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RAISE A GLASS
This week's Pub Notes is written by Flagpole City Editor Ben Emanuel.
Well, I've got to hand it to Commissioner Kathy Hoard. She
took a tough stand against her own instincts and in the interest of
keeping the Athens-Clarke County Commission functional—"great
grace" in the words of her fellow commissioner Kelly Girtz.
What did she do? Maybe you missed the meeting, or maybe if
you saw it, you missed just what was going on. I wouldn't blame
you if so. Here's the recap: after months of wrangling and nitpick
ing, agreeing and disagreeing (see City Pages in this week's issue,
or Pub Notes from Aug. 29), the ACC Commission finally got down
to voting on revisions to local alcohol ordinances at its meeting
last week. There was even talk (back in July and August) of voting
on all of the non-controversial housekeeping items in September,
but waiting until October on the stickier points, like that idea to
background-check every bar doorman in town.
But Girtz, along with two of his colleagues who'd wrestled this
thing through its long committee and stakeholder-input stage,
Commissioners Elton Dodson and David Lynn, got to figuring in
August that the whole shebang was close enough to being ready
to go forward. So, at the
September meeting, Girtz put a
motion on the floor to nix the
background check provision.
Apart from that, his motion
was a compromise only in that
it required bar employees,
doormen included, to be 21
(starting a year from now).
With the publisher's blessing, I so confidently guessed in this
column two weeks ago that the background check was a sinking
ship. The publisher, however, forgot to tell me that the crystal
ball never works without a glitch, and I just went and completely
forgot that Commissioner Carl Jordan would miss the September
voting meeting. That brings us back to the good old-fashioned fun
legislative politics that went down last week in City Hall. Girtz,
it turned out, only had five votes for his proposal (himself plus
Dodson, Lynn, Andy Herod and Alice Kinman). Guess what? It
doesn't matter if you're in the majority, you need six to win. Ouch.
So Hoard put the original version on the floor, background
checks and all. It lost, six to three. Who voted "No" on both of
'em? Doug Lowry: he was unhappy with the whole process. But
more on that in a moment; first, let's give Hoard her due. There
they were, nine commissioners and one mayor, stymied, with two
failed motions lying limp on the floor. Knowing that there was no
other way forward. Commissioner Hoard spoke up and once again
declared her support for Chief Lumpkin and his goals and ideas,
the background checks in particular, but said she'd support Girtz's
motion if it got this thing over with.
Was it a grand, dramatic stand on principle? No: quite the op
posite, but it was, in its way, courageous legislating, and Kathy
Hoard deserves some credit for it.
Now, that's not to gloss over Hoard's unwavering support for
staff-derived proposals. To fact, that's a part of the piece that
got the Commission into this puzzle. Go back to Doug Lowry:
he was unhappy with a couple of things. One, how this whole
thing started, back in the spring. It started with staff, not the
Commission, and it reached pretty far in its potential impact. Two,
he didn't appreciate the August change-around that put everything
on the September agenda, when there had been the idea put out
there that the tricky items would wait until October. (How firm
that idea was depends on whom you ask.) The take-home is that
Lowry wasn't down for any rubber-stamping of any kind. The Girtz-
Dodson-Lynn crowd, on the other hand, was ready to go ahead
with a compromise and get something done.
What would have happened if Jordan had been in town? He
might have voted with Lowry out of concern for the workings of
this weird, wacky government of ours with respect to the relation
ship between elected officials and staff. But I shan't speculate,
because we all know how the crystal ball of speculation can be.
PRINCE AVENUE ACCIDENT: THE FACTS
This story is still developing dependent on police reports, but
here are some basics available at press time: Athens resident Ted
Hafer spent a night at Athens Regional Medical Center after being
struck by a pickup truck around 9 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 5
while getting back into his van. The van was parallel-parked on
Prince Avenue in front of the Daily Groceries Co-op. Hafer, who
owns The Grit, stepped off the curb to get back into his van when
the pickup, which witnesses tell him was not speeding, hit him. He
suffered a concussion and a broken rib, among other injuries, but
says he is "relatively unscathed, for the impact."
Ben Emanuel ben'^llaqpole com
It started with staff,
not the Commission,
and it reached pretty far
in its potential impact.
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
Mad To Be Saved 9
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road Turns 50
The book, the legend and its meaning—then and now.
An Immigrant's Story 10
Coming to Athens, Part 2
Picking up where the story leftoff last week...
ART
EVENTS
Out There! Pick 15
The Line in the Sand Tells True Tales of Life on the U.S./Mexico Border
New theatre troupe La Compahia performs a staged reading at Cine.
Movie Dope . 16
New Reviews of 3:10 to Yuma, Shoot 'Em Up, The Brothers Solomon
Plus films at the ACC Library, Cine, Flicker and more this week
COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
from a painting by Christine Bush up until
Sept. 14 at the UGA Tate Center Gallery
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Mr t>
Rock Around The Clock 26
Tasty World Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary
Three days of music mark a full decade for the downtown club.
The Drifter 28
Ambient Sound Sculptor Greg Davis Makes His First Trip to Athens
Currently focusing on drones, Davis opens for Akron/Family.
Liner Notes 29
Akron/Family Doesn't Mess Around
The psychedelic band has a lot going for it—despite initial appearances.
LETTERS
4
BLONDE REDHEAD
25
CITY PAGES
6
TASTY WORLD
26
CAPITOL IMPACT
7
GREG DAVIS
28
COMMENT
8
LINER NOTES
29
ON THE ROAD
9
RECORD REVIEWS
30
IMMIGRANTS. PT.2
10
REDUX NATION
31
OUT THERE!
12
THREATS & PROMISES
33
MOVIE DOPE
16
COMICS
34
MOVIE PICK
19
REALITY CHECK
35
ABC
20
CLASSIFIEDS
36
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EDITOR l PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR l PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles
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VOLUME 21
ISSUE NUMBER 36
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