Newspaper Page Text
TRAILER HATERS
Patronizing is too polite a word to describe the
Athens Banner Herald editorial "Moratorium vote
was a lose-lose situation for commission, people",
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2001, page A-8. "Anyone who
thinks it's easy to be a county commissioner
should have been at Tuesday's meeting. Faced
with a proposal that might help Garden Springs,
but would definitely hurt an important sector of
the economy, commissioners were between the
quintessential rock and hard place."
The ABH editors and the ACC Commissioners
likely deliberately avoided the crux of the issue
and misled the poor souls of Garden Springs into
believing this moratorium on development could
provide them hope, when, in fact, it was nothing
more than a sham all along (initiated by
Commissioner Barrow), a red herring to divert
attention from the real issues of discrimination
against these "low class" citizens by their very
"own" local government. At this very same
meeting the ACC Commission voted to change
other zoning, but did not change the zoning of
Garden Springs back to residential In fact, not
one Commissioner even proposed this simple,
obvious, remedy. Had they done so, this single act
would likely have solved the problem for the resi
dents of Garden Springs. Furthermore, they could
also have voided most of the ACC mobile home
ordinance dealing with unfair and unconstitu
tional provisions about moving mobile homes
older than 1976, installing homes no more than
three times longer than they are wide, expensive
provisions requiring at least 10 acres for a mobile
home park, including roads, play areas and street
lighting for mobile home parks that ACC does not
even necessarily provide on its streets, public
water, sewer access, etc. The ACC Commissioners
took none of these actions that would have pro
tected the residents of Garden Springs.
ACC hates mobile homes and those who occupy
them. These citizens do not want to live in gov
ernment subsidized housing (Section 8) or public
housing run by the Athens Housing Authority.
They want the pride of their own, separate,
detached house, not in an apartment complex,
even if they do not own the land. The rules passed
by the ACC Commission make this almost impos
sible. The ACC government only likes large devel
opments because they bring in more tax revenue
and that revenue is easier to collect. Furthermore,
the "city fathers" have determined that mobile
homes are not physically attractive to others, like
footbaH fans and business "leaders" they seek to
impress. So they use this deceptive and scurrilous
(and quite illegal but unchallenged) route to
achieve their goals. Even Commissioners Sims and
Sheats, the two token blacks on the Commission,
provided no leadership in this matter.
Contrary to the above quotation from the edi
torial, the ACC Commission got exactly what they
wanted: Continued discrimination against mobile
CONTACT US AT P.0. BOX 1027, ATHENS, GA 30603 OR MAIL@FLAGP0LE.C0M
LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR STYLE, CLARITY AND SPACE CONSIDERATIONS
homes and those who occupy them, and this
patent discrimination against some Athens citi
zens will only continue with this group of
Commissioners egged on by the editors of the
newspaper, who totally avoided vhe crux of the
issue here. But it would be politically incorrect for
them to admit all this in public.
If the attorney with the fancy law firm in
Atlanta really wants to help these poor souls in
Garden Springs and others now and in the future,
he must start playing hardball and file some law
suits against the ACC Commission that is respon
sible for this discrimination, not in the local cour
thouse on Washington St., but in the Federal
Courthouse, which is the only chance for justice
for the poor souls of Garden Springs, who are also
citizens of ACC. However, don't hold your breath
until this happens.
Winfield J. Abbe
Athens
MORE SPRAWL-MART
The mindless destruction of trees is certainly a
painful thing to see. And while Wal-Mart is rightly
to be criticized, "Wal-Mart Kills Trees" [Oct. 3]
failed to point out many of the other wonderful
reasons "why people hate Wal-Mart."
The true environmental impact of a Wal-Mart
store is not measured in tree loss alone. The mas
sive parking contributes to increased stormwater
runoff. Existing habitats are leveled by bulldozers.
Increased pollution results from car use. Wal-Mart
may also be criticized for bankrupting locally
owned stores, contributing to a loss of commu
nity. An entire argument is also to be found in the
atrocious esthetics of the big-box store.
The most difficult notion to swallow—espe
cially for the true conservative—is the fact that
taxpayers subsidize the growth of Wal-Mart (and
their ilk). The cost of access is paid for by con
structing new roads, widening existing ones,
installing water, sewer, electricity. Additionally,
taxpayers must deal with the cost of road mainte
nance (Super Wal-Mart on Lexington Highway gen
erates thousands of car trips per day) and the
costs of increased air and water pollution that
res’ilt from increased car use. Additionally, the
cor sumer pays for access with his or her own
vehicle, effectively deferring costs of land prices
and product shipping. Wal-Mart offers low prices
because the true cost of their goods has been
shifted onto the taxpayer and the consumer.
