Fresh Loaf

MARTA officials recently asked the Georgia General Assembly to ease a state-mandated spending restriction on the transit agency’s main source of funding — a one-cent sales tax in Atlanta, Fulton County and DeKalb County. If not, the cash-strapped agency could face drastic service cuts. Some lawmakers responded that the agency instead needs to change its governance structure and raise fares. In the op-ed below, Mayor Shirley Franklin, Fulton County Chairman John Eaves and DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis echo MARTA’s plea.

For more than 30 years, visitors and residents of Atlanta and Fulton and DeKalb counties have paid an extra penny in sales taxes so our region might have mass transit. Needless to say, the benefits of mass transit have extended far beyond the borders of Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb. Can you imagine the Centennial Olympic Games choosing Atlanta without a means of moving millions of people? Or that major conventions, the lifeblood of our local economy, would locate here if their attendees were unable to move around? MARTA has been a major economic generator not just for Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb, but for our region and the entire state.

Which is why we are asking, in a time of severe economic crisis, for the Georgia General Assembly to help MARTA. This year, we are not asking that the General Assembly commit one extra dime to help MARTA — though other state governments across the nation promote the economic benefits of public transit and routinely appropriate millions for both operations and expansion. We are only asking the Legislature to give MARTA the ability to use the funds it already has at its disposal during this time of great economic need.

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Not really.

DNA Evidence Frees Black Man Convicted Of Bear Attack

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Former DeKalb County Police Chief Terrell Bolton stopped by his old office last night to pack his things before he begins his legal battle with the county. If you recall, DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis recently fired Bolton, which the former chief says he’ll contest.

The AJC has lots of details about what’s going down and what’s set to happen, but I always crack up when I read things like this:

“I was looking for things that would help my case,” Bolton said as he rushed past news cameras after emerging at 1 a.m. Friday. “Thank you. Bye-bye.”
Recent headlines:

He walked briskly to a Cadillac that pulled up in front of the DeKalb County Public Safety complex. The car drove off as soon as he got in.

There’s always a waiting Cadillac! If you were the driver of this car and somehow reading this, send me a line. I want to know what music played as you drove off.

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The hardest part about making progress in metro Atlanta is fixing the mistakes of its past — namely, the sprawl created in part by an auto-dependent lifestyle and cheap land stretching out in all directions.

Thankfully, the Atlanta Regional Commission has some idea of how to turn that sprawl into walkable and livable areas — places you actually want to be.

Today, the commission announced several new sites for its Livable Centers Initiative, an award-winning program that funds planning studies for cities and counties to help retrofit sprawl-afflicted areas. The two closest to home? The Donald Lee Hollowell-Veterans Memorial Parkway Corridor in Atlanta and Cobb County and the North Druid Hills Road Corridor in DeKalb County.

More details from the commission about those sites after the jump.

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Good news if you have abandoned or foreclosed homes on your block:

Federal housing officials have approved plans by six Georgia communities to spend nearly $36 million to combat the effects of high foreclosures and declining home values.

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On Monday, HUD approved plans involving $18.5 million for DeKalb County and $12.3 million for Atlanta and smaller plans for Savannah, Augusta-Richmond County and Clayton and Muscogee counties.

Under the plans, emergency assistance will be targeted for specific neighborhoods by acquiring and redeveloping foreclosed properties that might otherwise be abandoned, leading to blight.

Cities and counties have 18 months to spend the grants.

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State Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta, will hold a special legislative review for her Oakhurst constituents on Saturday, Feb. 7. The lawmaker — who’s also a romance novel writer — plans to update residents on the homeowner’s tax relief grants and the state’s budget woes.

Here are the details:

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2009

Please Join State Representative Stacey Abrams For a District 84 Town Hall Meeting

2009 Monthly Legislative Update

Date: February 7, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Location: Oakhurst Presbyterian Church
118 2nd Ave
Decatur, GA 30030

TOPICS INCLUDE:

2009 and 2010 State Budgets
Impacts on Education
Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant
HR1 – Property Assessment Freeze/Caps
Key Proposed Legislation

All persons are welcome to attend. This event is FREE. Light refreshments will be served. For questions, please contact Jazmine Smalley, Legislative Aide at 404-656-0224 or email staceyabrams(at)gmail(dot)com.

