Couple of things
- This is awful. Charles DeVaney was a pretty good mayor who did a lot of things to help renovate downtown Augusta, and he was a high school classmate of my parents. What's really weird about the story is that DeVaney was returning from the beach house of my former neighbors.
- I've already stated some of my views on the whole 'buying-property-behind-closed-doors' policy here, but I think, in light of this editorial by the Athens Banner-Herald, it's worth noting that I don't necessarily have an opinion either way on whether or not it should be public or private. My point in all of this is to stress that the fact the commission is purchasing land in closed-door votes is not cause for concern. As I previously noted, this is money that comes out of our existing budget which is debated and approved in public. Along with the fact that one of the central points of the editorial is to suggest keeping the negotiations private and the purchase public. I would think their logic would suggest just the opposite ... that it would be the negotiations which would be cause for concern since the price tag could get too high. However, they concede keeping the negotiations private keeps the final price lower, which makes me wonder what we're talking about here. If we trust the commission to negotiate in good faith with a private land owner behind closed doors, then what's so important about seeing what is, in essence, the mere technicality of the purchase of the land in public?
- Republicans complaining about Republicans is forcing me to ask some questions.
- Let me just say one thing regarding the whole minimum wage increase debate that continues to rage on ... anyone from either side of the specturm who refers to a minimum wage increase as a 'pay raise' is missing the point. From a purely sementics point, yes, it is a raise. However, as both sides have conceded, raises are done as either a reward for hard work or an incentive for hard work. That's not the case here. The increase is purely being discussed because the purchasing power of our current minimum wage level has dramatically decreased. This is just a return to the status economic quo. There are legitimate economic and moral arguments both for and against, but couching it in the guise of a 'pay raise' isn't the most appropriate way to discuss this thing.
- In a most unfortunate turn of events, I actually watched The Sentinel a few weeks back.
- Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak was third in the Miss America pageant. The way the contestants in these things are getting booted off left and right, she might be the winner before the week is out.
- I'm one of the few guys who still kinda like some of Joe Klein's writings, but it was odd to see him go after Matthew Yglesias. I will say, on a somewhat related note, that I strongly dislike Atrios ... partially for what appears to be a lack of an ability to develop a rational thought or, shall we say, a criticism that doesn't include a curse word and is longer than two sentences.
- Thank the Good Lord. I'm already upset enough that the Red Sox let Trot Nixon - long my favorite player on the team - go without a fight, only to replace him with an overpriced and often disgruntled outfielder who consistently puts up strikingly similar statistics. Had they landed Todd Helton, I might have stormed Theo Epstein's office and inquired about where he had placed his good sense.
- I'm curious as to what beverage of choice was the best.
- I've already stated some of my views on the whole 'buying-property-behind-closed-doors' policy here, but I think, in light of this editorial by the Athens Banner-Herald, it's worth noting that I don't necessarily have an opinion either way on whether or not it should be public or private. My point in all of this is to stress that the fact the commission is purchasing land in closed-door votes is not cause for concern. As I previously noted, this is money that comes out of our existing budget which is debated and approved in public. Along with the fact that one of the central points of the editorial is to suggest keeping the negotiations private and the purchase public. I would think their logic would suggest just the opposite ... that it would be the negotiations which would be cause for concern since the price tag could get too high. However, they concede keeping the negotiations private keeps the final price lower, which makes me wonder what we're talking about here. If we trust the commission to negotiate in good faith with a private land owner behind closed doors, then what's so important about seeing what is, in essence, the mere technicality of the purchase of the land in public?
- Republicans complaining about Republicans is forcing me to ask some questions.
- Let me just say one thing regarding the whole minimum wage increase debate that continues to rage on ... anyone from either side of the specturm who refers to a minimum wage increase as a 'pay raise' is missing the point. From a purely sementics point, yes, it is a raise. However, as both sides have conceded, raises are done as either a reward for hard work or an incentive for hard work. That's not the case here. The increase is purely being discussed because the purchasing power of our current minimum wage level has dramatically decreased. This is just a return to the status economic quo. There are legitimate economic and moral arguments both for and against, but couching it in the guise of a 'pay raise' isn't the most appropriate way to discuss this thing.
- In a most unfortunate turn of events, I actually watched The Sentinel a few weeks back.
- Miss Georgia, Amanda Kozak was third in the Miss America pageant. The way the contestants in these things are getting booted off left and right, she might be the winner before the week is out.
- I'm one of the few guys who still kinda like some of Joe Klein's writings, but it was odd to see him go after Matthew Yglesias. I will say, on a somewhat related note, that I strongly dislike Atrios ... partially for what appears to be a lack of an ability to develop a rational thought or, shall we say, a criticism that doesn't include a curse word and is longer than two sentences.
- Thank the Good Lord. I'm already upset enough that the Red Sox let Trot Nixon - long my favorite player on the team - go without a fight, only to replace him with an overpriced and often disgruntled outfielder who consistently puts up strikingly similar statistics. Had they landed Todd Helton, I might have stormed Theo Epstein's office and inquired about where he had placed his good sense.
- I'm curious as to what beverage of choice was the best.
posted by Jmac at 7:14 AM
7 Comments:
The news about Devaney is sad. I met him at school when he presented some award to me and some other kids (I was on the news and everything) -- I have no idea what the award was. He was super nice and talked with us for way longer than I thought he would. I remember thinking that he was the first famous person I'd ever met. I thought he wielded so much power because he was the MAYOR! It was cool.
we need some kind of real news around here - hopefully some that does not involve the M&C.
