The (Not-So) Best Week Ever
Well ... wow.
It may not be the worst ever in the history of bad weeks for Athenian politicians, but this past one has been quite a doozy for mayoral candidate Charlie Maddox. In the span of just a few short days, the following has happened ...
Blake Aued reports about the now-famous accidental position paper at the Athens Banner-Herald's 'In The Loop' blog, to which Jim Thompson's column today deals with and offers a link to the document in question.
At the same time, Jason Winder's column focuses on the splash made by Andy Rusk's farewell speech, and how that hurts Maddox.
With damage control in full mode, and the Maddox campaign eager to answer the criticisms being leveled at them (including the most frequently heard one of Maddox not actually fleshing out any specifics of what he'd like to do as mayor), the local media was forwarded this brand-spankin' new press release.
And, while I'm most appreciative of being included on the mailing of said release, I don't necessarily think it gives that much more detail and actually leaves me with some additional questions and concerns.
So here are some of my thoughts ...
- First off, let me say that I, for one, don't think that Maddox really is some pawn in an elaborate scheme by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce to seize political power in this community. Honestly, I thought that at the outset of his campaign, but now I think it's fairly ridiculous to make that charge. What I do think is that he is quite sympathetic, by his own accord, to the views and positions taken by the Chamber of Commerce. He is his own man, and his own views regarding development and the like line up quite nicely with the Chamber's. Maddox is a sharp fella who means well, but we just disagree on some local issues.
- While he may be a nice enough guy, I do take some issue with the release's blatant misrepresentation of the current Commission's actions dealing with poverty. To suggest that Mayor Heidi Davison has done little address poverty in the past four years is, well, patently false. This administration has worked hard to increase public transportation options, lobbied for increased funding for non-profits, helped set up a committee to study how to best utilize the Community Development Block Grant and, most importantly, launched Partners for a Prosperous Athens. Now Maddox may not like the particular actions taken by this administration, but to say 'they've had four years to get this thing right' implies a lack of action. I can't think of a mayor who has done more for poverty in this community than Davison.
- I still don't see that much substance to this new position paper. I don't see that many more specifics, I'm sorry. I see a lot of generalities like 'get our priorities straight' or 'repair damaged relationships' but not a whole lot of how to go about doing that. Nothing like offering tax incentives to developers who build affordable-housing or the potential of freezing property tax rates ...
- I will give him bonus points for crack about the artist-designed bus shelters ... those things were pretty ridiculous.
- Using the phrase 'take back this city from those who are holding it hostage' is more than a tad absurd, but that's just me. Particularly considering that this government is more open and responsive than any I've seen in this state. You may not always like the decisions they make - I know I always don't - but you can't argue they haven't increased the avenues for you to express your concerns to them.
- One thing on this 'jobs is the cure' thing Maddox, and many others, use to combat poverty. Yes, he's absolutely right ... better-paying jobs with more potential for advancement are very crucial. However, we have a workforce that we need to develop and give the necessary, education, technological skills and social skills before we can begin to recruit the right businesses here. I think Kelly Girtz nailed that one in the debate last week when he said even though Novartis has passed us up, we need to make sure we get the necessary funding to handle the appropriate training at Athens Tech.
- It's a tad harsh, sure, but I think Jim's point here ...
Still, it's not so much what the document says that could hurt Maddox in the run-up to the Nov. 7 election. What's more worrisome is that a man who wants to lead this community can't even manage his own campaign staff.
... is partially valid.
It may not be the worst ever in the history of bad weeks for Athenian politicians, but this past one has been quite a doozy for mayoral candidate Charlie Maddox. In the span of just a few short days, the following has happened ...
Blake Aued reports about the now-famous accidental position paper at the Athens Banner-Herald's 'In The Loop' blog, to which Jim Thompson's column today deals with and offers a link to the document in question.
At the same time, Jason Winder's column focuses on the splash made by Andy Rusk's farewell speech, and how that hurts Maddox.
With damage control in full mode, and the Maddox campaign eager to answer the criticisms being leveled at them (including the most frequently heard one of Maddox not actually fleshing out any specifics of what he'd like to do as mayor), the local media was forwarded this brand-spankin' new press release.
