations and communities of faith who are already struggling to adequately cover their budgetary needs in this economy. Compounding that problem is that OneAthens is taking the money they raise, dividing it into rather small portions of funding, and then redistributing it to a variety of organizations thus watering down the initial gift.

These are the two central flaws with this structure. Despite countless statements that OneAthens is not competing for fundraising dollars, there is countless evidence to suggest otherwise. OneAthens was the beneficiary of funding from a local bank, and such a receipt of funds came right after the bank opted to not do its annual fundraiser benefitting multiple non-profits. Likewise, OneAthens expressed an interest in joining Georgia Shares (the program where state employees can donate a portion of their salaries to various non-profits), but backed away after other non-profits expressed a concern.

In recent months, many clients and colleagues I've worked with have told me that some of their long-time donors avoided giving them money in lieu of contributing directly to OneAthens in an attempt to streamline the process or because they felt the original beneficiary would 'get it anyway.'

Now, not only is the money being diluted by being funneled through this foundation, broken up into small - and, quite frankly, inefficient pieces of funding - but it's also being doled out to some questionable recepients.

The Girl Scouts got $2,500.

Cedar Shoals's choir is getting $2,000 to perform in New York City.

When you look at the players in the fight against poverty in this town - IHN of Athens, Athens Area Homeless Shelter, The Sparrow's Nest, Athens Area Nurses Clinci, The Healing Place, AIDS Athens, The Stable Foundation and so on and so on - these are organizations that have boots on the ground in this struggle.

And OneAthens is giving money to the Girl Scouts.

Please don't misunderstand me as I'm not meaning to disparage the programs receiving money or the work they do. However, if OneAthens is supposed to be dedicated to combatting poverty, then I think it's a fair to ask if giving $2,000 to the Cedar Shoals musical deparment is a wise allocation of funds.

And make no mistake, some of the allocations are noble ones (the $3,000 to equip a commerical kitchen for Bread For Life to provide low-income citizens an educational opportunity being a primary one), but, again, it's a piecemeal approach. Why not give $10,000 to five programs? Why not give $50,000 to one program?

Because many of these small chunks of change are merely a fraction of the monthly operating costs of most area non-profits and merely duplicating the funding work done by area churches, donors and foundations who freely dole out $500 here and $2,000 there.

Was he ever reallly in?

Well, now.

That was the shortest political campaign in Northeast Georgia history.

Guess we're still stuck with his man-crush columns on Rep. Paul Broun.

Stimulus funding recommendations

Just when you think the Community Development Block Grant stories are done, we get another round of funding courtesy of the federal stimulus package. I'll be mulling over some of the recommendations from Athens-Clarke County's Human and Economic Development organization in some coming posts, but I'll start with the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing funding.

The intial recommendation from HED, presented to the Athens-Clarke County Commission last night, allocated the $604,969 evenly among three primary organizations - The Stable Foundation, AIDS Athens and Advantage Behavioral Health Systems. This was done, I presume, largely because those three agencies are three of the four which have programs targeted toward rapid re-housing (Project Safe being the other). While well-intentioned, I personally think this recommendation is flawed (though, in a broader sense, the narrow definition of usage of the funds - which restricts them, for all practical purposes, to rent subsidies and utilities - is flawed as well).

Speaking as a board member of TSF, I'd be hesitant to accept a chunk of funding that large. We're still in the incubation status (as part of the Non-Profit Development Alliance run by Community Connection of Northeast Georgia), and the proposed $191,573 is roughly three times the size of our existing budget ... which is literally our first budget.

During last night's work session, however, some commissioners recommended changes to the proposal. And one of the ideas involved that has much merit would be allocating the lump sum of funding to one agency - Community Connection was recommended - for them to either manage a program that would, in essence, act as a landlord for those needing this service or allocate the resources to other agencies and the existing populations they serve.

I like this concept. And I like it largely because it attempts to increase capacity and use an existing non-profit to partner with other non-profits in addressing this problem.