The press is a restless beast and you had damn well better keep it amused with something or they'll start making up their own controversies and writing stories about them so that they can set up the editorial guys.
Can't we get the school board to do something big and dumb? Maybe we won't have to wait too much longer for the next major gaffe from the Chamber.
Anyway, that editorial was just schizophrenic - this could be bad but it seems like a good idea but it could be bad even though it's not but, it could be because, just because it's a good thing doesn't mean that it could never be a bad thing...ya' know?
The reason people would want the vote to be public is to have a chance for public input before the final decision. I doubt it is a mere technicality; instead, it is a very important step. It is unlikely that a local government can be bound by its negotiation process without votes being cast.
I just wonder what the consequences would be if ACC and the GMA are ever ruled to be wrong by a court. Generally, questionable action is to be avoided unless the consequences are, well, inconsequential. Berryman must believe that the risk of liability is low to advise the county to continue its practice.
The relevant section of the "Open and Public Meetings" chapter in the Georgia Code says: "This chapter shall not apply to the following... (4) Meetings when any agency is discussing the future acquisition of real estate, except that such meetings shall be subject to the requirements of this chapter for the giving of the notice of such a meeting to the public and preparing the minutes of such a meeting; provided, however, the disclosure of such portions of the minutes as would identify real estate to be acquired may be delayed until such time as the acquisition of the real estate has been completed, terminated, or abandoned or court proceedings with respect thereto initiated;..." Ga. Code Ann., ยง 50-14-3 (West 2006).
What I notice is the word "discussing." Voting on an acquisition is not just "discussing."
The unofficial opinion by the Attorney General in question says that it "appl[ies] to all entities covered by the Acts" and that "All votes, though, even on privately discussed matters, must be taken in public." 1998 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U98-3 (Georgia), at 1-2. The opinion was addressed to state senators and represenatives. Athens-Clarke County is now intentionally defying the Attorney General's office. There would have to be a good reason to do that. I would like to know how many other defined agencies are also following their contrary interpretations.
Well, Adrian, I can't argue the finer points of the law but this practice is common around the state and has been so for decades.
It's a little bit strong to come out and say they are "defying" the AG since this opinion is not an official opinion (as in a "ruling") - it's more like just a comment made.
I don't think the ACC M&C would have any objections to taking the final votes in public. In the practical sense, it's almost kinda silly to expect them to come out of Executive Session and re-enter the chambers just so they could unanimously approve something in public. If you want to see them get the exercise then, that wouldn't probably bother anybody that much. It also wouldn't change anything other than having folks change which chairs they are sitting in for the final vote since all the purchase negotiations have already been completed to the point where the vote is just a formality.
Sure, the public could comment but what would they comment about since they weren't privvy to the previous discussions?
I think what bugs me about this is the insinuation that there is something sinister about the actions of the M&C (or school district or whatever agency is in question) when, in fact, it's pretty clear that the "danger" comes from the possibility of unscrupulous land owners attempting to jack up the cost to the tax payers.
Let us not forget that the person speaking on behalf of the AG's office (not Baker himself) is probably no more skilled than the barristers in the employ of the GMA and Bill Berryman and/or the dozens of others around the state.
Perhaps the citation should be edited to be more precise - that would be up to the General Assembly working in concert (one would hope) with AG Baker (for whom I have the utmost respect though he doesn't seem to enjoy that same status with the current Goobernor).
I knew I could count on you to exercise this a bit on the legal side. I was addressing, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the press' role in brining up this issue at this time and the subsequent editorial. It just seemed like one of those pieces journalists keep around to fill slow news days. Here's hoping I don't piss them off too much. ;-)
P.S. I'll bet you a beer that one of the usual nutjobs writes a letter to the editor on this.
Retired Cowboy, you don't like words such as "defy" that sound strong, do you? Well, for the county attorney to give advice contrary to the state's attorney in an organizationally superior position, that's a pretty strong decision. The attorney general's opinion represents the legal opinion of the State of Georgia. No, the AG isn't the final word -- just the Supreme Court of Georgia -- so of course he can be disagreed with, and perhaps a good reason for disagreement can warrant "defying" the state's executive branch. I don't know what that reason is. Maybe Blake can uncover that for us, but I'm not sure how interested the newspaper's readers are in legal arguments.
It doesn't matter who was speaking on behalf of Baker's office. Baker himself signed onto that opinion.
I hate this image verification thing on Bloggger.
yeah, but...not to belabor the point overmuch but, by the story I've gotten from every source, this "opinion" was nothing more than just a comment and wasn't directed to or at anybody involved so, therefore, it carries practically no weight whatsoever and, if I'm not mistaken, was mentioned only that one time almost 10 years ago.
so, yep, "defy" is far too strong a word - I could go with maybe "ignore" as the strongest possible appropriate verbage but if that seems a little much in light of the fact that pretty much nobody around the whole state has paid any attention to this at all until Blake brought it up and started asking around.
I agree that hardly anybody else in the world wants to read another story about this - it would take about a month of very slow news days, I think. ;-)
All in all, don't mistake my opinion that I think everything is just hunky-dory with this. Some better language in the code would help matters greatly or maybe even some official and pointed directions from AG Baker his-own-self. As I said before, I just thought this was a weird story to run but, as I did not say before but I should have, I KNEW that an editorial was going to follow it as long as things stayed pretty dull around here. Sometimes you can just smell 'em coming a mile away.
Adrian, what's with the lock-step centralization you are pushing for? All must bow to the VOICE OF THE STATE! Get the thumbscrews...??
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