DoraBlog

Tom Hart Trial

Well, evidence was presented in court that proved what they stated on the stand couldn’t have occurred. Scott said he had the document in his possession when Tom came to city hall and Tom forcibly took it from him. Tom then presented a date stamped copy of the permit he had made an hour before he went to city hall. How could Tom have made a date stamped copy AFTER Scott claims the QOL had taken it from him? Clearly what Scott presented was not the truth.

There were several other instances in this case where their testimony was proven not to be factual or even close to it. Like the absence of ANYTHING on their video tape. And if this was so horrendous and they were “In fear for their lives”, the office help was shown eating their lunch in the background and no one bothered to call the police or push their PD call button. You can call this whatever you like, I call it lying.

The other point here is, I believe in this country you are still innocent until proven guilty but this “doravilledefender” person seems to believe alleged=guilty? At least if it fits their agenda. That was sure how this was all used during the election. And they STILL are trying to get some mileage out of the nonsense Marlene cooked up in 06, tossing some venom at Stuart just for good measure. Nastiness bubbling over I suppose.

I also love how on some things we hear them say “we need to put this behind us and move on” (God forbid Tom should sue the city for false arrest, impounding his car, lawyers fees, defamation of character etc etc) yet if it fits their needs, they drag up stuff from 3-4 years ago that was nonsense then and still is.

Of course then they try to discredit the facts that finally come out with a PERSONAL attack “For those who would distort the facts, look to their own lives as examples of how screwed up they possibly are…” Talk about same ol same ol. I have to wonder when some of the people in this city are gonna wake up and see this small group of hostile bullies for what they really are.

Stephe Koontz, who isn’t ashamed to sign my name to my thoughts.

Tom Hart Trial

I fail to see how you set this in motion Bob. You made this request AFTER Tom had been arrested on these trumped up charges, weeks after this “incident” happened. Asking to have this looked into was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, it appears that it wasn’t a case of looking for facts or to discover what actually happened, but how to cook up nonexistent evidence to go after Tom.

Given what the planner Scott Haberlin testified on the stand, which couldn’t have happened given the evidence Tom presented after Scotts testimony, I hope at the very least ethics charges are made against him for CREATING a huge Drama fest and the false arrest of a citizen. I don’t blame the PD, but I do blame the people who made up these stories about the events that day, which resulted in Mr Hart being falsely arrested.

While I partially agree with one of Susan F’s comments, I probably wouldn’t condone the behavior of ANYONE involved that day (sounds like Scott was being snotty etc to start with). I totally don’t agree with her that this justifies a false arrest of anyone or that we should “put this behind us” and move on. It’s a travesty that the department that exists to “protect and serve” was manipulated into arresting an innocent person. We need to find out who and why this occurred so this doesn’t happen again!

Also, listening to the long line of people at the council meeting last monday complaining about the snotty attitude they have gotten from Scott, I don’t belive this is an isolated incident and the city council need to review how people are being treated by city staff.

Maybe we can’t do anything about citizens being rude and insulting to other citizens but we don’t have to accept this behavior from city employees nor is this going to “Move the city forward”. Bob Roche read a letter from a business owner stating that he is moving OUT of the city for exactly this reason and I don’t blame them one bit. If we want quality development here, being rude and condescending to property owners isn’t going to accomplish that goal.

Stephe Koontz

Wrap-up: Candidates Forum

Well even if you did that, who is going to pay for the increased services the “developed” TAD area needs? Like the extra police, the increased load on the school system etc etc? And seriously, spend some time reading about what the laws allow this money to be used for. It isn’t just for “infrastructure”, it can be used for demo, the construction costs of new buildings or basically anything on the property.

Town Hall Meeting on Doraville GM Property

Thanks for the info MS Chambers. I was at that meeting and find it appalling the poor advice/explanation the attorney gave as NO MENTION of a TAD etc was given. I’m not sure if they even knew what they were votin on? Obviously taxes are affected by this and it appears the attorney was the one who initiated this. Given how they have SEALED any of his work product/conversations from Open records, we will never know who asked him to present this…

Doraville Candidate Forum - Tuesday, October 13

Well Edward, you can thank Brian Bates and Maria Alexander for the building inspector and the accountant for being “run off”, the latter cost the city almost $100,000. Maybe you can detail who exactly Bob Spangler has run off? All he wanted to do was DEMOTE the police chief along with several other council members. Which BTW they actually did and then the Mayor ILLEGALLY reversed their decision. But it seems the public doesn’t have a problem with due process being violated, when mob rule is so much more fun!

As far as running businesses off, thank the city planner for changing the zoning to outlaw wholesale. I think the whole council approved that one. Again can you please supply details of Bob S mistreating employees or running anyone out of town?

