Fresh Loaf

Last night’s Atlanta Press Club debate between U.S. Rep David Scott and former state Sen. Donzella James was fairly typical in that it unspooled like a boxing match in which the fighters spend most of their time in the clutch.

That’s not to say there’s no value in the APC debates. But, speaking as one who’s served as a panelist before, the time is so limited and the format so rigid that it’s rare for anyone – candidate or reporter – to land a punch.

Still, despite their shortcomings, the debates allow you to get a sense for the candidates’ rhetorical styles and they hint at campaign issues for further research.

Tuesday’s debate mainly saw Scott defending his record as a congressman, rather than James establishing why Democratic primary voters should choose her to represent the 13th District – a hideously Franken-mandered jurisdiction that wraps around the southern rim of Atlanta, including portions of six metro counties.

Scott has been under fire since being named one of the “22 most corrupt members of Congress” last year by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He earned that distinction by falling a reported $167,000 behind in his taxes at the same time he was paying family members hundreds of thousands of dollars for working on his political campaigns.

But you wouldn’t have known any of that was a big deal from watching the debate, where time constraints allowed Scott to give the issue a quick brush-off.

More attention was paid to Scott’s conservative voting record, such as his recent support for the FISA bill that grants amnesty to telecom companies that helped the Bush administration illegally spy on Americans.

Other tidbits:

• Although James said she’s an environmentalist, she supports opening more areas up to oil exploration – leading one to wonder if she knows what “environmentalist” means.
• James mentioned several times that she lives in the district, but Scott doesn’t. Having seen his Inman Park mansion, I can’t say I blame him.
• Scott said one answer to high fuel prices is removing sugar tariffs so we can import Brazilian ethanol. He made it all sound so simple…
• Starting with a rambling statement about the War on Drugs, James invited Scott to join her in taking a drug test. He declined.

Finally, James brought up an incident in which Scott supposedly referred to their Republican opponent, Deborah Honeycutt, as a bitch – or, as James put it, the “B-word.” Having served several years with Scott in the state Senate, James said she gained insight into his character. “He disrespects women,” she said.

“It’s a complete lie,” Scott replied.

Sorry, but that’s all the time we have, folks. If you didn’t feel you gained adequate knowledge about the candidates from this blog post, you can watch the entire half-hour debate here.

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Interested in learning more about the men running for Fulton County Sheriff? And are you unemployed? Then you’ll be able to attend the next candidate forum this Monday, bright and early at 9:30 a.m. Sponsored by the Concerned Black Clergy of Metro Atlanta, the event will be held at the Vicars Community Center, conveniently located at 838 Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta.

Lest you think this is yet another poorly publicized sheriff debate at a weird time in a far-away locale that’s part of a larger scheme to prevent Fulton voters from learning about their next potential sheriff, guess again. The CBC holds a forum every Monday morning at that site; apparently the group couldn’t come up with a more interesting topic this week, so it invited the sheriff candidates.

Wise-cracking aside and with due respect for the CBC for holding this event, why is it that the race for the sheriff of the largest county in the state – a position responsible for reforming a troubled and expensive jail – can’t seem to rate a stand-alone debate at a centrally located venue? Is public apathy that severe?

We’d like to invite readers to post their impressions of the nine(!) Democratic candidates. Hell, we’ll even invite the candidates themselves to post brief messages here explaining why they deserve our vote. Please share your thoughts. Anyone?

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The Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting are leveraging the Interweb to show the scintillating Public Service Commission debates live online today. One of the two races is for the 4th District seat, which is wide open after Angela Spier declined to run for reelection. There will be two half-hour debates, the first a 2 p.m. between GOP candidates Pam Davidson and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr., followed at 3 p.m. by the second between Democrats Bob Indech and Jim Powell.

The good thing about putting debates online is that it’s like having them TiVo’d, meaning you can watch them any time you want. GPB has done a great job in the last few years archiving video of the shenanigans down at the General Assembly. You can access the station’s videos of the PSC and other debates here.

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A couple weeks ago, WSB-TV reporter-turned-Senate candidate Dale Cardwell told us he’s “running for second place” in the July 15 primary to earn a place in a Democratic runoff election with presumed front-runner Vernon Jones.