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If you’ve ever visited the DeKalb County Police Department’s website, you know it’s a treasure trove of lo-fi rap loops that surely scare the bejesus out of criminals and confuse the hell out of taxpayers. But the tunes always made us smile. ytcracker — the “undisputed king of nerdcore” — heard the beats and found inspiration.

Preston at Kiss Atlanta writes:

ytcracker… nerdcore rapper, hacker, and founder of Digital Gangster (you can thank that board and it’s members for the hack of Miley Cyrus)… went and recorded an entire album based on the music from the DPD website. Even more impressive, he did it in less than 10 hours, it’s profanity free, and the lyrics are fucking hillarious. My favorite, hands down, is “executive_command.html”

Six profanity-free tracks, each one inspired by the different part of the site where the loops could be heard. Awesome.

The department has since removed the loops from its website, but they’re preserved for time eternal on the Internet. Listen to ‘em here. A free download of the entire album is available here.

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Last Tuesday, DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones presided over his final commission meeting. Love him or hate him, he’s steered the county through difficult times. He’s said some memorable things, too.

Vernon Jones

“I’ve been able to raise a lot of money without the endorsements from the losers in the Democratic party.”
— Jones describing his U.S. Senate campaign fundraising efforts to the AJC in April.

“There’s nothing illegal about a menage a trois.”
— Jones quoted in an April 2, 2008, CL column in reference to a 2005 rape allegation. He was not charged in the incident.

“[State lawmakers] don’t have any idea about local control. And they’re about as clueless as a pigeon with an iPod.”
— Jones speaking to CL on Nov. 4 about the Legislature’s unwillingness to recognize local government’s jurisdiction.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Does it even exist? Andisheh once again opens our eyes to the ridiculousness that exists right under our very noses. Yesterday, he pointed me to some monkey business.

On another one of Forbes’ entertaining-yet-useless list-icles (this one’s titled “America’s Fastest Dying Places”), a Georgia “city” in DeKalb County by the name of “Candler-McAfee” is listed. It’s ranked no. 2, actually. Go team!

Yet from looking at the map, as Andisheh points out, this isn’t a city — it’s a census designation. Or is it? Some website that appears to show you where you can rent white water rafts nearby calls it a city. And another list-icle, this one by CNNMoney, includes it on a list of the best small cities in the nation.

And as Andisheh points out in his e-mail:

Except, it’s not actually a town. It’s not even a neighborhood.

It’s a 7 sq. mile section of unincorporated Dekalb County south of the City of Decatur, north of I-20.

Here it is on a map. Gotta say it’s kind of unfair for Forbes to knock the place when all it’s doing is looking at census information. What is this place? Do people list their address as “Candler-McAfee?” Or does Forbes need to stop trolling census information for easy-to-write articles and start picking up the phone?

(Screenshot courtesy of Forbes)

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While I was up in Washington, D.C. and New York City on a fact-finding mission, it looks like y’all had a helluva time. Mayor Shirley Franklin asked the feds for a life preserver, the Georgia Department of Transportation decided years-old e-mails of a lascivious nature weren’t grounds for dismissal (use Gchat, Gena!), Buckhead was — gasp — called overdeveloped, and the DeKalb County Courthouse was visited by Peter, Ray and Egon. Oh yeah, and some guy who lost a presidential election visited. And there was also this news.

Sure, all I have to show for my hedonistic jaunt are a lot of blisters and FedEx receipts because I shipped all my books, DVDs and tiger-taming gear from my old NYC apartment to Decatur. But it’s good to be back. I’m eager to get back into covering the U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission races and all the other sordid beats. And finally getting the pedicure that I, being the “prominent journalist” that I am, promised a lucky lady. Viva Atlanta! Viva Creative Loafing! Viva chaos!

