Is It Enough?

In a recent discussion regarding the Flock contract, Mother Mayor opines:

"These changes don't feel insignificant to me. And, again, I support this technology, but ... we need to own the data, we need to control how it's retained and we need to control how it's accessed, and it feels like this latest round of changes just suck that right away from us."

Wow Mother Mayor, want to apply that kind of logic to the propose changes to the city charter that open up very wide avenue for unrestricted tax increases without the burden of putting that to the citizens of Dunwoody? See, you may not think so, but quite a few citizens, and taxpayers, in this city would say that these changes don't feel insignificant either. Yet you're out there on social media promoting and defending these changes with rather dismissive comments regarding how "this clears up some contradictions in the charter about assessments." Pray tell, what exactly are these contradictions?

The proposed changes clearly state that no referendum is required nor is any limit imposed for Special Tax Districts, general obligation bonds, and (heaven forbid) revenue bonds. Anyone who has been watching the shenanigans at city hall will expect a flurry of "Special" Tax Districts being created.

King John offers his $0.02:

Heneghan opinion - I believe this modification sidesteps the Charter requirement of a maximum ad valorem tax rate of 3.04 mills by not counting taxes for Special Tax Districts, general obligation bonds, and revenue bonds. 

One of the constant chants coming from the pro-Dunwoody crowd was "Local Control!" Said it loud. Said it proud. But how do we, the people, exert Local Control? If you would actually read the city charter, you might be called on, some day, to fess up to the fact that our elected officials are virtually powerless. That's why when there is an issue and someone invokes "Mayor Deutsch" your response, if there is one, is to tell them which city bureaucrat to email and to please cc the mayor. Why? Because you are prohibited from doing exactly what you told them to do. We elect folks who cannot tell anyone, except the City Manager (when he's around), to do, or even look into, anything. Nada. And both city managers have made it clear to our elected officials that he only has to keep four of them happy. Not ecstatic, just not pissed. 

So the only way, we the people, can exert Local Control is thru the ballot box--voting on referendums. You undermine that, you take that away, you are clearly stating that we the people should be subjugated, that we should be held powerless, and subject to the whims of unelected bureaucrats. You have made it very clear where you stand on the issue of real Local Control.

But here's is the closing question: is there any level of taxation where the Mayor, or these unelected bureaucrats would say is enough and any more is just too much?

Stretching Credulity

We wouldn't be here were it not for a period of mass insanity, or just an intense wave of polyannishness, quite a while ago, but here we are. And where is that?

Destruction from within.

The bureaucrats, and at least one elected official, trying to figure out how to walk away from foundational commitments to fiscal prudence, and modify the city charter to allow them to up taxes when they want, however much they want. 

One elected official has espoused the view that these changes are a "back door" tax increase, while another asserts it is a full frontal assault. Perhaps they are both right. It is a back door if by that you mean that bureaucrats can raise taxes without putting that to a citizens' vote. This is what is being proposed in the case of special tax districts, capital bonds and "revenue bonds" which sound a lot like payday loans and probably as responsible. Another perspective is this is being writ large in black and white, so there is no back door to it all all, this is pushing the ballot box out of the way by force. 

This does raise some questions, especially for those who "fell for it" back in the day. Is this what you were promised to get your vote? Didn't think so. And what about those special task districts? What do you think will happen there? Very likely you will see a growing number of them, not necessarily restricted to commercial districts. Imagine this: some bureaucrats decide that if folks in residential areas want cops to ticket speeders in their neighborhood, well, then, they'll call that a special tax district, jack up the taxes, and then maybe, just maybe, actually write some tickets. Or, maybe not. After all that is what they promised to do to get your vote. And, money is fungible, so they'll just be displacing the other tax revenues to their playthings. 

This has gotten out of [our] control.

The only voice of reason, the only ounce of integrity at city hall comes from King John. You would do well to listen to him.

Open Letter

Tucker Citizenry
c/o Tucker, Ga

Subject: Do Not Do It---Just Don't

Recent reports in credible media indicate there is a move afoot in Tucker to start "their own Police Department." We at The Other Dunwoody cannot advise you strongly enough to reject that. There are quite a few examples why you should.

