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This has been one of the dreariest election
AN INSIDE TAKE ON LOCAL ISSUES
One of the most significant challenges we
face here in Athens is what to do about older
shopping centers which may have thrived in
the past but which are now on a downward
spiral or perhaps have been abandoned by
their former tenants. Although there are sev
eral such spots across the county, the one
with which we have been most involved is the
Willowood shopping center, which sits at the
intersection of Lexington and Gaines School
roads and which was once the home to a
Winn-Dixie supermarket and Roses.
For the past two years or so, we have been
working with the property owners. Trey and
Chuck Wallace, and their local partner, John
Stamm, to encourage the redevelopment of
this shopping center into a location for a
DeKalb-style world market/ fanners' market.
(John Stamm has been involved in building
the new Walgreens pharmacy that sits catty-
comer to Willowood.) Additional types of
activities which we feel would fit in with such
a concept are space for artists and arts and
crafts producers, in which they could work and
display their products, as well as a community
kitchen where small-scale entrepreneurs like
cake-bakers or jam-makers could rent com
mercial kitchen space to be able to make their
products.
The goal is to create a regional attraction
which would not only provide employment
here in Athens, but also help improve that
comer and bring tax dollars into Athens and
the region. The close proximity of the Athens
airport makes this an ideal location for such
a venture, as it would allow foods, spices and
other goods for such a world market to be eas
ily flown into our community.
The property owners themselves are very
interested in this idea, as they have an affin
ity for Athens. They have already invested
some considerable sums in providing sche
matic drawings of what the renovated center
might Iqok like.
Pinch of the now desolate-looking park
ing lot is envisioned to be open grassy areas
to be utilised in a number of seasonal and
special events. Removing some of the old
s^tmctme will provide space for a toiy plaza
^l^pnd,
development. To do so, we have been work
ing with Burke Walker, the director of local
government services at the Northeast Georgia
Regional Commission. Burke has been
extremely helpful in helping us to locate
sources of possible funding, as well as sup
plying ideas for partnerships and existing
projects to use as models for this concept.
Through Burke and the Regional Commission
we have met with and discussed this project
with officials in Oglethorpe and Madison coun
ties. Because the new center would provide a
place for farmers, artists and craftspeople in
these two counties to sell their goods, these
government officials have responded positively
and we hope to keep them involved as we
move through the redevelopment process.
The lexington Road corridor is the most
important corridor bringing people into ACC
from the east and is one of the most impor
tant corridors in the county. We believe
this entrance to our county is so important
because much of the property along Lexington
Road is currently for sale. There are several
spots along it which are ripe for improvement
and, as elected officials, we see a genuine
opportunity to steer development along the
lines of what we believe should be the direc
tion for this area. We believe that a redevel
oped Willowood that is a regional destination
for people seeking high-quality, hand-made
products, international and locally grown
fruits and vegetables, as well as an exciting
venue for artists and performers to display
their work and skills, will set the tone for the
type of development that will be most benefi
cial not only for our county but for our region
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Although there is still much work to be
done to see this vision materialize, we believe
that the refurbishing of Willowood is very
important for the Eastside of Athens and is
one element in a larger effort to revitalize this
whole corridor. In particular, we both believe
that the county's public investment along this
corridor, through locating the tennis center
(funded under the 200$ SPLOST program) in
Southeast Clarke Park and buttdtng the ferfc-
ever.
Unhappy voters were made even grumpier
by a flood of negative TV commercials. The
Republican Governors Association spent nearly
$6 million to produce and buy air time for
ads aimed at Roy Barnes. That's almost
as much money as Nathan Deal reported rais
ing in his last campaign disclosure report.
Even in the muck and mire of this cam-
cycle, there have been some develop
ments that are worthy of a compliment.
I don't recall a governor's race where the
two major candidates participated in as many
debates as Deal and Barnes have. They have
gone head-to-head in these confrontations
more than 10 times. We've never had
that-many debates in a governor's
race in recent history and I doubt
that we ever will again. I com
mend both candidates for having
the fortitude to show up and
make their case in such adver
sarial settings.
.We've also seen an unusual
degree of transparency on the part
of some candidates. Barnes back
in May released volumes of paper
documenting his tax returns and per
sonal financial information covering the past
25 years. He laid it all out there for the media
and any interested voters to scrutinize.
Deal did provide some information about
his financial history, but he was not as open
about it as Barnes was. The Deal campaign
released summary information covering 28
years of tax returns, but did not provide the
backup schedules and explanatory forms that
Barnes did. Consider Deal's fragmented tax
information that he provided for 2007. He
reported total income of $205,433 but paid
only $2,068 in federal taxes—his federal
taxes amounted to just 1 percent of his total
income.
Speaking from my own experience, I can
tell you that my yearly income is a lot less
than $205,000, but I pay a lot more than
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NOVEMBER
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1 percent of it in taxes. How was Deal able
to do this? It's an explanation we never got
because his campaign declined to provide the
backup information.
It's good that Deal at least disclosed some
of the financial information about himself, but
he should have provided a lot more.
Another lesson learned from the campaign
is that we need to be more watchful of our
judicial system.
The Deal campaign strongly criticized
Barnes because he, or someone from his law
firm, had appeared 37 times before judges he
appointed while Barnes was governor.
It is not illegal for an attorney to practice
law and a judge is not necessarily crooked
because he handles a case involving the
man who appointed him. One of the
judges Barnes appeared before was
Jason Deal, the son of Nathan
Deal Barnes originally appointed
the younger Deal to a judicial
system job. I don't think it would
have been fair to characterize
Jason Deal as a corrupt judge.
These courtroom appearances
do raise questions of fairness and
impartiality, however. The General
Assembly should pass a law next session
to require judges in future situations to excuse
themselves from handling cases involving the
person who appointed them to the bench.
That new law should also be written to
apply to Supreme Court justices who are run
ning for reelection, such as David Nahmias.
Nahmias is considering an important case
involving charter schools in which his own
campaign chairman, Mike Bowers, is rep
resenting one of the parties to the appeal.
Ethically speaking, Justice Nahmias should not
be involved in the ruling on that case.
It was a messy governor's race, to be sure.
But if we can get some reforms out of it like
the ones mentioned above, it will have accom
plished something.
Tom Cvmtori terawtorcKJgareportcom
TOMjOMonnow
LESSONS WE SHOULD HAVE LEARNED