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Pan Handling and vagrancy are becoming more burdensome through out Metro Atlanta.  They’re not just downtown anymore, but in Midtown, Decatur, Marietta, and other metro areas as well.

Recent studies have shown that laws designed to prevent pan handling and vagrancy are ineffective and not being enforced.   Further, no one municipality has the resources to assist those who are homeless and mentally ill completely.

A carrot and stick approach is needed here, but tax payers won’t pay for the carrots and law enforcement is nervous about swinging the stick.

The problem needs a state wide solution.  No one jurisdiction should be able to solve its vagabond problem by shifting the people onto the turf of another governmental authority and wiping their hands clean of it.

The  State needs to pay for the carrot.  Perhaps half the state’s Hotel/Motel tax portion could be applied to actually providing a stronger network so that the mentally ill have a post office box, someone to monitor that they’re taking their medication regularly, and have access to medical, banking, and social support resources.

That alone will free up thousands of annual law enforcement hours to really help patrol Georgia cities, and dissuage pan handling and other uncouth behaviors.  Law Enforcement needs to know that they can be confident in their preventive measures and that they can put really troubled people into a safe system that will take care of them.

Will it cost money?  You bet.  Short term, it will cost more.  But over a decade or two, it will make money because we won’t rank near the bottom of America’s Great Cities when it comes to feeling safe!

People will help pay for it!  Metro Atlanta Cities should copy what Athens did.  They put up clearly labeled parking meters urging everyone to give their change to social service agencies rather than pan handlers.  The money does go to those agencies and it lets people feel they are making strong choices.

With people helping and donating, the business community can then go to the Governor and those running in 2010 and demand more effective action.

Several Georgia State Students have produced a great experiment:  What would happen if you had a group of people who Actually Drove 55 miles an hour on I-285.

Their experiment yielded a great video!  What’s telling is not the picture of of the cars spread across I-285 all going 55, but the space preceding them.  For all intents and purposes, there was a regular moment during the day when 285 was empty.

Key here is not that the 55ers slowed traffic but that we’ve become so conditioned to thinking that would couldn’t possibly drive that slowly.  They felt threatened.  One of them literally thought that he was going to he hurt.

Essentially their sentiment was that obeying the law was dangerous on our roads.  There are two conflicting takes on this.  Clearly, accidents at lower speeds are less damaging and people have more time to avoid them if everyone is going slower.  On the other hand, we’ve conditioned ourselves to deliberately not going the speed limit and in cases where the speed limit is absolutely lower than drivers are willing to go, accidents increase because of the total net difference in speeds.

Watch the video…then take the train.

Georgia and Tennessee are fighting over water and land.  This is nothing new.

Technically, Georgia’s case is solid.  The Tennessee line, as currently marked, is about a mile south of where it’s supposed to be.

No state, however, wants to give up its sovereignty over any land any time, ever and with substantial natural resources at stake, resolving this will be even harder.

This is however, an argument to be made that losing the battle here is winning the war.  Winning the war means more money.

Atlanta is the engine the drives not only Georgia, but the entire region.  If Atlanta dries up, economic activity in Chattanooga, Tennessee’s fourth largest city and one of the fastest growing Metro areas will dry up too.  All of the tax revenue we provide will dry up with it.  Fighting Georgia also means the support we provide directly to Schools such as UTC and Chattanooga hospitals will have to be replaced directly be citizens of Tennessee.  That’s a lot of money.

Now,  is Tennessee likely to give up the land?  Almost certainly not.  Politically it’s impossible.  However, Tennessee might be wise to recognize the value of Atlanta’s impact and that Georgia has a case and cut a deal.

We get water rights and they get continued support from Georgia.  Heck, I’m sure a sum can be worked out for eternal leasing rights of the water.  The result will be that the region will keep growing, Chattanooga will keep growing and it will let Tennessee be good neighbors.  After all, neighbors don’t let neighbors die of thirst.

Georgia likes to brag about what an excellent place to do business it is. Part of that is seeing what price it takes for the Legislature to be sympathetic to business.

It turns out were in the middle of the pack, but nearly every state costs less than you’d think. Now, of course, certain rules apply here. The price goes directly with the ease of understanding the issue and the interest of the general public directly in it. That’s why in issues of the death penalty, flag amendments, etc, the price is too high for money to have any effect. It’s too easy to understand and it tugs directly at the emotions of too many.

However, in terms of reasonably arcane elements of regulatory legislation, money is everything.

