Bloglanta

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.

Dear Licensed Drivers of Georgia:

The law requires you to yield to emergency vehicles.  Really, I’m not kidding.  It says so in the official Code of Georgia, Annotated.

This means you, even if you decide that talking on your cell phone is too important or that you have to get your kids home from the sitter.  This means you especially when it’s not just one fire truck, but a fleet of them because there has been an explosion!

You, Dear Atlanta Driver, are just not that important.  You’re not.  If there is a police, ambulance, or fire truck blaring its siren at full blast repeatedly, they are not kidding.  Someone could be in danger, dying, or in a situation so terrible that you’d not want to imagine it.

When you don’t pull over to the side of the road, but rather stop dead in the middle so that you can still make your left turn, you could kill someone.  If someone were to die because you thought Jimmy just had to have a happy meal, you could be subject to a felony manslaughter charge and sent to jail for a long time.

Now some of you are thinking that this really doesn’t happen, however, it does.  People in Atlanta have forgotten that they’re supposed to get out of the way of emergency vehicles.  A parking lane or turn lane will be available for the mini-van driver to get out of the way and the driver, who is talking to her kids won’t; Nor the Lexus with the executive talking on his phone without a hands-free device.  They clogged the lanes.

It’s becoming all to common.  Yes, emergency vehicles are annoying…but only until you need one.

Is there anyone who is not tired of the homeless and others begging money downtown?  It’s impacting tourist visits, willingness to live downtown, and the ability to improve the quality of life.   Moreover, it’s illegal.

Perhaps, however, there is a solution.  We all know we should not give money directly to these folks.  Law enforcement heavily discourages it.  On the other hand, anyone with an ounce of compassion can feel for some of these folks, especially if they have holes in their shoes.

Perhaps, however, we can cure two birds with one stone.   Professional sociologists recommend that the best use of our money in helping the homeless is to give to support organizations such as The Atlanta Union Mission and the Gateway Center.  They get our support, we provide tools to help actually improve the lives of those having trouble, and we get a receipt.

Institutions such as AUM should then send a laminated receipt which we can flash whenever someone asks for money.

“Yo, can you spare any change?”   “Sorry, I gave at the office, you should visit.  Go to the Gateway Center.  The address is here… on my receipt!”

That will stop at least some of the beggars dead in their tracks.

Dear Congressman Lewis,

As Obama and Clinton move through the delegate process, it’s clear you are under tremendous pressure to switch your Super-delegate vote from Clinton to Obama.

Don’t do it. In fact, leave it completely open. Being an unaffiliated super-delegate has plenty of advantages for you, the district, and the country.

Let’s go backwards. Here is why not supporting either one is what you can do for your country: it lets the voters decide. It lets the people who participate in the process make the decision, and that is as it should be.

For the district, it lets you ask questions publicly and apply leverage. If you a not affiliated you can ask in an unbiased way about the Candidates’ positions on urban development, inner city education, transportation issues, and many more. Your district includes a potent Jewish community, large African American community, and is increasingly full of DINKS who are living in all the new Condo towers. Each have specific needs the solutions to which you can leverage from the candidates.

Finally, not deciding helps you. The voters may let you off the hook and since your vote on this will in no way affect your re-election, you would be free to vote your conscience. If, however, the super-delegates are going to decide it, then you have to look within yourself and see who you believe can actually get the most accomplished for the 5th Congressional district and for the nation as a whole. Again, if you wait, your undecided status lets you leverage support for Piedmont Park, the City, and our various transportation projects. Commit now, and no one will come courting.

Yes, people from all sides will be screaming at you, but most of your Constituents will be far more interested in how you arrived at your decision rather than what the content of the decision will be. Regardless of what you decide, making a good argument here is essential. Persuade the voters that your decision is smart and just and your voters will keep giving you the margins to which you’re accustom.

Sincerely Yours,

Bloglanta

You would think that Real Estate developers would be a positive force in improving Atlanta architecture, but it just isn’t so.

