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YOU CAN RUN.
BUT YOU CANT HEIDI
Mayor Heidi Davison, if she chooses to run for another term,
should be as easy to beat as a Salvation Army drum. You will re
member, of course, that her election was a fluke in the sense that
incumbent Mayor Doc Eldridge ran against Heidi in the Democratic
Primary while a sizeable portion of his Republican supporters were
voting in their primary for the locally popular Congressional candi
date Barbara Dooley.
Doc's experience as Mayor should be instructive for Heidi. He
went into office after a term on the ACC Commission, a successful
businessman who grew up in Athens, graduated from the public
schools—where he had a lot of friends both black and white— and
from the University of Georgia. Doc is the kind of likeable guy you
would expect to find as a smalltown mayor, but his four years in
that office were not particularly comfortable. He got increasingly
squeezed between the developers and the environmentalists while
trying to lead a dysfunctional Commission. With the developer-
friendly crowd off voting for his friend Barbara, Doc turned out to
be a sitting duck for the enviro-bike-hood progressives.
Doc and the Republicans made sure that wouldn't happen again.
They did away with the primary (and the Commission approved it,
as did the voters). This time around, the mayoral election, along
with the Commission races, is non-partisan, and the only election
is the General Election in November,
where you don't have to declare a
party preference, and everybody can
vote for mayor.
For starters, Heidi is not nearly
as popular as Doc. She does not have
his easy facility with people—the
human touch. She is sort of abrupt
and no-nonsense, and people are ac
customed to a more congenial manner in their politicians. So, if a
well-liked g*rv ’^ke Doc could get knocked off in an election where
his friends couldn't vote for him. what's going to happen to Heidi
when all her enemies are already sharpening their #2 pencils?
Especially since not everybody who voted for her the first time
around—renters, smokers, highly-taxed property owners—will be
as enthusiastic this time.
So, wouldn't Doc be a shoo-in for a grudge re-match—the
Comeback Kid? Probably, except that he says he has no desire to
run for that particular office again. You can bet that his (non-par
tisan) friends are leaning on him, and they've still got some time
to convince him, but he still says no, publicly.
So, if not Doc, who? What we're looking for here is one of those
candidates with solid “establishment'' credentials. If you don't
know the definition of “establishment," call your local political
science professor. For our purposes here, let's just say that the
establishment is, you know, the better kind of people, those with a
stake in keeping Athens a good place to live and raise a family and
make a profit while calling all the shots. The Athens establishment
used to be good at coming up with the right kind of candidates—
good for business and acceptable to a wide range of voters: Julius
Bishop, Upshaw Bentley, Lauren Coile—rich white guys.
The Republicans I know have been talking up Mayoral candi
date Charlie Maddox, who is not a rich white guy. I do not believe
Charlie will be their candidate when qualifying has closed.
What about Commissioner Tom Chasteen? He's a rich white
guy with vast experience on both the ACC Commission and the
Planning Commission. It's Tom's challenge to convince the es
tablishment that he's their guy. but he doesn't seem to be doing
that. It may be that he has been in politics so long—has been
a politician so long and has tried to please so many different
groups—that the establishment doesn't trust him to be their guy.
And, dammit, he's not from around here. He grew up over there in
Franklin County and has only been here in Athens around 40 years.
If not Doc and not Tom, the establishment has got to come
up with the right guy. It's harder to find him (or could it be her?
Nah), because in order to consolidate the government, they had to
take away all the power from the Mayor. Nobody wants to be sub
jected to what Doc went through: trying to be a Mayor like Julius
'n Upshaw 'n them but with Gwen O'Loorrey'swieager mayoral pow
ers. To men accustomed to running the show, the office of Mayor
isn't worth the trouble.
What's at stake is control. Heidi doesn't have much, but she
does stand in the way of their getting it. She's an outsider woman
in a weak-Mayor position, but she believes in her heart and mind
in that vision of Athens as a liveable, walkable, bikeable, busable
neighborhood-friendly community with opportunity for all. That's
why she's got to go. because the establishment's vision is more
like “what's good for us is good for Athens. -
Will Heidi endure another grueling campaign for an uncertain
result? Will the establishment find Mr. Perfect? Can the progres
sives prevail at the ballot box again? Stay tuned.
So, wouldn’t Doc be
a shoo-in for a
grudge re-match—
the Comeback Kid?
Pete McCommons Editor & Publisher edilor@flagpoie com
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
Canine Angels 8
The Strange, Sad Story of the Local Animal Rescue
How the Elbert County dog shelter got on the wrong side of the law. but has
found support from people far and wide—including the governor.
ARTS & EVENTS
Grub Notes 12
On The Road
A trip to the acclaimed Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle and down the road to Peppino's
MUSIC
Tap The Pain Away 23
The Sophomore Album From Tilly And The Wall Erases Lingering Claims
Of Gimmickry
Bottoms of Barrels continues the argument for replacing a drum kit with a hand-clapping tap dancer
Darkness On The Edge Of Town 24
No River City Gives Alt-Country A Night Music Makeover
With two new recordings in the works, the gloomy laments of this Atlanta five-piece remain strong
Commander Chameleon 25
Another Athens Band Attempts To Bridge Humor And Seriousness
This week, the band releases its self-titled second full-length album
LETTERS
CITY PAGES ...
CANINE ANGELS
OUT THERE!...
GRUB NOTES ..
SPROCKETS ...
MOVIE DOPE...
MOVIE PICK ...
ABC
TILLY & THE WALL
NO RIVER CITY
COMMANDER CHAMELEON
RECORD REVIEWS
THREATS & PROMISES ...
COMICS
REALITY CHECK
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VOLUME 20
ISSUE NUMBER 23
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