How was your week, Atlanta?

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When DeKalb County Commissioner Burrell Ellis drops his title next year and assumes his newly elected role of County CEO, he’ll take office without some of the powers enjoyed by his predecessors.

On Nov. 4, more than 64 percent of DeKalb County voters approved an amendment that reins in some powers of CEO — the only office of its kind in metro Atlanta in which a single person oversees the day-to-day functions of government and sets the agenda for county commission meetings.

Once Ellis takes office, that agenda-setting power will belong to the commission according to rules it adopts. (Commissioner Jeff Rader says staff is currently at work on the rules.) If the CEO wants to introduce legislation, he would have to do so through a commissioner who would then send it to the appropriate committee. Rader says legislation could be expedited if it’s an urgent matter.

The CEO would still submit the budget, make staff decisions, and appoint department heads, among other powers. If a tiebreaker vote is needed, the CEO would cast it if each member of the commission requested he or she do so.

Introduced by state Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Ellenwood, the amendment has an understandable critic: Vernon Jones, the soon-to-be former CEO.

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Somewhat lost amid the shuffle of the presidential race and a handful of legislators losing seats were the various referenda (or referendums, for non-English majors) that appeared on local ballots. Here’s a wrap-up:

• Yes to TADS; no to private cities. By a close margin, Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow school boards to join with local governments in issuing bonds for tax allocation districts. But voters narrowly spiked a crazy proposal to allow private developers to levy taxes on homeowners. Less controversial was an initiative to provide tax incentives to encourage preservation of forest land; it passed handily.

• Fulton County libraries will be getting a facelift. Voters overwhelmingly approved a $275 million bond issue to add eight new branches, spruce up 24 existing branches and spend $85 million toward replacing the downtown central library. Expect a grassroots campaign to emerge against tearing down the old building. (more…)

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Better late than never, we endorse state Sen. Michael Meyer von Bremen in the only contested Georgia Court of Appeals contest. See the rest of our Voter’s Guide and our Fulton and DeKalb Cheat Sheet.

In the Court of Appeals contest: While there are other strong candidates, Meyer von Bremen has proven himself as a fair and judicious public servant, and stands the best chance at turning over a religious right-winger’s attempt to win the seat.

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Lovers of the late-night patty melt and mindblowing chocolate pie now have a place to go where they can bow down before the gods of grease. Local bloggers Rusty Tanton and Amber Rhea visited the just-opened Waffle House Museum in Avondale Estates — the popular chain’s original location — and have photos, trivia and thoughts about the joint. View Rusty’s musings here. Amber’s photos and thoughts are here and here, respectively.

(Photo courtesy of Rusty Tanton’s Flickr)

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If you’ve been put off by articles about the long lines at early-voting locations, but you don’t want to wait until Election Day to cast your ballot, you may get a break next week. That’s when Georgia counties begin advanced voting.

What’s the difference, you ask? Oh, there’s a world of difference; early voting began Sept. 22, while advance voting runs next Monday through Friday.

Still not clear? (more…)

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Michelle Conlon wants you to know she isn’t really an independent.

It’s a long story, but I’ll try to keep it brief: Conlon, a renewable energy consultant, had planned to run against mid-Dekalb state Rep. Mike Jacobs as a Democrat. Jacobs upset many of his constituents last year when he switched parties to become a Republican. But another Democrat candidate, business owner Keith Gross, persuaded Conlon to sit out the race. Secretary of State Karen Handel later found Gross to be in violation of the residency requirement and bounced him from the ballot — but did not reopen qualifying. So, in order to get into the District 80 race, Conlon has been forced to run as an independent. But most folks naturally assumed her to be a Democrat.

Apparently, Conlon was worried that not enough people had gotten the message. This morning, she held a telephone press conference with House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, to remind us that although there’s an “I” behind her name, she’s really a Democrat and would caucus with the Democrats if elected. Democratic leaders have been helping Conlon’s campaign and funneling her contributions, but it seems she wanted to underscore that link with a public statement.

