Non-existent arguments
I'm all for criticism where criticism is due, but the three letters decrying Athens Banner-Herald executive editor Jason Editor's Sunday column are pretty silly. For one thing, they've completely concocted an position and attributed it to Winders - saying that he was accusing Cedar Creek residents of being racist.
Winders did no such thing in his piece about the fight over La Puerta del Sol. What he did do is point out how weak the arguments against LPDS trumped by States McCarter and Cedar Creek really are and then pose the question of race to the community. As he noted, it really is the 'wink-wink' equation in this whole thing.
Cedar Creek and the other opposing agents on the eastside didn't oppose other developments like Ansonborough and - though they may refuse to admit it - much of their concern over what LPDS would be have be adequately answered (and are quite to the contrary of their fears).
What Winders was saying was that people were ducking the issue of race in this entire debate, but noting that it's entirely possible that race is a driving factor - if not the driving factor - in this whole thing. I didn't take it to mean that he was saying anyone was racist, but just saying that the issue of race is one of those 'third rail' issues in politics ... and that it's probably better for a society to hone up to issues like this rather than ignore them and pretend like they don't exist.
Winders even goes as far as saying that Bruno Rubio, the brainchild behind LPDS, is partly responsible for this. Though my friends at Athens Politics may disagree with me, I don't believe that Rubio has adequately addressed the concerns posed by his opponents. Don't get me wrong, he and Matt Casey have done much in private to answer their critics and the decision to fine tune the site plan is a good step in the right direction.
My point is that it seems lots of people - opponents, supporters and fence-sitters - are literally pleading with him to simply answer the questions about noise and traffic and alcohol. And he has good answers for all of them ... he just needs to pen a forum and send it to the Athens Banner-Herald, Flagpole, Athens Politics and, heck, even here (insert shameless self-promotion).
So I think Winders hit the nail on the head and put together a very strong column, and my hat's off to the kid.
Winders did no such thing in his piece about the fight over La Puerta del Sol. What he did do is point out how weak the arguments against LPDS trumped by States McCarter and Cedar Creek really are and then pose the question of race to the community. As he noted, it really is the 'wink-wink' equation in this whole thing.
Cedar Creek and the other opposing agents on the eastside didn't oppose other developments like Ansonborough and - though they may refuse to admit it - much of their concern over what LPDS would be have be adequately answered (and are quite to the contrary of their fears).
What Winders was saying was that people were ducking the issue of race in this entire debate, but noting that it's entirely possible that race is a driving factor - if not the driving factor - in this whole thing. I didn't take it to mean that he was saying anyone was racist, but just saying that the issue of race is one of those 'third rail' issues in politics ... and that it's probably better for a society to hone up to issues like this rather than ignore them and pretend like they don't exist.
Winders even goes as far as saying that Bruno Rubio, the brainchild behind LPDS, is partly responsible for this. Though my friends at Athens Politics may disagree with me, I don't believe that Rubio has adequately addressed the concerns posed by his opponents. Don't get me wrong, he and Matt Casey have done much in private to answer their critics and the decision to fine tune the site plan is a good step in the right direction.
My point is that it seems lots of people - opponents, supporters and fence-sitters - are literally pleading with him to simply answer the questions about noise and traffic and alcohol. And he has good answers for all of them ... he just needs to pen a forum and send it to the Athens Banner-Herald, Flagpole, Athens Politics and, heck, even here (insert shameless self-promotion).
So I think Winders hit the nail on the head and put together a very strong column, and my hat's off to the kid.
posted by Jmac at 8:17 AM
3 Comments:
Agree and disagree, actually. I disagree with you on Winders, and I thought he was a little over the top on the wink-winkiness of the issue. My two cents, he was trying to get some of that primo controversy ink. Mission accomplished.
But I strongly agree with you wrt LPDS taking a more public stand. To me, there's not really any such thing (in this instance) as being too open or too communicative.
Yeah, I don't know. I suppose I think he was just being the one who actually tackled the race issue. A bit over-the-top ... maybe. But there really are lots of whispers about the role of race in this, so I like the fact that he actually did talk about it.
I mean, both sides did address race - supporters of LPDS more directly - during the public comment portion of the commission meeting when this was tabled.
I am whole-heartedly in agreement with you Johnathan. I thought the column confronted the race issue in a heads on way that has been lacking in almost all coverage that the ABH has had since this whole thing started. All in all, I thought it was a solid column. Besides, it had one of my favorite lines of the year stating that McCarter makes "Ahab look like an uncommited slacker". That's comedy gold my friends.
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