Now, Ben Carter Properties wants to tear down the Buckhead Library and put up another condo tower.  The problem is that the Buckhead library is internationally recognized as a great piece of post modern architecture.  In fact, students and architecture fans have build fan sites about it.  It’s a tourism generator!  It’s Atlanta architecture that people want to visit and about which they want to write good things!

The library not only garners visitors, but it’s a pretty effective library.   Staffers are able to administer it, find it’s recourses, and give people information.  For a long time, it also have a great view of the city, making it an excellent contemplative space. That view has been substantially altered by a condo tower.

Now the developer, of course, promises that they will replace the library in their tower, but you know it would be as large or as effective.   Moreover, it will simply be part of a larger complex.  It will look a lot like another Carter Property, the Mall of Georgia.

Whether the library survives will say a lot about Atlanta.  We have a history of destroying good architecture.  Atlanta has long been the city to busy to preserve.   In recent years, there has been a claim that we’ve become much more cosmopolitan.

Choosing to preserve the library will prove it.  Choosing to tear it down, just means the power blonds still think that they can become cosmopolitan by drinking them.

There is good news and bad news.  The good news is that the State clearly understands the importance of Grady hospital and is committed to moving it toward a new management structure. 

 The bad news is that they seem intent on forcing Fulton and Dekalb county to continue to pay for it, whether they like the new agreement or not. 

It’s likely that the new agreement is in Fulton and Dekalb’s long term interests, but the state should not have to power to force the local tax payers to accept an agreement without approval of their county commissions. 

Both the Fulton County Commission and Dekalb County Commission have given the agreements to their legal departments for study.  Both want to act on the proposals in a timely fashion.  The legislature is pre-mature in trying to force the issue. 

It’s not as though the counties want to hospital to shut down.  What they do want is to be able to assure it provides the services each of the counties needs, that Doctors and other staff who live and are trained in Fulton and Dekalb continue to have access to working at the hospital, and that as stake holders, residents of the counties can influence how the system is managed. 

Grady sees nearly a million patients a year through it’s system.  It’s budget is nearly $700 million and over $100 comes directly from Fulton and Dekalb tax payers.  When you pay $100 million, your commission should get the read the proposals before the state intervenes.

If you’re the Atlanta Falcons, your quarterbacks have not had a good season.  This week however, Joey Harrington won a game!

Not only did he win, but NPR carried it!  Harrington was this week’s celebrity contestant on ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me‘.  In the game, he had to answer three questions about the Smurfs.  In Harrington-like fashion, he threw the first question away, but did successfully complete the last two.  Regretably, an Atlantan did not win the prize; that went to a woman in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Harrington did reveal a little bit about the end of the Falcon’s season.  According to the quarterback, after his last game, Bobby Petrino came into the locker room and asked everyone to “Go home and think about what you can do for this team!”  Apparently, the best thing the coach could do was leave the organization.

Still, the Falcons and Harrington both really needed the win.  Even if they are the Smurfiest team in the NFL.

So, the Dogwood Festival cannot be in Piedmont Park due to the drought.  You’d think they’d go to Centennial Park, right?  Nope.  They’re going to Lenox Square.

Is there anything more Atlantan than having a festival named for a tree in a shopping mall that was paved over them?  Somewhere Joe Winter’s bumper sticker grins through the tears.

Worse, Bryan Hill, head of the Dogwood festival literally said on WABE, “We’re so glad we could keep the festival in Midtown…” Oy.

Am I glad the festival will continue?  Yes.  Is having it at Lenox a wise idea?  No.  There is no shade.  Nowhere for the the animals to be.  If the weather is even remotely warm, there are no trees for shade and the blacktop will generate a ton of heat.  Further, people are going to try to drive that weekend, despite having two MARTA stations walking distance from the mall.

They are having a record number of artists, but in a much smaller space…  You have to wonder what they’re giving up… Music?  the Dog Show?

It could be a huge mess, we hope not, but wouldn’t bet on it.