Ideally, it would be nice for whatever program is drawn up to take a serious approach to lopping our homeless number down. For instance, the most recent homeless count showed that there were approximately 450 homeless persons in Athens-Clarke County. Out of that number, 12 were unsheltered, temporarily homeless families.

Why not put this funding to use and make it live up to its name by putting those 12 families into housing? And then provide funds to existing service providers to expand their capacity and service provision, thus minimizing duplication of services?

This is temporary money, but let's think about utilizing it in a way that provide a permanent benefit.

Cruel irony

I typically find Lee Becker's blog exasperating, but I must give much credit where credit is due regarding this post concerning Oconee County's version of 'Organized Tea-mper Tantrums' ...

Whether the protestors will praise the county for raising taxes to build the park where the protest is being held or condemn the county for doing that remains to be seen.

Or perhaps the protestors will support SPLOST and other local taxes at the rally through their silence, as they did in the runup to the March 17 vote.

Higher or lower?

It appears we're having a clash of viewpoints here, primarily ranging from those grounded in reality to those espoused by someone floating in space. With the elimination of the Homeowner's Grant Program looming, local governments are wrestling with sending out increases in property taxes or issuing drastic cuts to services, and Athens-Clarke County is confronting a projected $1.8 million shortfall based on these actions.

If cuts aren't determined, this would result in a state-mandated tax hike of $260 or so per property owner.

Sen. Bill Cowsert has determined that citizens will embrace any measure of tax reduction, even if it means Draconian cuts to basic services ...

"We're looking at having to either eliminate services or reduce services," Mayor Heidi Davison said.

Many taxpayers are fine with that, said state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens. They will accept cuts to services like police, parks and schools if it means their bills are lower, he said.

"I think you'll hear, 'I don't want all the services you're giving me,'" he said.

Of course, with all due respect to Cowsert, I think that position is rather insane. And it flies in the face of what Athens-Clarke County District Seven Commissioner Kathy Hoard - someone who has been in office twice as long as Cowsert - said during a work session meeting last night.

During a discussion regarding using federal stimulus money to fund 27 new police officers for Athens-Clarke County, they were wrestling with how to cover that cost after the stimulus funding was gone. Hoard commented that she hasn't yet met a voter who wouldn't mind paying higher taxes if it's being used for a basic public service provision that offers protection and security for the community.

One could make the argument that perhaps Cowsert and his friends in Atlanta probably should have focused on protecting the Homeowner's Grant Program rather than, say, dramatically cut the capital gains taxes, thus benefitting only the Top Five percent of richest Georgians ... but whatever.

Pete's point

After having a couple of conversations with some folks, and reading some thoughts from commenters, I've been mulling over my initial argument for a younger, moderate-to-progressive to seek the mayoral slot in Athens-Clarke County.

One argument, which is well taken, is that 'young' doesn't necessarily mean 'in touch with the community.' Another one, also valid, suggests that the community needs more younger moderate-to-progressives on the Athens-Clarke County Commission in voting positions rather than simply heading up the government.

Still, something about Pete's argument in Flagpole absolutely resonates with me ...

The rumors we’ve been hearing are apparently true: Nancy Denson will run for mayor. On the old Athens City Council and for a long time as Athens-Clarke County Tax Commissioner, Nancy Denson has been a model elected official: responsive, innovative and involved. She would no doubt be the same as mayor. But her presence in the race means that some well qualified younger candidates will not run for mayor, out of respect for Nancy or fear of her vote-getting ability. Thus, Nancy is almost in the position of the mayor’s seat being hers for the asking. This doesn’t mean it will be good for Athens-Clarke County. When the present mayor finishes her second term next year, we will need bold new leadership enhanced by energy and vision. As always, we will face new challenges in a rapidly changing economic and governmental environment. We will need a mayor with fresh ideas who can mobilize the whole community to address the current and future needs of this multifaceted city. This is not the time for a caretaker government from a mayor enjoying a last hurrah. Nancy Denson has served us nobly and effectively for a long time. Here’s hoping that a candid assessment of what Athens needs and what Nancy has to offer will lead her to decide that what she has already given our community is enough.