Although Jacob arguably has a majority-Democratic district, he’s known to be an effective campaigner who stays in touch with his constituents, so Conlon has a tough challenge ahead of her — even as a Democrat.

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We’ve been hearing for several years that energetic state Rep. Jill Chambers, R-Dekalb, is a rough-and-tumble, down-and-dirty campaigner. Now that we’ve seen her latest flier, we know what people mean. It’s a case study in out-of-context innuendo. But if it proves to be effective, the lesson will be that anyone who aspires to elective office should stay away from blogging, mySpace and perhaps the Internet as a whole.

Chambers’ opponent is twentysomething Chris Huttman, a longtime Democratic activist better known to local Netizens by his blog name, Chris is Hardcore. Beginning in 2003, Huttman’s blog offered his own commentary on political happenings of the day, apparently intended for consumption by fellow political junkies. One might have taken issues with Huttman’s political outlook, but there was nothing offensive or outrageous about his site, which he dropped a couple years back.

So it was a surprise to learn from Chambers’ flier that “Chris frequently asked people to send photographs of themselves” and that “his commentary is peppered with vulgarity and crude references to body parts.”

Huttman, she says, “has been lurking around the internet.” Well, yeah, the guy’s a prominent local blogger. That’s like accusing a taxi driver of “lurking around streets and alleyways.”

On the flier is a distorted, close-up photo of some guy with a goatee, but it isn’t Huttman, and it doesn’t look like anything that would have appeared on his blog site, which typically didn’t use photos.

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One of the other less-publicized fights amidst all the November election brouhaha has been between Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel and Michelle Conlon, an independent candidate for state House District 80. In late July, the secretary threw out a petition Conlon circulated to be considered eligible to face Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-DeKalb, the incumbent. Conlon then appealed Handel’s decision in Fulton County Superior Court.

And now, according to her press release, she’s won. You’ll see her name on the ballot come November against Jacobs.

From a campaign release:

Michelle Conlon, Candidate for House District 80, has prevailed in her lawsuit to compel the Secretary of State to place Ms. Conlon on the ballot in November.

“This is exciting news not only for me but for the voters in the district who deserve a choice on the ballot. I am looking forward to moving past this distraction,” said Conlon.

…“It is unfortunate that it took a lawsuit to get the Secretary of State to abide by her statutory responsibility to review the petition, but we are pleased with the result,” said Ms. Conlon. “I look forward to campaigning on the issues that matter to residents of House District 80.”

Conlon will be listed on the ballot as an Independent Candidate; however, she plans to officially announce her victory at an Obama Acceptance Speech event Thursday evening at Galla’s Pizza. Conlon hopes her message will appeal to Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.

“Mike Jacobs needs to be fired. This is not the guy we elected. And he has not given us the representation that we were promised. He switched parties’ mid-term, voted for predatory lending, to cut public education funds and for guns on MARTA. When your representative cannot decide who he is or want he wants, he is ineffective in representing you,” said Conlon.

Now that she is on the ballot, Conlon is optimistic regarding her chances in November. She notes: “More people signed my petition than voted for my opponent in his July Primary.”

Click here to visit her campaign website. The full release from the Conlon campaign is pasted after the jump.

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Whoa. The shadowy organization that controls the oil market, weather patterns and the never-ending career of Pat Sajak has a name — The Fraternal Order of Eagles.

And on Saturday night, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will campaign at their DeKalb County meeting hall, or as they like to call it, “aerie.” The incumbent senator, who’s leading Democratic nominee Jim Martin by six points, will stop by the organization’s location in Doraville. Chambliss arrives at 7 p.m. and leaves an hour later. That’s ample time to rib him about his bipartisan energy plan, ask him about Imperial Sugar, or inquire if he’d consider giving you some money.

