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Richard Pennington

UPDATE: Pennington says he hasn’t been contacted for the position. The White House declines to comment. We clasp our hands and pray Atlanta’s favorite soul patch — he’s after the jump below — is not named the next DEA chief.

CBS Atlanta reports that Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington is being eyed to head the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Or maybe not?

A [APD] spokesperson says the department has not been informed of this information and they could not comment.

[CBS Atlanta reporter Joanna Massee] e-mailed Mayor Shirley Franklin to see if she was aware Pennington was being considered for a position at the DEA. A spokesperson for the mayor said, “While Mayor Franklin is unaware of the opportunity in your email she thinks, ‘Chief Pennington is a terrific and highly effective law enforcement official and who has served Atlanta with distinction.’”

Pennington sent an email to CBS Atlanta and it said, “I have no knowledge that I’m being considered for any federal law enforcement position. Furthermore, I have not been contacted by anyone in Washington.”

New Orleans media outlets are abuzz about the rumor. Pennington was the city’s former police superintendent before heading to Atlanta. Eager to put a stop to all the madness, CL contacted its fictitious high-level sources at the federal agency. Turns out there’s been some confusion.

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The AJC’s James Salzer reports state Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, has withdrawn the bill that would allow cities and counties to decide if they wanted stores to be able to sell booze on the Sabbath. He says it didn’t have enough votes to pass:

Sober like us: Shafer & Sonny

The committee was supposed to vote on the bill Wednesday, but supporters knew by the time the meeting began that they wouldn’t have enough votes to pass it.

It marked the third consecutive year the bill to allow Sunday sales has stalled in the Senate.

Sen. Seth Harp (R-Midland), said he would bring the bill back up in the future and supporters hinted they would make it a campaign issue next year.

Welcome to Georgia, where nothing ever happens.

(Update by Scott Henry):
There’s a rumor floating around that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, R-Gainesville, was involved in getting the bill killed. Harp isn’t buying it. He says Cagle “told me personally” that he favored the bill getting a floor vote. And if SB 16 had reached the floor, Harp is confident it would’ve passed.

Who was the real villain, then?

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Jim Galloway reports state Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth, was contacted by constituents early Sunday morning about the slow-moving bill that would allow cities and counties to decide whether stores could sell alcohol on the Sabbath.

Shafer said a half-dozen slurred messages were left on his office voice mail at 1, 2 and 3 a.m. Sunday. “They were clearly on the cell phone in the beer aisle, drunk and unable to buy beer, and angry with me,” the senator said.

Shafer says the phone number to his Gold Dome office was listed on fliers placed in the booze aisle of a Wal-Mart, Galloway reports. The distinguished gentleman from Gwinnett County — who’s also a 2010 lieutenant governor candidate — chairs the committee that will discuss the legislation tomorrow.

The editorial employees of CL urge all Georgians to get involved with local politics and speak out on issues near to their hearts. Especially when those issues involve not allowing people to purchase alcohol in stores on Sundays. Sounds like Socialism to me!

Should you ever want to talk to Shafer about life, love, baseball or giving cities and counties more local control, you can always reach him at

(Courtesy ICanHasCheezburger)

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It’s not just snowing, Atlanta — it’s THUNDERSNOWING! Yar! What is “thundersnow?” It’s a perplexing mix of God’s belches and Bill Brasky’s dandruff. It has nothing to do with the weather.

The Georgia Department of Transportation is asking motorists to curtail their driving. Schools tomorrow may or may not close. Television reporters are at Piedmont Park and in Coweta County (?) looking miserable. You can follow all the fun on Twitter at #atlsnow and #thundersnow, among others.

And there’s also a commemorative t-shirt you can buy:

(Image from Regator’s “thundersnow” t-shirt page on Zazzle)

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Will April 3 look like this?

Earlier this month, the Georgia General Assembly took the unprecedented step of adopting a stretched-out legislative calendar that called for lawmakers to hold session only three days a week through the end of March, recess for at least eight weeks and then re-convene for five days in late June to finalize the state budget.