Look to Sandy Springs. The SSPD has been operating in what may well be violation of Open Records laws, and at least are working diligently to minimize transparency. This is problematic on many levels. It should be obvious that police who operate behind the veil of secrecy are, by definition, secret police. Is that what you want? Is there any way you can guarantee, perhaps by loss of office or job, that elected officials and bureaucrats cannot create such secrecy? Is it worth the risk? A secondary issue is that they, the police, their bosses, the elected officials, want to operate in the dark. Ask yourself why. Come up with three reasons why that is good for your community. 

Then look to Dunwoody. They have a Lenco Bearcat, an armored personnel carrier. But why? It isn't like we can get police to patrol our neighborhoods and streets. Well, the answer is simple: it was granted by the feds. You may already be suffering from outsiders wiping out local control by paying city hall to do the outsiders' bidding. Adding a PD is yet another attack surface. 

There is the issue of competence, evidenced in Dunwoody by an early fatal shooting of a driver by a police officer. If you've been paying attention to Minneapolis you've heard the observations that a fatal shooting of a driver there was thru the driver's side window---with the implication that the officer should not have fired as personal danger had passed and the fatal shot changed the vehicle from a "guided missile" to an un-guided missile, increasing danger to the public. That exact scenario played out in Dunwoody's early days, and had the driver not been White, Ferguson would have been a footnote to Dunwoody. And then there's the "dick pics." Are these the kind of antics you want? If not, what will be put in place to prevent them? When they do happen, what will be the consequences? How can you be certain? 

Do not fall into the trap, the sales pitch, that "all things DeKalb are bad, and anything we do will certainly be better." Why? Because it is simply not true. You can do worse, and if your sister cities are any indication, you absolutely will do worse. 

You cannot fix stupid, as we in Dunwoody well know, but you can stop it. Say NO!

With highest regards,

Thaddeus Osborne Dabell (TOD)

Watch The Tantrums Begin

DeKalb County Schools are once again facing realities, not new realities, just the same old ones. Enrollment is declining. Some schools are at or above capacity but far more are under capacity. Even some "neighborhood schools" are under capacity, including the sacred cow: Vanderlyn. In the AJC's reporting on the issue, Vanderlyn was in the lede sentence. 

There are other forces at play. Those with power have decided that neighborhood schools belong in the previous millennium. State funding essentially dictates 950+ seat elementary schools. Many are hardly half that capacity with Vanderlyn being one. The fervent support for Vanderlyn is largely because it is a neighborhood school and consequently homes in that neighborhood carry a price premium. The property value issue is always raised when DCSD considers changes to Vanderlyn. 

Vanderlyn is now on the list for closure. 

After the shock, and it may already have dissipated, expect a rapid response from Team Vanderlyn to prevent any changes impacting that school. Expect them put away the "greater good" arguments they use discussing other issues. 

What Waste

There is a bit of a disruption in the farce primarily around storm water. Seems the city has been using, some say abusing, the private waste water infrastructure in some neighborhoods. This [ab]use is costing these groups of homeowners and the city is ignoring their concerns. 

It is almost a shame the city founders insisted on taking over storm water, especially since they've tapped the funds for their spending peccadilloes. Priorities. Think about that every time you pass one of those Dunwoody Dildos. 

Would the county be any better? City propagandists would say thee nay, but maybe. We're no longer serviced, for storm water, by the county, but we do get water/sewer from them and maybe that's an analogy. Maybe not, but maybe.

Now that's a water bill. In Dunwoody. Notice anything interesting? No, no, not the Total Amount. Well maybe, but the amount is fairly low because there is no charge for sewerage. Why would that be? Because this homeowner is not connected to DeKalb Sewer and ... wait for it ... consequently does not pay for sewer service. 

Wow! What a concept. 

Imagine a community with privately owned roads and a retention pond system to contain all storm water runoff---from roads, roofs and yards. This community would use no storm water facilities beyond what they own and manage. Should they pay anyone else any fees whatsoever to anyone else? The city seems to think so. In fact, the city thinks they can dump stormwater into this private system without compensating them at all. 

Still think all things DeKalb are bad and all things Dunwoody are great?

What Changed?