This morning, Cardwell sent out a release saying that, as of now, he’s there. He cites a report by his old station that, in turn, quotes a Strategic Vision poll indicating that Cardwell is at 22 percent, hanging just behind Jones, with 25 percent. The well-funded Jim Martin trails with 17 percent, barely edging newcomer Rand Knight with 14 percent. Former congressional staffer Josh Lanier brings up the rear of the pack with a mere 6 percent. The poll shows 16 percent undecided.

Poll results were based on telephone interviews conducted June 27-29 with 800 likely voters in Georgia, says Strategic Vision.

Cardwell was also excited about results that showed he was polling strongest against GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss, albeit by a razor-thin margin. According to the poll, Cardwell would take 29 percent of the vote against Chambliss, vs. 28 percent for Martin and Knight and 27 percent for Jones.

Of course, a poll showing you lagging by a nearly 2-to-1 margin is only good news if you assume that public opinion can change considerably before the election as candidates get their message out to voters. This happens to be a safe assumption and it’s also true right now, nearly two weeks out from the primary, as the candidates launch their final push for votes.

The X-factor here is, how much ammunition do candidates have left and how much will it matter? Martin is planning a full-scale campaign assault on TV and radio, a maneuver that only Jones could hope to match. Will that be enough to turn the tide?

What do you think, dear reader? Who do you like for the primary and – importantly – how do you think that candidate would fare against Chambliss?

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Want the power to nominate a candidate for higher office? Have a strong opinion about what’s truly the best of the best in Atlanta? Become an officially endorsed CL Super Delegate and give us your opinions.

For this year’s Best of Atlanta Raging Election edition, we are looking for independent voters to act as special CL critics. If your nominations are picked, YOU will be considered a CL critic and given the power to bestow a Critics Pick Best of Atlanta award for 2008. We are looking for picks in all categories, so send us a blurb about what you consider to be the Best of Atlanta and why. Send them to bestofatlanta@creativeloafing.com.

If you haven’t voted, what are you waiting for? And don’t forget to take our exit poll once you do!

We look forward to your nominations!

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It’s arguably the most powerful local elected position in metro Atlanta, perhaps all of Georgia. And yet, by most accounts, the race for DeKalb CEO really hasn’t caught fire yet. Frankly, with only two weeks to go before the July 15 primary, there’s a good chance it won’t.

Even state Rep. Stan Watson, one of five hopefuls in the all-Democratic contest, concedes that he’s seen more excitement in the community over the November presidential election (You say, “Obamania!” I say, “Obamamania!”) than the CEO’s race.

In the northern end of the county, all attention seems to be focused on the Dunwoody cityhood referendum. And DeKalb Republicans, historically an important swing vote in Democratic primaries, will mostly cast GOP ballots instead because District 1 Commissioner Elaine Boyer has drawn opposition. (Her challenger, by the way, is Terri Burdine Fischer, owner of Clarkston strip club Strokers. Make that a schwing! vote.)

Another reason for the apparent disinterest in the race is the possibility that, apart from recreational candidate “Joe from Decatur” Bembry, most voters are fairly confident that any of the four serious contestants would be, well, perfectly adequate.

Along with Watson, who serves as chairman of the DeKalb state House delegation, the candidates include two-term Commissioner Burrell Ellis; former state Sen. Steen “Newslady” Miles; and Ann Kimbrough, chief of staff to outgoing CEO Vernon Jones.

With no formal polls done, the consensus among local political mavens seems to be that the primary will result in a runoff election between Ellis and either Watson or Kimbrough.

Ellis, a real estate attorney, is running a well-organized campaign and recently nabbed the endorsement of the AJC. Watson was the earliest to get into the race and is well-known in South DeKalb, but has – at last count – trailed far behind Ellis in terms of fund-raising.

(more…)

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Here at CL, we’d been reporting that an Atlanta tax increase seemed increasingly inevitable. Well, the same Council members who seemed so fatalistic last week got together last night and cobbled together an alternative plan that appears to allow them to escape Mayor Shirley Franklin’s proposed tax hike.

Just minutes ago – with a curious Franklin herself sitting in the audience – the Council voted 14-0 (with Lamar Willis walking in moments later) to adopt an amended budget that wipes out the .43-mill tax increase, cuts all departments by an additional 2.5 percent and even includes a teeny-tiny tax rate rollback that will save the owner of a $200,000 home about seven bucks.

