Safe As Houses

End of an era

2008-12-30T18:51:00.005-05:00

This has happened a lot faster than I had planned, but I'm pretty excited about it.

Starting now, this blog at this location will cease to be. I'm heading over to join the crew at an expanded and revamped Tondee's Tavern. For the past two months, following the end of the election, I've been mulling over what to do with my blog, and one innocent conversation with Flack spiraled into this new venture on our part.

It's modeled somewhat after Talking Points Memo, and we'll provide breaking news, analysis and commentary on state and local issues from a progressive perspective. And it's divided up into a home page and then various independent blogs

That's not all. We're going to work on more in-depth features in the coming months, as well as have regular New Media elements like weekly podcasts, vodcasts and the like. For instance, I'll host my own weekly podcast called 'Safe At Home' that will focus on issues of the day, while 'The Cover Two' will be reborn with the same cast of characters to talk about sports.

Give us some time as Flack's already warned about some bugs and ticks we'll have to work out. I imagine some of the layout might get tinkered with, as well as some features. Be patient as this is a work in progress.

Have no fear, though. My blog will remain largely the same by focusing on all things Athens-Clarke County/Northeast Georgia, as well as an expanded focus on state issues. The only difference is that you can find it now this location.

What the stimulus could mean for us

2008-12-30T12:50:00.004-05:00

One of the things I've been curious about with regard to proposed infrastructure projects in Athens-Clarke County is exactly how those projects were selected. Namely, that projects that will either install an intersection at Mitchell Bridge Road or built a deck at a park aren't really ones that will have a long-term, significant effect on the community. Not that aren't necessary upgrades or renovations that will provide real jobs and real paychecks to workers, but that they don't seem to be big-picture types of projects.

And, if the federal government is willing to invest $1 trillion over the next two years into our infrastructure needs, we ought to be crafting a plan that can bring about some much-needed changes that will benefit us in the long-term.

Mayor Heidi Davison explained that the existing projects in the United States Conference of Mayors report were drawn from recommendations of 'shovel-ready' projects ...

The list submitted to the USCM was developed by staff using the criteria that they had to be ready to go in 90 days, if memory serves. So, it wasn't so much a wish list as one that represents projects that have proceeded through all the necessary stages and now lacking only funding.

Davison said because the initial list involved only ready-to-go infrastructure projects, they were aimed at getting jobs created immediately. Furthermore, she noted that the proposed projects 'aren't set in stone' ...

My guess is that once legislation is crafted and approved we will have a better sense of what can be funded, criteria to receive funding, etc. allowing us to apply and be considered. The lists currently being generated are, in my opinion, being done to give the administration a sense of the breath, depth, scope, etc. of projects cities need assistance with so that a stimulus package that is realistic can be created. I doubt this list is set in stone.

I hope that it's not because I'd like to see some significantly larger projects be featured in any future requests. For instance, if there's ever a time to find financing for something like 'The Brain Train' then this is it. If there's ever a time to develop a comprehensive public transit system - and I mean an interconnected system of light rail, bus, etc. - to service all of North Georgia, this is it. If there's ever a time to expand and renovate The Loop, this is it. If there's ever a time to give a much needed facelift to Atlanta Highway, this is it.

There's a tremendous opportunity to be had here, and we ought to seize it. It will require some regional cooperation and some outside-the-box thinking, but there's a chance to lay a foundation of future economic growth through comprehensive transportation planning ... and that's something we shouldn't pass on.

People of the Year

2008-12-30T08:16:00.004-05:00

FAVORITE PEOPLE OF THE YEAR

1. Barack Obama

OK, so it ain't really a shocker here, but, leaving aside the historical nature of his campaign and subsequent victory, what impressed me most about Obama was the fact that he repeatedly was the cooler head in numerous trying situations. During the Jeremiah Wright flare-up, he used it as an opportunity to open up a necessary and needed dialogue on race. When the Clintons tried to sink his ship in the closing days of the Democratic presidential primary, he kept a level head and stuck to his message. When John McCain picked Sarah Palin, throwing everyone else in the universe into a tailspin, he plugged right along. As the economy went into a tailspin and McCain frantically sought a way to demonstrate 'leadership' in a time of crisis, Obama projected confidence and assurance.

Folks on the left wanted him to get mad, and he didn't. Folks on the right accused him of being a socialist, and he laughed them off. And, in the end, it all paid off with a massive win on Election Day.

2. Rennie Curran

Not only do I simply love how the guy plays, but I also love how it seems he's the only guy on Georgia's defense who didn't forget how to tackle - you wrap your arms around the ballcarrier and drive them to the ground. As the Bulldogs' defense floundered in big games, Curran was the one constant, racking up 12 tackles here and 14 tackles there.

3. Josh Lanier

Lanier didn't ring up the big electoral totals during the Democratic Senate primary I had hoped, but it wasn't because he wasn't the most compelling candidate. He had the most experience and the most clear policy positions out of any of the five candidates seeking the nomination. What hindered him was his principles, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. An ardent advocate for campaign finance reform, Lanier refused to play by the rules that he criticized, thus limiting how much he would accept in donations. In politics, money talks, but Lanier tried to buck the system and that's something to be admired.

4. Mike Hamby

I know I helped the guy's campaign out, and I know we're friends, but that doesn't mean that Hamby can't be one of my favorite people in 2008. When he first told me he had decided to run, I was, rightly, stunned since he had never given any inclination that he'd be interested in seeking elected office ... but I was also pretty enthused as well. Hamby's progressive and pragmatic, and our views on economic development, the cultivation of human capital, the fight against poverty and the need to enhance our infrastructure closely line up. I'm very optimistic about his upcoming first term.

Honorable Mention

Knoshown Moreno, because he's Georgia's best running back since Herschel Walker (and I really hope he sticks around for one more year) ... Kay Hagan, because she's a great example of a strong progressive who can win in a tough state ... John Lewis, because when you stare down billy clubs, who you offend with what you say or who you endorse is secondary ... Jennifer Aniston, because, well.

LEAST FAVORITE PEOPLE OF THE YEAR

1. Paul Broun

Seriously, what won't Broun do for you? Don't bank on him ever fighting for the projects in Northeast Georgia because that supposedly goes against his own philosophical views, thus making the 'representative' aspect of his office more symbolic than anything else. However, when it comes to spending an unprecedented $1.5 million of taxpayer money in six months to build up his own name ID, those principles fly right out the window, don't they?

Such a lack of scruples, however, only scratches the surface for our favorite congressman. He also ducked debates in his hometown (and elsewhere), advocated for unnecessary 'English-only' legislation that would have had an impact on the American Southwest and then, to top it all off, accused the president-elect of wanting to install a Marxist Gestapo and compared him to Adolf Hitler.

This is your congressman Northeast Georgia. Enjoy.

2. Sarah Palin

Not because I think she's ultimately a bad person, but because she was woefully ill-equipped and unprepared to participate in a presidential campaign, let alone serve as the vice president. She whipped up her crowds into banal and borderline racist fervor, lacked the basic knowledge of what the office she was seeking actually did and relied on shallow catch-phrases and subtle sex appeal to score points.

3. Urban Meyer

Sure, he's a good football coach, but he's also a shameless propagandist. After Georgia's 'Celebration' victory in 2007, Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt called Meyer the following day to apologize, which Meyer accepted ... or so we thought. The latter comes out with a book in the summer where he proceeds to speak in third person throughout and unaccepts the apology. Then, after his admittedly better Florida team is finishing off Georgia this year, he calls two timeouts in the closing seconds and instructs his team to celebrate. Any Georgia fan who clings to this 'I hated Steve Spurrier more' mantra needs to let that go and embrace the new evil.

4. Karen Handel

All the good things Cathy Cox did as Secretary of State, earning bipartisan praise from prominent members from both parties, yeah ... Handel's completely undone that in a little more than half a term. This past year, she booted Jim Powell, a Democrat seeking a seat on the Public Service Commission, off the ballot just days before the primary and despite a pair of legal opinions she requested that argued against doing so. It took two more losses in the state's judicial system to make her stop, but that wasn't all she did. She willingly ignored state law when Joe Carter dropped out of at State Senate race in South Georgia, reopening qualifying for only Republicans but not Democrats. Then, after the Keith Gross debacle, she tossed out valid petitions collected by independent Michelle Conlon in a vain attempt to block her from challenging Mike Jacobs. To top it all off, Handel then denied extended early voting hours in Georgia despite a multitude of neighboring states opting to extend theirs at the last minute.

Honorable Mention

Sonny Perdue, because he enjoys blaming Athens activists for him not ponying up the necessary incentives to attract NBAF ... Tony Romo, because he's the most overrated quarterback in the NFL ... Andre Walker, because he can't quite seem to reconcile the fact that, one day, he's going to switch parties so he's trying to throw everyone under the bus for his own errors and missteps ... Glenn Richardson, because he wanted to impose 170-plus new taxes on goods and services and have that money be pooled in Atlanta for him to dole out as he saw fit.

Music for the moment 2008

2008-12-29T14:08:00.002-05:00

Let's kick off our year-end reviews by highlighting some of my favorite songs that I featured over the past year ...

Bud Light Song by Adam Hood
My Kinda Party by Brantley Gilbert
Sounds So Good by Ashton Shepherd
Don't by Billy Currington
Alabama by Cross Canadian Ragweed

Couple of things

2008-12-29T08:05:00.002-05:00

Seeing how today might feature sporadic posting due to other professional obligations, as well as necessary cleaning following a week of family and friends coming at going at our place, here's a quick roundup of some things to note from the past few days ...

- The Athens Banner-Herald goes over some of the top headlines in the area from 2008.

- They're celebrating Festivus over at Tondee's Tavern.

- Aside from the fact that this woman had to go to Ohio to receive proper medical care bothering me at a moral level, it also seems to be an awful business decision on Georgia's part, does it not? If the average surgery needed to alleviate the rare condition this woman suffered would be a one-time cost of $200,000 to $400,000, why would that be rejected in lieu of covered treatments that cost $150,000 per year and can stretch on indefinitely? If this woman survived with this condition and the resulting treatment for a decade, that's costing Georgia more than $1 million. If she opts for the surgery - which also saves her life and brings her a more pleasant, comfortable quality of life - it costs roughly a third of the treatment.

- My friend Art wrote a letter defending the Friends of Southeast Clarke Park, and I respectfully disagree with some of his assertions.

Rebutting the WOW argument

2008-12-27T09:48:00.003-05:00

Just to be clear upfront ... I know Art Ordoqui, I like Art Ordoqui and I consider him to be a valuable colleague. All of that said, I take exception to some of his arguments regarding WOW.

Not only does Ordoqui's assertions directly contradict the stories of those involved with the community visioning process, but it also is factually at odds with Kent Kilpatrick from Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services.

In 2004, the county contributed $48,000 for the park - as well as $140,000 for infrastructure. Kilpatrick told me that the average park in the community costs $75,000 to $100,000 to build, and that the averague annual maintenance cost for those county-built parks is $1,000 per year. In four years, then, the typical park, at the most, should cost the community $104,000 in construction and maintenance.

This park will cost taxpayers $106,000 after four years thanks to an unprecedented $58,000 repairs bill due to poor planning, shoddy construction and inadequate materials. If you factor in the $140,000 in additional taxpayer expense from 2004 for infrastructure, its liability to the public soars to close to a quarter of a million dollars (to say nothing about the $278,000 in private funds that had to be raised).

In addition, Kilpatrick said if this was one of the county's parks it had built, he would hypothetically recommend just starting over due to the maintenance costs.

Yes, this is a larger park. Yes, this is a cool park. Yes, kids love it.

But, as Nicki noted, this is something that was not listed highly on the list of the community's recommended SPLOST projects ...

We all participated in the community visioning process in which we allocated funds to resources and so on. And the top priorities never included WOW. If I recall properly, the top priorities were always dog park, skate park, and either frisbee golf or zero-rise water play area. WOW was never in the top three. Which makes a lot of sense, because WOW is cool, but is not really as novel as depicted. For example, there is a public playground just a mile or two away. Whereas the other facilities would be unique (everything but frisbee golf, which I think was never seriously considered because there are several others).

Yes, this is a nice park, but it's something that a relatively small group of people desired to be built, and the decisions they made have saddled taxpayers with an outrageous repairs bill (regardless of the amount of wear and tear the facility has weathered due to high usage).

So, while I'm glad to see that the Friends of Southeast Clarke Park is willing to be a 'strong partner' with the community with regard to WOW and that it 'supports its efforts' to address the maintenance concerns, it's also important to recognize that sort of misses the point.

And the point is that this whole thing is their fault.

The Friends of Southeast Clarke Park should be responsible for at least half of the maintenance costs - if not all - because they opted to circumvent the SPLOST process, they opted to use Leathers & Company and they settled for a substandard product that now merits close to $60,000 in repairs.

Christmas blogging

2008-12-26T08:57:00.006-05:00

Might be light for a day or so with family in town, but I trust that everyone had a wonderful holiday. Here's a bit of what went on at my place ...

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T13:46:00.001-05:00

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
- Luke 2: 1-20

Lend A Hand 2008

2008-12-24T08:04:00.003-05:00

Each Christmas, I try to spotlight some non-profit organizations. Here is the first batch of those agencies, and, in the spirit of the season, I encourage you to consider lending them your support. For this year's first installment, click here.

Foundation For Excellence
The Foundation for Excellence provies a commitment to invest in Athens-Clarke County's most valuable resource - its schoolchildren. Through an extensive annual program of financial awards, grants, and scholarships, the foundation provides a meaningful way to recognize, support, and reward outstanding teaching in the Clarke County School District. Although more than 400 classroom teachers, paraprofessionals and other support personnel have benefited from the Foundation's mission, it is the Clarke County student, who, ultimately, gains the greatest dividend - enthusiastic, creative, and highly motivated teachers. These teachers bring excitement, innovation, and solid achievement to their classroom.

To make a donation, click here.

