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CAN HEIDI GOVERN?
As Heidi and the new Commissioners take office, they find a gov
ernment booby-trapped by Doc and the Gang, who effectively
excluded the new Mayor and Commissioners from meaningful partici
pation in any kind of transition. Doc 'n Them conducted closed per
formance evaluations of all relevant department heads (preparatory
to reappointment). Ihey hired a new Assistant Manager just before
Christmas; Heidi and the new Commissioners read about it in the
newspaper. Doc 'n Them gave whopping last-minute pay raises to
most of their department heads. Doc appointed pal Commissioner
Cardee Kilpatrick to the university relations committee that is sup
posed to smooth out some of the problems with the University that
she and Doc and the rest have created. As a final fuck-you to all the
voters who soundly defeated Doc 'n Hugh 'n Alvin they appointed
Gene Sapp to the Planning Commission. That's like naming Wile E.
Coyote manager of the Road Runner Motel. And before Heidi even
took office. Doc's pals on the Banner-Herald editorial page had
already started the drumbeat of criticism.
At the Jan. 7 Commission meeting, the new Mayor was to submit
her recommendations regarding the Manager and the Judge of
Municipal Court, whose performance was reviewed in secret. The
Manager was hired by and worked for Doc Eldridge. The Judge has
serious problems with enforcing the neighborhood protection ordi
nances so dear to Heidi's supporters.
What would you have
Even Heidi’s friends on done? Yeah, me too. I'd have
fired them both and found a
the Commission won t be new Manager (and department
heads) and a new Judge. But
her friends all the time. you have to look at it from
Heidi's perspective. The power
brokers view her as a radical. She ran on a platform of inclusiveness,
and that includes some people you wouldn't like if you knew them.
It's easy for you and me to sit at home and watch the show on TV
and say to hell with them. Heidi's sitting in that seat where it all
comes together. And besides, she either had to fire the government
and start over from scratch or come in and try to preside over a
functioning government and rely on the new Commission to help
her make changes in a more orderly manner.
Well, good luck! How would you like to depend on people who
rejoiced when Gwen O'Looney went out and cried for a week when
Doc lost? Even in city government you've got to contend with
bureaucracy. Heidi can't pave the streets herself. In fact, keep in
mind that Heidi can't do much of anything. She is a weak Mayor.
The best she can do at this point is see how the present Manager
does during his next two-year term already set up by Doc 'n Them
and then decide whether she wants to recommend him again.
And, yes, she's got friends on the Commission. And enemies.
Heidi and David Lynn and Kathy Hoard and George Maxwell ran on
similar issues, and their victories were mandates to stop sprawl and
pollution and neighborhood degradation—issues that Carl Jordan and
John Barrow have consistently supported as a minority of two. But
she's still got Cardee and Tom Chasteen, the "Super" Commissioners,
who will do everything they can to hamper her (while pretending to
be supportive). And Charles Carter and Harry Sims won't be much
help, either. Here's hoping that States McCarter will be emboldened
by the new Commissioners to do the right thing more often.
The big thing to remember is that Heidi Davison is the Mayor
and the rest of them make up the Commission. Doc Eldridge served
four years as a Commissioner, so when he became Mayor, he
thought he'd still be one of the gang. The Commission let him know
right off the bat that he wasn't going to tell them what to do, and
pretty soon Doc, in order to remain one of the gang, fell into step
with the Commission.
Even with a better class of Commissioners, it's still a legislative
body, with all the negotiating and compromising of such a group.
All the Commissioners are elected by running their own campaigns
jnd are responsible to their constituents in their own districts. Even
Heidi's friends on the Commission won't be her friends all the time.
And John Barrow and Carl Jordan will probably go on being just as
cantankerous as ever.
So, voters, we've got ourselves a new Mayor and a better
Commission, though it's untried and still contains the old
Commission at its core, ^nd the old Mayor's fingerprints all over
everything. Meanwhile, the ipponents of all you voted for will be
on the job 24/7, taking every chance to discredit Heidi and these
new "liberal" Commissioners.
Mandates don't have much of a shelf life and should be used
while fresh. Now's the time to start shaking up the government. So,
don't lose interest. Stay in touch. Attend the meetings or watch
them on TV. Volunteer to help. Heidi Davison and the new
Commissioners ran as advocates of more citizen involvement in gov
ernment. Hold them to it. Get involved. And don't believe every
thing you read in the newspapers.
Pete McCommons, editor@flagpole.com
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STREET ADDRESS: 112 South Foundry Street, Athens, GA 30601
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EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
fc PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner
MANAGING EDITOR Margaret Moore EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brad Aaron
ADVERTISING SALES Maggie Anderson, D.J. Hammond. Anita Pinto
SPECIAL AGENT Cindy Jerreli ACTING MUSIC EDITOR Sarah Lee
CLASSIFIEDS, DISTRIBUTION I. OFFICE MANAGER Jill Buchanan
SPECIAL SCRIBE William Orten Carlton CARTOONIST Patrick Dean
ADOPT ME Cindy Jerreli SENIOR MUSIC WRITER Ballard Lesemann
ABC Chris McKay WRITERS Mike Andrews. Tom Bavis, Emerson
Dameron, Patrick Franklin, Sam Gunn, John Knight. Gordon Lamb.
Ballard Lesemann. Chris McKay, Heather Muse, JoE Silva, Matt
Thompson, Leah Weinberg, Jim Winders CIRCULATION Charles
Greenleaf, Chris Brewton, Chase Johnston, David Lasley. Micah
Sherman WEBFOOLS Ron Balthazor, Ryan Manchee EDITORIAL
INTERN Sasha Sarene Morgan MUSIC INTERN Mario Lambert)
ADVERTISING INTERNS Kimberly Smith, Leslie Swift PRODUCTION
ASSISTANT Brian Causey PRODUCTION INTERN Gary Holbrook
COVER DESIGN l PHOTO Cindy Jerreli; portrait of Heidi Davison,
our new mayor. See page 6.
NEWS + CULTURE
LETTERS 4
CITY DOPE 5
HEIDI DAVISON 6
FLAGPOLE AGENDA 7
COMMENT 8
CRYSTAL BALL 9
ERIC JOHNSON 9
DAN SAVAGE 11
LISTINGS
MOVIE DOPE 12
OUT THERE! 14
ABC 17
CLASSIFIEDS 28
MUSIC
JOE STRUMMER 23
COMING UP 23
RECORD REVIEWS 24
THREATS & PROMISES 27
VOLUME 17
ISSUE NUMBER 1
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