However, the budget the Council is looking to pass is $570.8 million, about $13 million less than the Mayor’s proposal. When we figure out how they made these numbers work out, we’ll update this post.

Meanwhile, the Council is on recess and will re-convene shortly after lunchtime to finish up on this stunning turn of events. Stay tuned or head down to City Hall to catch the action yourself!

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One of the more bothersome consequences of having a $140 million budget shortfall is the need to cut public services to save money. Which ones, and by how much? One that was proposed – and all but certain – for the chopping block was weekly pick-up of recycling. The program was outsourced to a private company and city solons had decided that reducing the service to every other week was a good way to cut costs.

Well, it seems that new Public Works Commissioner Joe Basista has figured a way out of this looming tragedy. A recent memo to the Council from Public Works explains that the city will save $3 million by un-privatizing curbside recycling (take that free-market champions!) and that city workers will happily continue to pick up cans, bottles and newspapers every week.

Atlanta homeowners had already dodged a bullet when the Council decided against scrapping yard waste pick-up. If you need further info about trash, recycling or yard waste collection, go here.

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If you haven’t been to Underground Atlanta lately, you may be shocked to hear that Kenny’s Alley, the urban mall’s nightlife district, is very much alive and well.

After a false start in 2005, when six new nightclubs debuted on New Year’s Eve and then saw their business gradually fizzle, the Alley has finally found success as a destination for a largely African American crowd. Such clubs as Sugar Hill, which features live neo-soul and R&B; Motion, with its large dance floor; and hip-hop lounge The House have managed to boost weekend attendance to more than 5,000 – a healthy number for a space that has floundered in recent decades. And recently, the popular Buckhead nightclub Frequency relocated to Underground.

But now the venue’s management plans has announced plans to begin charging a $2 cover to enter Kenny’s Alley, a move club owners fear will upset their delicate formula for success.

Two bucks may not sound like much – especially when most of the clubs inside are charging $20 admission – but longtime promoter Richard Dunn, a partner in Sugar Hill and Motion, says it’s not so much the amount but the impression it gives. Folks will pay handsomely to enter a VIP room and they’ll certainly shell out for top-shelf liquor, but being asked to pay $2 for the privilege of standing in line to get into a club is somewhat insulting, he says. And hot women – the prime commodity at any club – are not accustomed to paying for anything.

“It’s just not cool,” says Dunn. “It’s not going to have a positive outcome.”

Underground managing partner Dan O’Leary says the charge is needed to offset the cost of additional security to handle the larger crowds.

But Dunn says club owners offered to absorb the extra cost or pass it on to customers via higher drink prices – anything to avoid a door charge – and were turned down. The reason, he suspects, is that Underground’s management simply wants a new revenue stream.

O’Leary dismisses the concerns as overblown: “Maybe it will discourage some people, but it won’t kill business.”

Dunn, however, says that just when the Alley has finally built a solid clientele is a bad time to throw a $2 curveball.

“It’s a big risk, but it’s the clubs that stand to lose,” he says. “If this doesn’t come out, I’m screwed till next summer.”

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Georgia had Obamamania so bad before Super Tuesday that the O-man put the Peach State in his “win” column weeks ahead of the primary and sent his campaign ops to work in other places.

There’s a big difference in this GOP-friendly state, however, between winning among Democrats and beating a Republican in the November election. But lately folks have been questioning much more seriously whether Georgia could swing for Barack Obama.

Earlier this week, Time magazine ran a story headlined “Can Georgia Be Obama’s Ohio?” which reveals that the Obama camp has selected Georgia and Virgina as potential battleground states and is dedicating workers and resources in an effort to gain ground here:

Obama has 15 full-time paid staffers who have been in Georgia for over a month. They also have had staff in North Carolina and Virginia and have been “literally moving in dozens of people every week to all three states,” said Jon Carson, Obama’s national field director. They also expect to have staff in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana before the end of the month. “It’s very hard to sit here right now to say what’s going to happen in November… Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Montana, North Dakota, Missouri — which of those is going to be most winnable? So our campaign is taking the approach of casting a wide net.”

It may be working. Yesterday, InsiderAdvantage released a new poll that shows Obama trailing John McCain by a single point – 43 percent to the Republican’s 44 percent – helped mightily by the Libertarian candidacy of hometown boy Bob Barr, with 6 percent.

As InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery explains it:

Georgia is competitive for Obama for several reasons. First, it has a high African-American voting age population (VAP). Second, it has an unusually high percentage of younger voters (18-29). Both of these groups are more in the Obama camp, with black voters already at the 83 percent level and likely to climb.
Equally important, like its neighbor Florida, Georgia has a high percentage of voters who consider themselves independent. Obama is carrying that critical swing vote by about 10 percent in the poll.

If this trend continues it could make things very interesting come fall.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Three of DeKalb’s seven commissioners have requested a criminal investigation into squirrelly purchasing practices that allowed two high-tech companies to be paid nearly a half-million dollars for county work without the required commission approval.

Late last year, it was discovered that the county’s Information Services Department had overspent its budget by a cool $1.4 million – partly a result of skirting purchasing rules. A grand jury subsequently found that employees had been pressured to do things they knew to be wrong, such as splitting contracts so as to avoid triggering competitive bidding requirements.

So far, though, no one has been able to explain who orchestrated the impropriety. Is the purchasing scandal another instance of questionable micro-management by CEO Vernon Jones? The letter to DeKalb Chief Superior Court Judge Anne Workman and DA Gwen Keyes-Fleming asking for a formal investigation doesn’t mention Mr. CEO by name. Says the letter:

We submit that a criminal investigation is necessary to clear the air and to reestablish public confidence in the county government’s capacity to faithfully administer public resources.

But the three co-signers are white, Northside Commissioners Elaine Boyer, Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader – none of whom are political allies of Jones. Coincidence?

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Much wailing and gnashing of teeth has been heard in Atlanta over a potential property-tax hike. Fair enough; no one likes paying higher taxes. But relatively little public attention has been paid to the prospect of higher water rates, which will end up costing the average homeowner more than 10 times as much.

At around 1 p.m. today at a special-called meeting, the City Council approved a new water/sewer rate schedule for the next four years that will cause the average monthly household water bill to jump next month from about $85 to $105, a 27-percent increase.

This new rate includes a 15-percent increase to make up for lower revenue due to water conservation. Last year, this measure was introduced with the label “drought surcharge” and people went crazy: The city asked us to conserve water and now it’s punishing us for doing so!

Instead, the city simply rolled it into the new rates, but we’ll pay it just the same. Rates will continue to climb 12.5 percent for the following three years, until we’re eventually paying an average of $143 a month for water.

Council members had debated the water rate increases for weeks; some even hinted they would vote against them. But, in the end, the vote was 13-0; the only amendment calls for an audit of the $4 billion sewer program. Why did everyone finally get on board? Mainly, because they didn’t really have a choice.

The rate hike was necessary to abide by the federal consent decree that mandates the sewer improvements. If the council had voted down the new rates, Federal Judge Tom Thrash could have put the entire program in receivership.

At one point, Council member Kwanza Hall asked city finance chief Janice Davis what would happen if the rates weren’t raised.

Davis’ answer: “The city’s bonds would be downgraded to junk.”

Well, alrighty, then!

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To those moaning over a likely tax increase in Atlanta we offer two words: East Point.

Although the town lying just southwest of Atlanta has achieved widespread fame as home to such hip-hop superstars as OutKast and Goodie Mob, that success hasn’t been matched by the local government. For the past decade, East Point has been, hands down, the worst-managed city in the 10-county metro region – and this includes such screwed-up ‘burbs as Lithonia and Snellville.

You’ll recall that, a few years back, East Point’s then-Mayor Patsy Jo Hilliard revealed the city had somehow squandered an $11 million surplus and had a $8 million deficit. That’s a $19 million mistake for a city that only had a $75 million budget. It also was later discovered that the city owed an additional $18 million to Atlanta for water-system improvements and hadn’t paid a $4.5 million power bill. Taxes were jacked up nearly 70 percent to cover the gaps.

Last year, East Point raised its already punishing tax rate by 20 percent, but still ended the year $7 million short. In fact, as the AJC has reported, the city has spent the past 10 years in the red. This year seems to be a replay with yet another projected budget deficit, this time of at least $5 million. The city is now faced with the choice of sending all city workers home or closing three of its five fire stations.

As someone who lived in East Point for three long years a while back, I have to say I’m glad I got out while the getting was good. Sad to say, but that place is fucked.

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The chance that Atlanta residents can avoid a property tax increase next year seems to diminish with every new conversation we have with a Council member.

You’ll recal