About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2011)
/ Cor A DG> G Televising M&C Work Sessions Appeals to Some Commissioners For 10 years now, Athens-Clarke County commissioners' twice-monthly meetings at City Hall have been broadcast live on local cable Channel 7 (they are also streamed on the Internet, and can be viewed later both on television and online). And people do watch them. "Very much so," Commissioner Harry Sims told Flagpole. '"I watch you all religiously,'" people have told him. "I tease them some times," he said—"you guys really don't have a life if we are what you are really entertained by." The programs are produced on the fly in a small City Hall control room, with remotely- controlled cameras mounted unobtrusively in the commission chamber (equipment was sup plied free by Charter Communications). ACC's public information office (which televises the meetings) estimates the county's costs at $500 per meeting. County school board meetings are also view able live (on Channel 16) or later on the Internet. But one regular meeting that's not tele vised is the monthly Commission work session (at which county staff ers give presentations on upcoming issues, and commissioners discuss them). Items like the Classic Center expansion, electoral reappor tionment and the proposed "Blue Heron" dis trict for downtown were vetted in some detail at work sessions before being discussed at the televised meetings; when commissioners meet with state legislators in November, it will be at a work session. Why shouldn't work sessions be televised? "Cameras are intimidating," Mayor Nancy Denson told Flagpole, and commissioners may need the "comfort level" of informal discus sions without their glare (work sessions are open to the public and are sometimes well- attended). "I really don't have a problem with it," Commissioner Doug Lowry told Flagpole. Sims is in favor of televising work sessions, as well—"as long as [commissioners] do it for the right reasons," he said, not just to "have another shot at showing how proficient they are in terms of talking and really not getting something done." Commissioner Kathy Hoard thinks it's "a great idea"—one worth discussing at an upcoming commission retreat. John Huie Commissioners Hesitant to Limit Licenses for Downtown Alcohol Sales Despite concerns that downtown bars are driving out daytime retailers, safety concerns alone won't justify limiting the numbers of bars, ACC Police Chief Jack Lumpkin told county commissioners on the Legislative Review Committee last week. "Our calls are down," he said. "You could not, in the last three or four years, jus tify a public purpose [in limiting bar licenses] with our statistics. "Some of that may be associated with the way we've played football the last three or four years," he added. "We need another Herschel." The standing committee of five commissioners is reviewing local alcohol ordinances; it has already decided to recom mend dropping the distance requirements that prevent package stores or grocery stores from selling alcohol near churches, schools or other package stores. The committee's interest in limiting bar licenses—basically "on-premises" liquor con sumption licenses, which could affect some restaurants, too—grows out of a persistent concern that proliferating bars are driving out daytime retail stores from downtown. "Large spaces of downtown are basically abandoned during the day," said Commissioner Andy Herod. A RouiuO T0VUKJ IOE Also WAve A cat AnJg tHEV Cokjt 6£f Alom€> QU\ r£ Vet I JWT UJAMT TO Vour TifUv Head, « AOOPTEO A DOfc THli WCEK FROM AtMEAAJiWiAC CoMPROL loy DAv/iD WiAcic "With rents so high, you're going to go for a higher-margin business," Commissioner Alice Kinman speculated. "You see a lot of abandoned storefronts that light up at night. There's a wish that downtown Athens had more of a day-and-night mix." But, Kinman added, "we don't want to create these arti ficial barriers to entry [for new businesses] unless there's some really good reasons." Instead of try ing to be like Austin, TX or Princeton, NJ, "why can't we just be Athens?" Commissioner George Maxwell wanted to know. Lacking data, committee members asked county staffers to check whether bars pay higher rents than retail—and how fast their numbers have been growing—for discussion at the committee's next meeting on Oct. 18. The growth of bars has not been a con cern of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, ADDA Director Kathryn Lookofsky told Flagpole. "The board hasn't discussed it." we PlCKCP THE owe THAT Lo AS Ki^dA Bur PBiEuDLV A«c> WERE STILL A70RKlU<b OfJ CotnirJG up urm A uay*E FOR HER f Cowie back A I Sadie, i r WERTLF i wifa/J UJAJCU. AfoAJke v pitJGCd S .VST Nonetheless, "I know we'd all like to see more thriving retail downtown," she said. "We do seem to be losing retail downtown, and what's opening in its place seems to be bars and restaurants." But Athens' bars "are major draws to down town" she added; a common complaint of convention visitors is not that there are too many bars, but that retail stores are closed at night. "They see all these great stores downtown, and the doors are locked." And a lot of people who would like a quiet meal downtown don't realize, Lookofsky points out, that the crush of the bar crowd doesn't begin until 11 p.m. or later. "There's not this big party scene; that doesn't happen until late night." Neither is crime the problem that some perceive it to be. "It's really a pleasant envi.onment," she said. John Huie “Cameras are intimidating,” Mayor Nancy Denson said, and commissioners may need the “comfort level” of informal discussions without their glare. “You see a lot of abandoned storefronts that light up at night. There’s a wish that downtown Athens had more of a day-and-night mix ” Republic salon 312 E. BROAD ST. • 3RD FLOOR • 706.200.5222 • FRIGIDAIRE BUILDING • ENTRANCE ON JACKSON ST. • WWW.REPUBLICSALON.COM SEPTEMBER 28, 2011- FLAGPOLE.COM 5
