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TREACHEROUS GROUND
UNIFICATION?
After the last several rounds of local elections it looked like we
finally had a mayor and commission committed to a progressive
vision for Athens-Clarice County. Now it appears we have the same
old fractious, fractured commission, with some different faces.
The new mayor and commission invested a lot of political cap
ital in responding to the clearly stated desires of the electorate for
better enforcement of "quality of life" ordinances: a demand largely
driven by the boorishness of college students living in single-family
neighborhoods.
The laws were already on the books; they jest had not been
enforced. When the mayor and commission and local government
officials began trying to enforce them, toes got stepped on that
were attached to people who made money from the rent checks of
the boorboys. Heat was applied. The mayor and commission were
made to look like grim enforcers. Then they banned smoking in bars
and restaurants until the late-night hours. They were made to look
like Puritan meddlers.
As the smoke clears, even though enforcement has proven a lot
more difficult than anticipated, neighbors have more ability to con
front students who violate the law and the peace. Bars, restaurants
and clubs are more inviting to those who don't smoke or don't want
to go home covered in it
Stilt the backlash has portrayed the mayor and commission as
do-gooders and has also caused some of them to duck for cover. A
lot of political capital has been spent. By doing something, dammit
the mayor and commission have handed ammo to their opponents.
Now, elections already loom again, more than a year away from
the November, 2006 showdown. Two commissioners—Tom Chasteen
and St2te$ McCarter—openly say they are considering running for
mayor. The mayor is considering running for mayor, too, so there
goes the one big happy family idea.
Meanwhile, the mayor's job vis 4 vis the commission is sort of
like that of marriage counselor to a group of 10 people wedded
together. She's got no power over the unhappy family other than
some control over what they get to argue about. By intensively
immersing herself in the issues that unite and divide them, she can
sometimes herd them catlike down a common path, but they're all
susceptible to influences from outside the family and always prone
to fall out with each other.
The effort required to bring this unstable brood to agreement
means that the hired manager and his professional staff pretty much
call the shots and really run the city, with very little oversight
Meanwhile, important matters languish: the city is overrun with
automobiles, apartments and condos; the tree ordinance is pruned
by the very developers it is meant to control; downtown historic
preservation is nowhere; the urban planner to address all these mat
ters is scrapped; the Navy School is a non-issue, and you can't catch
a late-night bus.
That's what you get when you design a government with no
head, yet expect the mayor to run it The real question at present
is why, having observed it up close, any commissioner would want
the job.
NOT OUR FAULT
According to Weekly World News Online ('weeklyworldnews.com/
features/prophecy/), 'America is a ticking time bomb... of disasters
waiting to happen!"
The online tabloid, citing an article 'in the scholarty journal
Nature and Paradigm' (unknown to Google) says five looming nat
ural disasters threaten millions of Americans.
first among them is The Great Georgia Earthquake.
"When the little known but potentially devastating Atlanta fault
finally cracks, say scientists, the state 'will implode and vanish' into
a smoking hole.
"Chances of survival, the experts wam, are poor. On a high note,
people living in eastern Alabama will find themselves with ocean-
front views they once had to drive to Georgia to see.
"RISK FACTOR: Could blow any day."
The second disaster waiting to happen is Michigan's Stealth
Volcano.
"Known to researchers as one of only two flattop volcanoes on .
Earth, this strange geologic anomaly has the power to blow half of
Detroit into orbit while burying the other hall in molten lava and
millions of tons of ash and debris.
"RISK FACTOR: 90 percent chance volcano will blow before 2008.
"Oddly enough, the second 'hidden volcano' is positioned
directly under Athens, Ga. But the wild and woolly college town is
at far less risk than Detroit say seismologists, because the Atlanta
fault is almost sure to get it first"
At least we can stop worrying about the mayor and commission.
Pete McCommons Editor & Publisher
45 Beaverton Road 613*2540
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P/WGGIT/
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NEWS + CULTURE
LETTERS
CITY PAGES
COMMENT
EUGENE ODUM
SPROCKETS
MOVIE PICK
COMICS
COVER DESIGN Kelly Ruberto featuring a detail of a painting by
Sunny Taylor on display at the lyndon House Arts Center
REALITY CHECK
LISTINGS
OUT THERE! 10
* 5 MOVIE DOPE 14
6 ABC 16
CLASSIFIEDS 32
. 7
MUSIC
THE EVENS 22
12 TRAVIS MORRISON 23
MICHAEL LACHOWSH 24
15 TODO MCBRIDE 25
_ TROY AUBREY 27
30
CLUB NOTES 28
31 THREATS & PROMISES 29
VOLUME 19
'ISSUE NUMBER 23
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