Bloglanta

Where were YOU?  We had an election and Nobody came!  On Tuesday, November 8,  Mayor Franklin won by a landslide in percentage terms, but only 7% of voters chose her!  Not exactly a screaming mandate. Mayor Franklin received 28013 to her opponents 2038.  93% of the city said, “Who cares?”.
More people voted in the Dekalb County Library Bond referendum than voted in the Mayoral election, and still that was only 45,000. Even in East Point, where there was a much closer race, less than 2500 people will make the decision.
What must one conclude form this?  Metro Atlantans don’t care about politics.  It means we’re willing to leave our political decisions to the most zealous in our community.  The rabid are making the choices.  This means a more volatile political environment and that policy shifts will swing more dramatically.  YOU can do something about this.  If you’re registered to vote, you can make a difference by voting the run off on December 6th!  Heck, you can even get a couple of hours off from work to do it!

The City of Atlanta has an interesting distinction… There is no full time stand up comedy club in the city limits.   In a city that is trying to appeal to tourists, this is an amazing thing.  Tourists want comedy clubs.  Locals want comedy clubs, and the number of famous stand ups who started in Atlanta is amazing. 
Yes, yes… there’s the Punchline in Sandy Springs, and there’s the Funny Farm way up in Roswell,  but these clubs are not in the City and they certainly are not catching any of the tourist dollars.  Additionally, as the city grows more prosperous and is populated by younger people who want clubs, a stand up club to which you could walk from a train station seems like a no brainer!   There has been talk of reviving the Uptown Comedy Corner on Marietta Street and rumor had it that the Improv was to come back to Atlanta via Atlantic Station, but they won’t be walking distance from MARTA!  Whether in Midtown, Buckhead, or Decatur, there’s a market waiting to be tapped. 
Where have you gone Jerry Farber?

“Atlanta, Where Everyday is Opening Day“.  From the thinkers that brought you that acclaimed mascot ‘Whatizzit’ comes the newest fiasco from the city too busy to do it right!  It’s the new city slogan, and quite frankly, we’ve been duped!  Hornswaggled!  Lied Too!  Cheated!  and other big words than end in ‘ed!   I like the three ‘O’s better. 
Why didn’t they use the tried and true method?  Rather than paying thousands of dollars to a corporate communications firm, just have school kids think up slogans and put them to a vote!  At least then you’d know you had creative people working on the project and via election you’d have had a public buy in.  Heck!  You might have seen more than 7% of the residents turn out for the election! 
Oh well, it’s heartening to know that we’ll spend $1,000,000.00 for another new slogan in three years. 

A letter to the editor in today’s AJC says in so few words what others have tried to say in so many words:

Success — and failureOn a recent trip to Salt Lake City, I saw how effective public transportation can be in the city’s center.

An electric train and a fleet of buses offering free ridership covered a large area. It was a pleasant experience that reminded me of Atlanta’s ineffectiveness both in supporting mass transit and encouraging people to use it.

Excuses abound here, but in other places it’s a fact of daily life that forward-thinking people have made happen.

MARC LaFOUNTAIN, Carrollton

Now, come on, folks. Salt Lake City is beating us out, of all places. We can’t do better than stick ourselves with more roads that erode our existing transit investment and cause more traffic? These two Olympic cities have clearly taken different post-Olympic routes: one for the better, one for the worse.

When will our elected officials ever learn to take advantage of good opportunities for greatness? If Salt Lake City can do it, so can we.

Today, The Atlanta City Council will vote on the Beltline Tax Allocation District.  In order for the Beltline to get the private funding it needs, this is a crucial vote, but many people may not know that two other governmental bodies must also sign off on the TAD as well. 
The Fulton County Commission and the Atlanta School Board must also pass the TAD because they issue property taxes.  If the TAD passes, it’s expected to raise $1.7 for the Beltline, but that’s roughly half a billion dollars that each government entity would give up.  That’s not easy and the elected representatives will need some persuasion. 
You can do something about this!  Please contact your representatives on each of these bodies!!!  Don’t know who represents you?  Go to vote-smart and find out!

Elections are next Tuesday. No matter where you live, you should plan to vote. Several counties have bond referendums and many cities have elections. You still have a few days to ask some key questions of the Candidates running.

• Will you support a multi-modal transportation system for your community?
• What will you do to reduce the resegregation that is happening in schools?
• What are you willing to do to encourage the success of local merchants and limit the power and influence of chains?
• What efforts will you take to increase people’s freedoms from law enforcement harassment yet reduce crime in the community?
• Do you support the Beltline and have you urged the Atlanta City Council to support the TAD (the vote is Monday)
• What are you doing to give teen-agers in your community meaningful participation opportunities in the summer?
• What is your plan to preserve the communities natural resources?