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According to a recent AJC piece, among the items in Governor Perdont’s wish list is to take the current DOT building, tear it down a replace it with a parking deck.

You reap what you sow.   Will the Governor have the political will to make this happen?  Probably not, but the very idea is hilarious.  Better yet, tear down the current parking decks for ‘road improvements’ first, & let the DOT keep it’s building.

With no parking, they’ll all be forced to take MARTA to work…. or the Lovejoy line.

Pick which one of the following statements is true:

1. The City Council is considering an ordinance which limits the size of the pet you can have to 1 pound per 15 square feet of dwelling.
2. The Virginia Highlands Starbucks is closing.
3. Tyler Perry’s ‘House of Payne‘ is so popular that he has hired Jermaine Dupris to write “Payne! The Musical!” .

All of them seem so impossible that any reader should be skeptical.  However, the answer is that number two is true and the others are false.  Sources say that the Virginia Highlands Starbucks store is closing!

Who’d have thought that a Starbucks, one of the oldest in Atlanta, would not be able to maintain enough business in Virginia Highlands?   There are two different ways to look at this.  One way is ‘Hooray!  defeat for chain stores!  Booyah the independent little guy!  San Francisco Coffee Roasters Up Up and Away!”

The second way to look at it is with concern.  Rent here is clearly an issue and if rents are becoming so high that Starbucks cannot maintain one of its stalwart locations in a very prosperous neighborhood, what pressure must that be putting on other businesses?  Might Starbucks be a canary in a coal mine?   If they cannot afford the rent, who will go next?  I’d hate to see Neighbors or Atkins Park unable to afford the location in which they have long been.

It might be a good idea to stop by the Starbucks.  Has anyone ever seen a coffee going out of business sale?

Want something odd? If you’re African American and you want to graduate from college in Georgia, you should go to Emory. According to recently published research, 83% of African Americans who enter Emory graduate. 66% of African Americans who enter UGA graduate. No information was available for Agnes Scott, Oglethorpe, or Georgia State.

Contrast this with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Morehouse graduates 55% percent of it’s students while Clark Atlanta University sees a mere 32% of its students who enter finish. Only Spellman rises above. They graduate 77% of their entrants.

Of course, if you really want to graduate, you go to Harvard. 95% of their African American students graduate. In fact, the top seven schools in terms of African American graduation rates are all in the northeast and a majority of those are Ivy league universities.

Contrast this with the historically Black colleges and universities of which only 8 have a graduation rate of more than 50% and this represents a significant improvement since 1998. This calls into question the need, purpose, and future of America’s historically Black Colleges and Universities. At the outset there are two contrasting points of view:

1) Their time has passed. The strong ones will evolve toward a more multi-cultural future and start admitting a variety of students based on the strength of their own programs.

2) The other argument is that they need to be strengthened and fortified. In this view, one sees the need for more governmental and private support as an effort to keep African American college enrollment local and strong. A special emphasis would need to placed to induce young African American men to enroll. Right now, far more Black women are going to college and of those who go, half graduate. Fewer men attend college and roughly a third of them graduate. One possible role for these schools is to address that gap.

Still for those whose goal is graduation & with the grades and the intellectual drive to apply, traditional colleges are the way to go. Even with a 77% graduation rate, Spellman cannot touch the Seven Sisters or even Emory.

The circus is back intown, and by the circus of course, we mean the Georgia General Assembly.

This year is all about the prevent defense. The focus has to be on stopping stupid ideas from getting through. As you may have heard, several of these are “Let’s completely revamp our tax system proposals!”

Basically, Glen Richardson wants to eliminate locally assessed property taxes and eliminate the sales tax exemption on food and other essentials. The state would then dole out the money to each school district according to what it thinks the local  needs, rather than letting the locals decide for themselves. Of course anyone who lives in a city should be screaming bloody murder against this because if the state legislature controls the money, Atlanta and environs will suffer in favor of South Georgia.

Further, anyone who is a true small government conservative should be screaming too as this takes power directly away from citizens and local governments and puts it directly in the hands of a larger one.

Here’s the danger with this plan however. Even though it likely will not pass, it will provide cover for lots of other crazy
legislation to get through. That’s where everyone has to be vigilant. Forget Richardson, he’ll be stopped. Look for what this is going to cover.

Will the governor continue to prevent spending on education from matching inflation? He has been quietly doing this since 2003.  Will the legislature continue to support big road bills will specific toll lanes? Will the legislature pass a bill on water
conservation which sounds good but does not have any real teeth or conservation, but simply a tax break for contractors?

In large part, it’s up to you. The more vigilant you are and the more you get in touch with your legislator, the less garbage will get through. Pay Attention and get involved or come July you could find yourself with an employee with a  right to carry a gun in your shop but no way to pay for your school.

Here’s what everyone is failing to mention in the battle between Senators Obama and Clinton.

“IT’S THE DOWN BALLOT RACES STUPID!”

Think about it. If Senator Clinton wins, people will zealously come out of the woodwork to vote against her and they’ll vote a straight Republican ticket down the ballot. Many people, even Democrats, seems to have a pathological disdain for her. So, if you believe in Darwinism, trains, keep local property taxes in the hands of local school boards, and having at least a chance of sensible sex education, Vote Obama!

Why? People generally do not hate him with the same vitriol which exists almost exclusively for Senator Clinton. Highly educated voters, African Americans, and other likely Democrats vote For Obama With Passion. The result with be that reasonably progressive candidates (mostly Democrats, but not exclusively) will do much much better.

If Senator Clinton wins, no self respecting Democratic will run against Senator Chambliss, and he needs to beaten… and kicked. While their chances of winning are still slim, they’re doubled if Obama is the candidate. It means that some Democrat of note will be less suicidal in running and if Republicans have to spend money here, so much the better. Progressive Congressional candidates also stand a much better chance of winning and the legislature might be less Republican.