AIDS Athens
AIDS Athens, Inc. serves to address the needs of individuals infected and affected by HIV/AIDS through support services and to prevent the spread of the disease through education and outreach. AIDS Athens exists to enhance and enrich the quality of life for those living with HIV/AIDS, as well as their friends, families, and partners. The organization also seeks to effect a fundamental change in society's attitude toward persons infected with HIV/AIDS.

To make a donation, click here.

Food Bank Of Northeast Georgia
The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia will work toward ending hunger as part of an overall effort to alleviate poverty in our community. Its goals are to minimize and eliminate hunger in Northeast Georgia by developing an effective system to acquire and distribute food which would otherwise be wasted, as well as to increase individual and community awareness and action concerning hunger and poverty.

To make a donation, click here.

My thoughts

2008-12-23T19:12:00.002-05:00

Already emails asking me about my thoughts on the Yankees nabbing Mark Teixeira at the last second. My thoughts?

Meh.

With him stonewalling everyone, not just the Red Sox, and then approaching New York at the last second and shopping Boston's offer, it's obvious he wanted to play there. More power to the guy.

I'm not really going to gripe in the grand scheme of things since, you know, we've won two out of the last five world championships while the Yankees have a grand total of zero this century.

Levity is needed

2008-12-23T13:03:00.002-05:00

In light of news like this, it seems to me that Josh Marshall's take on this closely parallels mine ...

But as I watch this unfold I feel increasingly concerned that the people controlling the money are using the complexity of the situation and the public's difficulty in understanding it to use public money to shield very wealthy institutions and individuals from the inherent risks of their chosen line of work. ...

What I think we all recognize though, at least in principle, is that there's a strong public interest in preventing major disruptions in the financial sector that could hobble the rest of the economy. But I keep hearing more and more examples that sound a lot more like trying to socialize the losses of the major investment houses and hedge funds and their owners than trying to achieve any reasonable public purpose.

Regarding commercial development, one of the primary driving forces behind some of the more lucrative deals in that industry come from the amount risk one takes on. If we remove the risk from this particular line of work, aren't we also removing the incentive to actually pursue said risks to garner the reward?

I'm not saying I can't be reasoned into seeing why a bailout for the commercial development industry is a good thing or a necessary thing, but it just seems that we're now just throwing insane amounts of money at bad investments or poor business decisions. And that this money, particularly in the financial industry, is casually given out with no questions asked (unlike, say, a dramatically smaller bridge-loan program that would have protected three- to five-million working class jobs and had a substantially more profound impact on the nation's economy).

Early morning round-up

2008-12-23T09:48:00.003-05:00

Rounding some stuff from this morning ...

World of Wonder debacle
- Some WOW perspective
- More on WOW

Andre watch
- This morning's installment

More on WOW

2008-12-23T09:46:00.002-05:00

Nikki, who was involved in the development of the World of Wonder playground, shares some thoughts about how the original process went down ...

Ok, I won't leave it at my previous comments, then. I worked on one of the other components of the park when WOW was raising money and so on. We all participated in the community visioning process in which we allocated funds to resources and so on. And the top priorities never included WOW. If I recall properly, the top priorities were always dog park, skate park, and either frisbee golf or zero-rise water play area. WOW was never in the top three. Which makes a lot of sense, because WOW is cool, but is not really as novel as depicted. For example, there is a public playground just a mile or two away. Whereas the other facilities would be unique (everything but frisbee golf, which I think was never seriously considered because there are several others).

Never mind, said the WOW folks, we'll raise our own money. Which they did fairly well in the initial stages. But then things got ugly. More money ended up being designated to the ball parks than was originally anticipated (because there were some changes in material costs for infrastructure -- lights, parking, etc.). And suddenly the other groups were getting tipped off by those who were running the project that WOW was in fact campaigning to receive more money, which they wanted to see taken from the other initiatives. Which the other initiatives did compromise on, but not without a lot of entitled, nasty attacks on their constituent groups.

Both the skate park (which was planned to be roughly double its current size) and the dog park (which originally had way more people-centric amenities) were scaled back, and more money was given to WOW. But what annoys me is the attitude that underpinned the request for more money. It was very much like they were entitled to WOW and their cause was unimpeachable because they were representing the children, and the other groups were full of shiftless, selfish criminals who just wanted to take from children for our own selfish interests. When in fact we were all doing what we are entitled to do as citizens to participate in the process of creating the park. And we all pay taxes. And both the skate park and dog park benefit a much wider cross-section of the ACC citizens than does WOW.

As far as I'm concerned, in other words, WOW wasn't ever a very honorable or nice or realistic group, and it's no surprise that they take no responsibility for the long-term maintenance of their project.

Andre watch

2008-12-23T09:27:00.000-05:00

So, we've directly engaged him and the scurrilous arguments he enjoys bringing forth. This morning we find that Andre is clinging to his notion that Democrats in Georgia must abandon their base of white progressives and African-Americans by pursuing candidates who run hard to the right.

While, again, I don't presume to suggest that, given today's existing political environment in Georgia, a moderate-to-conservative Democrat wouldn't fare better at the state level (though, to be fair, I think the jury's out that too), I also think merely copying the Republicans is not a valid or legitimate long-term strategy.

To bolster his claim, Andre derides the notion that Hispanics are emerging, albeit slowly, as a political player in Georgia. He does this despite evidence that shows Georgia's Hispanic population is exploding and Hispanics are constituting more and more of the electorate. He also thinks it's 'speculation' that Hispanics tend to lean Democratic, again, despite evidence to the contrary.

What else does Andre dispute? That younger voters are trending Democratic and - with someone like Barack Obama in the White House serving as the possible formative political figure for younger voters the same way Ronald Reagan did 25-plus years ago - that they'll remain in the 'lean Democratic' camp. Here, though, his own research undermines his argument ...

With Georgia’s youth, the CNN exit poll for 2008 showed voters between the ages of 18 and 24 backed McCain with 50% of the vote. Voters between the ages of 25 and 29 backed McCain with 51% of the vote.

In 2006, young Georgia voters backed Perdue with 51% of the vote.

In 2004, young Georgia voters backed Bush with 52% of the vote.

And in 2000, young Georgia voters back Bush with 60% of the vote.

So, we see that in eight years younger voters have gone from being a reliable Republican voting bloc to a swing group in Georgia. In fact, they're the only demographic to have swung so sharply toward swing voter status during a period of time when the state, as a whole, suddenly and dramatically realigned to the Republican Party.

And somehow this is proof that they're Republican voters?

Furthermore, the primary fault with Andre's rationale is that in addition to simply ignoring contrary evidence which points out how he's, well, wrong, is that it's adhering to an outdated model of mobilizing voters by dividing them into the wrong sub-sets. As I argued earlier, Georgia will emerge, in due time, as a competitive swing state thanks largely to an urban population growth with those voters tending to lean Democrat over Republican. This trend has happened in North Carolina and Virginia and, thanks to the rapid growth of Atlanta and other metro areas, it is likely to happen here as well.

University of Georgia history professor James Cobb notes ...

Moreover, in Georgia where (John) McCain’s final five point margin was much slimmer than once anticipated, the Obama campaign’s belated decision to run ads targeting metro Atlanta, with its large population of white newcomers and African Americans, might have indicated recognition of a lost opportunity and foretold a more formidable effort in that state in 2012. ...

Obama’s returns also reflected the growing suburbanization of the South’s black middle class. He carried three metropolitan Atlanta counties—Douglas, Newton, and Rockdale—that, despite giving 60 percent or more of their votes to George W. Bush in 2004, had seen their black populations more than double since 2000. Blacks represented over one-third of the population in each of these counties by 2008, and although McCain carried four other metropolitan counties with smaller but fast-growing black populations (including notoriously conservative Cobb), his share of the vote nonetheless fell short of Bush’s by from seven to twelve points.

The point isn't offering a more conservative or more progressive message, but rather a practical one that connects with the challenges and concerns facing these voters. And, given that the newer white voters tend to hold more progressive views on most issues - and that they appear to be a source of strength for the Democratic Party in the coming years - crafting a message which alienates them is absolutely backward.

Some WOW perspective

2008-12-23T08:27:00.003-05:00

If you want a bit of perspective regarding the repairs needed for the World of Wonder playground, look no further than the numbers Kent Kilpatrick, the interim director of Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services, passed on to me.

Kilpatrick said that most of the area's playgrounds typically cost $75,000 to $100,000 built new, meaning that spending $58,000 for maintenance - just four years after WOW was built - is unheard of. In fact, he said that Leisure Services would most likely opt to completely replace the playground rather than spend such a high amount of money for repairs so soon.

Given that this project was community driven and primarily funded with private dollars and then turned over to Leisure Services to manage, this entire thing is a wreck. For something that wasn't supposed to be a burden on the community, it's likely to cost taxpayers close to $250,000 since 2004 ... for one park.

Again, process that ... a privately funded park is now costing taxpayers twice as much as other parks.

Kilpatrick added that annual repairs and maintenance for other parks, which are built with steel, run less than $1,000 per year.

Worth a read

2008-12-23T08:25:00.002-05:00

Seeing how I helped out with his campaign, I'd be remiss if I didn't plug Mike Hamby's question-and-answer session with Blake.

A disconnect

2008-12-22T19:10:00.003-05:00

Earl Ehrhart has offered his thoughts on the upcoming Georgia General Assembly, and the summary at Peach Pundit offers this thought ...

It is time that the leadership of the state started to focus on areas to cut State spending, not hamstringing local governments into cutting theirs.

Of course, this logically makes no sense.

In fact, local governments are being forced to increase taxes or cut spending because of the state cutting back in certain areas. If you focus on trimming back on state spending, you will have de facto cuts or increased taxes at the local level.

If your goal is to alleviate the burden on local governments - a laudable goal to be sure - then having the state cut back on its responsibilities in areas like infrastructure or education results in additional responsibilities being pushed onto them ... thus meaning an increase in spending, not the opposite.

Andre watch

2008-12-22T16:39:00.004-05:00

Via a reader, apparently he's backing Eric Johnson for Lt. Governor.

Honestly. Just go ahead, switch parties and make it official man.

On non-profit management

2008-12-22T13:31:00.005-05:00

Something that I've been wrestling with for the past couple of days is what to think regarding Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. The organization's problems are many, and, as Debi Starnes told Fresh Loaf, they're all largely their own doing ...

“The culture of that agency and its management of that building is not one that helps people escape homelessness,” says Starnes, who retired her Council seat three years ago and now serves as Mayor Shirley Franklin’s homeless czar.

“What’s going on in that building is abysmal and shouldn’t be accepted,” she adds. “The city should be ashamed for having allowed it to go on for so long.”

The problem, though, seems to be what MATFH is ultimately aiming to achieve. If it's primarily functioning as an overnight shelter, then it's going to largely be addressing the needs of chronically homeless individuals which requires a radically different approach than what is needed at the Athens Area Homeless Shelter or IHN of Athens which provides assistance and support to temporarily homeless individuals.

An organization that attempts to serve both is often biting off more than it can chew. Organizations like IHN of Athens or AAHS typically serve one classification of homeless individuals, while others, such as Bigger Vision of Athens, work with chronically homeless individuals.

But, aside from a confused mission, MATFH has larger managerial issues. It's burned bridges with the community. It's squandered public funds. It has a low success rate. It has paid payroll taxes in three of the past six years. It pays its executive director a disproportionate amount of money compared to its existing financial situation. It relies on too few funders, thus increasing the likelihood of a severe fiscal crisis should said funds vanish.

I mention this because one has to wonder, with all of the problems surrounding East Athens Development Corporation and the Hancock Corridor Development Corporation, is this the path those organizations were on? Is it the one they're still on?

Granted EADC and HCDC serve substantially different populations, but the structural and managerial woes evident with MATFH seem somewhat similar to the complaints levied publically by Athens-Clarke County elected officials and privately by many in the non-profit field. And it's why I hope those two organizations have detailed how they'll utilize Community Development Block Grant funds in a more efficient and effective way because, arguably, the programs they have proposed are laudable ones.

The problem, as MATFH has shown, isn't the intent, but the execution.

Should be fun to watch

2008-12-22T12:49:00.002-05:00

I didn't realize that we'd be seeing a Republican primary slugfest between David Shafer and Eric Johnson for Lt. Governor in 2010. Those are two big names, and each one has a large following and the ability to raise some money. I'd still give Johnson the edge in the race, but Shafer flat-out knows what he's doing and is a darling of the online community.

Plus, while I don't agree with Shafer on much, I feel compelled to point out that he has repeatedly engaged me and other progressives in fair and constructive debate during online discussions. Again, I don't agree with him on much, but he's good people by my humble assessment.

Transparency

2008-12-22T10:52:00.002-05:00

Further proof that I can't rationalize the logic that led Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson to support the $700 billion bailout for Wall Street, but oppose the strictly regulated $14 billion bridge-loan program for the American auto industry.

Seems to me that if any private institution was receiving public money, they ought to be required to publically disclose how they're utilizing said money. If Athens-Clarke County is going to (rightfully) scrutinize how a pair of non-profits spend Community Development Block Grant funds, the federal government ought to be able to find out how banks are spending $700 billion of taxpayer money.

Andre watch

2008-12-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

Today, he wants Democrats to run hard to the right in order to win Georgia. While I won't dispute that a moderate to conservative Democrat often fares better statewide than a more liberal one, it's worth noting that Andre's snapshot assessment doesn't match up with the changing demographics of the state.

Democrats have strong bases in the urban areas of the state, often enjoying large margins of victory on those areas. That's been tempered by overwhelming margins of victory for Republicans in the rural areas of Georgia. Given that urban areas are going to continue to experience solid growth and, judging by existing demographic trends and polling data on younger voters, they will continue to strongly favor Democrats ... this is a good thing for the future.

Plus, Andre completely ignores the fast-growing Hispanic population in Georgia, which overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama earlier this year and has seen many of its bridges to the Republican Party burned in the past four years due to the policies they've pushed.