And, while I'm most appreciative of being included on the mailing of said release, I don't necessarily think it gives that much more detail and actually leaves me with some additional questions and concerns.
So here are some of my thoughts ...
- First off, let me say that I, for one, don't think that Maddox really is some pawn in an elaborate scheme by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce to seize political power in this community. Honestly, I thought that at the outset of his campaign, but now I think it's fairly ridiculous to make that charge. What I do think is that he is quite sympathetic, by his own accord, to the views and positions taken by the Chamber of Commerce. He is his own man, and his own views regarding development and the like line up quite nicely with the Chamber's. Maddox is a sharp fella who means well, but we just disagree on some local issues.
- While he may be a nice enough guy, I do take some issue with the release's blatant misrepresentation of the current Commission's actions dealing with poverty. To suggest that Mayor Heidi Davison has done little address poverty in the past four years is, well, patently false. This administration has worked hard to increase public transportation options, lobbied for increased funding for non-profits, helped set up a committee to study how to best utilize the Community Development Block Grant and, most importantly, launched Partners for a Prosperous Athens. Now Maddox may not like the particular actions taken by this administration, but to say 'they've had four years to get this thing right' implies a lack of action. I can't think of a mayor who has done more for poverty in this community than Davison.
- I still don't see that much substance to this new position paper. I don't see that many more specifics, I'm sorry. I see a lot of generalities like 'get our priorities straight' or 'repair damaged relationships' but not a whole lot of how to go about doing that. Nothing like offering tax incentives to developers who build affordable-housing or the potential of freezing property tax rates ...
- I will give him bonus points for crack about the artist-designed bus shelters ... those things were pretty ridiculous.
- Using the phrase 'take back this city from those who are holding it hostage' is more than a tad absurd, but that's just me. Particularly considering that this government is more open and responsive than any I've seen in this state. You may not always like the decisions they make - I know I always don't - but you can't argue they haven't increased the avenues for you to express your concerns to them.
- One thing on this 'jobs is the cure' thing Maddox, and many others, use to combat poverty. Yes, he's absolutely right ... better-paying jobs with more potential for advancement are very crucial. However, we have a workforce that we need to develop and give the necessary, education, technological skills and social skills before we can begin to recruit the right businesses here. I think Kelly Girtz nailed that one in the debate last week when he said even though Novartis has passed us up, we need to make sure we get the necessary funding to handle the appropriate training at Athens Tech.
- It's a tad harsh, sure, but I think Jim's point here ...
Still, it's not so much what the document says that could hurt Maddox in the run-up to the Nov. 7 election. What's more worrisome is that a man who wants to lead this community can't even manage his own campaign staff.
... is partially valid.
posted by Jmac at 3:58 PM
13 Comments:
OK, believe it or not, I'm actually going to come to Charlie's defense, here.
I've worked in campaigns for close to 20 years and it happens to almost every campaign that somebody, meaning to help, does something totally stupid that ends up hurting. Now, it's not usually the camapaign manager and, when it is, it's usually fatal.
But, remember that as soon as Charlie saw this thing, he worked to disavow it and pull it back ASAP. It went out without his approval and that should NEVER happen!
But, I really think and hope that the press would not release something that went out without the candidate's approval and especially after said candidate made every effort to correct the error.
I'm saying that I don't think it was correct or fair to release this to the public after Charlie did all he could to disavow it.
In this one case, I'm with Charlie. He didn't get a fair shake on this one.
Fair is fair and fair is how I play and how I prefer to win. We want to win this one on merit - not campaign staff bumbling.