The Wall Street Journal looked at ‘tangible net benefit requirements‘ for mortgages and lobbying from 2001 to 2004. Now, lots of people are concerned with making sure their states have these laws, but from 2001 to 2004, it was pretty arcane stuff. Ameriquest hired a lobbying firm to go from state legislature to state legislature to fight the inclusion of the requirements in their laws. It was a good investment. It turns out it does not take a lot of money to buy a legislature and Georgia is in the middle of the pack.

The most expensive, of course was California. At $10 million, it’s 3 sigma out. Texas was $190,000, Florida and New Jersey were $180,000, and Georgia $160,000.

The effort in Georgia occurred in 2001. Of that 160K, $5000.00 went directly to then Lt. Governor Mark Taylor. In addition to direct campaign contributions, Ameriquest bought and gave away Rolling Stones tickets. It’s a sobering thought that literally, there are people who cannot afford their mortgage because Mick and Keith were on tour.

They tried to offer Senator Vincent Fort a contribution and he declined, but argued vigorously with the Ameriquest representatives. In the end, Fort lost as both the Senate and the House stripped tangible net benefit requirements from their bills, and they went on to pass by large margins.

With Mr. Taylor gone, $155,000 seems as though it’s a relatively cheap cost if your company can turn millions in revenue with a small regulatory change. Goodness knows how much total is really spend of wooing legislators.

So what can be done? Most companies hire lobbyists who then have to register with the clerks office as paid lobbying people. Those folks should have to make public on the web, within 24 hours of the transaction, a detailed public statement of what money they spend and on whom and what they spent it. Have a reception for the legislature? You have to declare who you invited and how much the event cost. Did you buy tickets for a Senator? You have to declare immediately.

The legislators should also have to declare what they received and from whom they received it. In combination, two quick things will happen. First, Creative Loafing will have a lot more fodder and second, people who do their own lobbying will be much more influential as they do not have to register. That makes the whole thing far more democratic and the more people who are involved the better.

Recently in a discussion about local radio stations, noted local actor Ryan Girard mentioned that 97.1 ‘The River‘ was “all Eagles, all the time”.

While not literally true, you know what he meant.  So the question is: “How often does WFOX play the Eagles?”.  Here’s what a recent sample found…

At random times of day over the course of a week, the station was hit 20 times.  And the results?

• 3 times commercials
• 6 times an Eagles song was playing
• 4 times Fleetwood Mac
• 7 times something else

So… more than a third of the time when not playing commercials, Don Henley is thrust upon you.  What makes this happen?  Here’s a theory…

70s FM radio and album sales were largely dominated by 3 groups:  The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Steely Dan.  Each took a specific genre of music and reconceived it for the pop rock audience.  Steely Dan took jazz, Fleetwood Mac remade the blues, and the Eagles (and their even more insidious alter egos… Poco) were instrumental in creating California Country Rock.  The River is trying to appeal to primarily white boomer aged classic rock fans whose taste for anything that could be confused with R&B or Rap is minimal at best.  As a result the more corporate rock and country infused you can make it, the more it sends the message that this is music for Cul-De Sac oriented white suburban folks.  Not a lot of MC5 on that station.  Not even as much of the Dan as folks might like.  Too Risky.

The question was posed: “What is that thing!?!”

It is …

{{ Dramatic Chord }}

The Five Points Mystery!

High above scores of unsuspecting commuters, there rests this thing, hovering over the top-level concourse of the Five Points MARTA station. At least three theories are known to exist.

• 5 Points used to be a basketball arena, and that thing was the scoreboard
• It’s the device which transmits to the rectangular bulge George Bush had under his jacket during the presidential debates
• It was built from leftover parts the contractor couldn’t identify when the station was constructed

(h/t Larry for those last two theories)

What is your theory?

If there is one candidate running for election this year that has absolutely earned your vote, it’s the Honorable Jim Martin. No one running for any office in Georgia has better record of public service, accomplishment, or honesty. This guy is up there with Jimmy Carter.Now he’s running for Lt. Governor and deserves the support of all decent people. Mr. Martin has served as a State Legislator both in the house and the Senate. he’s been a committee chairman, and then he left. Why? Because he was asked to do a very difficult thing. Jim Martin cleaned up the state Department of Human Resources.

Martin is campaigning on 3 key issues: Keep transparency in government, end predatory lending practices, and improve our business climate by strengthening Georgia’s health care and education system.

