Whither local control?
Enough already with this new precedent of screwing with local governments, Athens-Clarke County in particular. Bob Smith, who like Ralph Hudgens, is the thorn in the side of individuals everywhere dedicated to that radical concept of local control, has determined he knows best how long our local governments should be allowed to meet.
Smith has proposed a bill mandating that local government meetings, like the Athens-Clarke County Commission, have to wrap up their meetings by midnight. While Smith says this doesn't target Athens-Clarke County, it's hard to wonder how it doesn't seeing how, according to the Athens Banner-Herald, six of the 15 meetings this year have lasted until after midnight.
Listen, many of these meetings do go on absurdly long. Mayor Heidi Davison has said so, and everyone not named Carl Jordan has said so. But it isn't as if they're deliberately going long or that they're poorly organized. Typically what makes these meetings last so long is the fact we have such an active local population, resulting in longer-than-normal times of public input. To this, I give a hearty 'good!'
Furthermore, of the six this year which have lasted longer, I would venture to say they have been meetings which have dealt with difficult issues such as the La Puerta del Sol rezoning. Thoughtful debate and ample public input is necessary for our commissioners to make educated and responsible decisions.
Again, there are legitimate ways to streamline the meetings, but for an answer to come from (yet another) state representative who doesn't live in Athens-Clarke County is ridiculous. I wonder how much Oconee County citizens would like it if Jane Kidd or Keith Heard passed a bill forbidding clear-cutting of trees in their community, especially seeing how good the folks out there are at stripping the land down to the red clay.
And, once more, kudos to Davison for striking back:
I would suggest to Rep. Smith that he move to Athens-Clarke County and declare himself a candidate for mayor when qualifying begins June 26, and then he can control the agenda, which he seems to want to do from Atlanta.
You see Smith was Ralph Hudgens before being Ralph Hudgens was cool. The man has routinely ignored the wishes of Athens-Clarke County based on, well, I don't know. I'd say chalk it up to ideological differences, but he's too inconsistent for that. I'd say chalk it up to a dislike of Athens-Clarke County in general, but I've seen him at too many happy hours for that.
Whatever it is, Smith has a peculiar habit of just refusing to allow our community to decide its own fate. Case in point is the hotel-motel tax increase, which has to be approved by the Georgia General Assembly for a local community to then open it up to a vote by its local leaders. Smith has stubbornly refused to submit the bill and killed it each time because, quite simply, he doesn't like taxes.
That's fine and dandy, and I for one don't think the proposed increase is the best thing to do either. But at least let Athens-Clarke County determine if it should increase or decrease a local tax.
So, I ask, where has local control gone? Where has the respect and consideration to the individuals who represent local communities - particularly Athens-Clarke County - gone? Everything from Hudgens' meddling with our district lines for his own petty partisan purposes to Hudgens (again) introducing a bill mandating how wide stream buffers should be to Smith's heavy-handed handling with both the hotel-motel tax and how long our leaders should be allowed to meet screams of disdain for some local communities to march to the beat of a different drummer.
I wonder what atrocious bill will trickle down from Atlanta now? I'm waiting for one of Athens-Clarke County's two least favorite representatives to tell us we can't leave our lights on after 8 p.m. or that two children per household is enough.
Smith has proposed a bill mandating that local government meetings, like the Athens-Clarke County Commission, have to wrap up their meetings by midnight. While Smith says this doesn't target Athens-Clarke County, it's hard to wonder how it doesn't seeing how, according to the Athens Banner-Herald, six of the 15 meetings this year have lasted until after midnight.
Listen, many of these meetings do go on absurdly long. Mayor Heidi Davison has said so, and everyone not named Carl Jordan has said so. But it isn't as if they're deliberately going long or that they're poorly organized. Typically what makes these meetings last so long is the fact we have such an active local population, resulting in longer-than-normal times of public input. To this, I give a hearty 'good!'
Furthermore, of the six this year which have lasted longer, I would venture to say they have been meetings which have dealt with difficult issues such as the La Puerta del Sol rezoning. Thoughtful debate and ample public input is necessary for our commissioners to make educated and responsible decisions.
Again, there are legitimate ways to streamline the meetings, but for an answer to come from (yet another) state representative who doesn't live in Athens-Clarke County is ridiculous. I wonder how much Oconee County citizens would like it if Jane Kidd or Keith Heard passed a bill forbidding clear-cutting of trees in their community, especially seeing how good the folks out there are at stripping the land down to the red clay.
And, once more, kudos to Davison for striking back:
I would suggest to Rep. Smith that he move to Athens-Clarke County and declare himself a candidate for mayor when qualifying begins June 26, and then he can control the agenda, which he seems to want to do from Atlanta.
You see Smith was Ralph Hudgens before being Ralph Hudgens was cool. The man has routinely ignored the wishes of Athens-Clarke County based on, well, I don't know. I'd say chalk it up to ideological differences, but he's too inconsistent for that. I'd say chalk it up to a dislike of Athens-Clarke County in general, but I've seen him at too many happy hours for that.
Whatever it is, Smith has a peculiar habit of just refusing to allow our community to decide its own fate. Case in point is the hotel-motel tax increase, which has to be approved by the Georgia General Assembly for a local community to then open it up to a vote by its local leaders. Smith has stubbornly refused to submit the bill and killed it each time because, quite simply, he doesn't like taxes.
That's fine and dandy, and I for one don't think the proposed increase is the best thing to do either. But at least let Athens-Clarke County determine if it should increase or decrease a local tax.
So, I ask, where has local control gone? Where has the respect and consideration to the individuals who represent local communities - particularly Athens-Clarke County - gone? Everything from Hudgens' meddling with our district lines for his own petty partisan purposes to Hudgens (again) introducing a bill mandating how wide stream buffers should be to Smith's heavy-handed handling with both the hotel-motel tax and how long our leaders should be allowed to meet screams of disdain for some local communities to march to the beat of a different drummer.
I wonder what atrocious bill will trickle down from Atlanta now? I'm waiting for one of Athens-Clarke County's two least favorite representatives to tell us we can't leave our lights on after 8 p.m. or that two children per household is enough.
posted by Jmac at 6:50 AM
3 Comments:
Bob Smith is proof positive that most voters in Oconee County are idiots.
who would Bob Smith like to see in charge of suppressing citizen input? Maybe one of the John-Johns?
I don't disagree with the comments directed at Carl Jordan but, statistically speaking, States McCarter frequently speaks more and longer than Carl. At least Carl uses facts while States just lies, threatens, bullies, cajoles, and pontificates.
I didn't mean it in a negative way toward Carl Jordan. For all of his quirks, I actually really like Jordan. Lighting ordinances and potty parity aside, he's been a dedicated public service and a good commissioner.
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