Rumor roundup

Blake's been doing a solid job keeping tabs on who is or isn't seeking the Athens-Clarke County mayoral slot in 2010, and it looks like Nancy Denson is in the game. Again, as Blake notes, this isn't surprising for a variety of reasons since Denson has been quietly telling folks she'd be seeking the position for quite some time now.

She joins Charlie Maddox as the only declared candidates for mayor, though Blake has an interesting conversation with former mayor Gwen O'Looney, who is also mulling over a run next year.

So ... I'm kinda concerned.

Now, I've got nothing against Maddox, Denson or O'Looney ... but does anyone else feel like that we're going through a time warp? A guy who lost in 2006? The person who's held the Tax Commissioner job since 1985? A two-term mayor from the 1990s?

I'm just curious, but how is Athens-Clarke County supposed to move forward if it elects someone from its past? And, for that matter, why should a community that has a median age of 25, with a quarter of its population between the ages of 25 and 44, have to choose between three individuals who are all more than 60 years old (particularly when only eight percent of the community's population is 65 or greater)?

I'm less concerned with someone who is 'progressive enough' or 'business-friendly' as I am with someone who is in touch with the majority of people who live in Athens-Clarke County. I'm less concerned with someone's resume as I am with someone who gets the big picture and can keep the community marching forward.

Again, it's nothing against the current crop of candidates or potential candidates, but isn't it time for some fresh blood? We've heard rumors of Athens-Clarke County District Nine Commissioner Kelly Girtz considering a mayoral run (as recently as last night), and I'd say he fits the bill. I've heard some regarding Spencer Frye, the Executive Director of the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, and I'd say that he, too, fits the bill.

Either one of those guys - or any of the other countless young progressives in this town - would be excellent leaders for the community. Isn't it time for one of them to step up and take the mantle?

In other electoral rumor news, Bob Carson won't be running for House District 114 against Keith Heard - who may be seeking the Insurance Commissioner post - though Holly Ward, a local educational consultant, is strongly considering a primary challenge to Heard. In addition, Alvin Sheets is said to not be considering a challenge to Heard either, while Sen. Bill Cowsert has ruled out a run for Attorney General.

I'm back

Apologies for the lack of posting, but the annual trek to Augusta to visit with the family and watch some high-quality golf - and yesterday delivered much of the latter - interrupted work, blogging and all sorts of things. So I'm playing catch-up today, and hope to resume more regular blogging patterns shortly.

I just wish Phil had made those two putts at Nos. 15 and 17.

Ugh ...

The Athens Downtown Development Authority needs to, um, work on its communication. Changing the meters downtown has morphed into a mess, thanks largely to their lack of clarity.

A broken process

I've got a funny feeling that we're going to get some more unrest regarding this year's installment of the Community Development Block Grant funding allocation. Because, for the second straight year, a motion from the floor is going to strip funding away from the East Athens Development Corporation.

According to the proposal, $20,000 designated for EADC's micro-loan program, as well as $15,000 for Multiple Choice's revolving loan program, will be marked instead for the Athens-Clarke County Micro-Enterprise Fund. Based on what I've heard, some commissioners feel it's wiser to consolidate the micro-loan functions under one roof.

I don't doubt their logic - and, in fact, I agree with it - but I do doubt the process which has led to this moment. And it's hard to see, particularly with Challenge Grant money being allocated by this motion to The Stable Foundation - a board that I actually serve on - how the perception isn't that an African-American non-profit organization is getting the shaft for the second straight year.

As I've argued before, I don't think the perceptions match the reality, and I firmly believe that to be the case here, but it's also borderline impossible to not recognize the perception problem that will continue to linger if this action is taken in this manner.

Now last year, I supported the Athens-Clarke County Commission in denying funding to EADC. The manner to issue such a denial was clumsy, however, given the need to break the cycle of funding an organization that was struggling to deliver the needed the results, it was absolutely necessary.