If the African-American vote continues to be 25 to 30 percent (and it should continue to become larger percentage of the electorate), and the Hispanic population pushes five to eight percent of the electorate, then the percentage of white voters necessary for a statewide win has decreased dramatically. Knowing that those two demographics have overwhelmingly backed Democrats in recent elections, the 20 to 25 percent of white support for Democrats that Andre ridicules today will eventually suffice.

Just saying

2008-12-22T09:05:00.002-05:00

Arguably, I'm biased on this ... largely because World of Wonder was built when I was working as an assistant news editor at the Athens Banner-Herald and the sheer volume of calls (and complaints) of coverage of the fundraising efforts and construction of that park drove me insane. No one can say they weren't good people who shepherded the project through, but they would have been served better by having a coherent publicity campaign that was different than, say, flood the newsroom with press releases and requests for coverage and then swamp the same newsroom with angry phone calls when every publicity request didn't merit an A1 feature story.

Worth a read

2008-12-22T09:02:00.003-05:00

The Atlanta Business Chronicle has an interesting read on the financial struggles of Sea Island. Apparently, the resort underwent an aggressive and expensive expansion that coincided with a massive bubble in the construction industry, thus resulting in inflated building costs, that ended with a complete collapse in the housing and travel market.

Talk about a perfect storm.

Trying to sort it out

2008-12-22T08:21:00.003-05:00

Apparently, the company line has changed somewhat.

As reported here last week, the recycling markets, like other markets during this economic crisis, have taken a significant hit, thus resulting in Suki Janssen, Athens-Clarke County's waste reduction manager to email me the following ...

For the remainder of FY09 (fiscal year), we will have to use our new initiative money to pay the processing fees. As of November, we still had revenue coming in (just far less). But December until ?? we are projecting we will have to pay.

We are in the process of doing our FY10 budget and have taken this into account when budgeting for next year. This may mean a reduction in non-traditional recycling programs and other programmatic expenses in the future or (the Mayor and Commission) may have to approve an additional transfer of funds to the Recycling Division from the Landfill Enterprise fund or rate increases to residents. All options will be on the table next year.

This prompted Athens-Clarke County District Nine Commissioner Kelly Girtz to offer some more detailed thoughts on how to get through this crunch, including the possibility that some recyclables might have to be warehoused until the markets rebounded, rather than sent on to the landfill.

This morning's article, however, tells a somewhat different story ...

"I don't want anybody to get nervous about what's going on in other parts of the United States," she said. "Here in the Southeast, we're very, very fortunate to be close to most of our end markets." ...

When prices for recyclables were high, the county banked enough money to last for about six months if prices stay low, Jannsen said.

After that, officials will have to dip into money earmarked for starting up new initiatives, she said.

In an earlier discussion with me, Janssen noted several possible options on how to deal with the shortfall in FY 2010 if the markets didn't recover soon enough. These options included using money designated for new initiatives to get through the final six months of FY 2009 and then, for the following year, contemplate anything ranging from rate increases to a reduction in recycling services offered to the community.

If they've been able to stockpile some reserves from when times were good, then that's much welcome news. But, given that many are unsure of how low the market will go, it's important to know all the possible options of how to move forward and continue the successful efforts of Athens-Clarke County to reduce its waste consumption.

A good point

2008-12-19T16:54:00.002-05:00

Regarding the gnashing of teeth and borderline childish meltdown in some corners of the blogosphere, Matthew Yglesias nails it.

A moment of clarity

2008-12-19T16:33:00.003-05:00

Granted, I'm not sure how I feel about mandatory recycling programs, but the general aversion that so many folks have to the suggestion that they simply sort their plastics and paper products away from their trash absolutely floors me.

Here in Oconee County, you get to choose your waste disposal company, which means our little cul-de-sac has four or five trucks coming through to service four or five houses during various days of the week. Our neighborhood association decided to wise up, and it collectively bargained with one of the haulers to set up a rate just for us and where they come pick up one day.

This, both The Wife and I thought, was a very smart move on our neighborhood's part (cheaper service and fewer trucks rumbling through our streets). Yet, when the lady showed up at our door to tell us who had the lowest bid and what we needed to do, and we asked what their policy was on recycling, she stared at us like we were from another planet (and, mind you, by 'policy' we meant 'can we get two bins?').

The Wife said 'well, we're big recyclers' and the lady - a sweet woman in her own right - replied 'I've never thought to do that, it just seems so hard.'

Hence where I go with this recycling thing ... we're talking about getting two bins - one for paper and one for glass/plastics/alumninum cans - and tossing said items into those bins rather than simply dropping them into trash. It ain't rocket science. It ain't hard. Yet, people seem to think the mere recommendation that you recycle is tantamount to imposing martial law (and try to use segments on comedy shows hosted by magicians as a reason to attack the very practice of recycling).

What if ...

2008-12-19T10:41:00.003-05:00

We spent the better part of the past election cycle hearing that Bill Cowsert is regarded as one of the up-and-comers in state politics. And, judging by the strong show of support he received from folks like Sonny Perdue and Casey Cagle, it's evident that he's going to be more than just the state senator for District 46.

I'm curious, though, to what 'more' means for him. With two political heavyweights in John Oxendine and Casey Cagle already running for governor, another one in Karen Handel rumored to be a candidate and speculation still surrounding Johnny Isakson, the state's top office seems out. Likewise, with Eric Johnson declaring for Lt. Governor, Cowsert would have a tough time seeking that seat.

I don't see much upside for Cowsert to run for either Secretary of State or Secretary of Agriculture (though it could grant him a statewide audience) and, quite frankly, he's too sharp of a politician to focus on those seats.

So, I'm going to toss something out there that I've been mulling over in my mind ... why doesn't Cowsert primary Paul Broun? He's got bipartisan appeal, could eat into Broun's base in Oconee County, could do very well in the Augusta area where Broun still isn't terribly popular and can raise money in bunches.

By no means would it be an easy race, and I'd assume that Broun would still be the favorite in it ... but Cowsert's the one Republican who could make it interesting.

Lend A Hand 2008

2008-12-19T08:59:00.002-05:00

Each Christmas, I try to spotlight some non-profit organizations. Here is the first batch of those agencies, and, in the spirit of the season, I encourage you to consider lending them your support.

Athens Area Homeless Shelter
The Athens Area Homeless Shelter (AAHS) provides a cooperative approach to homeless individuals and fosters public awareness of homelessness in the community. AAHS's Almost Home Transitional Program provides long-term residential support for single women and families with children who are homeless and who wish to make life changes to regain self-sufficiency and independence. AAHS's Job TREC program (Training, Referral and Education Center) provides case management and support to all homeless persons in Clarke County by offering personalized job training and placement services.

The Athens Area Homeless Shelter is a united and compassionate response to homelessness in the Northeast Georgia region. Its purpose is to educate the community that homelessness is the result of complex social, economic and personal factors and advocate for the homeless population and pledge to work cooperatively with the community to eliminate homelessness.

To make a donation, click here.

Carolina for Kibera
Established in 2001, Carolina for Kibera is an international, nongovernmental organization based in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. In the United States, CFK is a 501(c)(3) charitable corporation and major affiliated entity and program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill based at the Center for Global Initiatives.

Named a TIME Magazine and Gates Foundation "Hero of Global Health," CFK fights abject poverty and helps prevent violence through community-based development in Kibera and beyond. CFK envisions a world where the poor have a voice in their futures and opportunities for healthy growth. It is rooted in the conviction that solutions to problems involving poverty are possible only if those affected by it drive development. Concerned outsiders can help by mobilizing communities, advising, networking, and providing resources. Ultimately, however, the community possesses the knowledge and motivation that are necessary to solve its own problems.

Run by Kenyans and advised by American and Kenyan volunteers, CFK's primary mission is to promote youth leadership and ethnic and gender cooperation in Kibera through sports, young women's empowerment, and community development. Additionally, CFK works to improve basic healthcare, sanitation, and education in Kibera. Serving as a model for holistic, community-based urban development world-wide, CFK has helped grassroots organizations develop youth-based programs in six other nations and dozens of communities in Kenya.

To make a donation, click here.

The Stable Foundation
The Stable Foundation is an organization dedicated to eradicating homelessness by providing housing to families and individuals in need in Athens, GA and surrounding areas. The organization works to help families and individuals that are referred from partner agencies and assist them through the transitional housing period, thus helping them find their footing and achieve sustainable independence.

To make a donation, click here.

I'll second that

2008-12-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

Well, obviously.

Music for the moment (Christmas edition)

2008-12-19T08:45:00.002-05:00

It Must Have Been Ole Santa Claus by a group of U.S. Marines
O Little Town Of Bethlehem by Sarah McLachlan
O Come All Ye Faithful by Nat King Cole
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Carrie Underwood
Christmas In Dixie by Alabama

Coming in with a bang

2008-12-18T14:36:00.004-05:00

One of the more entertaining bits of political theater going around the community - and that I've heard from numerous folks in just the past two days - involves an encounter during the recent training session for incoming commissioners, councilmen, etc. hosted by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

The way the story goes is that Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton delivered an invocation prior to one of the lunchtime meals. Ed Robinson, the commissioner-elect for Athens-Clarke County's District Six, apparently didn't take kindly to the prayer.

Robinson, who along with Mike Hamby and Andy Herod was undergoing the required training session, opted to speak out. He asked Melton, in front of a packed conference hall of his peers, how the justice would rule on a case involving the separation of church and state given that he had just delivered a prayer to a room full of elected officials.

Melton calmly - and sarcastically - replied 'well, when I get a case like that in front of me, I'll let you know.'

Now, one could point out that the ACCG is merely an advocacy group that is not an official entity of the state government, thus meaning Melton's prayer was actually rather harmless and perfectly legal (unless there's a provision in the Georgia Constitution I'm unaware of that prohibits Georgia Supreme Court Justices from believing in one particular faith), but I guess that isn't really here or there.

UPDATE: Hence why this is all theater, I've gotten word from a pair of folks who have said that Melton did not say the prayer and that Robinson's question came during a Q-and-A session with the justice.

Pure speculation

2008-12-18T10:33:00.003-05:00

Theories abound on whether or not Roy Barnes will run in 2010, and I honestly don't know. I don't see a primary fight between him and DuBose Porter shaping up though. That just doesn't add up for me.

Noted in this and buried in the comments is speculation that Brian Kemp will run for Secretary of State if Karen Handel opts to run for governor on the Republican side of things. I could see Kemp seeking that seat, but I honestly don't see why Handel would jump into a race between John Oxendine and Casey Cagle.

Random New York Senate blogging

2008-12-18T09:54:00.002-05:00

I had this discussion with a friend of mine a few nights ago, but I just flat-out don't get why so many folks are bothered that Caroline Kennedy wants the New York Senate seat. I think she'd be a fine pick for a variety of reasons, some connected to her name (she'd garner an audience with folks a New York senator not named Hillary Clinton couldn't typically garner) and some not connected to her name (her stellar work on education and early childhood learning).

The point is that if your criticism is that you don't like neopotism in politics, this doesn't apply since, well, Robert Kennedy hasn't represented New York in the U.S. Senate since 1968. And if your criticism is this ...

And I'd hope that Governor David Paterson might consider a similar sort of selection--an honorary, non-political (but Democratic) appointee, a person of real, world-class, distinction who would never normally serve in the Senate, to grace the seat until the next election ...

... well, you just validated picking Caroline Kennedy.

No reason whatsoever

2008-12-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

In 1988, someone thought this was a good idea.

Not so good

2008-12-18T08:54:00.004-05:00

Yep, the economy stinks. A little less than half of Georgia's banks were unprofitable in the third quarter, and home prices continue to fall.

A report from The National Association of Realtors I got yesterday noted that, in the South, the median home price has fallen from $225,600 in 2007 to $207,600 in September 2008 (and it had fallen $14,000 from July 2008). It's a buyer's market, but it's also meaning lots of folks are sitting on properties and losing money during the sale.

More on EADC and HCDC

2008-12-18T08:25:00.002-05:00

I think my friend Jeff is right and wrong. I think he's spot-on with his criticism of the Athens Banner-Herald's criticism of a proposed jobs training program for low-income students. Namely that the point of said program isn't the gear these kids up for a career in fast-food, but to help teach them lessons about responsibility, financial stewardship, work ethics, etc. The fact that it's managing a concession stand is merely a vehicle to impart such lessons, and, quite frankly, I thought it was beneath the editorial staff to bring up such comparisons.

However, while I admire Jeff's optimism, I have to levy some skepticism on the whole process. Again, the problem wasn't that the East Athens Development Corporation or the Hancock Corridor Development Corporation weren't offering good programs, it's rather that they weren't running them in a proper way that was best serving their respective communities. Whether or not they've remedied those problems is central to them receiving funding this year, and the evidence suggests that they'll face stiffer competition this time around.

Because, remember, this money is not earmarked for those two organizations, and, in fact, it's not even earmarked for the targeted census tracts.

A two-fer

2008-12-18T08:19:00.002-05:00

The problem with this editorial is two-fold. First, it wrongly assumes that the proposed public works projects that Barack Obama is offering is a jobs program when, in fact, it has always been pitched as a vital component of a comprehensive economic stimulus package. As a result, a good bulk of those jobs are temporary but they also pay real money and provide real jobs. Furthermore, any sort of infrastructure project is ultimately a 'temporary' one, yet there still seems to be an entire industry built around it that employs workers of varying skills to perform said tasks.

Second, haggling over 'temporary' versus 'permanent' misses the whole point of the discussion. While there is an immediate boost in terms of jobs created, even if it's for the short-term, there's also a long-term investment being put in place. The infrastructure laid or renovated through this program will provide increased opportunity for future economic development (as well as provide a much-needed cash stimulus to the works who, in turn, will put their new earnings back into the economy).

Oh well

2008-12-17T21:18:00.002-05:00

OK, here's a fabulously bad move by Barack Obama ... namely because infrastructure investments are a crucial component of his economic recovery plan and tabbing someone from the opposition to head up the agency that has some governance in that area makes absolutely no sense to me.

