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The Champion, Thursday, December 24 - 30,2015
LOCAL
A Section 12-24-15.indd 6
12/22/15 3:44 PM
Harriet Ribbons grew up
in a place called Silverdale, in
the north of England.
She said growing up her
grandparents owned eight
golden retrievers.
“My mom was a huge an
imal person. We used to res
cue labs but my mom would
pick the oldest ones. One was
an 11-year-old with cancer.
We had him for nine months,
but we gave him the happiest
nine months of his life.”
Ribbons also grew up
with horses and used a lot of
what she learned from train
ing horses to help with dogs
and cats.
“I was probably about 6
when I began, and rescuing
was just something my moth
er and I loved and shared
together.”
Following Ribbons’ move
to Atlanta she began intern
ing and looking for opportu
nities to volunteer.
She said, “I really wanted
to work at a horse rescue, but
the closest was an hour away.
So I Googled “animal rescue
in Decatur” and Paws Atlanta
came up. I put in my appli
cation, and then I harassed
them. I wanted to get started
so badly.”
Ribbons started volun
teering at Paws Atlanta ev
eryday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“It was the staff and the
volunteers. They just became
my family. I really didn’t have
anybody here in Georgia.
They let me into their world,
and they taught me so much,”
Ribbons said.
She added, “I learned
how to look after animals,
how to give them medica
tion. The staff is so caring
and they’re so loyal. You kind
of become a part of a cause
instead of a group. You’re all
there for the animals, and all
there for the same reason.”
Ribbons has been volun
teering with Paws Atlanta for
more than two years.
Currently, she manages
the foster program, as a vol
unteer.
“I make sure the animals
that need a foster [family]
go into a foster home, and
that we find the right people
who want to help. It’s a lot of
work, but a lot of fun,” she
said.
Ribbons also visits local
animal controls to find pets
that Paws Atlanta can help.
She said, “I’ve probably
fostered between 20 and 30
cats and dogs, mostly dogs.
When I foster, I know where
the animal come from. So, I
get to see their full story.”
Ribbons said, “It’s nice
to see their personality come
out. And, when they’re ready,
you put them into the shelter
and see them go to someone
who will love that animal for
the rest of their life.”
She added, “I think it’s a
great process. Everyone who
fosters gets to help an animal
who really needs their help.
And they also get to bring a
little bit of light into the life
of an animal who feels aban
doned and left behind”
Through her work at the
animal shelter Ribbons said
one of the most rewarding
aspects was working with a
pit bull mix, Tequila. “He was
my all-time favorite.”
Ribbons said she’d never
worked with a pit bull mix
before because pit bulls are
banned in England.
“I’d never met one. He
opened my eyes a little bit, to
not judge a dog until you’ve
met it, no matter what the
breed. He was the best dog.”
If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthen
at andrew@dekalbchamp.com or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.
GM plant redevelopment depends on county schools support
by Andrew Cauthen
Andrew@dekalbchamp.com
The DeKalb County Board of
Commissioners voted unanimously
to partner with the city of Doraville
to help redevelop the former General
Motors plant.
But the superintendent for the
DeKalb County School District, a
critical partner in the proposed part
nership, has reservations.
Doraville Mayor Donna Pittman
said city officials are “just really, re
ally excited.”
“It means everything,” Pittman
said after the commissioners’ vote.
“It’s a game-changer for the county,
the region, the city.”
“We have taken a significant step
forward in supporting smart growth
and job creation in this corridor,”
said interim DeKalb CEO Lee May.
Under the plan, Doraville, the
county school district and county
government would create a tax al
location district (TAD) that includes
the former GM assembly plant and
portions of the city of Doraville.
The proposed TAD would raise
an estimated $247 million for in
frastructure improvements such as
roads, a tunnel and other public proj
ects.
Doraville councilman Rob
ert Patrick said the proposed
development is expected to
create 14,000 jobs and generate
$600 million in annual salaries.
“This is really a unique opportu
nity,” said Ken Bleakly, representing
Doraville. “The estimated value of
this project when completed will be
over $1.8 billion.
“I don’t think there has been any
project of this scale in the county in
recent memory,” Bleakly said. “This
is truly an engine of future growth.”
Bleakly said that under the
intergovernmental agreement be
tween the county and Doraville,
the county could receive more
than $100 million of additional tax
revenue over the next 20 years.
“Once the TAD is completed, the
county’s revenue from the project
each year will be 12 times greater
than it receives today,” he said.
“I know the county worked re
ally hard on this and we’re looking
forward to partnering with them
and also.. .to work with the school
board,” Pittman said. “The focus will
be on the school board now.”
In a Dec. 15 statement, DeKalb
County School Superintendent Ste
phen Green said, “We are expected
to be good stewards of our resources
and I think making a 25-year com
mitment to freezing the school tax
digest does not fulfill that commit
ment.”
Green stated that he has “several
serious reservations about commit
ting school resources over the course
of the 25 years of the TAD for this
project.”
“Our core business is teaching
and learning, not speculative, unpre
dictable real estate projects,” Green
stated.
“Two of the three current TADs
in DeKalb County have not succeed
ed in meeting their tax revenue pro
jections,” Green stated. “The Kens
ington and Briarcliff TADs have de
creased in tax digest value since their
inception with Kensington showing a
decrease in excess of 20 percent.”
Another reservation is that “after
several years, the ongoing inability
of the city of Atlanta and the Atlanta
Public Schools to fulfill their inter
governmental agreement based on a
TAD for the financing of the Beltline
project demonstrates how unfore
seen pitfalls can be costly to the local
school system,” Green stated.
Green also said that under the
proposed agreement “the school tax
digest for the Doraville TAD would
be fixed for 25 years with a best case
scenario of nine additional years be
fore the school district would recoup
taxes that had been given up.”
Another negative is that the
debt, including debt service of ap
proximately $600 million for these
improvements, would be paid with
tax revenue above what is collected
currently in the area, Green stated.
A school district spokesman said
Green has no plans to present the
matter to the board unless requested
by the board, and the county’s sup
port is contingent on school district’s
participation in the TAD.
In the intergovernmental agree
ment with Doraville, DeKalb officials
stated that they “would withdraw
their support if the school district
did not approve it,” said Doraville
City Manager Shawn Gillen.
“So it’s really hinging on [the
school district] right now,” Gillen
said.
Without the TAD, there is no
second plan, Gillen said.
“There are not many options for
funding infrastructure, so this is our
big moment,” Gillen said. “So we’ll
have to see what happens.”
Gillen said the school superin
tendent’s reservations mean Doraville
officials “have a lot of dialogue to do
to try to get [school board members]
to a comfort level that they need to
be at. It took a while with the county
to get them to that level.”
“We want to be able to tell our
story and show them the numbers
and correct any misconceptions they
might have and get them to a com
fort level they need to be at to make
it happen,” Gillen said.
Doraville officials are “eternally
optimistic about [the Assembly proj
ect] because this is the future of our
city,” Gillen said. “This is more than
an economic development project,
this is the future of a community
that’s at stake here.”
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