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"I’ve been made out to be a ruthless, money-grubbing
capitalist with no regard for zoning laws or concerns of
other businesses downtown... And here was a man
putting everything at risk to do what I’ve done, and I’ve
had to fight constantfinancial and legal battles.”
myself. Since 1 was very little 1 have depend
ed greatly on myself. I’ve just pu: my head
down and worked.
FP: Are you going to go back to practicing
medicine?
Moorman: Well,! love medicine, and my wife
and i had a lot of legal encounters over the
children which are a very important part of
my life, and she’s moved to Atlanta and I’ve
had them all summer and she said that 1
could have them for the next year. They’re
the reason 1 built all this. You know, I say
that and 1 believe that. I’m not a very person
ally consumptive person. I grew up in a
home that met their bills but didn’t have a
lot of income to do other things with.
FP: You named Clayton after Clayton Street,
didn 7 you?
Moorman: For Clayton Street, right.
FP: Who’s this, then, Jackson?
Moorman: This is Maxwell. I went in treat
ment when I was 39, and I’m 41 now. I had a
birthday in treatment. I started drinking
when 1 was probably 15 and didn’t know
how to live without drugs and alcohol, but
I’ve found a lot of peace in the program of
Alcoholics Anonymous. My license has pro
visions where I get drug tested. They can call
me any day and be drug tested. I spend
weekly sessions at Ridgeview, and there’s a
group of 35 or so physicians who’ve been
through treatment, and I’ll be monitored for
five to seven years. And I guess I’m trying to
learn who am I when I’m not a physician or
working obsessively.
FP: Well, that fire in the belly that was driving
you before, do you still have that?
Moorman: A lot of my goals have changed. I
think my priority is to stay sober and be a
father to my kids and find out who I am, and
recoup financially and return as a physician
on a limited basis, or a more normal basis. I
think I was doing the work of two to three
dermatologists and a couple of developers.
FP: Is there still room for development down
town?
Moorman: I think there’s a lot more potential
downtown. It’s certainly a desirable place to
live. We’re 100 percent occupied, and I hope
that a lot of what I and others have done has
eroded the opposition. That’s part of what’s
so difficult for me to believe, that I’ve invest
ed $4 million in downtown Athens and in the
same newspaper that they would report on
my struggles with the zoning department
they would comment about the university
eroding the tax base in Athens-Clarke
County. And here was a man putting every
thing at risk to do what I’ve done, and I’ve
had to fight constant financial and legal bat-
des.
FP: Do your holdings make you a comfortable
living?
Moorman: If I sold a little more property, I
could probably not have to work. I nave
some bills to pay. I’ve been out of work 14
months. I’ve managed to cut a lot of expens
es, but my medical income has dropped to
zero right now. I have held onto my practices
in anticipation of returning. Again, I’m a very
non-consumptive person personally, or low
consumptive person. It’s been kind of... I
think the Flagpole joined that bandwagon to
batter me. I guess I do have some history of
being a hippie, I guess, but I thought that if
anybody would support what I was doing it
would have been the Flagpole. My tenants
advertise there; we advertise. I’m a big part
of downtown and the Flagpole is, yet I’ve
been opposed by the Flagpole. Which is
another indication that I seem to have
repelled every group.
FP: Why do you say you’ve been opposed by
Flagpole?
Moorman: Well, the tone of the articles
you’ve written. I’ve been made out to be a
ruthless, money-grubbing capitalist with no
regard for zoning laws or concerns of other
businesses downtown. That’s how i feel I’ve
been represented, and perhaps that’s the
image I tried to portray. I don’t know... I did
n’t create the situation downtown. I recog
nized it and responded to it.
FP: Where'd you get the idea of developing liv
ing spaces downtown?
Moorman: Well, I like old things. I collect
antiques. 1 used to build forts in the back
yard. It’s just a passion I have for developing,
and I had an income that would allow me to
go to banks and borrow a lot of money. Even
the banks didn’t believe that I could do what
1 did. One of the loan officers commented
when I began construction on my first two
buildings, that I better keep my day job. C
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SEPTEMBER 2, 1998 FLAGPOLE O