It’s clear you have an agenda here but posting unsubstantiated allegations doesn’t make any of what you posted true.

Town Hall Meeting on Doraville GM Property

One more thing about using a TAD at the GM plant is covered in this FAQ point. What we have now doesn’t fit this description at all and if they used a TAD to create a “mixed use” type area with a lot of high density housing, obviously the load on the PD etc would be much higher with no increase in tax revenues to cover this increase. Same if it was used for a stadium or whatever. The GM plant property isn’t a high crime/blighted area. Also note the “high wealth areas” comment, which there is none of inside the city limits of Doraville.

—————–

How are increases in service costs, such as public safety and waste management, funded if property tax revenues to taxing jurisdictions remain level over the life of a TAD?

Areas designated for TADs generally don’t pay their fair share of taxes: high-wealth areas carry the cost of services for low-income areas. In fact, the tax digest within areas designated as TADs in Georgia is 44 percent of the average value of the host jurisdiction*.

TADs are typically established in areas with a declining tax base resulting from disinvestment and blight, where the demand for some city services such as solid waste collection and police patrol is greater. The creation of a TAD generally leads to a decreased need for many city services as well as increased revenues for the jurisdiction, including personal property taxes, sales taxes and impact fees. Once the district is dissolved, the incremental growth in real property taxes reverts back to the taxing jurisdictions, creating a windfall of new revenue and expanding their tax bases.

Town Hall Meeting on Doraville GM Property

I know me and several other residents are curious about the TAD deal that was presented, by you wasn’t it Jill? Can you give us information on why this was presented and for what reason? No one from the city as far as I know has ever requested a TAD be set up for this property, did GM or some developer request one be set up for them? I think Tax payers have a right to know about issues like this that will have a HUGE impact on how our tax money is spent and so far we can’t get any answers.

Follow-Up: Falcons Stadium at GM Plant Site

Yes, I can see doing something like this dumpster iniriative for NEW construction but how can they legally go back and try to retro this? This will probably end up making the city attorney a bunch of money as we get sued if this is what they have done.

DeKalb Pondering a Purchase of GM Site

I was discussing the development of the GM property with some neighbors and at this point, I don’t think Doraville gov could handle it. We still have no good zoning in place there, the city zoning ordinances are still a shambles, the city doesn’t even have a building department right now or anyone on staff capable of reviewing plans. These are the same people who lost the city zoning map and just sent EVERYONE in the city to a collection agency. Would you invest hundreds of millions in a place this screwed up?

Being in Doraville and having to deal with the political nonsense and odd ball zoning rules here etc would keep any quality developer away, so DE-ANEXING (and my house while we’re at it!) would probably result is something decent being built there. I hate this place has become SOOO dysfunctional but that’s whats we’re dealing with.

All one has to do is look at the development going on -just- outside the city limits to understand most people don’t want to deal with the personal drama that is going on within the city limits. This is why this company went to DeKalb county with their plans rather then talking to anyone here.

Follow-Up: Falcons Stadium at GM Plant Site

Well Jill already brought this site up for a TAD approval vote. I don’t accept the GM site is a “blighted area” just because of the timing of it going up for sale coincides with the largest downturn we have seen in decades. Call me a conservative, but I don’t like the idea of Gov bonds and tax payer money funding a development like this.

As a voter, I want to know where the candidates stand on this TAD issue and if they are going to push for it or if they think it’s a bad idea etc. The people we are electing are going to be in office for 4 years and these TAD/PUD issues are GOING to be happening in that time frame.

And honestly, I’m not sure how much control the citizens have over what is built there. We didn’t want the H-Mart built, many people were VERY vocal about that but it was built anyway. Even the citizens on the planning commission turned it down. We seen to have more voice in controlling what is built in the unincorporated areas than we do what happens inside the city limits. Which again goes back to who we vote for in the future.

Follow-Up: Falcons Stadium at GM Plant Site

I too feel this is a REALLY bad move, especially getting involved with Sembler. These people just played a “We are halfway through construction but now want a tax break” game with dekalb county on the project on Ptree industrial. If they are so broke, why are they wanting to start another project?

I’m also curious about the whole tax allocation district thing Jill Chambers presented when, AFAIK no one in Doraville asked her to do this? I did hear that Brian Bates has mentioned this TAD at one point and IMHO this is a REALLY bad idea on several levels. I’m real curious how this tool for a “blighted area” is going to be used here to hand some developer millions in government bond money that WE will have to pay back!!

People need to know this isn’t a “tax incentive” program that is being worked on behind closed doors. I also find it interesting the same people who constantly preach “Open Government” presented this TAD without talking to anyone that lives here!