Again, the pathetic hysterics at Open Left not withstanding, this is the first big move that Obama has made where I'm legitimately disappointed. I wasn't crazy about Robert Gates staying on as Secretary of Defense, but I understand the rationale behind such a pick. This one, though, is just flat-out depressing ... largely because Earl Blumenauer would have been a tremendous pick.

Obama's projects in Athens

2008-12-17T13:22:00.006-05:00

When Barack Obama takes office next January and begins doling out funds for his massive public works stimulus program, rest assured that Athens-Clarke County is at the front of the line.

As Blake profiled last week, the 'Ready To Go' report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors details 14 infrastructure projects from the area that can get rolling as soon as funds arrive. Those 14 projects result in 307 potential new jobs in the area, which would be very welcome during these difficult economic times.

The biggest benefit with regard to jobs would come from one of the smaller financed projects through Phase II of the 'Apron Rehabilitation Project' at Ben Epps Airport. The project would generate 75 jobs in the community.

A pair of projects both project creating 40 jobs respectively in the Trail Creek No. 3 and No. 4 Interceptor Sewer Project and renovations to the Public Utilities Customer Service Center, while 30 jobs can be created through a $5.2 million project at the Shoal Creek/Whit Davis Road Sanitary Sewer Pump Station.

Also included are projects designed to widen Mitchell Bridge Road and realignment its intersection with Athens West Parkway. There's also $750,000 targeted to 'increase fix-route (bus) operating and maintenance funding to help stabilize fare increases; and improve reliability, and increase frequency.'

Another interesting project, one that figures to generate 15 new jobs, is one that would extend public water main lines along public roadways that are currently served by public water service.

In all, Athens-Clarke County has $22.35 million in infrastructure projects in the report.

Local control

2008-12-17T13:12:00.004-05:00

I might deviate from the party line a bit, but I'm not necessarily opposed to this. Well, obviously, I'm not for larger class sizes or cutting teacher pay, but I do like the notion that Gwinnett County wants to give it a go on their own.

Isn't this what Sonny Perdue called for when he ran for office in 2002? More localized control of education? While I can't say that I prescripe to some of the suggestions they've got for their own schools the point is ... it's their own schools.

Here's a great opportunity to put this whole local control thing into action.

Hypocrisy much?

2008-12-17T11:20:00.006-05:00

While there are a variety of reasons why I think the bridge-loan program for the American auto industry didn't pass, it's really odd to see so much attention paid to the unions ... an irrational and unrealistic amount of attention, actually.

Let's consider a few things. This was a $14 billion bridge loan program that was loaded with so much fine print it made your head hurt. It gave targeted low interest loans to the three American automakers. It required they submit a comprehensive plan for restructuring their business and created a 'car czar' that would oversee said restructuring. It set up the terms for lending the money and how it would be paid back to taxpayers (before anything else). And, contrary to popular belief, it involved considerable - and voluntary - concessions from the UAW, including wage and benefit reductions as well as the elimination of the controversial 'Jobs Bank' program.

But this thing died anyway ... largely because Senate Republicans - primarily Southern Senate Republicans who had their own vested interests involved and who fell all over themselves to get behind a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street - simply don't like unions. And, as a result, they've translated their dislike into a petty political strategy that is playing Russian Roulette with not only the lives of the autoworkers, but also the well-being of the American economy.

They wanted the autoworkers to immediately reduce their wages and benefits to bring them in line with Japanese automakers with plants in the United States. Of course, this is a ridiculous suggestion for numerous reasons ...

- I've never found it to be a rationale strategy to regulate the wages of any business or any position in said business, and, typically, that seems to be the Republican-line-of-thinking ... except when it involves unions, of course.

- I don't know why Senate Republicans are so gung-ho to mandate a reduction in wages for these workers, but balked at capping CEO compensation in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. For that matter, why didn't we start reducing the salaries of financial advisors and bankers as a part of TARP? Why aren't their salaries the reason the economy is being dragged under?

- UAW was willing to reduce wages and benefits over a phased period of time culminating in 2011 when the next agreement would be negotiated between the manufacturers and workers. This has been an arrangement that has worked for close to a century in a variety of industries, yet Senate Republicans were all to eager to toss away their supposed economic ideology in lieu of sticking a thumb in the eyes of workers.

- An immediate reduction in wages and benefits would also, potentially, do more harm than good ... largely because the cost of living in the Great Lakes region is 20 to 30 percent higher than in the South, where foreign car companies are concentrated. The existing salaries of UAW workers are roughly - surprise, surprise - 20 to 30 percent higher than those in the South. As a result, suddenly bringing their salaries in line with those workers would make them significantly worse off than their Southern counterparts, thus drastically impacting their ability to live in what is the worst economic crisis since the 1920s and 1930s.

This whole 'blame-the-unions' mantra that's coming from so many Southern Republicans these days is nothing more than blatant personal disdain seeping its way into how we conduct business (and, I would suggest, one of the main reasons why Republicans suffered such drastic losses the past few years).

Again, there seems to be a rationale case made for the bridge-loan program as there seems to be one for letting the companies go through bankruptcy, but blaming unions for the woes of the American auto industry is as grand of a misdiagnosis as I've ever seen.

But it's not funny

2008-12-17T10:36:00.003-05:00

While I give Sonny Perdue credit for being willing to utilize bonds as a way to generate some localized economic stimulus, on pretty much everything else I just don't think he's got a clue.

And this latest 'Go Fish' nonsense makes me think he's come completely unhinged ...

“Some have laughed at Go Fish, some even in the media have laughed at this program,” said Perdue. “This is the first example of Georgia having the last laugh. Frankly, that’s because this is what we envisioned.”

Landing a singular tournament two years into your pet project that yields only a fraction of the initial investment? All the while you're telling every state department to cut back on spending by eight percent? That's a success?

This man has lost his mind.

Andre watch

2008-12-17T10:26:00.004-05:00

Today, our favorite boy-who-just-wants-to-be-loved is waxing poetic about Jim DeMint from South Carolina ... he of the not-believing-gays-or-single-mothers-should-be-allowed-to-teach-in-public-schools and let's-bail-out-Wall-Street-but-screw-over-the-American-auto-industry-because-of-my-personal-dislike-of-unions fame.

Again, Erick and the boys are keeping that seat at the GOP table warm for you ... just go ahead and make it official.

Borderline inexcusable

2008-12-17T10:06:00.003-05:00

Living in the Athens area grants me the right to say this, but the copy editor who botched this needs to be immediately reprimanded ...

Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis became the second college football player to be a three-time AP All-American, joining Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and star receiver Michael Crabtree on the first team released Tuesday. ...

The only other player to make the AP first-team three times was Pittsburgh offensive lineman Bill Fralic (1982-84), according to STATS LLC.

Um, really? ...

Among the other players to make the AP first-team three times were San Diego State running back Marshall Faulk (1991-93), Pittsburgh offensive lineman Bill Fralic (1982-84), Georgia running back Herschel Walker (1980-82) and Pittsburgh defensive end Hugh Green (1978-80).

Mid-day roundup

2008-12-16T14:45:00.002-05:00

Organizing a few things ...

CDBG
- The CDBG Situation: A Primer

Upcoming Recycling Changes
- Economic woes hurt going green
- Additional recycling thoughts

The CDBG situation: A primer

2008-12-16T14:04:00.001-05:00

There's a likely battle on the horizon as the East Athens Development Corporation and Hancock Corridor Development Corporation have both reapplied for chunks of funding from the 2009 Community Development Block Grant allocation. And the discussion as already begun as this editorial rightfully questions whether or not either organization has made substantial progress to grant said funding.

It's important to try and understand the nuances of how CDBG money can be allocated and what it can be spent on. This year, the community should receive a little less than $1.5 million in total CDBG funds, and no more than 15 percent of that total can be dedicated to expenditures on public services.

Athens-Clarke County Human and Economic Development expects that 15 percent to be approximately $218,320 for 2009. That money is made available for public service agencies as 'Challenge Grants' that are doled out in smaller portions of funding - typically somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 - and limited to three consecutive years of receipt. These grants are distributed by the commission to smaller non-profit organizations (such as the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens) and are what most folks perceive CDBG funding to be (and where some of the most difficult decisions come into play).

Athens-Clarke County District Four Commissioner Alice Kinman was instrumental in changing the policy of how the Challenge Grants were awarded, and she noted this in an email ...

There is no cap, although they are three-year grants. I think that the first group of Challenge Grant recipients were capped at whatever their current allocation was. But the ultimate goal is to give fewer agencies more funds for "start-up" purposes.

Also, regarding the 15 percent for public services ... it is not required that 15 percent be designated for public services. The commission could opt to allocate all of the funding for things like public facility improvements or affordable housing and not support any agencies through Challenge Grants. Obviously, that wouldn't be a terribly popular move and, to be clear, isn't one the commission has ever entertained.

HUD permits spending on public services to exceed 15 percent in approved neighborhood revitalization areas, and Athens-Clarke County has two of those in East Athens and the Hancock Corridor. This is largely why EADC and HCDC came into being so they could, in theory, take advantage of this exception and effectively utilize those funds in those areas. Their struggles to do that, of course, led the such scrutiny last year and subsequent reduction in funding by the Athens-Clarke County Commission.

Those organizations, however, do not have any explicit right to said funding, and, as Rob Trevena from HED pointed out to me via email, funds do not have to be allocated for public services in those targeted areas ...

We are not required by regulation to fund EADC or HCDC, nor are we required to specify funding targeted to the HUD-approved neighborhood revitalization zones. ACC could fund any of the other applications, so in that respect the agencies are competing against all other applications.

The designation of those census tracts enable organizations like EADC or HCDC to obtain larger sums of funding to provide public services to citizens who live in those designated areas. It's a way to get around some of the regulatory mumbo-jumbo and allows agencies to offer things like budget counseling or financial assistance or youth tutoring (all public services), provided those services are specific to the census tracts.

Now, those are the only regulatory requirements that deal with those targeted areas, and the remaining 85 percent of allocated funding could be employed in a variety of ways (with a percentage dedicated to program administration). They can used for economic development, affordable housing or public facility improvements and, based on the information I've received, those funds are not restricted to East Athens or Hancock Corridor.

It's a wise move to take advantage of the exception because it enables CDBG funds to be spent on necessary public services above and beyond the cap in an underserved community, so arguably it's appropriate that some funding be designated there. However, it seems a disproportionate amount has gone there in recent years and, quite frankly, not be spent wisely by those two organizations.

What's largely been the problem is that EADC and HCDC have received this funding for so long, it's drowned out the competition for other organizations seeking to obtain those funds. The commission's desire to bring additional agencies into the fold and hold others accountable for their efficiency and effectiveness has resulted in roughly 30 agencies seeking funding.

For the Challenge Grant, currently 13 non-profits are funded and, according to Trevena, all 13 are seeking renewed funding. In addition, nine other non-profits have submitted requests for Challenge Grant funding. Neither EADC or HCDC are among those 22 agencies seeking Challenge Grant funding.

Why it matters to some

2008-12-16T09:09:00.004-05:00

Just to be clear, I wouldn't know Andre from Adam, but I do think he's dishonest, self-serving and all too eager to throw his own side under the bus to make other people like him and advance his own personal ambitions. To top it off, I think he routinely makes oversimplified arguments that offer baseless criticism and do nothing but make only a handful of the most extreme right-wing conservatives go 'that's right ... finally one of those guys gets it right!'

Back in July, Andre criticized the Democratic Party of Georgia for voting for one African-American DNC representative out of four possible elected slots, or 25 percent. Again, to be clear, this representation is far worse than the Republicans having one African-American represent them out of 15 possible slots, or six percent. That stellar ratio is 'awesome' in Andre's eyes.

There's a reason his link isn't included on my blogroll anymore ... or at Tondee's Tavern ... or at Atlanta Public Affairs ... or at a whole host of progressive-leaning blogs in this state. And that's largely because of what Grift highlights in 'Blog Stories of the Year' Countdown ...

That the original sinner did not participate in these conversations and instead allowed others to defend a community stained by his actions did not pass unnoticed.

Time will tell if the actions of one blogger will be used as a cautionary tale in future judgments of the community, but as we will shortly see, the power of the medium cannot be contained and retrograde movements can be followed by massive leaps forward.

In the past two weeks, Andre has advocated for kicking folks out on the street during the holidays, baselessly criticized the preveiling economic consensus that public works spending can be used as an economic stimulus and levied reckless and unwarrented criticism against Jane Kidd absent of any facts or investigation ... all at a Republican-leaning blog, mind you.

Now, making silly accusations and weak defenses isn't alien to Andre, as after he was outed for not disclosing what candidates he was on staff for he tried to deflect criticism by blasting the Atlanta Progressive News for selling ads to candidates. Regardless, he was rightfully booted from Peach Pundit for such impropriety ... though, after the election, he magically reappeared on the front page after apparently making some sweetheart deal with Erick that he becomes their resident Zell Miller.

Pathetic

2008-12-16T08:35:00.001-05:00

Mother of God you wanker, just go ahead and switch parties then. You're already carrying their water, just go ahead and make it official.

Additional recycling thoughts

2008-12-16T08:23:00.002-05:00

In light of yesterday's news that processing fees will exceed falling recycling revenues - thus prompting Suki Janssen to suggest to me that some hard decisions are in the future for Athens-Clarke County's recycling program, including either rate increases or a scaling back of non-traditional recycling programs - I contacted Athens-Clarke County District Eight Commissioner Kelly Girtz. Girtz has long been a proponent of an expanded recycling effort in order to make the community reach the 'Zero Waste' goal, and he shared some thoughts that I'll just post verbatim here ...