That was before Congress approved the $787 billion federal stimulus package – including close to $6 billion for Georgia – and before the state had finalized its revenue projections. Now that state budget-writers know roughly how much money they’ve got to work with, there’s really no reason to drag out the session any longer than necessary. Thursday was the 24th legislative day.

According to a little Gold Dome bird – who claims to have seen the soon-to-be-dropped bill – the new end date for the 2009 Legislation session will be no later than Friday, April 3. That would be one day earlier than last year.

Apparently, the leadership hasn’t quite settled on whether to go the full 40 days or try to wrap things up a few days early. If they opt for the latter, the session could be over as early as Wednesday, March 25. I’ll believe that when I see it.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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After hours of debate, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a controversial bill that would allow Georgia Power to charge customers in advance for financing costs on two proposed nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.

The bill now moves back to the state Senate where it originated and passed by a wide margin. That chamber will then send it to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s desk for signature. The governor has not said whether he supports or opposes the measure. It merits a mention, however, that Perdue’s chief of staff is a former Georgia Power executive.

Full list of how lawmakers voted will be posted when it’s available.

(Photo courtesy of Plant Vogtle)

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Arson. Black-market firearms. Cocaine trafficking. Armed robbery. Police extortion. Naked ladies.
Last week’s federal conspiracy trial of strip-club careerist Boyd Smith felt like a crash course in two-bit criminality, coupled with a seminar in sleaze.

Smith, the former manager of Platinum 21 on Cheshire Bridge Road, is charged with having schemed with two colleagues to torch the competing Club Onyx in early 2007. Each hour of court testimony peeled back a new layer of scuzz.

Smith worked for Howard “Bit” Thrower, who oversaw Platinum 21 and Flashers in Sandy Springs on behalf of owner Harry “Mario” Freese. Thrower, a bear of a man who sounds like Kris Kristofferson with a mescal hangover, is an accused drug-runner-turned FBI informant who helped the feds nail two Fulton County police officers for shaking down Freese.

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"Cap'n" Ken Womack

Last summer, when several homes on her Ormewood Park street were hit by burglars – some more than once – Donna Williamson decided she wasn’t going to wait her turn to get robbed.

She posted a meeting notice for anyone interested in finding ways to deal with the crime wave. Then, a few days prior to the July 2 meeting, a woman was abducted from the nearby East Atlanta Village at gunpoint and forced to withdraw money from an ATM before being released. For Williamson, that was the last straw.

“I said at the meeting I didn’t want people to simply sit there and moan and bitch about what someone else should do about the problem,” she recalls. “We need to do it for ourselves.”

The result was Safe Atlanta For Everyone, a group of about 50 East Atlanta and Ormewood residents who walk their nearby streets to keep an eye out for suspicious cars and hand out occasional flyers listing safety tips.

If SAFE sounds reminiscent of a neighborhood watch from a bygone era when neighbors actually bothered to learn each other’s names, that’s intentional. But technology has brought improvements. These neighbors also Twitter and blog and use an arsenal of virtual tools to keep each other informed – often in real time – of the latest crimes and suspicious behavior in their community. Instead of waiting for the criminals to come to them, they post mugshots online, swap “be on the lookout” notices by e-mail and even track the whereabouts of shady characters so folks down the block can see them coming.

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Flanked by the Gold Dome’s top pachyderms, Gov. Sonny Perdue yesterday gave residents another peek at his plan to overhaul the state’s transportation agencies.

From Dave Williams at the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Perdue unveiled plans Thursday to introduce legislation merging two transportation agencies created by former Gov. Roy Barnes into a new organization that essentially would take over the main planning and funding duties of the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The DOT would maintain its operations and maintenance functions and could compete with private highway contractors for road-building projects.

The State Transportation Authority would consist of 11 members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. Its board would make policy decisions that now are the responsibility of the 13-member DOT board, which has one member representing each of Georgia’s congressional districts.

The bill, which is still being drafted, is expected to be longer than the Bible. Perdue told reporters he won’t support either the state Senate or House’s proposals to increase transportation funding until they tend to his reorganization effort.

(Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

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Never on a Sunday

This afternoon, I shuttled between two depressing committee meetings at the State Capitol — one in which a GOP lawmaker browbeat state university professors for having nationally recognized expertise in the field of sexual behavior and another for which the Christian Coalition had bused in dozens of fresh-scrubbed teens to testify against their elders being allowed to buy a six-pack on Sunday.

“The Bible says alcohol is wrong,” declared one young lady.

One of the boys took a more pragmatic stance, asking, “The state might get a few more million dollars, but at what cost of the blood of people who crash and die?”

What cost indeed. Of course, the bill by Sen. Seth Harp, R-Midland, had its supporters. Kroger is for it. So is the convenience store industry and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, whose representative framed the issue as one of “basic economic fairness,” since restaurants, stadiums and performance venues are currently allowed to serve booze on Sundays.

Harp himself told a heart-breaking story about soldiers from Fort Benning who were reunited with loved ones just before shipping out overseas, but because it was a Sunday, they were unable to properly party down. Well, maybe it was just me who was left quietly sobbing.

Anyway, the bill wouldn’t automatically allow Sunday sales. Instead, it would permit cities and counties to let voters decide. There are some cities in Georgia now that are completely dry on Sunday, restaurants included (I’m looking at you, Snellville). This bill wouldn’t change that, unless those places wanted to enter the 21st century.

The committee won’t vote on the bill until next week.

Attending both meetings, I was reminded of a favorite saying of a certain left-leaning legislator: “If Georgia didn’t have Atlanta, it would be Alabama.”

Except that in Alabama, you can buy beer on Sunday.

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WHITE ELEPHANTS Senate Bill 31 would provide safety net for Georgia Power

In 1974, Georgia Power broke ground on nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, embarking on a nuclear odyssey that would nearly bankrupt the company.

Almost 15 years later — and after several delays and environmental hurdles— the project’s construction costs ballooned from $680 million to a staggering $8.4 billion. And it wasn’t until then that Georgia Power could begin to recoup the cost from ratepayers.

Now, as the state’s largest utility moves forward on two new reactors at Plant Vogtle estimated at $6.4 billion, the first in nearly 30 years, the company wants to cover its assets — and it’s enlisted the assistance of a phalanx of lobbyists and a controversial legislative plan of attack.

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Architecture magazine Metropolis this month profiles the effort by Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts to raze — or is it renovate? — the historic Atlanta-Fulton County public library located downtown.

The library, completed in 1980, is the final work of famed Modernist architect Marcel Breuer and considered a masterpiece. The architecture community, enraged by the idea, wants to preserve the building.

From the magazine:

Having secured $85 million last November through a bond referendum, Pitts hopes to incorporate retail, dining, and performance space into a high-visibility property. An early choice was a site facing Centennial Olympic Park, a tourist destination bordered by such attractions as CNN Center, the Georgia Aquarium, and the World of Coca-Cola. But opening a new main branch would mean abandoning the existing one—a design that many argue is already a world-class piece of architecture.

It’s an excellent article and worth your time. Read it in full at Metropolis’ site.

To read more about or to join the preservation effort, visit local artist Max Eternity’s website.

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

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Rumors have been swirling for weeks on Marietta Street about when — and on whom — the next shoe will drop. Just over the weekend, one AJC staffer told me the buzz around the building was that something big was about to come down.

Well, that hunch looks to have been correct. This morning, AJCers were asked to report to various small-bunch meetings at 11 a.m., where they were told “substantial” changes would be coming soon. Staffers were instructed not to discuss the content of the brief meetings, but from what I understand, they didn’t get many details anyway.

It seems the forthcoming changes will involve the merging of some sections of the print edition. This wouldn’t be a huge surprise to most observers, who’ve watched weekday sections shrink to eight, and sometimes even six, pages. There are days when the Metro section doesn’t contain a single paid ad, not counting paid obits, in-house promotional ads and trade-outs for AJC-sponsored events.

Apparently, the business section will be folded into the front, or “A” section. As for other changes, we’ll find out soon enough. But whatever happens, the result will be fewer jobs.