A recent front page article in the Blue Bag Rag, which really shouldn't have been published, simply reveals the state of stupidity at city hall. It's ostensibly about Flock O' Cameras, but it is so full of nonsense one can only suggest that you "lift the pants, it's too late to save the shoes." 

Where to start?

Oh, let's start with the money. Where does this article say it comes from? Well, it is claimed to be PCID funded, the same PCID that back in the day was quite proud of getting 19 dollars of OPM for every dollar they ponied up. So...yep...outsider money to do what outsiders tell you to do. Sounds like city hall has a pretty loopy definition of "local control." But...wait for it...later the article mentions concerns about a private company using public money to surveil the public. Where the hell were these concerns in the first place? If city hall's greed overcame these concerns back then, why not now?

What changed with the Flock agreement, when, and why wasn't it noticed until now? With the army of money sponges we have at city hall, when they actually come to the office, why did we not have a single bureaucrat to monitor the T&C's, and changes thereunto, for outsourced responsibilities? Maybe we should fire a great number of useless bureaucrats and find someone who can bird-dog outsourcing contracts. Sounds like a win-win.

Then there is the big constitutional so what? You're in public, on public infrastructure, with a vehicle identification that, by law, must be visible. As a federal court has pointed out this violates no constitutional right, even if it were the government doing it themselves. Now, if a private company were to do this, constitutional rights don't apply because those rights protect us from the government, not from each other. 

And then we get to the real issue, or at least part of it, the issue that has the Blue Bellies running this shit show clutching their pearls: ICE. Mentioned ICE twice in this rather short article. First that ICE seems to have accessed some data from the Sandy Springs' (our big sister) Flock O' Cameras followed later by reported assurances from Flock that they don't do that. Heaven forbid that ICE should use every resource available to do their job. Maybe Dunwoody considers itself to be the gold standard of governance, one that ICE should emulate: just don't do your job. Don't even try.

It is a curiosity that city hall doesn't want to get criminals off our streets. And you only need pull the thread a bit before the whole sweater of "undocumented immigrants" unravels. Do they have a driver's license? Acquired by what means? Falsified statements and documents? And you want motor-voter, don't you?

Then you gotta bottom-line it. Are these spend-then-tax Blue Bellies really only pissed because they, well really PCID, are paying and ICE is free-loading? Well, as far as we know that may be the case, because no one seems to have asked if ICE is paying for Flock data services. Maybe if ICE went down to city hall and said "let's make a deal" and threw some money their way, they'd be cool...like ICE. That's how we got interstate lanes in folks' front yard. OPM and other people's agenda. City hall's definition of local control: we take their money and we control it.

How Do They NOT Know?

Here's a news flash:

"DeKalb County is encouraging state lawmakers to allow rental registries to enable local governments to maintain lists of properties and their owners."

DeKalb's CEO piles on with:

"many code violations occur at rental properties, but it’s difficult to enforce municipal codes when the county doesn’t know who the property owner is"

Wow. Let's see. Maybe the property owner is the one listed on the title. Maybe? Or, could it be who you, DeKalb County, sends the property tax bill to? You do send out a property tax bill, don't you? And if it doesn't get paid, then you auction the property, right? And don't you know then who owns the property?

Whether it is a rental property or not, a code violation is a code violation and it should be addressed as such. Hard stop. And you know who to contact about it because you know where you send the property tax bill. Even if the property is mortgaged, you know who owns it.

So what is this really all about?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

No Yellow Line Down The Middle

 

You Gotta Wonder

You gotta wonder how many folks in Kingsley were around when the citihood movement spun up.

You gotta wonder how many of those folks were involved with Dunwoody Yes! or Citizens for Dunwoody. 

You gotta wonder how many of those folks voted yes on the referendum.

You gotta wonder how many of those folks actually read the city charter before they voted. 

You gotta wonder how many have ever read the city charter.

You gotta wonder how many are surprised how things have turned out at city hall.

You gotta wonder how many still think benign neglect of DeKalb was worse than Dunwoody's willful negligence.

You gotta wonder how these folks took the decision to hire a lawyer.

And finally...

You gotta wonder where DHA has disappeared to.

Smile

Smile Like You're Trying Not To Laugh