The primary job of the Lt. Governor is to preside over the Senate. In that role, Martin can directly address the first two points of his agenda. The current Governor and House Speaker very much want the power to hide negotiations from the public over matters with businesses. It’s a bad deal for the public and Jim Martin has already stopped it once. As President of the Senate, he can make sure that nothing passes that will darken the corridors of power.

Financial companies see a gold mine in Georgia. With the growth of the housing market here they see a chance not only to reap the benefits of lending, but lending with the intent to foreclose. They start with a low rate and then raise the rate on undervalued property so they can force the owner to foreclose and read the benefit of selling it out from under the owner. As Lt. Governor, Martin can stop this and assure that lending bills meet a high standard of consumer protection.

Furthermore, should anything happen to the next Governor, You could not ask for a better care taker than Jim Martin. He has executive experience, civic experience, legislative experience, and no one cares about Georgia more.

Vote for Jim Martin.

I used to subscribe to the Economist magazine but in my drive to absorb every article, I’d end up with a constant inch-thick stack of them on the to-read pile. Picked up an issue recently (excellent like always) and they are currently doing some very nice city guides which are available online. The cities they cover in the US are NYC, DC, Chicago, SF, LA and Atlanta. That’s it. Pretty nice company. So checking out the Atlanta pages they’ve got some pretty useful information.

Discussions of the airport are accurate and informative, but the best part I noticed is under the tab “Insider Tips”. Check out the subsection on business etiquette: they mention that if you plan to give a gift of a bottle of wine, you can’t buy it on Sundays; how to get the tea you expect and the importance of college football. Each of the twelve points are worth noting for visitors.

There’s a nifty local reading list, a guide to tipping (double the tax and add a few bucks), and the sightseeing and restaurants definitely concentrate on downtown, midtown and buckhead. With quotes like “rush-hour lasts from about 7am-9am and 3.30pm-6.30pm”, this is an extremely useful guide for the international traveler to our fair city.

(Watch the video)

The old Wachovia building at Peachtree and North Ave. was imploded this past Saturday to make way for a new mixed-use condo tower. The old building was said to be a great example of modernist architecture. It featured a parking deck that took up more than half the site, a drive-thru bank (with a walk-up window that went unused for many years), and a single street-facing building entrance facing Peachtree St. That’s some great modernist (suburban-style) architecture.

Oh yeah, there was also a nice blank marble wall facing North Ave.

The new condo tower, the Premiere at Fox Plaza, will feature limited parking integrated into the building so that it’s less visible from the street, and street-facing retail. The initial landscape design concept shows a private greenspace facing Peachtree Street, which will eventually make way for a second tower.

While those who cry preservation-for-preservation’s-sake will miss the old building and condemn the new building for being new, they’ll never be able to explain why the historical significance of the old building (sentimentality) was great enough to trump the new development. What I’ll miss the least about that site will be the parking deck.

As a midtown resident who lives down the street from the site (and walks past it on a near-daily basis) I’m very excited about this new development. The experience of walking past what was there before was depressing, to say the least.

Speaking of which, since I do live down the street from the site, I had a chance to film the implosion. This is my take on the events of the morning of September 30, 2006.

First the Mckinneys and now Andrew Young. Recently, Young was asked whether Wal-Mart was dangerous to locally owned and operated neighborhood stores. He responded: “Well, I think they should; they ran the ‘mom and pop’ stores out of my neighborhood, … But you see, those are the people who have been overcharging us selling us stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs; very few black people own these stores.”

When you can morally offend a company such as Walmart? You’ve stepped way over the line. His remarks have caused all kinds of repercussions. Gubenatorial Candidate Mark Taylor has had to do a lot of damage control and distance himself from a Civil Rights icon who was the co-chair of his campaign. He has left Wal-marts employ and has again disgraced himself over issues related to the Jewish community.

Korean and Arab folks are not too likely to be happy with him either.

His comments, combined with those of the McKinney family indicate something about the thoughts of at least a subset of Atlanta’s African American communities. While many more socially mobile Black Atlantans enjoy the more cosmopolitan environment brought by diverse groups, many also feel threatened. There is a clear distrust of Asians and Latinos that runs through the humor of much of the Comic View crowd. Rather than using a common set of priorities (increasing social recognition, end to bigotry, fair access to educational opportunities, etc) to build bridges, there is often just resentment.

What is truly sad here is that at no time in US history has there ever been greater opportunities for all people of color to develop and influence the American agenda. Minority based businesses are opening at record levels, and yet rather than desiring the establishment of community based businesses, too many Black elected officials just want someone to come in and put “those people out of business” even if it means being bought off…and induced to resign… by Wal-Mart.