The AJC has gone through two rounds of buyouts — in spring 2007 and fall 2008 — and the feeling I get from staffers is that we won’t see a third round. Instead, the next step will be layoffs.

The logic goes that buyouts are fine if you have a bulging payroll and you simply want to lighten the overall load. But when you get down to the bone, you have to use a more precise tool to allow you to cut out redundancies while keeping the resources you need.

It’s not known when layoffs would happen, but the expectation is for sooner rather than later. More later…

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Tom Coffin, the Atlanta arborist whose firing last summer caused a firestorm of controversy, says he’s suing the city.

In a suit filed Friday, Coffin’s attorneys say his supervisors at City Hall violated the state’s “whistleblower” statute when he was fired after raising questions about his colleagues’ alleged lax enforcement of the city’s tree ordinance.

“The City Council passed and the Mayor signed the Tree Protection Ordinance in recognition of how important trees are to the health and well-being of the city,” Coffin says in a press release. “I was hired to enforce the law and to ensure that my colleagues did so as well. My firing leaves the city with a broken ordinance and a mockery of enforcement. It is outrageous that I should have to sue for my job while the City, in the midst of a severe economic crisis, pays five field arborists to ‘look the other way’ and make excuses for their lack of performance and accountability to the law.”

Coffins wants the city to rehire him and pay compensatory damages. He is represented by Brian Spears and Gerry Weber, former legal director of the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union.

View the press release and a pasted version of the suit after the jump. You can also download a PDF of the suit here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Ryan Gravel

The Beltline Partnership, the fundraising and public awareness arm of the $2.8 billion project that imagines Atlanta circled by parks, trails and transit, has new board directors.

Most prominent among those, especially for people who keep their eyes on smart growth and transit projects in the city, is Ryan Gravel. An urban designer who envisioned the Beltline as a graduate student at Georgia Tech, Gravel now works at local architecture firm Perkins + Will. He’s become more engaged with the Beltline since the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak unexpectedly announced they want to use tracks near Piedmont Park for a commuter-rail project, putting the project in jeopardy.

Ray Weeks, the partnership’s founding chairman, is stepping down now that his term on the board has ended. He will continue to serve as one of the organization’s chief fundraisers. Weeks is succeeded by AGL Resources CEO John Somerhalder.

The partnership’s roster includes some of the city’s biggest business names. Since its founding, the organization has been vital in securing private funds to help pay for some of the public-works project’s costs.

Full release, with details of who’s joined the board, after the jump.

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In 2005, Doug Abramson — along with an army of Midtown residents and Atlanta activists who banded together as Friends of Piedmont Park — fought tooth and nail to not only battle plans for a controversial parking deck in Piedmont Park, but also push the city and Atlanta Botanical Garden to act in a transparent manner about their plans for a project proposed on public land.

The fight split the neighborhood and the city. Signs in residents’ front yards became billboards for support or opposition. In July 2008, after much heated debate and several legal skirmishes, a Fulton County Superior Court judge said Friends of Piedmont Park must pay damages to the garden.

Nonetheless, Abramson remains involved in efforts to make government more transparent and accountable. And on Feb. 28, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation will honor Abramson for his open-government work at its awards banquet at the Commerce Club in downtown Atlanta. That night, at a reception honoring Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, Abramson will be presented with the 2009 Open Government Hero Award.

For more information about the banquet, one which is sure to attract many of the state’s legal bigwigs and activists who are open government advocates, visit the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The state Senate today passed a bill 38-16 that would allow Georgia Power to begin collecting fees from customers to help pay for two proposed nuclear reactors prior to their construction. (The Senate Press Office included in its release about the bill’s passage this hilarious photo to the right of the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Don Balfour, R-Gavelville.)

The bill now moves to the House, where Jim Galloway of the AJC says lawmakers are generally warm to the idea.

Supporters of the bill say it’ll save the utility — and in turn, customers — money in the long run.

But many lawmakers and consumer groups oppose the move because they say it sidesteps the Public Service Commission  — and partially exempts big business and industrial customers from the increased rates.

For an excellent rundown of the controversial legislation, view my esteemed colleague Scott Henry’s post.