I've been following the recycling markets story for a few weeks, and even used the recent NY Times piece for a case study of the complexities of supply-and-demand in the high school Econ class I teach. Recycling professionals have mentioned that the market was over-inflated at its peak, so this downturn in markets might be seen as perhaps an over-correction. Whatever the vagaries of the market last week, today or next year, some core ideas should be at the center of our conversation about production and recycling.

A key issue that policy-makers (ideally on a state or national level) should be discussing is the issue of producer responsibility for products and their packaging. As long as we produce and consume so much paper, plastic, metal and glass material, we are going to have to find something to do with it, whether it is landfilling, down-cycling, littering, recycling or reusing. Manufacturers should be asked to plan from the start how a product or package can be fully recycled. Why is it even permissable to produce material that cannot easily be recycled? Those microscopic 3s, 4s, and 5s in the little "recycle me" triangles on plastics are like a promise unfulfilled (why do you taunt me so, oh plastic clamshell?). To continue our pattern of end-of-the-line manufacturing is to ask for continued trouble.

My first brush with this issue was during a skirmish in the music industry in the '80s when I was a clerk in a record store. Compact discs sold in the U.S. came in what the industry termed "longboxes" - cardboard sleeves wrapped in plastic that would stand up in bins designed for LPs. It was only through public outcry and lots of wrangling that the industry agreed to eliminate this superfluous packaging (notably, long after their European counterparts). Trust me, the cash you made on Ebay selling your Neil Young longboxes still isn't worth the cost of all the material that went to waste.

These days, it is hard for me not to notice all the extra crap littering our stores. Next time you are out shopping for tools, toys, clothes, or whatnot, check out the volume of packaging: shrink wrap, cardboard inserts, hard plastic shells, styrofoam backing, etc., etc., etc. All of this stuff is extractive - largely from trees and crude oil. As long as this is the norm, we are going to have the back-end problems now plaguing us as we seek markets for recyclables. If instead, producers have to be responsible for taking back the waste they wrought, or paying someone else to take it back, we may begin to see broader reform and diminishing angst over what to do with all the stuff piling up in our homes, landfills and recycling centers.

Back to the local issue, though - how do we operate right now with falling prices for the recyclables we collect? Well, we sure don't return to dumping it in a hole in the ground. We may have to warehouse some of the material for a time, and suck-up the cost. Even in immediate monetary terms, the community will still benefit, as landfilling costs $42 a ton, much more than handling recyclables, even if we don't make the profits we saw over the last few years. We may also modify the recycling system to make it more effiient and more effective. A consideration under discussion is single-stream processing, which could lower processing costs. In addition, we know that many markets are cyclical, and will recover in time. The water and energy savings found in recycling materials rather than using virgin commodities also remain in place.

So, to everyone: please continue to recycle, but be mindful of materials you consume from the front-end. Use a reuseable coffee cup instead of a paper cup. Refill that water jug rather than buying a bottle of water. Limit printer paper by printing on the reverse side. Carry cloth bags to the grocery store. Buy used stuff. And if your favorite gadget seems padded with extra packaging, send a quick email to the company asking them to cut back.

Happy Birthday

2008-12-16T08:07:00.002-05:00

My buddy Tim is a huge Orioles fan and, understandably so, is also a huge Cal Ripken Jr. fan. It turns out that Ripken and his brother, Billy Ripken, also have a satellite radio show that airs on Saturdays. Tim's wife, The Wife's former college roommate and longtime friend Carrie enjoyed calling in to said show and, on numerous occasions, actually got through.

Apparently there was one time where the conversation turned to a thermos - yes, a thermos - and Carrie, in her generosity, opted to send Billy Ripken a thermos. He received it, they discussed it on the air and to this date, if Carrie calls in, they let her right through and refer to her as 'Thermos Girl' or something like that.

There's no real reason to pass this story on aside from the fact that today is Billy Ripken's 44th birthday.

Economic woes hurt going green

2008-12-15T13:53:00.003-05:00

The economic crisis has had far-reaching consequences, and now it's even thrown into flux the recycling world. Athens-Clarke County, for quite some time, has been a remarkable model of efficiency when it comes to its recycling efforts. The community has routinely turned a profit, but that won't happen this year.

They just sent out a press release noting that the tonnages for recycling in the community have gone up, but revenues have dropped off. This can be explained by noting that the recycling market has been enjoying remarkable highs, and those highs meant healthy revenues for all.

The market, though, has finally slowed ...

In mid-October, the Asian markets ceased taking recyclables from the United States which has caused a drastic decline in market prices. Needless to say, with production of consumer goods slowing that means less demand, hence lower prices for recyclable materials that provide the raw materials for new products.

As a result, the processing fees for the recycling program will be greater than the revenue brought in.

Via an email exchange, Suki Janssen from the Athens-Clarke County Recycling Division helped explain what this means for users ...

For the remainder of FY09 (fiscal year), we will have to use our new initiative money to pay the processing fees. As of November, we still had revenue coming in (just far less). But December until ?? we are projecting we will have to pay.

We are in the process of doing our FY10 budget and have taken this into account when budgeting for next year. This may mean a reduction in non-traditional recycling programs and other programmatic expenses in the future or (the Mayor and Commission) may have to approve an additional transfer of funds to the Recycling Division from the Landfill Enterprise fund or rate increases to residents. All options will be on the table next year.

Janssen said she is optimistic the global markets for recycling and its products will rebound in due time, but the coming months look to be ones full of some difficult choices. According to statistics provided by the Athens-Clarke County Public Information Office, there are more than 40,000 recycling jobs in Georgia and 50-plus in Athens-Clarke County.

Crunching numbers

2008-12-15T13:19:00.002-05:00

Apparently, MARTA is the hole, and Creative Loafing puts out some numbers on MARTA's situation, and lots of them are fascinating.

For instance, this past year is only the second time ridership has increased at MARTA (largely due to the struggling economy, rapid urbanization of Atlanta and high fuel prices), and it soared by 11.5 percent. In addition, Atlanta is the only major metro area whose public transit agency gets no help from the state.

A bigger issue

2008-12-15T11:12:00.003-05:00

Just to follow up on Flack's point regarding the state's share of education spending ... it seems to me that this is part of a grand plan is to compel the local school boards to cut spending. The problem, of course, is that local school boards recognize the struggles they face on a daily basis in terms of resources, infrastructure and the like, thus necessitating their intent to fully fund their schools through property tax increases.

This refusal - rightly so I might add - to bow to budget slashing fever has prompted the

So, in turn, the state government wants local communities to take a more active role in managing its schools (that was one of the governor's central campaign themes in 2002). However, when the local communities respond by determining that full funding is necessary and cuts to public education shouldn't be made, thus resulting in increased millage rates ... the state government wants to take authority away from local communities by proposing things like restricting property assessment values or elminating the property tax (and having revenues raised by a regressive sales tax that would funnelled to Atlanta for dispersement to local communities).

The crux of the problems confronting the state government the past six years isn't so much assigned to one particular problem. What it is, however, is a rebellion by local communities against the ruling party in state government who initially aimed to give said communities more authority, but simply didn't like what those communities did with it.

Necessary referencing

2008-12-15T08:37:00.004-05:00

To provide some context, clarification and sourcing from some of the data used in my letter, here is a collection of writings, graphs and pertinent data.

Paul Krugman ...

Now, there’s a whole intellectual industry, mainly operating out of right-wing think tanks, devoted to propagating the idea that F.D.R. actually made the Depression worse. So it’s important to know that most of what you hear along those lines is based on deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. The New Deal brought real relief to most Americans.

That said, F.D.R. did not, in fact, manage to engineer a full economic recovery during his first two terms. This failure is often cited as evidence against Keynesian economics, which says that increased public spending can get a stalled economy moving. But the definitive study of fiscal policy in the '30s, by the M.I.T. economist E. Cary Brown, reached a very different conclusion: fiscal stimulus was unsuccessful "not because it does not work, but because it was not tried."

Edge of the West ...

The problem is, Tabarrok quotes the old, bicentennial edition of HSUS. And in that edition, you find Lebergott’s unemployment data, which was assembled before Michael Darby, Robert Margo, and David Weir’s work. As Tabarrok should know, and as readers of this site do know, in the current edition of HSUS, when you look for an unemployment time series, you find Weir’s ...

"For 1931 to 1943, I accept Lebergott’s employment estimates as accurate, except for a major conceptual conflict regarding the classification of federal emergency relief workers. Darby challenged the standard classification followed by the census, the CPS, and Lebergott that counted such workers unemployed. Lebergott has argued eloquently that counting them as unemployed is a more accurate depiction of the failure of the private economy to generate unemployment. Margo has found that the labor supply behavior of relief workers shared some characteristics of both employed and unemployed workers, and suggests that at least some should probably be classified as employed. In the absence of a clear basis for distinguishing employed from unemployed relief workers, I agree with Darby that counting all relief workers as employed is more consistent with modern theoretical interpretations of unemployment, so I include them as government workers."

Edge of the West ...

This phrase, "after almost a decade of governmental 'pump priming,'" is a problem, too, because it means "after all this pump-priming". But that's not right. As E. Cary Brown long ago wrote, and as most economic historians know,

"Fiscal policy, then, seems to have been an unsuccessful recovery device in the ’thirties—not because it did not work, but because it was not tried."

Which is to say, there was never enough spending to achieve the desired effect. People who know about the New Deal know this—know about Roosevelt’s reluctance to implement direct relief programs, know about the dissolution of CWA in 1934, know the WPA came only in 1935, know that Roosevelt cut it back in 1937-38, know that Keynes wrote Roosevelt in February of 1938 to criticize him for insufficient relief spending for this very reason.

People who don’t know these things are ignorant; people who know these things and say otherwise owing to constraints of space or audience are misleading; people who do so in an outright dishonest way that uses extra words to conceal the facts are lying.

Published

2008-12-15T08:20:00.003-05:00

Oh ... and I had a letter published in the Athens Banner-Herald regarding the New Deal.

The comments accompanying said letter are - to be expected - juvenille, misinformed and grossly inaccurate. In fact, most of them offer silly criticisms that I already addressed, but, hey, what can you do?

Programming update

2008-12-15T08:12:00.004-05:00

Apologies again for the spotty postings last week, but we were dealing with a double ear infection, a chest cold and three days of fever with The Kid. She got to feeling better by Wednesday night, but that ultimately meant she was home for the remainder of the week ... which was fun in its own right as by Friday was back to her regular self.

Fortunately my mom was able to get away and lend a much-needed and much-appreciated hand during the week so The Wife and I could focus, somewhat, on our usual professional obligations during the week.

Also ... The Wife turned 30 on Friday (and lived to tell about it).

Who's hungry?

2008-12-14T17:48:00.003-05:00

Proof the internet is the great equalizer ... via Doug I've discovered that the wife from the Sonic commercials has her own blog, which is fairly awesome.

An interesting debate

2008-12-14T14:20:00.003-05:00

This column by Richard Vedder concerning efficient spending in Georgia's higher education system was one of the more interesting reads I've had in while. I think some of his suggestions have merit, some need more discussion and some don't add up for me.

For instance, Vedder makes valid points regarding boosting enrollment at technical schools to save money, noting that roughly 40 percent of students who enroll in undergraduate studies don't actually graduate. Shifting those students to two-year colleges where they can acquire the necessary skills to be a member of a competitive workforce is a logical suggestion.

As is his argument to increase the opportunities for junior and senior high school students to earn concurrent credit for college, thus limiting their time in undergraduate studies and streamlining their efforts to reach graduate school.

However, Vedder loses me on his latter three proposals. He contends that administrative staffs need to be reduced and, in theory, I don't disagree. The goal of college, rightfully, is to educate its studies and advance research and learning opportunities, but to fulfill that mission a variety of support positions are essential to its success. And, seeing how private fundraising is becoming more and more of a crucial component of the health and viability of our public universities, it's not plausible to make broad swipes to many administrative functions.

To be fair, I somewhat have a dog in this fight. I've worked at two different academic units at the University of Georgia in a public relations/fundraising capacity, and both of those functions are essential to the success. From my experiences, most of the functions require the necessary staff and resources to execute that mission. I'm not arguing that efficiency can't be achieved or that positions can't be streamlined, but I don't.

Furthermore, I think Vedder's commentary on this particular topic is somewhat naive. And by that I mean that - as I noted earlier - he's right in saying that universities and colleges have an 'institutional mission of instruction and research.' However, there's a larger philosophical issue at work here that needs more exploration than one bullet point in one column in that said mission has, to some extent, seen the necessity of positive publicity and sufficient private fundraising become fixed to it.

I briefly worked at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in their development office, and they've currently got 10 people dedicated to their fundraising efforts ... and I'd argue for the necessity of each one of those positions given the size of the college and the imperativeness of raising revenue (and how said revenue flows right back to research and learning opportunities).

Regarding the other two points Vedder raises - transparency in state activities and private partners providing some student-based services - I have similar mixed feelings. Well, not so much on the former as I think transparency is good, and my contention is that a lot of which he requests actually is available (so I could concede a streamlining approach).

The latter, however, I have a hard time agreeing with. For starters, as I've argued before, there is no reason to assume that the private sector can provide certain services more efficiently or at a higher quality aside from the fact that it seems to be widely accepted by most conservative policymakers. I'm not saying that such efficiency or quality doesn't happen, but there's little data to suggest that it happens as regularly or frequently as its proponents claim it does (and beginning your assertion with 'as a rule' doesn't mean you've offered sufficient evidence to back up your claim).

What would happen if, say, the University of Georgia got out of the food service industry is that a significantly greater cost would be thrust upon the students and their families. The same would happen with regard to housing seeing how it's less expensive for students to live in a dorm compared to an apartment (though, for understandable lifestyle reasons, most typically opt for the latter at some point during their time at UGA).

It's an interesting column, and they kind that's needed to generate pragmatic discussion about these issues. I don't necessarily agree with Vedder, but it's good that he's putting these issues out there.

Scary, but funny

2008-12-14T13:22:00.003-05:00

I'm glad it wasn't something more serious, but this is really, really odd ...

