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WOOING VOLUNTEERS. WINNING VOTES
Mayor Nancy Denson recently launched the Mayor's Call to
Service, an effort to recruit volunteers for local nonprofits that
could also end up boosting her chances of re-election.
Denson tapped Tommy Valentine to lead the effort after a
breakfast meeting. Best known as a rapper, Valentine managed
Bobby Saxon's losing 2008 congressional campaign and is now
enrolled in the Masters of Public Administration program at the
University of Georgia.
Denson was inspired by, of all things, conversations with
Occupy Athens, according to Valentine. "Who knew?" said
occupier Chris Dowd, who was passing out leaflets that listed
accomplishments like calling attention to
Denson's "illegal meetings that nearly brought g
a Walmart to our downtown" and stopping her m
proposed curfew law that "would have restricted m
freedom of assembly and potentially the rights
of the homeless," as well as advertising a Nov.
15 "unity march."
The Monday, Oct. 11 kickoff event was held
at the Georgia Theatre for a reason. A recent
volunteer fair at UGA drew 1,000 people, "which
is amazing, it's great, but there are some people
who won't go on campus, whether it's [because
of] parking or whatever else," said Fenwick
Broyard, executive director of Community Con
nection. That organization's Hands on Northeast
Georgia program, a clearinghouse that matches
up volunteers and nonprofits, is the entry point
for people who answer the call to service.
More than 30 nonprofits set up tables at the
fair. A few hundred people showed up, although
it's hard to say how many were looking for vol
unteer opportunities and how many were repre
senting an agency. There were more unfamiliar
faces than usual at a charity event, and that's
what organizers are shooting for.
Each week, Denson will tape two videos, one highlighting
an agency and the other a volunteer, that will be distributed
through social media. (To be fair, Habitat for Humanity direc
tor, one-time mayoral candidate and now state Rep. Spencer
Frye had the idea first.)
Denson's nearly three-year tenure as mayor has been almost
completely devoid of new ideas. Her one big policy initiative,
a property tax freeze for seniors, fell flat on its face once com
missioners realized how much revenue the government would
lose in an era of cuts, cuts and more cuts. While it doesn't
really qualify as new—or a policy initiative, for that matter—
at least the call to service is doing something.
Denson has operated behind the scenes, but now she's
ready to step to the front of the stage, Valentine said. "This
was really her way of using the bully pulpit for the first time,"
he said.
Not to be overly cynical (OK, I'm cynical about things like
this), but it's worth noting that Denson also formally launched
her re-election bid earlier this month. Although one thing has
nothing to do with the other, of course, with all the social
workers in this town—many of whom undoubtedly supported
one of their own, Gwen O'Looney, in 2010—getting them on
her side can't hurt her campaign.
That said, there's never anything wrong with encouraging
volunteerism. I remember Mayor Heidi Davison getting mad at
me for suggesting the OneAthens anti-poverty initiative was
good politics and would help her win a second term. It did,
and that doesn't change the fact that it also did a lot of good
by focusing the public and our local institutions, like UGA and
the school district, on the issue. We'll see if the same applies
to the Mayor's Call to Service.
ROLLER DERBY: It looks like the Athens-Clarke County
Commission's recent decision to let Paul Cramer spend $5.4
million on bleachers, a scoreboard, etc. to temporarily turn
the Classic Center's exhibit hall into an arena is paying off.
The Classic City Rollergirls will move from Athens Arena to the
Classic Center when their new season starts in January.
"We are excited to offer our fans the comforts of the Classic
Center and all of the attractions of downtown on bout day,"
Rollergirls skater and league president Stevie Hretz said.
MILLW0RKS: In saying that he will vote to approve plans to
convert the abandoned Southern Mill into a complex of apart
ments and artists' studios called Millworks, Commissioner
George Maxwell expressed surprise that the majority of
Boulevard residents are in favor of it.
"Usually, people in the Boulevard district don't want this
kind of thing, so if they're in favor of it, it must turn out to be
something good," he said.
The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 5
FLAGPOLEFRAT HOUSE: Commissioners also indicated at the
agenda-setting meeting that they will approve a special use
permit for Sigma Chi to take over the Sniff family-owned
Foundry Street building that houses your favorite newspaper's
office.
The site, they said, is far better than one
on North Milledge Avenue that drew opposition
from Cobbhamites (Cobbhamians? Cobbhamese?)
because it's close to campus and not near a
residential neighborhood. "This, to me, is the
greatest thing that could possibly happen to the
Milledge Avenue site, as well as this particular
piece of property," Commissioner Harry Sims
said. (Thanks, Harry!)
"It has always been my preference that fra
ternities remain on campus, but really, this is
the next best thing," Commissioner Kelly Girtz
said.
Not that they're wrong—it's objectively a
much better place for a frat house than the
middle of Cobbham—but isn't it kind of sym
bolic? Affluent students taking over downtown
from the townies, and a fraternity displacing the
colorbearer of Athens in the process. Just sayin'.
See Athens Rising on p. 10 for more info. Oh,
and before you ask, no, we don't know where
we're moving yet.
MEDIA MATTERS: The Athens Banner-Herald, where a number
of key employees are leaving for the nth time, isn't the only
struggling local media outlet. AOL's hyperlocal news division
Patch laid off 300 editors nationwide, including all Patch sites
in South Carolina, effective last week. Many of the remaining
editors are pulling double duty, while some sites are com
pletely unstaffed (leading to some hilarity, like a posted photo
of a pumpkin carved into the shape of two people, urn, trick-
or-treating, let's call it, on the hood of a car). Locally, Patch
Editor Rebecca McCarthy was spared, although she's now in
charge of the Oconee Patch site as well as Athens'.
Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
Heyyyy volunteers in the place I’m callin’ out to ya! Tommy Valentine on the mic.
Provided by
Virtue &Vice, Inc.
Athens’ Own
Randy Smyre &
Bethra Szumski
Association
Professional Piercers
Board Member
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4 FLAGPOLE.COM • OCTOBER 23, 2013