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ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS
Toward the River: The Athens Economic
Development Foundation was reviewing candi
dates last week to serve as a project manager
for the river district vetting process, but as
of the weekend, the EDF hadn't hired anyone.
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