Right now, it looks simple. Obama brings lots of Dems out, while Clinton brings out all the people who hate her. I’d rather Atlanta voting lines be filled with the former than the latter.

Believe it or not, we’re already at the top of another election cycle. Today is the last business day you can register to vote for the Presidential Primaries that will occur on Super Duper Tuesday, February 5th.

Iowa saw record turnout and you can be part of a record year here.

Click here for voter registration info! You can also go to any city hall, library, and many banks to register to vote.

The official drop dead registration day is January 5th, so get thee to the library!

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.

At roughly 9:15 P.M., January 1, 2008, it began to snow near Little Five Points. There wasn’t a lot of snow, and no accumulation, but it did snow. That in itself is a welcome site. The swirling snow against the neon lights of the shops were very pretty indeed.

What is even more remarkable is that upon reaching Sage Hill, where it was still snowing, there were not lines of nutballs trying to buy out all the milk and bread that Kroger had. People calmly stayed home, knowing that they’ll still be able to get to work tomorrow.

If the Legislature can show that much maturity, it might not be such a bad year after all. If the citizens get their voter registrations in before Saturday and then vote in the primaries, it might be even better.

Happy New Year all.

Remember Mayor Franklin? Whatever happened to her? Is she hibernating? She’s Gone!

Sistah Mayah used to be everywhere! Openings, closings, luncheons, announcements, Beltlines, projects, schools, houses… heck if you asked nicely she’d meet you at a donut shop. Now she’s gone. She’s ‘Underground Shirley’, and like Underground she’s giving the impression that she is not doing very well.

Now, yes, I know her kids have been involved in some nasty
stuff, but it’s time for the Mayor to stop skiing and get back to being a leader for Atlanta. She can overcome any negative publicity her family may bring her by being the kind of Mayor she was in her first term!

Among the agenda items she should consider:

• Putting some muscle and the bully pulpit forward to keep the Beltline project moving forward
• Guarantee that by a date certain during her administration, all the city’s streets will be fully repaired and in excellent shape, at lease for one day
• Use the power of her office to get the Atlanta School Board to root out corruption while encouraging Atlanta students to study more math and science
• Push for a law requiring a public good requirement for all new construction. Can you imagine if every new building had a library, fire department or theater in it?
• Work with CAP/ADID to develop a plan to move AMTRAK back downtown and revitalize 5 Points in a meaningful way
• Develop a plan for affordable housing with adequate public safety for it.

Pick three. Accomplish three of these and Mayor Franklin’s second term will be well remembered, as opposed to now, where people are forgetting what she looks like.

People often say that HD Radio means nothing or that there isn’t anything new and different on those stations. In fact, it’s not true.

HD Radio is digitally broadcast radio which requires a decoder unit, but does not have a monthly subscription fee. In
Atlanta, several stations, though certainly not all, take advantage of HD broadcasting. Of Those, 5 stand out!

1. WABE All News: People have been begging for an all news outlet in Atlanta for years and now it’s here! They broadcast shows you never hear on regular WABE such as Tavis Smiley’s show and Day to Day. All News is 90.1 HD-3
2. WABE all Classical. If you’ve never heard classical radio is all digital before, you’re in for a treat. The notes are crisper and its good that WABE maintains a classical outlet for those interested. It would be great if this channel focused more on modern classical composers, but its great to have classical music on the airwaves. WABE Classical is 90.1 HD-2
3. WZGC Roots. This station does precisely what HD was supposed to do: give commercial stations the chance to program music currently unavailable. American Roots music flourished as an art in the 1990s in the wake of the efforts to recognize great American music pioneers and the over commercialization of art forms such as country that lost any connection to their original sound. It’s amazing to hear Gillian Welch, Plant & Krauss, and T. Bone Burnett on the radio! For the moment, this is commercial free, but that likely won’t last long. Still, just having something different to listen to is worth it. WZGC Roots is 92.9 HD-2
4. WVEE Neo Soul. Just as Dave FM looked at part of their niche market, so ‘The People’s Station’ looked at theirs and developed an all Neo Soul station for those who like newer music, but just are not in the mood for Snap. Plenty of Jill Scott, plenty of Maxwell, though a little more Michel Ndege Ocello would not hurt. 103.3 HD2
5. WVEE Simulcast of WAOK. One of the powers of FM is that at night, it does not decrease in power. For those stations which have virtually no nighttime AM presence, HD radio provides a great opportunity to expand their range! WAOK is Atlanta leading African American voice of talk radio in Atlanta. It’s an important voice, but after 6 P.M. it fades. Now the station has the chance to be heard and so to add voices. Giving more opportunities for people to speak their mind.

There are also HD opportunities which are not being realized. Here are a few ideas which various stations should consider:

• Local Music: Atlanta has a ton of musicians. We produce a ton of music in this town, but the amount of public exposure for locals on radio is not great. If stations create local channels, they’ll create loyalty and listeners.
• One of the Country stations should create a Celtic Channel. Anyone who has listen to the Thistle and Shamrock knows the diversity in Celtic music with country music’s roots in such music, a contemporary Celtic station would do well.
• Carry more sports on FM. Right now, if you like the Hawks and you live in Roswell, you can’t hear them on radio. Same with the Thrashers. Any one of the big FM stations could use the third HD channel to create Atlanta HD Sports and simulcast the games. They could also carry the Gwinnett Gladiators and college sports!

HD radio has not taken off as quickly as expected precisely because so many programmers haven’t the imagination to program new and different materials. Rather too many stations are just creating more opportunities to let more payola’d music hit the airwaves, and that’s pretty pointless. It’s just crap that sounds better.