Wal-Mart is not solely to blame—it is among a
handful of wholly unethical corporations in
America. But it does embody exploitive corporate
practice on a massive scale, which makes it a
worthy target for the anger of many different
people, both conservative and liberal. And if you
don't agree with a business' practices? Don't give
it your money.
Jacob Lindsey
Athens
WHY WE FIGHT
Peter McConnell, last week in the Pub Notes
[Oct. 3] you finished your article "Why We Fight"
with the sentence, "... riding a bicycle may turn
out to be a good way to fight evil." This statement
closed an article that was about shifting the focus
of this New War away from the "good vs evil"
rhetoric. Apparently, in your eyes, the real evil is
our dependence on and consumption of oil. You
also mentioned that our soldiers will be fighting in
the desert for oil. Do you realize that at least 5000
American civilians were murdered a month ago?
And odds are a lot more of us are going to die in
the near future whether they are "fighting evil" on
a bicycle or driving, what you call, an "unpatri
otic" V-8. This isn't just about oil anymore. I think
you know that Yes, our foreign policy has prob
lems. And right now there are a lot of people who
believe that we brought this on ourselves and that
we shouldn't retaliate. And if we didn't retaliate,
most of those same people would be bitching
about our government's lack of concern for its citi
zens. No one wants war. But at this point we have
been tested as a nation. So how do we respond?
Hey, I have a solution. I know how we can stop
terrorism in our country and all the other countries
who have had to deal with the al Qaeda network.
Grease up the old Huffy and get your cape, its
time to fight some evil. But there aren't enough
bike paths in Athens to ride on, so let's once again
dedicate half the Flagpole to the bike path issue.
And let's stop this senseless use of automobiles,
except of course the multiple cars driving all over
town for the noble duty of delivering the Flagpole.
Your article was about not making this a "Good
vs Evil" situation. But you took the time to make
oil. cars, Wal-Mart, and the "Commission" out to
be evil. With the last sentence of your article, you
leave a conclusion of "Oil is Evil, Bicycle is Good."
And odds are you felt that way before Sept. 11. So
you have adapted the present situation to fit your
own mold of a good vs. evil scenario. Which
makes you as guilty as the people who say,
"Taliban is Evil, America is Good," or vise versa,
and it's those people that you condemn in your
article. But you feel that your opinion is right, so
you need to instruct the rest of the ignorant pop
ulation on what is RIGHT and what we SHOULD do
or SHOULD HAVE DONE. Thanks for taking the time
to figure it all out for us. Self-righteous, hypocrit
ical, didactic, proud—Hell, brother, when you're
out this weekend battling the dark forces, pop a
wheelie for America and I'll give you a big high-
five from the window of my V-8 because you're as
American as it gets.
Luke A. Gilbert
Athens
THIS HMIIH VWk»
by TOM TOMORROW
We HERE AT ACTIOH MEWS
FEEL. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UN
DERSTAND WHAT COULD POSSIBLY
DRIVE THESE TERRORISTS TO COM
MIT SUCH MONSTROUS CRIMES
against mjMANrrt--
—TO EXAMINE THEIR BELIEFS
AND PUT THEM IN HISTORICAL
COHTEXt so THAT WE MIGHT
AVOID A REPEAT of THE TERRIBLE
EVENTS of SEPTEMBER II.
THAT'S WHY WE'VE ASKED CORRE5-
PONDENT WANDA MCDONALD TO GIVE
US AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE
MOTIVES BEHIND THESE SEEMING
LY INCOMPREHENSIBLE ACTS. WANDA?
Announcing the opening
of a Toddler/1 yr. old class
Montessori trained teacher
4 to 1 ratio
peaceful, loving environment
Open House
Sunday. Oct. 14th • 3 pm
at our shared space with
Friendship Christian Church
285 Tallassee Rd.
V.
for more info call 543-4473
J
Lingerie • Bondage Accessories • Videos
Thigh High Boots • Novelties • Games
NOW SELLING DVD'S
20% OFF >
Any Purchase f t
Homewood Shopping Center • 546-4864 i
MONDAY
$2.99 Lime Mifjiritn (rij. $3.95)
TUESDAY
$1.25 Domestics (re). $1.95)
WEDNESDAY
$2.00 Off Flmred Mirjiriti Pitchers
THURSDAY
$2.99 60 or. Bitr Pitchers (re). 4.95)
FRIDAY
Hippy Hour Specials
EAST 546-9200 • WEST 546-7327 • HALL 369-9183
.4 TLAGPOLE.COM • OCTOBER 10. 2001
UIOO'PliOMUJapOUiSmi MMM ••• lOOZOM^il'W'd.W^