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CUT IT OUT
Better police protection, improved bus service, more vigi
lant probation officers, reduction of waste taken to the landfill
and a little something for the homeless—all this and more for
an additional $25 a year? Sounds to me like the best deal since
I called that special TV number at 3 a.m. and bought my wok.
What's the big deal? We've got our first actual tax increase
in 15 years, and it's aimed at services to protect us and
improve our transportation infrastructure plus covering the
exorbitant rise in gasoline costs and paying our county
employees cost-of-living increases. What's wrong with that?
People who are raising hell over the tax increase are not
saying, of course, that we don't need better bus service or
better equipment for cops. What they're saying is that instead
of raising taxes, even by the $25 calculated tax increase on a
$150,000 house, that we
So, all you budget cutters, should first make cuts e ^ ual
to the increases.
what would you cut? Of course, the big next
question is cut what? Now,
I know that the Great Communicator, Win Abbe (it's possible
you're not on his list), will say, or probably already has, just
scrap the whole bus system. Government shouldn't be providing
that service; it's something for the private sector. Seriously,
though, what and where would you cut? Sure: the red-light
cameras, except that, as you might expect, those split-second
snoops pay for themselves, or rather, arrange for you to pay for
themselves.
If you will read through the budget—right after you fin
ish "Best Moments of American Idol"—one thing you'll see
is how many requests for funding new programs or personnel
were not included in the new budget. In fact, the extra bus
service for the Atlanta Highway and the Barnett Shoals corri
dor, like the money for the homeless, were obvious attempts by
the city to make at least a small contribution toward funding
something recommended by OneAthens to fight poverty. The
police department, for instance, requested 10 patrol officers to
increase downtown and neighborhood protection. The depart
ment also asked for four detectives to work violent crimes and
unsolved cold cases, as well as four communications officers to
respond to increased volume of emergency and non-emergency
calls. None of those requests were funded, though the cops got
a little money for computers and communications. We should
be raising hell with the Mayor and Commission for not raising
our taxes more in order to provide a greater level of public
safety.
There's also some new money in the budget to pay for hous
ing prisoners outside Athens-Clarke County, given the fact that
we've got more prisoners than our jail will hold. So, maybe
if we cut back on that money for the police department, we
won't have as many prisoners and then, too, we won't need the
new probation officers funded by the budget increase. For that
matter, if we quit busting people for smoking crack and selling
it, we'd have room in the jail to take in prisoners from other
counties and reverse that cash flow.
So, all you budget cutters, what would you cut? You live in
an apartment, why not cut leaf and limb pickup? Why should
all those homeowners expect the government to come pick it
up every time they cut down a crape myrtle?
You don't have kids: let's cut leisure services or the nature
center. Who cares about bugs? Kids can learn enough about
bugs at home, and they can play ball in the street.
Here's a big one. Firemen spend 98 percent of their time
not fighting fires. Why should we pay so many firemen to sit
around or train for fires they're not fighting? Some judicious
cuts in that department would save a boatload of money
by paying fewer firemen to sit around less. Chances are we
wouldn't even notice the difference in fire protection.
Well, sorry, didn't mean to get ridiculous. But the point
is that the Mayor and Commission and their staff spent a lot
of months and a lot of time assessing budget requests and
attempting to do everything we need with a balanced budget.
And remember, also, that they recently tried cutting a couple
of agencies they thought weren't producing enough and all hell
broke loose.
So, go to it. They haven't voted yet, and there are three
public hearings on the budget coming up soon. (See City
Dope.) What would you cut?
Pete McCommons editor@tlagpole.com
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
NEWS (§2 FEATURES
City Dope 5
Athens News and Views
Candidates qualifying (even if not qualified), lots of herons flying around town (?!),
and visits not just from Clarence Thomas, but good ol’ John Barrow too.
Walking the Walk 8
Encounters with Jubilee Partners, Part 1
The 30-year-old project based on a patch of land in Madison County
with roots—and positive impacts—the world over.
INITEI^TAI] N M ENT
Grub Notes 25
Seafood Sopas and Bangin’ BLTs
La Rosita offers ambitious seafood options, while the new coffeehouse
Trax serves java and more in the Leathers Building.
All the Saints 29
A Chilled Intensity
Atlanta band re-releases debut on Killer Pimp in May
Taking Care of Business 30
Classic Rock Sounds from a Forward-Thinking Band
J Roddy Walston and the Business balance industry savvy with reckless abandon.
The Day Celebration 31
Homegrown Festival Gives Back to the Community
A "psychedelic circus” that’s fun for the whole family.
LETTERS
CITY DOPE
CITY PAGES
CAPITOL IMPACT
JUBILEE PARTNERS. PT. 1
COMMENT. •
THE CALENDAR!.......
ART AROUND TOWN ....
DOWN THE LINE
BULLETIN BOARD
GRUB NOTES
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.5
.6
.7
.8
11
12
14
20
21
25
craiJ
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MOVIE DOPE
MOVIE PICK
ALL THE SAINTS
JRODDY
THE DAY CELEBRATION
RECORD REVIEWS ...
THREATS & PROMISES
COMICS
REALITY CHECK
CLASSIFIEDS
POETRY
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
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AD DESIGNERS !an Rickert. Kelly Ruberto
CARTOONISTS James Allen, Cameron Bogue. Jacob Hunt. Ennn Howard. Missy Kulik, Jeremy Long, David Mack,
Clint McElroy
ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell
CONTRIBUTORS Hillary Brown, Jeff Fallis. Chns Hassiotis. Gordon Lamb, Mike Landers, Charley Lee,
Bao Le-Huu, Garrett Martin, Ryan Monahan, Scott Reid, Blair Rivkin, Edmund J. Smith, Michael Wehunt,
Drew Wheeler, Donald E. Wilkes, Jr.
CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf, Jimmy Courson, Justin Courson, Alex Moore, Lena Trotochaud, Alex White
WEB DESIGNER Ian Rickert
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ADVERTISING INTERNS Keri Fleming, Rachel Bailey
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COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
featuring a detail of a photograph
by Michael Oliveri on display at
Lamar Dodd Main Gallery
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VOLUME 22
ISSUE NUMBER 18
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NEWS & FEATURES I CALENDAR I MOVIES I A&E I MUSIC i COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
MAY 7, 2008 ■ FLAGP0LE.COM 3