Ignore this piece - it's not Charlie's. But, whatever you do, do NOT vote for Marvin. ;-)
Al
The problem is that the ABH will stop at nothing, fair or foul, to make Charlie look bad. The editorial board at the newspaper cares about access more than they do about our community. The reason it is true to say that the mayor has been weak on poverty issues is that she has done very little, very late, to address only one side of the problem. It is our duty to do what we can to alleviate poverty. The Chamber does more on a regular basis (adopt a school programs, and the largest mentoring program in the county), than Heidi decided to support in her whole tenure. There has been NO effort to eliminate poverty by the current administration. It is fair to make such a statement because it can be based on job growth. Good jobs eliminate poverty. The mayor has in fact been busy making it more expensive to live in ACC, while turning a blind eye to Atlanta, and openly snubbing the business community. When Novartis finally did come calling, there was no intergovernmental agreement (Doug Lowry claimed there was such an agreement at the Tabloid Club debate), and when the ACC finally did come to the table they were a day late and a dollar short. We can thank Heidi for that. Just take a look at the budget (which the Mayor controls) and you will see where our priorities lie. For example: 2.5 million for greenspace, 100k for Economic Development. Now, before you go and try to scare everyone with the phrase "unbridled development", think for a minute. When has development ever been "unbridled" in ACC? If the Mayor has been successful at anything it is that she has empowered the NIMBY's, who did not need any help anyway. The Chamber supported the Tree Ordinance, tried to work on the Grading Ordinance (but no business folks were at that table), supported the designation of downtown, and opposes residential development in I/O areas EVERY time they come up. Heidi either has no concept of how to bring jobs here, or she has the idea that payroll is payroll. We need outside investment in our community to fight poverty. Heidi has had her chance to produce jobs and so far she has put up a zero on the scoreboard. The mayor has done some good things, but the largest portion of her efforts have been divisive, ill conceived, and many of them have been illegal. Please remember the good times we had with rental registration. Sorry for such a long vent here, but the ABH editorial board makes my blood boil. Journalism like it is served up on Fox News should be shouted down when it appears in our local newspaper.
SAH
No need to apologize for the vent. All are welcome my friend.
With all due respect, I do think you are being a tad too hard on Heidi here and a little too trusting of what you feel a Maddox administation will do.
As I said earlier, Maddox hasn't issued an actual plan to combat poverty. He says we need good-paying job, which I agree with, but hasn't actually delivered any idea of how he'd go about doing that.
As far as the ABH going out of its way to make Charlie look bad, I do think you're simply shooting the messenger here. He hasn't issued anything outside of generalities when it comes to articulating his views and has had some miscues in his campaign along the way. It's unfortunate, but it's also news.
No need to apologize for the vent. All are welcome my friend.
With all due respect, I do think you are being a tad too hard on Heidi here and a little too trusting of what you feel a Maddox administation will do.
As I said earlier, Maddox hasn't issued an actual plan to combat poverty. He says we need good-paying job, which I agree with, but hasn't actually delivered any idea of how he'd go about doing that.
As far as the ABH going out of its way to make Charlie look bad, I do think you're simply shooting the messenger here. He hasn't issued anything outside of generalities when it comes to articulating his views and has had some miscues in his campaign along the way. It's unfortunate, but it's also news.
Charlie has worked for the Labor Department for 30 years and has a great working relationship with Atlanta. Relationships make things happen. No one has a crystal ball, but he has a pretty good shot at doing better than "zero". Already he has reached out to the business community more than Heidi ever did.
On another note: The best part about Andy Rusk's comments was that they came from Andy Rusk. He knows diddly about what the Chamber does in the community, or the community for that matter.
Jmac,
Charlie has made it clear that he will use the attraction of good paying jobs and support of our youth as the cornerstone of combating poverty.
You place his plan on this blog.
Remember:
Major initiatives for economic development:
1. Adequately fund economic development efforts:
- Increase local contribution
- Rebuild partnerships with local industry
2. Focus and carry out business recruitment based on our strengths rather than waiting for industry to come to us:
- Hospitality
- Animal Health
- Media Arts
3. Repair damaged local and state economic development partnerships with:
- Adjoining counties
- Georgia Department of Economic Development
4. Set clear and consistent guidelines for those who choose to do business in Athens:
- Protect our natural resources
- Incentivize desirable business
- Attract clean industry with well paying jobs
Major actions concerning quality of life
- Fully embrace and support the Athens-Clarke County mentor program.
- Remove fees for after school athletic programs for low income children.
- Create a priority list for infrastructure needs and begin action on the most dire.
- Affirm, support and partner with the Athens Housing Authority to attract and develop affordable housing through low interest loans.
- Implement the already passed Floating Homestead Exemption which will protect senior citizens against skyrocketing assessments and taxes.
- Comprehensively survey the city with regards to transportation needs.