But his appearance at a news conference here was interrupted by a man, apparently a journalist, who leaped to his feet and threw one shoe at the president, who ducked and narrowly missed being struck. Chaos ensued. He threw a second shoe, which also narrowly missed Mr. Bush. The man was roughly 12 feet from the lecturn in the center of two rows ofchairs, about two feet from a pool of reporters. A scrum of security agents descended on the man and wrestled him, first to the floor and then out of the ornate room where the news conference was taking place. The president was uninjured and brushed off the incident. “All I can report is it is a size 10,” he said jokingly. An Iraqi accompanying the pool of reporters, colleague said the man had shouted, “This is a farewell kiss, dog.”

Randy Jackson's in the pool of reporters?

Wow

2008-12-14T08:16:00.002-05:00

Does Auburn really think Gene Chizek is gonna do better than Tommy Tuberville? I mean, I don't know why you'd fire a guy who went through a 5-7 season that is clearly an anamoly based on the previous nine years of his tenure (of course, aside from the fact the Tigers absolutely panicked when they saw the success Nick Saban had at Alabama).

But Chizek? Not only does recent evidence suggest he's going to have a rough go of it at Auburn via his 5-19 record at Iowa State, but he just completely decapitated that program by stripping various coordinators of their coaching responsibilities and firing other members of the coaching staff there earlier this week.

And we're to believe Chizek is a better option than Turner Gill or Gary Patterson or Charlie Strong ... coaches with proven track records of success? I mean, more power to Auburn, but I don't see this gambit working out for them.

Not surprising

2008-12-13T16:31:00.004-05:00

I just ran across this, but Jim Marshall apparently voted for throwing tons of money at Wall Street but voted against the bridge loan program for the American automobile industry.

I'd say color me shocked, but actually there's nothing at all surprising about Marshall diving to the right to garner political cover.

Sorting it out

2008-12-12T13:02:00.005-05:00

I'm just trying to embrace the logic that led Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss to vote for a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street but oppose a $14 billion bridge loan to American automakers.

Randomly throwing insanely large sums of money with little to no strings attached is apparently responsible fiscal policy, while providing a loan with considerable stipulations attached is lunacy.

Again, I'm not entirely sold on the House/White House bridge loan plan, but it's arguably more rational than TARP which Isakson and Chambliss fell all over to sign up for.

And it seems like it has a better chance of succeeding rather than TARP as here in Georgia the concept of throwing more cash at banks has not removed the risks involved with lending said cash our during times of economic crisis.

Coming around

2008-12-12T10:27:00.002-05:00

Well, it's refreshing to see some additional scrutiny regarding Dickens-Gate.

Though, I'm not sure this is accurate ...

Oconee residents so far haven't complained too strongly about the allegations against Dickens or the school system's response.

But the silence prompted one Watkinsville resident, Linda Zeagler, to write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper blasting the school system and questioning why parents, if they knew about the relationship, didn't come forward with the information.

Yep, it ain't like anyone has been talking about this.

A bad idea, ctd.

2008-12-11T17:02:00.004-05:00

Following up on my thoughts on the tax-incentive-to-buy-vehicles idea, I also think the opposition to the bridge-loan program based on unions is faulty.

Among other things, the alternate plan offered by Mr. Corker calls for giving the holders of bonds issued by the auto companies 30 cents on the dollar to ease the companies’ debt burden; immediately bringing workers’ wages in line with foreign companies like Nissan and Volkswagen; and forcing the United Automobile Workers to eliminate payments to workers after their jobs have been eliminated.

Largely, this is an ideological disagreement that doesn't really have any grounding in the actual realities of the situation. For starters, the job bank which so many folks have been up in arms about has already been eliminated (and, I should note, for rather good reasons since it was an imperfect concept). But, again, hurting the unions doesn't address the larger problem ... namely that the American Big Three weren't selling products that were competitive in the market.

Making the workers at these companies earn less during troubled economic times is nothing more than wanting to stick your thumb in the eye of a collection of folks who think differently than you. Whether or not you believe the agreements made with the unions were bad ideas isn't at issue here. The point is those deals are not the faults of the unions, but rather the CEOs of the companies (which is one reason I wish the House/White House plan was stronger in terms of restructuring powers).

Reducing the wages of workers is a short-term fix - and, again, one that UAW has been completely open to - but it doesn't do anything to change the faulty corporate mentality that existed in those companies. In fact, it would do the exact opposite of what is needed by reinforcing this notion of being only concerned about today rather than look down the road and focus on being viable tomorrow.

'If not this ...'

2008-12-11T12:59:00.002-05:00

I always thought that Doc Eldridge was asking the right question when he said 'if not this, then what' during a public hearing for NBAF, and it was really good to see his thoughts on how to answer that inquiry.

The most glaring thing that must be addressed - and the recent decision from the state to award a $3.1 million grant to launch a career academy in Athens-Clarke County is a great start - is that concerning the area's workforce. Time and time again, one of the rationales given by businesses for passing over this area is the lack of a properly trained workforce.

I'd also like to see everyone get a little more hands-on - from the elected official to the 'Average Joe' on the street - in attracting business to the community. Sitting back and waiting on projects to land in our laps is a faulty strategy, and I'm optimistic the regional economic group that's being proposed can really addressed this situation.

I was in Augusta recently, and we swung by The Fresh Market. Seeing how it's my favorite grocery store, I picked up franchising information not so I could launch another business venture, but rather so I could begin a dialogue on why it is we don't have one in this area (I still say it's maddening one hasn't located in the Homewood Hills Shopping Center). The folks I contacted to express my desire for having one locate here were gracious enough, arguably surprised and seemed pleased to hear of my support, and they noted that this area has been on their long-term growth plan ... and they said if folks want one to come there, to let them know because community demand and enthusiasm is a huge factor when they opt to expand.

Now, I ain't saying that I'm going to singlehandedly bring The Fresh Market here or that one service-based business is going to remedy our economic development woes. What I am saying is that it's important to be a part of the discussion, even if you're just a guy who writes a blog.

And that attitude should permeate throughout our approach to this. Personally, I'd like to see us develop some undeveloped corridors as distribution centers (the Highway 441 area leading out toward Commerce seems like it would be a good place to launch some sort of 'distrution park'), and I'm going to sound like a broken record as I again advocate for a concerted plan to transform the entire Northeast Georgia into a hub of the emerging green economy. You've got the manufacturing and research base in Athens-Clarke County and the necessary rural components in the surrounding counties.

The point being ... it's time to not only have a productive conservation on what we ought to do, it's also time to actually get that plan in place and start implementing it.

A bad idea

2008-12-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

Granted, O.C. Welch is resorting to hysterics to sell his cars and is now openly questioning the intelligence of the American consumer who, oddly enough, desires a fuel-efficient car that doesn't require as many trips to the service shop over his line of Ford products.

This, to me, is why the argument against the proposed bridge loan program for the American auto industry and for tax incentives for consumers to buy the existing stock of G.M. and Ford vehicles doesn't add up. If you incentivize the purchase of these cars, you're not addressing the real problem. All you're doing is encouraging people to buy bad cars, thus prompting them to keep making said bad cads, rather than provide the necessary restructuring of the industry.

Double-down

2008-12-11T09:57:00.003-05:00

Georgia Republicans are apparently digging on doubling-down on a failed economic approach ...

You can’t borrow your way to prosperity. If we want to stimulate the economy, let’s reduce spending, taxes, and unnecessary regulation.

Quite simply, there is little to any verifiable research or data to support such methods ever stimulating economic development. Sure, it sounds good and has morphed into rigid dogma for many conservatives today, particularly at the state level, but it doesn't hold up against mountains of contrary statistical evidence.

I've argued this before, but relying solely on tax cuts to generate economic development and revenue growth is a foolish strategy.

Again, Georgia has averaged eight percent a year of revenue growth for more than 20 years during non-recession years. In order to satisfy existing public spending commitments, you'd have to see an increase of 11 percent to 15 percent revenue growth, which assumes a massive increase in economic development.

Both assumptions are unprecedented as the largest revevenue growth in Georgia over the past 20 years was 10 percent. Given our current economic situation, drastically scaling back on investments (which actually hinders economic development) won't get it done.

And given the fact that we have a balanced budget in Georgia, any time we cut taxes, we have to reduce spending. When we reduce spending, we scale back our investments in education, infrastructure, quality of life, utilities, etc. and etc. That, ultimately, results in a worse climate for economic development than one with lower taxes.

Gov. Sonny Perdue's bond proposal is a valid one largely because it can enable the Georgia General Assembly to provide short-term, targeted relief while maintaining a modicum of investment in infrastructure and education.

Rethinking SPLOST

2008-12-11T08:49:00.003-05:00

I think this editorial is mostly right, but I'd like to see the state and local governments begin thinking about using methods like bonds to fund human capital projects as well.

The same goes for SPLOST. Currently, funding raised from SPLOST must be used for capital projects (i.e. infrastructure or buildings), but it would be refreshing for a legislator in Atlanta to say 'why can't we tinker with this thing to give local communities more flexibility to support additional projects?' Consider if Athens-Clarke County could use SPLOST revenues to fund, say, the health care component of OneAthens? Or if Oconee County could invest it into a comprehensive economic redevelopment plan for Bishop?

Right now we keep building buildings and laying roads - all vital needs for our communities that also create jobs - but, as the editorial notes, what about filling those school classrooms with teachers or parks with the appropriate staff? I don't know if I'd be fully for using SPLOST revenues for general operating costs, but I do think they should be considered to fund special programs.

Pot meet kettle

2008-12-11T08:43:00.002-05:00

Mike Duncan is pathetic ...

Americans voted for change. Barack Obama promised that he would have the most open and honest administration and transition in history. But that's not what we're getting. What we're getting is the same old politics out of Chicago. ... If he really wants to be transparent, if he truly is wanting to do the right thing and move the country forward, he has got to talk about his relationship with Rezko and with the governor. He's got to come clean and have a press conference where he talks about what they've done in the past, the help that they've done, conversations that they've done.

While the whole Blago debacle is comical enough, the Republicans falling all over themselves to tie Obama to this mess - despite the fact that, you know, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest a link and it's becoming more and more clear that an Obama official turned Blago in - is almost as hysterical.

Blogging Blago

2008-12-10T19:29:00.002-05:00

After receiving a gentle prodding from a friend, I figured I would chime in on this whole Rod Blagovich thing.

Namely ... the level of corruption is almost comical. It's like a weird Zucker brothers film. I mean, to borrow a suggestion I saw at TPM, I can almost see Steve Carell playing Blago - naturally like Brick Tamland - in an upcoming made-for-TV movie.

On a related note, I feel this is as good as a time as any to put up the 'Sex Panther' scene from Anchorman.

There's always a 'but' ...

2008-12-10T12:25:00.004-05:00

OK, so there's good news and bad news ...

The good news is that Gov. Sonny Perdue is open to using bonds to generate fiscal stimulus for our state economy, which is something I'd like to see done at the local level as well (though I'll expand on that at a later time). Given that this is some measure of Keynesian economics, I'm naturally inclined to think this is the right action during such difficult economic times.

The bad news?

Perdue and Cagle both cast the recession as a chance to streamline and scale back government.

"I think we have an opportunity to come out of this downturn, frankly, with better value, more efficient and better able to serve Georgians' needs than ever before," Perdue said.

I'm all for a more efficient government, but I'm not exactly filled with confidence or optimism given the performance of the past few years. All I've seen are drastic and haphazard cuts to vital services coupled with increasing levels of difficulty to access said services. There's nothing terribly efficient about our state government, particularly based on the past six years.

It seems to me that for too many folks, 'more efficient' means 'reckless cuts to necessary investments.'

Yes and no

2008-12-10T12:19:00.004-05:00

I have mixed feelings regarding this editorial because while I agree with it, I also kinda disagree with it.

On one hand, I think it's much appreciated that, in lieu of pay raises for state employees, that our state legislators forgo their cost-of-living increases for 2009. Sure, it's largely a symbolic gesture, but it's also made with the right sentiment.

Then again ... it does save only $100,000 or so, which is a drop in the bucket. And the rest of the savings come from six percent cuts across the board, including deep cuts in what should be vital areas of investment like infrastructure and education. At the very least, the lawmakers should have opted to take a pay cut that was equal to what they were asking of each department.

Sound criticism

2008-12-09T14:27:00.003-05:00

While this Political Insider post deals largely with the chances of Roy Barnes running for governor in 2010, it also deals with some issues that have been on my mind as of late regarding our state's economic development efforts ...

Barnes didn’t mention (Gov. Sonny) Perdue, the man who beat him — not by name. But there’s no question buyer’s remorse would be a major part of any campaign strategy.

“What scares the business community, and I understand it completely, is if [Georgia] ever gets labeled as a state that can not address and solve its own problems, then our growth future is going to be very dim,” he said.

“If I were governor, I would be very concerned, for example, that the bio-science center is going to Kansas. And we were third behind Kansas and Mississippi.”

(Last week, Perdue pointed to “a small activist minority” in Athens as “the definitive reason” for the loss of the $450 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.)

Barnes's comments parallel this editorial by the Athens Banner-Herald and my thoughts from yesterday, and they further suggest a glaring problem with Perdue's approach to economic development ... namely that he doesn't have a coherent one.

In some areas, we throw an irrational amount of incentive money at prospective businesses hoping we can buy their way here, while in other areas (like NBAF) we fall way short in that department ... all the while, drastically cutting our investments in education, quality of life and infrastructure. Such a herky-jerky strategy has produced mixed results for Georgia with our job growth lagging way behind other states in our region (we had 2.1 percent more jobs in September 2008 than September 2001, while five other Southern states experienced 6.9 percent job growth).

The governor's inability to recognize that other factors outside of a group of protesters - most significantly his slashing of job-enticing investments - played a major role in our missing out on NBAF (and our other economic struggles) is one of the most bizarre disconnects from reality I've seen in a while.

Programming update

2008-12-09T09:23:00.000-05:00

Light posting yesterday and today. The Kid's got a rough cold.