After the jump, Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports some lawmakers’ thoughts about the bill.

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown concludes with Elizabeth, a massage therapist at Sweetgrass Spa in Little Five Points. Over the past week, we’ve given you a sneak peak of six of our 12 Lust Listers — in anticipation of our Valentine’s Day issue, which hits the streets and the web TODAY.

Find out whether your crush was one of the desirable dozen who made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

Elizabeth
Age: 29
Status: Single

Elizabeth has a way with her hands — and her eyes. She also has a deep appreciation for all things timeless, from Patsy Cline to vintage threads to time travel. Most intriguing, though, is her answer to our question, “If you could live in any movie, which would it be?” Totally psychedelic.

What’s the last book you read?
Daughter of Fortune.

What’s the furthest from home you’ve ever been?
Rome and Florence are probably the furthest — and the most beautiful.

What would your friends find most surprising about you?
I have a strange obsession with the TV series “Little House on the Prairie.”

Name one band from the past you which you’d seen live?
I would have loved to have seen Jim Morrison.

Name three foods that are part of your everyday diet.
Wine, almond croissants, and fried pickles.

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown continues with Jason, a waiter at Thumbs Up Diner on Marietta Street. Over the past week, we’ve given you a sneak peak of one Lust Lister each day — in anticipation of our Valentine’s Day issue, which hits the streets and the web TOMORROW.

Find out whether your crush made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

Jason
Age: 28
Status: Single

Jason was gentlemanly enough to allow our Lust List team to interrupt him in the middle of a lunch shift for a photo shoot. He was worried about being a little too sweaty. Rest assured, Jason, that’s nothing to worry about.

What’s the last book you read?
The Alchemist.

Name one band from the past you wish you’d seen live.
Bob Marley and the Wailers.

What’s your favorite article of clothing?
My Cameroon jersey.

What’s your worst vice?
I don’t know if I can put that in Creative Loafing.

(more…)

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown continues with TJ, a saleswoman at Harley-Davidson of Clayton County. As the week progresses, we’ll give you a sneak peak of one Lust Lister each day — until our Valentine’s Day issue hits the streets and the web Feb. 11.

Find out whether your crush made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

TJ
Age: 29
Status: Taken

TJ has a certain girl-next-door charm, but she’s way hotter than any neighbor you’ve known. Trust us. She’s sweet yet tough, all-American with an edge. “She brings out the wild side in me,” her nominator wrote. “She is every man’s quenchable desire. That’s the girl you want on the back of your bike.” We couldn’t agree more.

What’s the last book you read?
The Debutante Divorcee.

Name one band from the past you wish you’d seen live.
The Black Crowes, hands down.

What’s your favorite article of clothing?
Probably my Harley belt and buckle.

What would you do with $100,000?
I’d rent a private jet, go pick up my family, and take us to Mexico, probably Cabo. And we’d chill out until I figured out how to spend the rest.

Choose between the following superpowers: flight or invisibility.
Definitely invisibility — because then I could get you from behind and you’d never know!

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown continues with Jason (a.k.a. “Roper”), a bartender at Diesel Filling Station in Virginia-Highland. As the week progresses, we’ll give you a sneak peak of one Lust Lister each day — until our Valentine’s Day issue hits the streets and the web Feb. 11.

Find out whether your crush made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

Jason
Age: 33
Status: Taken

A native of St. George Island, Fla., Jason is a self-described “professional beach bum.” According to one of the FIVE folks who nominated him for Lust List, he’s also got some special skills behind the bar. “Dude brings in the chicks,” one nominator wrote, “and that is cool with me.”

What’s the last book you read?
The Harry Potter series

Name one band from the past you wish you’d seen live.
Probably gonna have to say Zeppelin.

What would your friends find most surprising about you?
That sometimes I’m lazy enough to pee sitting down.

What’s your favorite article of clothing?
My Chucks.

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown continues with Tami, a food stylist and restaurant blogger. As the week progresses, we’ll give you a sneak peak of one Lust Lister each day — until our Valentine’s Day issue hits the streets and the web Feb. 11.

