Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, June 11 - 17, 2015
OPINION
Page 5A
District 5 decision matters
District 5 residents will
finally get what they have
begged for: a special elec
tion. And when they go to
the polls June 16 to select a
new commissioner, they will
have plenty of choices.
There are five females
and five males running for
the position. Among them
are a police officer and pas
tor, an educational consul
tant and entrepreneur, a
company CEO, a library me
dia specialist/writer, a man
agement executive, a tech
nology consultant, a retired
MARTA superintendent, a
community and economic
development consultant and
two attorneys.
Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
Managing Editor
@AndrewChampNews
It is unusual for a com
mission seat to get so much
attention, but these are
unusual times. Our elected
county CEO is back in court
for a retrial on corruption
charges. Some commission
ers still have active ethics
charges against them and
one former commissioner
is in prison after pleading
guilty to fraud charges.
A lack of confidence in
the county government is a
major factor in the cityhood
movement in the county.
Federal and county in
vestigations are under way,
and many residents, particu
larly those who keep an eye
on government, are waiting
for the next shoe to drop.
So the eyes of the county
are on District 5 and the
choice for the next com
missioner. Some candidates
have been on various gov
ernment volunteer boards
or councils. Some have only
recently begun to attend
commissioners’ meetings.
Some have never attended a
meeting. Some have run for
an office before.
But what is common
among all is that each has
put himself or herself before
the community as a possible
future elected leader.
District 5 needs an inde
pendent thinker—someone
who will represent the peo
ple, not someone who sim
ply will join a voting block
on the board of commis
sioners. District 5 needs an
advocate who will seek the
welfare of his or her com
munity and not seek self
aggrandizement. District 5
needs a representative who
remembers that he or she
was elected to represent the
constituents and not himself
or herself.
And to get good repre
sentation, District 5 needs a
good turnout in the upcom
ing special election. With
well more than 100,000
residents in the district, the
race should not be decided
by a few hundred voters. So,
residents of District 5, please
vote.
District 5 matters.
DeKalb County matters.
And the choice that the vot
ers of District 5 make mat
ters.
ONE MAN'S OPINION
The Fort Mac attack
“I am pleased that we
reached an agreement that
will help long-term job cre
ation, business expansion
and community investment
in Fort McPherson and its
surrounding communities,”
said Atlanta Mayor Kasim
Reed.
I am a fan of Tyler
Perry. His most famous
creation, Madea, reminds
me more than a bit of two
women who helped raise my
siblings and me.
Perry has given a tremen
dous boost to the Georgia
and Atlanta film production
industries, long before it was
fashionable (in Hollywood
circles) or tax advantageous
to do so.
He is both an aggressive
entrepreneur and a philan
thropist—regularly invest
ing and giving back to the
community that so strongly
supports his work. For these
and many other reasons, I
am glad that he still calls At
lanta, Ga., his home.
All that said, I believe
the city of Atlanta is under
selling and perhaps under
estimating the value of the
330 to 500-acre parcel we
all now know as the closed
Army base Fort McPherson
on Atlanta’s southside. The
original parade grounds,
golf course and historic offi
cers’ row houses at the base’s
center remain maintained in
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
Columnist
pristine condition, and I can
already envision how those
will become fertile grounds
and settings for Perry’s
imagination.
Perry plans to construct
up to 16 film production
sound-stages as well as
post-production facilities
on the large and now fenced
compound, relocating from
his existing facilities near
Greenbriar Mall in south
west Atlanta, and not flee
ing to an OTP site he was
considering in Douglas
County. According to Tyler
Perry Studios, Perry has to-
date invested $200 million
in Georgia.
Though the Pentagon
and Army decommissioned
Fort Mac following Base
Realignment and Closure
Commission (BRAC) hear
ings and recommendations
of the prior decade, and the
base has been largely de
militarized, millions in real
estate assets and technology
infrastructure remain in
place.
U.S. Armed Forces Com
mand (FORSCOM) ran
Operation Desert Shield
and Operation Desert Storm
from Fort Mac during 1990-
1991.
The base was successfully
defended and maintained
through three rounds of
BRAC hearings and the U.S.
Veteran’s Administration
(VA) still operates a clinic
on post.
Perry’s plan will leave the
fences surrounding the com
pound in place and may well
serve as a catalyst for rede
velopment of nearby East
Point, Hapeville and College
Park. However, the nearby
Screen Gems redevelopment
at the old Fakewood Fair
grounds has yet to deliver
on its promise for the same
area.
The nature of film, TV
and motion picture produc
tion is seasonal and transi
tory. The majority of actors
as well as technical crews are
still being imported.
Perry does make an effort
to cast locally, but a close
look at one of television’s
most popular programs,
AMC’s The Walking Dead,
also produced here in Geor
gia, shows a stellar ensemble
cast with nary a native Geor
gia accent (the now defunct
character of Herschel did
have southern roots).
But Fort Mac has more
than 300 useable acres, in
cluding significant existing
infrastructure, and this deal
is underpriced and could
have easily been sub-divid
ed. Give Perry the center
campus, parade grounds,
golf course (he is report
edly and avid golfer) and the
existing warehouse space
(somewhat easily converted
into soundstages), and split
off another 100-plus acres
into one or two more par
cels.
Yes, there are some is
sues with chemicals and
likely some old ordinances
buried on property, as is the
case with many former mili
tary installations, but those
challenges are no more in
surmountable than remov
ing multiple heavy metals
and other toxins from the
soil underneath what has
now become Atlantic Sta
tion. The base site is on
MARTA, minutes from the
world’s busiest airport and
well-located for becoming a
substantive redevelopment
catalyst on Atlanta’s south-
side.
For purposes of compari
son, more than $32 million
has been privately raised
to relocate the Cyclorama
from Grant Park to a new
building on the grounds of
the Atlanta History Center
in Buckhead, with the city
of Atlanta receiving a sub
stantial portion of that total.
Atlanta has also long had
the Atlanta Civic Center and
its few surrounding acres in
Bedford Pines listed for sale
at a price of only half what
Perry is paying for more
than 300 acres ($15 million).
I want Perry and his
company to be successful,
his films are well-produced,
wonderfully cast and enter
taining. I know his legacy
here will be long...I just don’t
want folks to later believe
that Madea helped the tal
ented Perry steal this deal
with the help of her silver-
plated 357.
Bill Crane cdso serves
as a political analyst and
commentator for Channel
2’s Action News, WSB-AM
News/Talk 750 and now 95.5
FM, as well as a columnist
for The Champion, Cham
pion Free Press and Georgia
Trend. Crane is a DeKalb
native and business owner,
living in Scottdale. You can
reach him or comment on
a column at bill.csicrane@
gmail.com.