Just to kill him

2008-12-08T10:05:00.003-05:00

I don't know a ton about the Troy Davis case, but it seems to me that Erick and others who think like him simply want to kill Davis largely because a bunch of people who think differently than them have pointed out that almost all of the witnesses who testified against him have recanted their stories.

Davis may be guilty, and he may deserve the death penalty. But it also seems that, given that the bulk of the evidence used to sentence him to death has been called into question, we ought to do another trial. It isn't as if we're just going to let him go free into the night, but rather make him go through a trial to determine if his guilt should hold up.

We shouldn't just kill him because 'it's taking a long time' or because 'people I don't like say he needs a re-trial.' That might have worked back in the day of Caesar, but it shouldn't apply now.

What happened?

2008-12-08T08:21:00.003-05:00

Everyone is speculating why NBAF opted for Kansas over us.

At the end of last week, Gov. Sonny Perdue jumped into the fray and laid the blame at the feet of FAQ, while Blake says he's not entirely believing some of the rationales being tossed out there.

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison was kind enough to weigh in with some of her thoughts, as did OneAthens co-chair Red Petrovs and Athens-Clarke County District Four Commissioner Alice Kinman. We even had some loyal readers getting in on the act, so it's clear everyone has an opinion on this.

Earlier, I shared some thoughts on this as well (and I'm going to expand on those thoughts in a broader context in the coming days).

While all of us are clamoring to figure what the real reason was, it might be important to look at some of the actual rationale given by the Department of Homeland Security ...

The findings for the South Milledge Avenue Site in the Threat and Risk Assessment were found to be comparable to the other Site Alternatives. Based on the lack of proximity to NBAF related research and workforce in comparison to the preferred alternative, the active community opposition, and the lack of a competitive offset package, I did not select the South Milledge Avenue Site as the preferred alternative.

That's why Perdue's hyper-focused criticism of FAQ was beyond ridiculous and potentially suggests a deeper fault between the folks under the Gold Dome and the folks who live out in rest of the state. And you can pick up on this in Davison's comments ...

The KS Governor continued sweetening the pot until it finally reached four times what Georgia and some others were offering. Hard to pass up when many other factors are equal. I wonder what the state spent on the KIA or Daimler Chrysler projects versus what they offered for NBAF. My sense is there is a disconnect between stated support for the biosciences and the resources put into attracting these type of investments to the state.

I don't think FAQ played an overwhelming role in the decision-making process (largely because, if we've learned anything from the Bush Administration, it's that the more unpopular the decision, the more likely they're gonna barrel ahead with it). If the site was most deserving and fit all of the criteria, it would have been the one that was picked. It didn't, and the resulting reports show that.

What are stated as Athens-Clarke County's biggest challenges are the lack of an adequate workforce and an emphasis on poultry science over more integrated biosciences. So, when University of Georgia President Michael Adams says 'it wasn't the science' ... well, guess what? To an extent, it was the science.

Then again, it appears it was a lot of stuff. And, again, we see the lack of a suitable workforce rising to the top as one of this area's biggest weaknesses. If you don't have the appropriate skill sets to fill the jobs, then your prospective business can't do the work.

If the governor's office, as Bert Brantley states in this story is going to stick with middle-of-the-road incentive packages and then rely on 'other strengths like location, workforce and supporting facilities' to land bioscience companies then maybe it should recognize that those 'other strengths' really aren't strengths ... particularly when they keep slashing money from the state budget in areas like job training, adult education, public education, infrastructure and so on and so on.

This should be rather clear to everyone involved, though it's apparently lost on the people actually running Georgia. Consider this presentation for the state's Regional Leadership Institute from Roger Tutterow, a professor of economics at Mercer University. He polled current and prospective business leaders in Georgia and asked them to list the state's biggest weaknesses with regard to economic development.

The results? More than 60 percent said our state's public education system was a hinderance, while more than half noted problems with our workforce. Coming in third was an existing perception of our state having a crime problem. Again, these are all areas that have seen significant cuts in funding in the past six years.

It seems clear that what the governor believes are 'strengths' for this state are consistently viewed as weaknesses by many in the business community, and therein lies the great disconnect. If you can't recognize what the problem is, thus meaning your only answer is to keep doing that which has failed, nothing is going to change.

And if nothing is going to change, then there's only so much that local communities can do to attract the jobs they need to grow their economies.

Relevance factor dropping

2008-12-05T14:53:00.003-05:00

Obviously, there are numerous flaws with Andre's argument - the most pressing being that Jane Kidd still has two years remaining on her term as chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Georgia - but most of them really aren't even worth wasting your breath over, particularly over someone who uses juvenille public criticism as a means of expressing his personal disappointment over being let go from the DPG.

Regardless, this criticism lacks some serious content ...

I’ve looked at every financial disclosure between 2003 and 2006 when Bobby Kahn was the Democratic Party Chair and at no time did the Democratic Party of Georgia have $142,000 worth of debt.

In March of last year, state Democratic Party chair Jane Kidd was quoted as saying, “We made payroll this week but we can’t do it again” [Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Democrats' New Leader Hits The Road", March 9, 2007]. Here’s a newsflash, the Georgia Democratic Party can’t make payroll now. They have $142,000 worth of debt.

Of course, something worth keeping in mind is that Republicans took control of the state in 2002 and consolidated that power in 2004. As a result, donors shifted from the old majority party and flocked to the new one. Add to this the fact that several longtime Democratic elected officials, as is the case in many transitions of power, opted to switch parties and take with them not only their donors, but also the brand they had built up for Democrats in their neck of the woods.

Bobby Kahn presided over an unprecedented time of rapid decline for Democrats in this state in which valuable resources were lost, many of them for good. As a result, the available funding necessary to effectively re-build the party's infrastructure wasn't there and, as we see here after a rather competitive election (in which two Democratic candidates reached runoffs in races they had no business reaching runoffs for), there is some debt the DPG must deal with.

It happens.

The DPG is going to have to do some restructuring, and that will mean probably eliminating some existing positions and outsourcing some of its functions. That isn't necessarily a bad thing either (and Kidd's management of these tasks, I would put forward, are more valuable areas of scrutiny rather than a surface glance of electoral results from the most previous cycle).

Moaning about changing leadership now doesn't make much sense to me, and it comes across more like sour grapes than anything else.

Davison on NBAF

2008-12-05T11:49:00.002-05:00

Some thoughts from Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison on NBAF heading to Kansas via some questions I sent to her ...

What does this mean for the future of our development efforts in the biosciences?
I hope we will continue to pursue biosciences in our economic development recruitment pursuits. To not take advantage and leverage the assets at the University of Georgia, as part of an economic development plan, would be foolish. One aspect many folks have not discussed, although I mentioned it on many occasions and will continue to do so, is that UGA is training future scientists and Athens Tech is training lab technicians. These individuals need jobs, too, and employment opportunities should be sought for them, as well, allowing them to remain in Athens as opposed to leaving the community to find work. Athens has a significant problem with underemployment that must be addressed and one way to do that is to attract jobs to meet a wide variety of skill and interest levels.

The memo noted that FAQ played a role, albeit a minor one. Do you think that was a key factor?
Every community experienced opposition from a group of citizens, as one would expect. So, it's hard to say whether the opposition here was stronger or a key factor. I don't think we'll ever really know the answer. Community acceptance was a requirement from the outset, as stated in the RFP, and based on the draft memo Athens received a 'yellow', which I interpret to mean a mid-point along a spectrum devised by DHS. Given that, my guess is that other factors weighed more heavily.

Kansas largely received the site due its incentive package, which dwarfed ours. Do you think Georgia could have done more to land this project?
I suspect that given the very strong comments, early on, from DHS that they were looking for free land and other incentives to minimize costs, Kansas' package was just too strong to pass up. The KS Governor continued sweetening the pot until it finally reached four times what Georgia and some others were offering. Hard to pass up when many other factors are equal. I wonder what the state spent on the KIA or Daimler Chrysler projects versus what they offered for NBAF. My sense is there is a disconnect between stated support for the biosciences and the resources put into attracting these type of investments to the state.

Items noted by me were the lack of integration among the various sectors of the scientific community and the strong focus on poultry science. These are the topics I would like to discuss more fully with Dr. Lee as we move forward.

I also think it's important to note the initial group of potential sites was 17, narrowed down to 5, with UGA landing in that latter group. Only a strong proposal would have survived that scrutiny so hat's off to Dr. Lee and UGA. This project also pulled together, in a very thoughtful and coordinated way, a team we have not seen before in our economic development efforts. Although one would argue, and I would agree, it's time we see more of this type collaboration but that's another discussion. This has created an excellent foundation upon which we can build a stronger model for pursuing the kinds of projects to satisfy the employment needs noted earlier.

Honesty on vouchers

2008-12-05T09:54:00.007-05:00

I'm not so ideologically closed that I wouldn't get behind the idea of vouchers if there was consistent statistical evidence that showed they aided in test scores and helped students from all sorts of backgrounds, but current evidence doesn't suggest that. I'm all for being pragmatic on some issues, but I just don't think vouchers is where we ought to go at this moment (particularly considering our budget crisis, as Flack notes).

All of that said, I have philosophical issues with such a proposal that are almost as troubling as the practical ones I have. Namely, we have allocated money for public education, and we have set up local school boards to run public schools that are wholly funded by taxpayer money. You may like that concept or you may hate that concept, but that isn't the point right now.

The point is why would we shift to a system that supports both? The money our state spends is dedicated for public education, and any type of voucher program ultimately will take money away from public education and transfer it to private education. That hardly seems to be an efficient use of money, particularly at a time when folks are throwing out all sorts of bad ideas on efficiency in education spending.

Proponents of vouchers, it seems to me, would be better served by saying 'let's get rid of funding specific public schools and give every family in the state $10,000 or whatever so they could attend any school.'

Granted, that's a position that I'd have some issues with, but it's one that seems more honest than deliberately taking money from something that is dedicated for one specific use to fund something which currently doesn't get state funding.

Salvation Army Christmas program

2008-12-05T09:12:00.001-05:00

This was sent to me regarding The Salvation Army's 'Adopt-A-Child' program they do during the Christmas season ...

For as long as I can remember, the Salvation Army in Athens has made sure that less fortunate children and families have something special at Christmas. Last year was the biggest ever when they "adopted" over 300 children.

This year, with the economy in the ditch and people out of work, they have registered 3500 children. A number that boggles the mind.

Please join me and others in our community in helping to provide a memorable Christmas for these children and families that are less fortunate.

If you are already an annual "adopter", consider "adopting two. Those of you who have not participated in the past, please join us and pitch in.

THERE ARE CURRENTLY STILL 600 CHILDREN THAT NEED YOUR HELP!!

If you are interested in participating, you may contact Tammy Mize at (email) tammyjmize@yahoo.com ...

What's good for the goose ...

2008-12-05T09:02:00.004-05:00

Let me preface this by saying I know Willie Green, I like Willie Green and I'm very glad to hear that he was cleared of any wrongdoing. My disagreement with him is over policy, and that policy is the practice of payday lending for which he has lobbied for in the past.

That's why I find this might interesting ...

Green was supposed to earn $40,000 for making the ($80,000) loan, which was to be repaid Feb. 28. But Sailor never had an option to buy the land, supposedly owned by former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones. Jones did not own the land at the time.

Wiltshire said Green's only violation was failing to realize the deal was too good to be true. "The truth is, it was innocent and naive," he said.

Aren't all payday lending schemes too good to be true? You get immediate cash, but then have to pay outrageous levels of interest that leave you worse off? It just seems that, in this case, the tables were turned on him.

I hope this experience forces Green to reconsider his position on the issue seeing how I think predatory lending is a crippling device which keeps poor people even more poor.

What's stunning

2008-12-05T08:51:00.003-05:00

Linda Zeagler had a letter in this week's Oconee Enterprise regarding Dickens-Gate that focuses on how stunned she was by the silence of those around the girl involved in the relationship with Brian Dickens, the now-dismissed coach from Oconee County High School. That's stunning, to be sure.

Then again, I'm more stunned that the Oconee County Board of Education opted to look the other way for two weeks while Dickens coached the Lady Warriors to a state softball title, got rid of him less than two days after claiming the championships and then acted as if they just oversaw the greatest personnel decision in county history (apparently rivaled only by their brilliant decision to pay two superintendents, one of whom didn't actually work, and then deceive the community about it for several months).

Hypotheticals

2008-12-05T08:27:00.003-05:00

OK, here's some random audience participation for Friday drawn from one of the sports radio shows I heard this morning ...

If you had to take over as head coach of one of the following three NFL teams - Oakland, Detroit or Cincinnati - which one would you choose and why?

I'd lean Detroit. You'd get the No. 1 draft pick in 2009 (and with that comes several options), you've got a potential talent at wide receiver in Calvin Johnson who's been underutilized and a little bit of cap room to play with in free agency. Yeah, it's cold, but you're in a dome.

Incentive vs. Investment

2008-12-04T15:50:00.003-05:00

One of the more interesting narratives emerging already from the NBAF decision is that the main reason it opted for Kansas was because of an attractive incentive package. That's been noted by several folks, and it was noted in the draft of the recommendation memo. Still, it's not the only factor, and I think we could do a disservice to our economic development efforts (across the state as a whole) if we fall into the trap of adding even more emphasis to incentives as a viable recruitment tool.

The language from the recommendations reads ...

Based on the lack of proximity to NBAF related research and workforce in comparison to the preferred alternative, the active community opposition, and the lack of a competitive offset package, I did not select the South Milledge Avenue Site as the preferred alternative.

There were three other factors listed as deterrants, all before the mention of the offset package. And one of the ones that keeps emerging is a lack of an appropriate workforce to handle the tasks that would go on at the facility. This isn't the first time Athens-Clarke County has heard this as an excuse as it was a factor that played into the decisions by both Novartis and Solvay to locate elsewhere (though the Solvay bid featured little push by state officials to land the project).