(OK, really, the event is the county GOP dinner and DeKalb is one of three counties where Chambliss will make the rounds today. Barrow and Banks are the others. The Fraternal Order of Eagles is a civic organization originally founded to benefit the arts but has gone on to conduct some commendable — and controversial — service work. Read all about them here.)

Tell my fellow Members of the Avian Order that Brother FlameLocks sent you.

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Get ready to OD on rezoning issues, DeKalbites. There’s a host of heavy-duty proposals coming down the pike that promises to keep slow-growthers, homeowner activists and land-use variance geeks occupied for days to come.

First up is an apartment complex being proposed for the Merry Hills neighborhood just west of the Toco Hill Shopping Center by Ashkouti Development. In an e-mail to constituents, local state Rep. Mike Jacobs, (R-DeKalb) calls the plan “the most egregious encroachment into a residential neighborhood I have seen during my time in public service.” Mike can be pretty hard to read sometimes, but we’re gonna go out on a limb and guess this means he doesn’t like it.

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Just yesterday, we noted what a sorry effort DeKalb Democrats seem to have made to reclaim the House seat lost when former Democratic up-and-comer Mike Jacobs switched parties last year. They began the election season with two potential challengers, but looked to be throwing in the towel with both their candidates disqualified.

Not so fast, says Michelle Conlon, one of the two would-be candidates. (more…)

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Among Georgia counties, DeKalb is the acknowledged Democratic stronghold. So it’s astonishing that the Democrats have failed even to get anyone on the ballot to challenge the county’s most notorious (OK, only) party-switcher.

State Rep. Mike Jacobs, who turned Republican last summer, looks to be home-free following the recent disqualification of Keith Gross on residency grounds. An administrative law judge determined last month that Gross, an openly gay businessman, hadn’t lived in Georgia for two years, as required by law. Last week, Secretary of State Karen Handel agreed; Gross did not appeal her decision.

But wait, that’s not all. (more…)

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“Forget it, Jake. It’s South DeKalb.”

With apologies to Chinatown, that’s what DeKalb voting patterns make me think of. Who imagined, back in 2004, that Cynthia McKinney would win back her Congressional seat without a runoff against such heavy hitters as Lianne Levitan and Cathy Woolard? Ditto for embattled CEO Vernon Jones, who easily won re-election that same year against six challengers, including a sitting commissioner, also without a runoff.

South DeKalb politics is like a sealed box; you can speculate all you like about what’s inside, but you never really know until you take the lid off on election day. (more…)

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For the second consecutive morning, Dekalb County is telling me not to drink tap water without first boiling it for at least three minutes.

To put it mildly, I’m irritated — not just because I can’t drink coffee at home this morning, but because of all the people who, upon waking, don’t read Dekalb County press releases, and who are therefore drinking dirty water this morning.

By my count, this is the second time in just a few weeks that a run-of-the-mill storm has knocked out the county’s supply of clean drinking water.

A water system that fails every time it gets windy is a broken water system.

After I get some caffeine in me, I plan to call Burrell Ellis and Stan Watson, the remaining two candidates for Dekalb County CEO, and ask what they plan to do to fix the problem.

The candidate who promises me potable tap water on a daily basis will get my vote.

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State Rep. Stan Watson, a leading Democratic candidate for DeKalb CEO still has not filed his June 30 campaign disclosure report.

Disclosures were due last Tuesday, but, as of 11:15 a.m. this morning, Watson’s was six days overdue, according to the filing officer with the county election department.

We couldn’t reach Watson by phone, so we can only speculate on why he’s so late. Frankly, we wonder if it has something to do with the fact that Commissioner Burrell Ellis, the presumed front-runner in the CEO’s race, reported contributions totaling a staggering $421,000, while Ann Kimbrough, chief of staff to CEO Vernon Jones, reported just under $89,000. If Watson had come in third in fund-raising, it could potentially shift some undecided voters to Kimbrough in tomorrow’s primary.

C’mon, Stan. Turn in your report so we can compare all the candidates’ finances fairly.

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