This year, however, it doesn't seem like they got the memo on how the amend the process. If EADC doesn't deserve the money, if they're not meeting their goals, then the case should be made why and EADC should be afforded the opportunity to respond to whatever charges are leveled their way.

So, again, I want to be clear on this ... my criticism is with this process.

Speaking as someone who serves on the board of an organization that is going to be granted funding thanks to this commission-defined option, it's important to note that my organization was given the full opportunity to make our case to the commission. We knew we hadn't been intially recommended for funding - actually we had been, but then, all of a sudden, we weren't - so we were able to round up our supporters, contact our commissioners and make our pitch on why we needed said funding.

EADC, however, was not afforded the same opportunity. Up until today, they were convinced they were receiving funding from the commission based on the lack of public debate on the matter and the recommendation from staff for funding. As a result, their lobbying effort was probably non-existent, and rightfully so. They assumed everything was fine with their recommendation, so there was no need to aggressively campaign for funding.

If they didn't know something was wrong, how could they prepare for Tuesday's vote?

This process - at least it seems to me - is fundamentally flawed if such an action can be taken.

Inside baseball

You know, as a professional courtesy, the Athens Banner-Herald should have credited The Oconee Enterprise with first reporting this information.

Granted, Adam Thompson's reporting is much better than Blake Giles's work, but, still, speaking as a former journalist it always bugged me when I'd break something and, in response, a competitor would follow through with the same processes I did and report it without attribution.

Making the necessary changes

There are a few things I find interesting about this Moss Side proposal. Knowing some of the people who opposed this, it's interesting how the folks who live in Moss Side seem to be all for these developments everywhere else except when it shows up in their backyard.

In my opinion, this feels too much like a classic case of NIMBY.

That said, the points made by the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission is valid ... the proposal had ample flaws and the community is overbuilt with commercial space.

However, a large quantity of this cited commercial space needs dramatic revisions and renovations. I still sit there and shake my head that Homewood Hills can't land a grocery store either from ineffective marketing by its owner or the run-down quality of much of that development.

Likewise, take a drive down Atlanta Highway and look at empty big box after empty big box and think of the opportunities that exist for renovation. I know there's a desire by the community to put much focus on corridors like Prince Avenue or North Avenue, but not incorporating a dramatic overhaul and restoration project along Atlanta Highway is foolish. With an investment in streetscape beautification, coupled with a strong public-private push to invigorate business out there, that corridor could become something special.

It's built for commercial development and has the capacity to handle large flows of traffic, but much of it is simply wasted. I've long argued that West Athens needs to organize its own Community Improvement District to begin laying the foundation for the fundamental change, perhaps similar to the efforts undertaken by the Perimeter CID.

Atlanta Highway, for many folks, is the primary entry point for visitors to the community. And too much of it has gone untended for too long, and it's time that starts to change.

Music for the moment

Song Of The South by Alabama
Soriority Girl by Luke Bryan
Lonesome, On'ry And Mean by Waylon Jennings
The Life by Kenny Chesney
Hell On The Heart by Eric Church

Harrold's holdup

This got kinda buried in all of the usually meaningless resolutions that get passed in the Georgia House of Representatives, but, as the Athens Inbox noted in February, Winterville native Thomas Harrold is being considered to serve as President Obama's ambassador to Germany. Of course, what should be a rather innocent resolution from the state legislature recommending the president choose a local boy done good is now all tangled up in politics.

The defeat of a resolution honoring President Obama and making him an honorary member of the Georgia Black Caucus by House Republicans in March, and its inability to get some type of compromise passed, has put Harrold's resolution in jeopardy.

This Atlanta Business Chronicle story offers a nice profile of Harrold for those interested.

I'm still trying to understand how Georgia Republicans, who apparently disagree so vehemently with the president, apparently feel it's perfectly legitimate to represent citizens of this state to serve under him.

Embrace the bland!

How quickly a promising thing can turn so tragically awful.

While neither Frank Haith or Oliver Purnell could do worse than the one-man train wreck that was Dennis Felton, it's hard to argue with a straight face they could greatly enhance Georgia's men's basketball program.