My point being that there must be a necessary balance between offering incentives for businesses and making investments in the community to effectively land businesses, and I would argue that more emphasis needs to be placed on the latter by the state given our woeful job creation numbers the past six years.

Athens gets career academy funding

2008-12-04T14:42:00.000-05:00

In the 'much-needed-good-news' department, the Clarke County School District has received $3.1 million in funding for its proposed Clarke County Career Academy. This is a central component of OneAthens's overall strategy, and last year it was passed over for funding.

From Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle ...

Today we are delivering on our promise to Georgia's students to provide an innovative and relevant approach to education. The partnerships of local school systems, Technical Colleges and area businesses provide an unbelievable launching pad for Georgia students. During these tough economic times, it is now more important than ever to give our students the promise of higher achievement and a path to a successful career. Career academies provide that relevant learning environment and a proven record of high graduation rates and 100% job placement or post secondary opportunities. We have great expectations for the Athens Community Career Academy and the students who will graduate prepared for the 21st century workforce.

Honors and accolades

2008-12-04T11:23:00.002-05:00

A lot of folks are without health insurance. Our per capita public health spending is down 22 percent. We've got more and more air pollution. And a little less than half of our students don't graduate.

Congratulations Georgia, you're in the Top 10 for least healthy states in the country.

Positive trends, actually (Part Two)

2008-12-04T10:20:00.003-05:00

The above image shows the breakdown of how Georgia's 159 counties voted in Tuesday's runoff with red showing counties that backed Saxby Chambliss and blue showing counties that backed Jim Martin. I note this image because RuralDem has posed a question concerning the future of the Democratic Party in Georgia and whether or not the DPG will focus on urban areas, namely Atlanta.

This breakdown would suggest a problematic trend for Democrats, right? A handful of blue dots surrounded by large swarths of red? Surely that can't be good.

Then again, is it any different than any other areas? Check out this electoral results map and click on Indiana or Nevada or Pennsylvania. If you do, you'll see a similar trend of Democrats faring well in urban areas and Republicans faring well in rural areas.

This holds true in Georgia, which isn't a bad thing for progressives. The urban areas of this state are the fastest growing, are demographically more diverse, feature voters who lean toward progressive views on most issues and, of course, have more people than rural areas.

The four counties with the largest turnouts in the runoff election were DeKalb County, Fulton County, Cobb County and Gwinnett County. Martin and Chambliss split these counties with Martin rolling up decisive wins in DeKalb County and Fulton County and Chambliss enjoying health margins of victory in Cobb County and Gwinnett County.

In the general election, however, the numbers in Gwinnett County were much closer and more indicative of the long-term trend of that county.

The point being that the state's urban areas continue to grow at solid, healthy rates, and they continue to be strong centers of progressive support. Over time, I believe, their impact will grow even greater on the electoral success of Democrats in Georgia. It won't happen as quickly as it's happened in Virginia and appears be happening in North Carolina, but it will happen.

Random speculation

2008-12-04T08:51:00.001-05:00

Call me crazy, but I'm going to go on a limb and suggest that Saxby Chambliss puts together a presidential exploratory committee in two years.

The morning after

2008-12-04T08:26:00.003-05:00

Blake's article on NBAF is here, and while a draft of the Homeland Security memo is here.

A couple of quick observations ...

Drawing from the chart on page seven which ranked the six finalists and assigned each one with corresponding colors to rate how they met the criteria laid out for approval, the Athens-Clarke County proposal was ... average. It was straight yellow across the board which indicated 'partial fulfillment of overall criteria' or 'acceptable security risks with or without mitigation.'

And the report notes that. It says that, yes, FAQ helped organize vocal opposition, but also said that federal, state and local officials were strong advocates for the project.

Red Petrovs, the co-chair for OneAthens and vocal supporter of the project, said in an email to me yesterday that he felt FAQ 'only played a minor role, if any, in the decision process. I believe, based on what I hear, that the financial incentives in Kansas far overrode anything positive or negative that Athens may have said or done as a community.'

Because, as always, it's all about money, and the state didn't pony up enough compared to Kansas.

The memo also said that the UGA site offered 'proximity to world class capabilities across disciplines related to the NBAF' but there was little evidence of coordination between the biomedical research community and much of the research is devoted specifically to poultry.

It said the area was 'rich in high containment laboratory building expertise' but that site but need an amendment to be tacked on to the existing Athens-Clarke County Comprehensive Plan due its current use.

It's the classic glass-is-half-empty analysis and, in the end, Athens-Clarke County was too lukewarm and DHS spit us out.

More good news

2008-12-03T19:53:00.003-05:00

As if all of the other news isn't terribly thrilling, Georgia's heading for a 'severe' and 'prolonged' recession.

Anemic economic growth. Unemployment pushing nine percent. And, according to one economist, 'the longest downturn since the Great Depression.'

Awesome.

News roundup

2008-12-03T18:43:00.002-05:00

To try and get everything that's gone down today in order ...

NBAF passes over Athens-Clarke County
- No NBAF for us
- NBAF reaction
- More NBAF reaction

Runoff wrapup
- Runoff Live Blog
- Silly assumptions
- Positive trends, actually (Part One)

Tuberville out at Auburn
- Football blogging

Football blogging

2008-12-03T18:38:00.003-05:00

There is literally too much news breaking ...

The Birmingham News says Tommy Tuberville has been fired at Auburn, which is puzzling to me. I figured they'd give the guy another year.

Thus begins one of the most insane coaching hunts, largely because Bobby Petrino - who Auburn tried to hire a few years back - is at the top of the list. That would make sense considering Petrino goes through coaching jobs like Klenex. The other two names are Mike Leach from Texas Tech - though PWD says that ain't happening - and Paul Johnson from Georgia Tech. For the life of me, I wouldn't be able to figure the latter one out if he did leave, but I would relish it for the sheer amount of blissful agony it would bring to the Yellow Jackets.

For Tuberville, rumors are flying that he'll end up as defensive coordinator at Georgia (unlikely ... though he and Mark Richt are close friends), but I think he'll wind up with a head coaching job somewhere. Two schools which just recommitted to their coaches - Clemson and Notre Dame - surely are kicking themselves now.

More NBAF reaction

2008-12-03T18:26:00.001-05:00

Some good points regarding misconceptions from a reader ...

The Anti-NBAF crowd will try to take big credit for this but, it was a foregone conclusion and the DHS had similar "circus acts" everywhere they went (except Texas, maybe) - including Kansas. They expected it and there were no surprises there either. All that noise and animosity was never going to amount to anything, anyway. It didn't this time.

Re. Water: This thing won't come online and be operational for at least 4 years. Nobody who has any expertise thinks this drought will last that long. Folks won't even remember this drought by the time NBAF opens. (That's a sad thing, too.)

NBAF reaction

2008-12-03T16:09:00.002-05:00

I'm hearing from some local folks regarding the decision to locate NBAF in Manhattan, Kansas, and so far the sentiment appears to be that Kansas was able to put together an appealing and fairly lucrative package that none of the other communities could match.

From Red Petrovs, co-chair of OneAthens ...

I’m not surprised that NBAF went to Kansas. From what I understand, the state of Kansas backed up the money truck and promised to start unloading it all in NBAF’s pockets if they got the deal. GA was unwilling to match their offer, so it stands to reason that from a purely monetary standpoint we fell behind at that point. I think that, based purely on the merits of the proposals for support, Athens was head and shoulders above everyone else. However, the financial incentives provided by Kansas were hard to overcome.

From Alice Kinman, Athens-Clarke County District Four Commissioner ...

I have to say that I'm not really surprised when you look at the generous package Kansas was offering.

Positive trends, actually (Part One)

2008-12-03T14:43:00.004-05:00

The latest narrative regarding last night's results involves those who voted for Barack Obama not returning to the polls for Jim Martin. This is partially true, but not to the extent that it's being hyped and focusing on it takes away from a remarkably good effort by Saxby Chambliss to get his voters back to the polls.

This line of argument is being employed at Peach Pundit by numerous folks, and it's been picked up by Blake as well. I somewhat addressed this earlier, but I think it's important to look a little closer.

Let's keep two previous examples in mind in examining this - the 2006 General Election (specifically the governor's race) and the 1992 U.S. Senate race (since it happened during a Presidential election year and featured a runoff). I'll devote this post to comparisons with the 2006 race for governor.

As Flack noted, the turnout numbers for yesterday's runoff closely resembled the numbers for the General Election in 2006 (which is pretty darn impressive). For this year's runoff race, 2,126,494 people cast a ballot, and that exceeds the 2,122,185 votes cast two years ago during a General Election.

In the governor's race that year, Sonny Perdue defeated Mark Taylor 57.9 percent to 38.2 percent, which is wider than the margin of victory Chambliss achieved last night. And, leaving percentages aside, the actual vote totals shed more light as Taylor only picked up 811,049 votes while Martin has 905,638 (and counting) ... in a runoff.

In recent electoral history in Georgia, this is unprecedented. The most recent comparison is the 1992 runoff for U.S. Senate where 1,253,991 turned out to vote. The 1990 governor's race had a turnout of 1,412,287 for the General Election. This election is the first time that a runoff race has exceeded the previous General Election race in turnout.

Let all of that sink in ... almost 100,000 more people voted for Martin in a runoff race than for Taylor in a General Election. Chambliss, despite his convincing win, finished with 9,000 fewer votes than Perdue did in 2006 (which is to be expected).

If anything, this suggests the numbers for Democrats are growing more favorable.

No NBAF for us

2008-12-03T11:38:00.003-05:00

Via Tim Bryant, NBAF is heading off to Kansas.

A little surprising in the final location, as I would have put money on Mississippi.

UPDATE: The Red & Black's take, working in information from The Associated Press.

UPDATE II: Worth keeping an eye on the response at 'NoNBAF' which is Kansas's version of FAQ.

Silly assumptions

2008-12-03T08:37:00.003-05:00

Erick tries to analyze last night's results - which I followed in a live blog last night - but I think it's too simplistic and too heavy on his unabashed infatuation with Sarah Palin.

His argument assumes that Democrats in Georgia can't bank on African-American support because that allegiance is dedicated to Barack Obama and not the party (nevermind the years of historical voting patterns that suggest otherwise), and that banking on strong turnout in that community is a foolish strategy.

He also puts forward the idea that had Obama visited the state and traveled all over on behalf of Jim Martin, as Palin did for Saxby Chambliss, it would have driven up support somewhat (I actually think there would have possibly been a stronger reverse effect with Obama's presence magnifying the need for conservatives to 'stop' his 'agenda'). Still, there's no doubt that Palin boosted Chambliss, particularly on the eve of the election.

The real issue, though, was the fact that Republicans in Georgia double-downed on a winning message for their base, which was framing the campaign around the concept of this state being a 'firewall' that would prevent Democrats from taking a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate. That was the driving factor that sent more Republicans to the polls and probably persuaded some Republicans who voted independent or cast a ballot for Martin on Election Day to back Chambliss yesterday.

African-American turnout was depressed yesterday, but runoff voting is always depressed across the board. The difference was that the GOP base had a more compelling reason to get out and vote. Democrats had already won the presidency and picked up 58 seats in the U.S. Senate and built a substantial majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the need to 'get' to 60 votes wasn't as imperative.

As far as this notion that African-Americans who backed Obama didn't back other Democrats, the numbers from Election Day suggest a different story. Obama tallied 47 percent of the vote in Georgia, while Martin finished with 46.8 percent and Jim Powell picked up 47.9 percent.

In 2004, without Obama on the ticket, Becky Vaughn picked up 20,000 votes in Athens-Clarke County in a State Senate race that spanned the entire community. Four years later, Sherry Jackson picked up 19,000 votes in a State Senate race that featured six fewer precincts.

By in large, Obama supporters voted down-ticket. They just remained true to form for most runoff models while Republicans turned out in better numbers yesterday.

Peter pays Paul?

2008-12-03T08:05:00.001-05:00

Um ...

"It's not anything we're happy about," but paying more for health insurance is a better choice than more cuts that would affect students or research at UGA, or losing an expected pay raise in January, said Stuart Ivy, president of the UGA Staff Council. "I'm actually OK with where they're going."

Does Ivy realize that any pay raises will be gobbled up by the increase in health insurance?

Random football blogging

2008-12-03T07:49:00.003-05:00

- One thing I'm definitely weary of is all of the talk of Texas deserving to go to the Big 12 Championship ahead of Oklahoma, and that's namely because it's selective history on the part of the advocates for the Longhorns. Regardless of how far down Texas Tech fell in the polls after their thrasing at the hands of the Sooners, the Red Raiders were still locked in a three-way tie with those two teams and beat Texas. Seeing how we're not arguing for who plays in the BCS Championship Game, but rather a conference title game, there's nothing terribly wrong with relying on the BCS standings to determine who should emerge from the Big 12 South (particularly since it was one of the last tie-breakers that could be used). Oklahoma has performed better, has more quality wins and deserved the higher ranking and placement in the title game.

- Three big coaching decisions in the past few days, and all three I'm skeptical of. Does Clemson honestly think Dabo Sweeney is the answer to their problems? Does Tennessee expect Lane Kiffin, who had only a handful of years of experience as a coordinator and failed miserably in the NFL, to be the one who can righten their ship? And does Notre Dame believe that Charlies Weis will actually, you know, learn how to coach?

- Everyone's forgotten Southern California, but shouldn't the Trojans be garnering some consideration for the BCS Championship Game? Their offense is, well, what you normally expect out of Southern California, but that's not the real story this year. The Trojans defense leads the nation in total defense (210 yards per game) and scoring defense (7.82 points per game). They've allowed 10 touchdowns all year long ... 10. Granted, I'm moving almost fully into the mindset that we ought to have something along the lines of an eight-team playoff because that would give us the chance to see Southern California's defense flex its muscle against either Florida or Oklahoma.

- Call me crazy, but I like Alabama over Florida in the SEC Championship Game.