About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2011)
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That will presumably have been done by the time this sees print, and none too soon: at the EDF's Aug. 10 board meeting, members expressed an urgency that the hire be made immediately to prepare information to aid the mayor and commission in their decision on whether to allocate $100,000 in county funds for a site due diligence study. The M&C want that information in time to vote on the allo cation at their Oct. 4 meeting, which means they need access to it before the tentative agenda i^ prepared around mid-September. As of Aug. 10—two weeks ago—that would have allowed about five weeks, which seemed at the time like rushing it. Good luck, project manager—no week ends for you! Dept, of Politically Motivated Distractions from the Actual Business of Government: The intrepid Rep. Doug McKillip was on the move again last week, beginning with his appear ance at an Aug. 14 town hall meeting on redistricting, where he said the idea that he has "an agenda" other than to give ACC voters "options" that include new commission district maps that would increase the chances of Republicans being elected "couldn't be further from the truth." In fact, "options" has been McKillip's mantra of late when it comes to local redistricting—one he repeated during an impromptu ap h earance on Tim Bryant's WGAU radio talk show. With Mayor Nancy Denson sitting in the guest's chair, McKillip called in to protest what he called "certain media outlets'" attempts to "vilify" him for planning to use his legislative position to redraw the ACC commission map himself—a process that's traditionally (that is, always) supervised by local governments and rubber-stamped by the Georgia General Assembly. "I'm just bring ing forth additional options!" he insisted. When Denson said it was her impression he had expressed a willingness to submit those options to the legislature against the local government's wishes, McKillip indignantly replied, "I'd like to know from whom you got that impression, and why you believed them." Well, Doug, the Dope admits it's possible she got it from this media outlet, and would suggest she believed it because you said it. In a July 22 phone interview: "I'm gonna make sure the 40 percent of Republicans... in Clarke County have their voices heard." And in a text message two days later, responding to a question about eliminating superdistricts without the local government's approval: "I'm certainly looking forward to [the mayor and commission's] input and suggestions, but at this point I'm more concerned with what the majority of the local [legislative] delegation believes is fair, sensible, constitutional and complies with the Voting Rights Act." These sound like "options" that could be pretty tough to decline. Look—Doug McKillip is a guy who, months after shedding his previous identity as the progressive chairman of the House minority caucus, now tosses around phrases like "liberal media" and "Democrat party"—so, it ought to be obvious what to make of his pretensions to sincerity and altruism. Should we even believe him when he says there are no per sonal motives behind his getting involved in local redistricting? Not when his "consultant" Robert "Bo" Mabry, on the very day McKillip said he and Mabry would be meeting at the state reapportionment office to begin draw ing their map of the ACC commission districts, posted the following on Facebook: "I would be willing to bet that if Mike Hamby were to resign, there would no longer be the need for such drastic actions..." Wait! We thought the only actions McKillip was interested in were fair, sensible and constitutional! Surely nothing "drastic" is being considered, especially nothing that could be avoided simply by the resignation of one commissioner! It's worth wondering how such pronouncements by the guy McKillip has personally selected to oversee his own redistricting proposal for ACC will strike Bill Cowsert, Frank Ginn and Chuck Williams—the rest of the local Republican delegation, who will be asked to hang their names on anything McKillip wants to submit in Atlanta. Prominent Republicans in the areas affected by the new, four-county House district McKillip had drawn to help ensure his reelection after switching parties have expressed degrees of displeasure with their new situation ranging from annoyance to out rage, and a primary challenge in 2012—from a motivated Republican other Republicans can trust—seems likely. McKillip is already running awfully low on people who believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. How long will it be before his reckless adventures in Athens' local politics begin to test his frag ile credibility with his new party? Dave Marr news@flagpole.com Unused property on Oconee Street between downtown and the North Oconee—which would be developed as part of a proposed river district—faces the renovated Hodgson Oil Building, at the current edge of UGA’s campus. 4 FLAGPOLE.COM AUGUST 24,2011