Couple of things

- It seems likely that David Poythress misunderstood Athens-Clarke County District One Commissioner Doug Lowry, particularly as Clarke County Board of Education member John Knight tells me no request for supplementary funding has been made.

- Shocked, I tell you. An unresponsive administration? A school board focused on winning rather than addressing real issues? Stunning. It's almost as if one can sense a pattern ...

- I haven't yet weighed in on this yet, but it does seem rather silly that this student group is trying to make a straight-faced argument that they weren't intending on copying Hairy Dawg. Simply because something is poorly drawn doesn't mean the intent to develop a representation of that symbol didn't exist.

- Any takers on the size of the crowd? Maybe 25 people? All with 'Fair Tax' stickers on the Chevy Silverados?

No request from Clarke BOE

Clarke County Board of Education member John Knight said, to his knowledge, there has been no request of funding or discussion of a request for supplementary funding from the Athens-Clarke County Commission ...

We are doing what we have to do to handle the drastic education cuts that (Gov. Sonny) Purdue has mandated, and no request of funds has been or will be made.

Knight, who is chairing a finance committee meeting for the Clarke County BOE today at 5:30 p.m., said the mandated cuts from the state have dramatically affected their services, noting that they're fearing having to face a cut of 10 to 15 percent in the coming year. Still, as he pointed out, there isn't any plan to seek support from the commission.

Mistaken conversations

A few folks familiar with the conversation between David Poythress, one of two declared Democratic candidates for governor, and Athens-Clarke County District One Commissioner Doug Lowry have reaffirmed some initial perceptions.

Namely that Lowry discussed the struggles the local governments were having with regard to meeting their funding needs, and that he mentioned that the Clarke County Board of Education was facing the same challenges ... and that a large reason for these challenges stemmed from depleted support from the state government.

There was, however, no discussion of a request by the Clarke County BOE for supplementary funding and there is no desire by the Athens-Clarke County government to provide said funding. Likewise, everyone I've spoken with has suggested that such a transfer probably isn't even allowable based on the existing law.

Poythress apparently misunderstood Lowry's discussion and/or took it out of context.

That would make sense

I should have thought of this sooner, but Blake says that rumors are circulating that Sen. Bill Cowsert might seek the Attorney General's seat as Thurbert Baker has opted to seek the nomination for governor.

Cowsert would probably be in a crowded Republican primary, and he'd square off against, more than likely, Rep. Rob Teilhet.

It would be a battle of the rising stars!

It would also open up the District 46 seat, which would be fun to watch. The odds are that a Republican from Walton County or Oconee County would secure the nomination, which might make it marginally more reachable for a Democrat. It's still a tough race for Democrats to capture, even without the popular Cowsert in the mix.

Random sports roundup

- I hope I'm completely off-base on this thing, but I've got a feeling that the search for Georgia's next head coach for the men's basketball program is going to get pretty embarassing. First, you've got a successful coach with SEC ties turning down your offer of $7 million more, brand new training facilities and a recruiting hotbed just waiting to be tapped into, and now it seems that the rest of the candidates are hedging their bets ... particularly with the Memphis job remaining open.

- I've got a suggestion for Denver ... trade Jay Cutler to Detroit for the No. 1 draft pick, take Matthew Stafford and see if the John Elway comparisons hold up.

- As I noted on my Facebook status last week, I really haven't followed much of the NCAA Tournament. I just haven't gotten into college basketball this year, probably because Georgia was so awful this year. Still, Tim talked me into watching Villanova-Pittsburgh, which was one of the better games I've seen in a while. My allegiance to North Carolina holds though, and I'm banking on the Tar Heels this weekend.

- And, of course, posting will get kinda light next week as I make my annual trek to Augusta for The Masters. Granted Tiger Woods's win last week at Bay Hill was amazing, but I haven't decided who I should put my money on. I think Phil Mickelson's playing the best, but I don't want to let my personal bias get in the way. I've also got a good feeling about Camilo Villegas, and I can't rationalize it.