- Host weekly meetings in which residents can “Meet with the Mayor” to give insight of their concerns.
Before you and Heidi try to buy the world a Coke, remember, there was an poverty effort and study before prosperous Athens. The findings: we need better jobs.
Not in neighboring counties, Al. We need them here and now and the current mayor is incapable of delivering them.
I thought the Novartis deal partially involved the other town lying and cheating its way to securing the deal.
I also think it was Adrian (was it you, dude?) who suggested in a Machiavellian tone that, perhaps, this is an indictment of Athens officials' inability to succeed in politics to secure our own prosperity.
Also, I think everyone agrees that a steady paycheck from steady employment makes a person more likely to no longer be impoverished. The larger question is: what sorts of jobs are the ones we want our community to have, and I think we all recognize that "high tech" jobs are more advantageous than industrial jobs that will kill us and our children with cancer. But securing those kinds of jobs requires a lot of foundational work, work that requires there to have been ten to twenty years of measures and actions taken, not four or five.
So, what kind of jobs do we want? What kinds of lifestyle choices are we going to ask our community, our entire community, to make to secure these jobs?
The trick with economic development is to be open to all and then go for what you want when they look at you. Have you ever read any Thomas Friedman? The same principles apply to small communities as with larger geographic areas. The idea that if we are open we will get a "child killier" company is the fear mongering generated by the no growth crowd. We need to have the relationships in place with the powers that be in order to be considered for ANY prospect. The Novartis deal had more to do with our own issues that any other town doing anything slimy. Really, once the company changed hands we lost the deal, but that does not let Heidi off the hook. If we had a more pro business stance we may have had a better chance. Where is the inter-governmental agreement we were promised in 2003?
But that's what I'm talking about, anonymous: the "issues" of the town may be that there's a significant group, fear-mongering or not, who do want a 21st century economy focusing on energy-efficient and green technologies and who do not want to have certain kinds of relationships with "the powers that be", if securing those relationships means occasionally committing purposeful deception.
Of course, participation in an economic setting doesn't have to be borderline illegal (though, as some might say, what is already considered legal may very well be immoral or unjust), and I do agree with you that being "open" to business in a very broad sense may attract a very broad business community. There are plenty of businesses that can take on numerous workers which, in the end, do not pollute as much as others, either because they have green practices in place or do not manufacture their products using heavy machinery or combustion or toxic chemicals or workers commuting (however we want to say it happens). My impression is that people want those kinds of employers in the community.
I take it you're saying that we can only get those kinds of employers when we are open to any kind of employer. Afterall, businesses rely upon the services and products of other businesses (trucking, carpenters, contractors, fuel depots, office supplies, health care, mechanics, electricians, food preparation, &tc), and a very diverse marketplace can sustain any niche industry. But we aren't getting that openness to diversification from Heidi, because she and others want us to not have any growth. Is this right?
But suppose that the emphasis begins on a wholly different premise: a green economy requires economic models and practices that do not rely upon post-industrial models. Analogously, you can't take a large scale farming operation using biotech, synthetic pesticides, and inorganic fertilizers and put organic or holistic practices onto it, and call that a blended operation. It may be that a green economy is not a prospect many want to look forward to, particularly when it does mean sacrificing immediate growth for stabilizing the foundation, encouraging more attention in one's own lifestyle to carbon footprints, and so on. But in changing to a new form of economy, we should not expect immediate and sustained growth, particularly when not all the elements in the situation are willingly or knowingly participating.
Of course, it may very well be that Heidi and others do not want a green economy as such, and I'm just talking out my ass here. My thought is that it's not always obvious that an economy of "no growth" is one that has effectively died or has become stagnant. If we're dealing with differentials here, pockets of stability may be moments of great instability as underlying things undergo the processes of change. To use another analogy: a pregnant family looks entirely the same for the first few weeks to months. It's determining how pregnant the situation is that is the hardest thing in any economy.
But, here's the thing. Why refer to Friedman here? Friedman's point, I take it, is that to succeed in the growing globalized marketplace, low-end or low-wage jobs need to be exported thankfully to other places in the world to free up worker resources to devote to the high-end, high-wage jobs. In other words, precisely to not accept certain kinds of labor as desirable, phase them out from one's community, and encourage other kinds of labor, those supporting and directly involved in those high-wage jobs. Now, perhaps I've gotten Friedman wrong on this point, but I am confused.
