The horse is dead ... let it be
There's a point when something ceases to be relevant, and Flagpole is inching dangerously close to that territory for me.
Now, I like Pete McCommons and we agree considerably more than we disagree, but his peculiar obsession with the issue of three-laning Prince Avenue is beyond irrational at this point. McCommons, once again, bemoans the fact that the Athens-Clarke County Commission opted to not three-lane Prince Avenue. I'm not sure of the exact count, but I know that McCommons has penned similar columns at least twice in the past month after the vote ... which doesn't even include the number of times he voiced his concerns prior the vote.
Now, he's the publisher and it's his paper. He has the right to write about whatever he wants, but with so many other issues confronting our community - things like poverty, affordable housing, relations with the university, job creation, public transportation - it's more than a tad trivial and definitely short-sighted on McCommons' part to dwell on something like three-laning a rather small portion of Prince Avenue.
I've already stated my opinions on the matter, and safe to say I was pleased with the turnout of the commission vote. The way I see it, this is a community and the opinions of those who live along Oglethorpe Avenue are just as valid as those who live in Cobbham, so forgive me if McCommons' 'neighborhood first' platform rings a little hollow for me.
Likewise, do I think his concerns about the Chamber of Commerce are unfounded. I'm not a huge fan of the Chamber, and I think much could be done to improve that particular organization (and, for what it's worth, with someone like Annette Nelson heading it up, I think it's slowly heading in the right direction), so I'm is not endorsing what they do by any means. But to think that a mostly progressive community will all of a sudden embrace candidates who are more conservative - and, contrary to McCommons' concerns, those differences are apparent during a campaign - is lunacy.
We may see more conservative candidates crop up in different parts of Athens-Clarke County, but it will be because the people in those districts connect with them for some reason or another, and not because of some nefarious plan enacted by the Chamber.
Furthermore, I have no tolerance for the 'single-issue voting' which McCommons appears to support. It's true that he includes a paragraph in his column devoted to other issues - such as the tree ordinance and the (unfortate) failed pursuit of multi-use pathways - but make no mistake about the point of this column. He uses the three-laning of Prince Avenue as a rallying point in all that is wrong with our current government, and wrongly puts too much emphasis on one mere commission vote. In doing so, he is just as guilty as those he decries for being influenced by the Chamber as McCommons is very much in step with the wishes and wants of the Cobbham district.
Again, I hold no ill will toward McCommons. In fact, I have never met the man, and, as I stated earlier, I feel that we agree on more than we disagree. But this illogical hitching-of-his-horse to the wagon of Prince Avenue's failed three-laning offers little to the dialogue of how best to plan for our community.
Now, I like Pete McCommons and we agree considerably more than we disagree, but his peculiar obsession with the issue of three-laning Prince Avenue is beyond irrational at this point. McCommons, once again, bemoans the fact that the Athens-Clarke County Commission opted to not three-lane Prince Avenue. I'm not sure of the exact count, but I know that McCommons has penned similar columns at least twice in the past month after the vote ... which doesn't even include the number of times he voiced his concerns prior the vote.
Now, he's the publisher and it's his paper. He has the right to write about whatever he wants, but with so many other issues confronting our community - things like poverty, affordable housing, relations with the university, job creation, public transportation - it's more than a tad trivial and definitely short-sighted on McCommons' part to dwell on something like three-laning a rather small portion of Prince Avenue.
I've already stated my opinions on the matter, and safe to say I was pleased with the turnout of the commission vote. The way I see it, this is a community and the opinions of those who live along Oglethorpe Avenue are just as valid as those who live in Cobbham, so forgive me if McCommons' 'neighborhood first' platform rings a little hollow for me.
Likewise, do I think his concerns about the Chamber of Commerce are unfounded. I'm not a huge fan of the Chamber, and I think much could be done to improve that particular organization (and, for what it's worth, with someone like Annette Nelson heading it up, I think it's slowly heading in the right direction), so I'm is not endorsing what they do by any means. But to think that a mostly progressive community will all of a sudden embrace candidates who are more conservative - and, contrary to McCommons' concerns, those differences are apparent during a campaign - is lunacy.
We may see more conservative candidates crop up in different parts of Athens-Clarke County, but it will be because the people in those districts connect with them for some reason or another, and not because of some nefarious plan enacted by the Chamber.
Furthermore, I have no tolerance for the 'single-issue voting' which McCommons appears to support. It's true that he includes a paragraph in his column devoted to other issues - such as the tree ordinance and the (unfortate) failed pursuit of multi-use pathways - but make no mistake about the point of this column. He uses the three-laning of Prince Avenue as a rallying point in all that is wrong with our current government, and wrongly puts too much emphasis on one mere commission vote. In doing so, he is just as guilty as those he decries for being influenced by the Chamber as McCommons is very much in step with the wishes and wants of the Cobbham district.
Again, I hold no ill will toward McCommons. In fact, I have never met the man, and, as I stated earlier, I feel that we agree on more than we disagree. But this illogical hitching-of-his-horse to the wagon of Prince Avenue's failed three-laning offers little to the dialogue of how best to plan for our community.
posted by Jmac at 10:30 AM
6 Comments:
There's a point when something ceases to be relevant, and Flagpole is inching dangerously close to that territory for me.
Can you substitute "Pete" for "Flagpole" in the above sentence? The City Pages are still useful. And, obviously, the music listings and such are still fine.
And, of course, the Grub Notes.
I agree that Pete has overplayed the influence of the Chamber of Commerce. I don't think anybody pays any attention to what those goons think or say.
A good Chamber would really help this town a lot. I wonder how much longer we'll have to wait before we get one. It's been about 20 years since we had an effective Chamber. Maybe we never had one.
The Chamber is an effective bete noir (is that the right phrase) to the Commission, and usually about as effective.
FWIW, I think Pete actually lives on Oglethorpe Ave.
Yes, Pete lives on Oglethorpe. And you can find him walking it (presumably on the way to work) most mornings.
And yes, Pete might could use to move on to other issues. But I don't think that this is unusual or particularly problematic for him in his capacity as the editorial board for the Flagpole. You guys (Jonathan, Hillary, Mr. Publius)have been around Athens awhile, too, and you've no doubt seen Pete do this before. He'll keep beating an issue after most of us have moved on, but before too long, something else will catch his attention and he'll return to making relevant contributions to the political debate in Athens. Or so has been my observation.
Darren
It was pointed out to me that not three-laning violates recently adopted policy, but people also say maybe it doesn't matter THAT much.
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