Find out whether your crush made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

Tami
Age: 32
Status: Single

Not only does Tami remind us of a Botticelli, she also has a sharp wit to counter her sweet shell. Her food blog, Running With Tweezers — in addition to playing off Augusten Burrough’s biting childhood memoir — also alludes to the primary tool of her trade: a 14-inch pair of tweezers she uses to meticulously style some of the city’s prettiest food. (She’s pictured here at Dogwood.) A former celebrity stylist, Tami would rather deal with dishes than divas. “It always fits,” she says of food styling. “It’s always on time. And it doesn’t give you any attitude. It’s my dream job.

What’s the furthest from home you’ve been?
France. I was there for three and a half months. I lived in a little country town outside of Paris.

What’s your favorite article of clothing?
My ’50s vintage leopard coat that I bought at Stefan’s about 12 years ago.

What would you do with $100,000?
I’d go on a foodie adventure to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

What three foods are part of your regular diet?
Goat cheese, bread and wine. It’s pretty much the diet of champions.

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Our Lust List 2009 countdown begins with Andrew, a stylist at Soda Salon in Glenwood Park. As the week progresses, we’ll give you a sneak peak of one Lust Lister each day — until our Valentine’s Day issue hits the streets and the web Feb. 11.

Find out whether your crush made the cut — and don’t miss our celebration of the most underappreciated gods and goddesses of Atlanta’s service industry.

Andrew
Age: 23
Status: Single

Andrew’s secret admirer says it best in a nomination letter that quickly captured our fancy: “Super cute, stylish and fun. He is a great hairstylist and always out and about around Atlanta and down to have a good time — dancing at Mary’s, grabbing a drink at Estoria or dinner at the newest Mexican joint. There are very few Atlanta gays who have not crushed on Andy. He is so adorable!”

Name one band from the past you wish you’d seen live.
The Ronettes. That’s my favorite girl group. I really like ’60s pop.

What would your friends find most surprising about you?
That I wish I had gone to college instead of just hair school. I mean I love doing hair, but I wish I would have gone to college and still done hair.

What three foods are part of your everyday diet?
Eggs, Lean Cuisine and Red Bull. That sounds terrible.

What’s your favorite karaoke song?
Oh, we go to Maryoke all the time [at Mary's in East Atlanta]. I’m going to say, “Take me home tonight,” that Eddie Money song.

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Travis Fain, one of The Macon Telegraph’s best muckrakers who also blogs at the hilarious Lucid Idiocy, has parachuted into Atlanta for the legislative session. Fain ran into some Houston County bigwigs and asked why they think Perdue took out a $21 million loan last September.

Today I spoke to one man who I consider just about as plugged into the business establishment in the Warner Robins area as you can be. And he said he’s talked to everyone he can think of, and can’t get a whisper of fact about what that loan was for.

Since taking office, the governor has both managed the state and his two agribusinesses. Last month, the AJC reported Perdue secured the loan for his two agribusinesses on pretty extraordinary circumstances just as credit markets were tanking. He’s declined to tell the public why he took out the loan or how he plans to repay it.

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At a well-attended town hall meeting on the subject of public safety Thursday night, Council President Lisa Borders put forth an interesting idea that could hold promise for oft-burgled Southside residents: a community improvement district to help fund extra security.

Borders, who hosted the gathering at Cascade United Methodist Church, suggested that money for surveillance cameras, community patrols and other security measures could be generated by creating a self-taxing district to which commercial property owners would contribute.

It’s an intriguing idea. There are a number of very successful CIDs around metro Atlanta — the Galleria and Perimeter areas and central Buckhead, perhaps most prominently — that fund everything from landscaped medians to shuttle buses to fancy lamp posts.

But I believe I heard Borders say there are no CIDs south of I-20. If that’s the case, it’s surely because there’s simply not the concentration of commercial property to support such an effort. It’s one thing to talk Perimeter Mall, Cousins Properties and Barry Real Estate into ponying up to spruce up the neighborhood. But when you’re dealing with a bunch of mom-and-pop businesses, as well as a hefty number of vacant storefronts — well, that’s a tougher sell.

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