You should check out the interesting discussion about district 81 over at Atlanta Public Affairs. Lots of speculation about the future of that house seat and also the political viability and future of Doraville city councilman, Jason Anavitarte.
You should check out the interesting discussion about district 81 over at Atlanta Public Affairs. Lots of speculation about the future of that house seat and also the political viability and future of Doraville city councilman, Jason Anavitarte.
Even I’m a little surprised by this, but Tom Hart has been recognized by Creative Loafing as one of “Atlanta’s 11 least influential” people.” Why? Because of his ongoing problems with the city clerk.
Back in September, Hart was reprimanded for speaking abusively to Betty Cloer, the city clerk. He is currently forbidden from speaking to Ms. Cloer at all, even though the mayor states that “the order would be lifted if Hart apologized to Cloer.” Despite this, Mr. Hart still has not said he is sorry, and keeps pointing to his poor hearing as the excuse for his bad behavior.
Sometimes, a leader has to know when he’s wrong. Sometimes he even has to think of others’ feelings and apologize for a mistake. I hope Mr. Hart tells Ms. Cloer that he’s sorry soon so that he can once again focus on the business of governing Doraville. When that happens, and he can once again interact with the city clerk, we will finally be able to rest a little easier knowing that our elected official is no longer one of Atlanta’s “least influential” (or effective).
On October 9, I (along with several other people) was copied on a letter that councilwoman Marlene Hadden sent to city inspector Chuck Entsminger, accusing him of impersonating of a police officer. At the time, I scratched my head and wondered what was going on–it seemed like there was some piece of this story that I was missing.
A recent AJC story fills in a lot of the blanks. It looks like a driver in Sandy Springs did something to piss Entsminger off, so he decided to pull them over (his car has a police strobe) and called in to the Doraville PD in an attempt to get backup. According to the e-mail Hadden sent, it appears that Entsminger was also carrying a gun on his hip when he pulled this motorist over.
At the last city council meeting, the mayor and council finally “dealt” with this issue by taking away Entsminger’s gun (why does this guy need a gun, anyway? Isn’t his job to go around measuring the height of grass in people’s front lawns?) and suspending him without pay for 1 week. He’s also on probation for 6 months.
To me, this seems like just a slap on the wrist. I guarantee you that if I impersonated a police officer and started pulling motorists over, I would be in prison faster than you can say “Chief King.” I guess the law doesn’t apply if you’re friends with the mayor. Until Doraville starts hiring people who are professionals — and until it begins treating them as such — we are never going to be able to rid ourselves of the stigma of our corrupt, good-ol boy past.
Jill Chambers’ win in district 81 wasn’t a very big surprise. What did surprise me, however, was Bob Roche & the way he ran his campaign. I’ve lived in Doraville since 2001, and this is the third legislative election I’ve experienced here. In that time, Bob Roche is the strongest Democratic candidate we’ve had–especially considering his lack of funding and previous experience.
For example: this year, both candidates knocked on my door and personally asked for my vote. In prior elections, I had never seen a legislative candidate canvasing the neighborhood (Democrat or Republican). In the last month, though, I saw both candidates criss-crossing the neighborhood multiple times while I was out and about. I believe part of this was due to Roche’s tenacity, which influenced Chambers to do more than just send out flyers and walk the district a lot more than she might have otherwise. She had to work harder than she might have if she was running against another Eric Ponder (her opponent in 2004, a guy who just moved in the district the year before, did not do any campaigning, and had an arrest record).
Was Bob Roche or his campaign perfect? Of course not. But it was relatively clean, and he made a valiant effort. I respect him for it. I wonder if he will run for office again, maybe at a city-level next time. Now that his name is out there, he could probably hold his own in a citywide race.
Throughout the general election that just passed, I’ve been critical of Jill Chambers’ campaign machine. One thing I can’t deny, though, is that it was effective. She won in what amounts to a landslide of around 60%.