Charlie is offering answers. Athens is not a national contender in high tech or bio tech. To think so is to be uninformed. To have the list of requirments that we do ( enviromental, land use, living wage)and then seek the jobs that all communities (Biotech, Hightech) want is a go nowhere policy.
Charlie has refered to Animal Health as a sector where we can be a national contender. Athens has the right attributes to be competitive in the attraction of clean animal health industry.
* A top vet school
* Southeast Poultry science center and USDA.
* Close to nations poultry capitol.
*Major Animal Health company already here
*A truly pet and animal freindly town.
We can make a pitch to Animal Health companies but we need the right people to do the pitching. Heidi has 0 vision for economic development and even if she did, she lacks the confidence of regional and state partners to get anything done.
Interesting debate here. Andy Rusk was the ultimate local "October suprise." His 4 PBRs and subsequent rant and withdrawal seem quite scripted and media friendly. The front page story backs up the idea.
I think the animal health idea is a good one, but wish Charlie had articulated similar ideas much earlier.
polus...
I think there are several misconceptions working at once here....First, Freidman talks about a lot more than job migration. His main points are around survival of the fittest in the New World Economy. By keeping yourself economically viable, the "Electronic Herd" rates you favorably, and you benefit. Companies operate in this kind of world, where governments are less relevant than the costs of doing business. Quality of life considerations come into play only after you have qualified on the basis of a whole host of other criteria.
Second, we need money from outside the community to sustain the businesses that are the "churners". Our local economy has an overdependence on businesses that rely on outside money to fuel them.
Third: If a company is interested in locating here, there is no way that everyone will agree that they will be a good fit no matter how wonderful and green they are. That is the big problem with the Heidi crowd. They rely on impossibility and they know it. The idea that we will wait until we get some absolutely perfect fit while 30% of the community starves is absolutely immoral.
Should we not be working to attract businesses to chose from while we have the discussion? The idea that the folks that make up the Athens Oligarchy are too morally fit to be purposefully deceptive is absolutely ridicules. If you believe that you have not read any of Heidi's campaign material.
S
S, are you the previous anonymous poster?
With regard to your points,
1) I admit not being a fan of Friedman enough to read his thoughts. For transparency, the only economists I care to read about are the Austrians and the Marxists, so I can very well get people such as Friedman wrong... If you are right, though, I have less of a reason to care about him, if "quality of life" concerns come after economic ones on his account. For one, I'm not sure that's a full description of marketplace behavior (even for staunch capitalists...); for another I think it's a damnable approach to the economy. But I confess here I may be misreading what you're writing.
2) I believe I understand you here, and I think I agree with it in this sense: Athens does not have an economy that is self-sustaining, but rather requires a lot of consumption of entertainment. But perhaps you mean something else (for example, the large number of students as consumers effectively funds the public transit, I think it was once pointed out)...
3) I agree that we should not always wait for a consensus. But morality cuts a number of ways, right? I think some believe that it would be more immoral to have someone work any job to pay for living rather than work at a job that produces a more whole and complete community. I don't know if that's Heidi's thought or not, but I do think that the people who are against, for example, Certainteed think this way. That is, sure, it will give people jobs and increase the wealth in this area, but it will also increase exposure for all to potentially life-debilitating effects. On this view, jobs are not morally or socially neutral, and we should not jump at any opportunity, regardless of how many suffer from a lack of work. Principles over profit, some might say. Impossible demands, though, that we know can never be fulfilled are rightly to be criticized as the declarations of the beautiful soul—the soul who refrains from the evil all around, and yet does nothing about it in order to preserve the righteousness of being able to say that there is evil all around. I take it that's what you're saying Heidi is: she's a lot like a beautiful soul, all talk and no action. But, again, is the measure of action going to be inviting any business or preparing for specific business—or even is it anything to do with business at all?
As for the last comment about the Athens Oligarchy, I don't understand your point. So, I'll just say that I think anyone is capable of purposeful deception, because anyone is capable of sin. All the more reason why we should not just entice any business into the community, since what they say they can offer and what they will require may not be just what they desire.
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