Campaign rhetoric aside, there are some definite positives in the Chambers win. One thing everyone in district 81 benefits from is the that Jill Chambers is a high profile Republican in the Republican-dominated state house. Some believe that she may be actually be a moderating influence on other, more socially conservative GOP leaders. She’s definitely in a better position than a Democrat would be to make sure our district doesn’t get left out when it comes to important development projects.
I’m personally looking forward to seeing what Chambers does with influencing a regional transportation solution like the one she alluded to in her GoDekalb questionnaire:
If Atlanta is to have a truly world-class transit system, they need me in the House to implement a regional system based on the current ongoing Atlanta Regional Commission Study that will be completed next year. I am the only urban member in the legislature who has the strength and the seniority to pass this major legislation – it will probably combine MARTA, GRTA, and the Cobb, Gwinnett, and the Clayton transit systems into one umbrella agency.
As someone who has experienced firsthand what a mess Atlanta’s transportation system is in, I really hope that Chambers can pull this off.
Anyway, here’s wishing Chambers the best in her third legislative term. We’ll be watching closely.
GoDekalb has published questionnaires answered by both Jill Chambers and Bob Roche. Definitely worth the read. Here are the money shots–why each candidate says we should vote for them:
Jill Chambers-
Voters should re-elect me so that I can continue my work to examine MARTA’s contractual agreements – including the engineering contracts and the rail car rehab contracts. If Atlanta is to have a truly world-class transit system, they need me in the House to implement a regional system based on the current ongoing Atlanta Regional Commission Study that will be completed next year. I am the only urban member in the legislature who has the strength and the seniority to pass this major legislation – it will probably combine MARTA, GRTA, and the Cobb, Gwinnett, and the Clayton transit systems into one umbrella agency.
Bob Roche-
I have integrity. I tell the truth. I don’t use negative campaigns. I don’t do political stumps. I don’t accept corporate contributions, while my opponent seeks them out. If you look at the latest campaign disclosure list, she received $2,000 from developers who are building projects in the district. I don’t have to go negative to win this race.
I would have liked a little more substance in Roche’s response. While I have been turned off by Chambers’ negative campaigning (and despite claims to the contrary, it has been negative and vicious), there’s more reason to vote for Bob than just the fact that he isn’t Jill. I wish he’d made a better case for himself in the GoDekalb piece. I have to say that the two idea he did posit were good. One was diverting traffic from Peachtree Dekalb. The other was to restructure Dekalb’s county government:
There have recently been a lot of vetoes of commission action, like the non-smoking ordinance. I would like to see a situation where we have 10 districts instead of five regular districts and two super districts. I would also see each commissioner have a small discretionary budget, so if a street lamp is needed in his or her district, it can be done without going to the full commission.
Anyway, the election is Tuesday. I hope you vote your conscience and don’t let the rain keep you away. It’ll be nice to go back to getting coupons in the mail again, instead of stacks of campaign literature.
Just a few miles up Buford Highway, in historic Downtown Norcross, the Lionheart Theatre Company is in the middle of an excellent production of Moliere’s “The Miser.” We went to see it on Saturday evening, and had a very enjoyable time. The story has been moved from 17th century Europe to 1860s Louisiana, and J Michael Carroll’s portrayal of the stingy Hapagon is reminiscent of a comical Big Daddy or Colonel Sanders character.
The show was farcical and fun to watch. Certainly worth the $15 admission price. Norcross’ new cultural center, in the 100+ year old Methodist church, is also very nice. A great new use of a beautiful old building.
There are three more shows coming up, on November 9, 10 & 11 — all starting at 7pm. The shows take place at 10 Britt Ave, Norcross 30071. You can get more information about the show here.
A new episode of the GA Politics Podcast is online & available for download. We had a great panel, with political views across the spectrum. We spoke about upcoming state-wide elections, political advertisements, and the Fulton County Chair race. You can download the episode directly from the GA Podcast Network, or you can subscribe using iTunes or some other podcast aggregator.