Pandemic Discovery

Despite the illness and death there has been a silver lining to the pandemic: we have, almost by force, confronted some harsh realities many had long chosen to ignore. We knew the city was designed to be of, by and for businesses but now they are much more open about it, revealing internal dissonance. Which winner will she pick? That might seem important until you recall that the city we thought we would get was always a myth about as real as the bodacious babe the old fart gets with each bottle of Viagra. You know it isn't real, don't you? 

So what is important? Well, we now know that as far as parents are concerned their children are important. The pandemic has burned away reliably opaque clouds of delusion as parents were forced to see what was being called "education." Not a pretty sight. Not only did parents realize they could see, they seem to have discovered there was quite a bit they needed to look into. The more they saw the less they liked and so they took and demanded action. The system, unaccustomed to scrutiny let alone criticism, pushed back declaring upset parents should be considered domestic terrorists. What is actually quite impressive is the handbook describing how the deflection techniques long used by teachers and principals can be leveraged in board meetings. Apparently some folks always held the opinion that parents should have no say in what their children were taught and were bold enough to say such things out loud. But not without consequence. This happened alongside CRT infused pedagogy and elimination of assessments and standards for social justice reasons. The latter revealed internal dissonance (much like we see with our head dwarf) with teachers at odds with admin. 

Now we know that DeKalb County Schools are not expecting a rebound in attendance and while some blame the pandemic these are the same people who've been immune to criticism until recently. Maybe the pandemic was just a catalyst.

Santa Fears Trucks Too!

A very official route shows that Santa completely avoided the joke of a no-truck-zone that the city refuses to enforce. 

Avoiding Dangerous Trucks

Even Santa won't take the risk of traveling through areas where the city all but encourages reckless, lawless, dangerous truck traffic. You DO know that Touch Down doesn't live there anymore, right? So your sins of omission are punishing everyone else and TD is well beyond your reach. So give us all a break, OK.

Hackademics

How is your student doing? After all you are the parent and until recently everyone agreed it is also your student, though the education industry has leaked their deep seated disagreement with that proposition. This may be have you considering drastic measures. Private schools? Perhaps. Tutoring? Not a bad option, but it makes you wonder if you're encouraging government schools' bad behavior. Or maybe a bandaid on a bullet wound. 

You might be considering drastic, direct action. Taking the bull by the horns. Making learning a family activity and stepping away from a system telling your student what to think rather than how to think. If you follow this path there are lots of resources available, but we at The Other Dunwoody would like to suggest LibreTexts. Here you'll find freely available texts, course support and visualization tools. Of particular interest are the math resources, covering elementary skills, to algebra, calculus, data science, economics and even today's edu-industry trend: finance. But in this case your student will not be driven towards the collectives' group-think but instead will acquire the skills needed to make their own decision about their own finances. 

Embrace hackademics. You may well learn something too.

That Must Have Hurt

The AJC, which routinely acts as Dunwoody's PR firm, recently had to cover a whistleblower of the month's victory. They tried to spin it, but still, it must have been painful to publish.

This was just a board decision that went against the city so guess what the city is going to do. That's right, they're pissing away more of our money going to court in yet another case that is directly traceable to a few bad hiring decisions. 

We should be spending our money on a search for a new city manager and chief of police, not on this useless court case. They are the root of the problem and these weeds need to be pulled out by those roots.

When The Fox Guards The Hen House...

...the hens are left to defend themselves. Given the massive mismanagement of the Dunwoody PD it should come as no surprise that this is exactly what has happened. Since its very founding the Dunwoody PD harbored an officer who demanded pornographic pictures from subordinate officers and command did nothing to stop it. Quite the opposite. Dunwoody's side-hustling self-proclaimed top cop wrote an internal "investigation" with the unsurprising conclusion that exonerated the department and command. Top cop? Maybe top fox. It wasn't long before many of the more reluctant forced porn stars were driven or dismissed from the force with one starting a non-profit in support of police whistle-blowers. Hens standing strong against the fox. It was far too long before outside review exonerated that hen since by that time the lieutenant in charge of porn had been disappeared. The Catholic church could learn a lesson here. 

The real problems remain. The system is flawed. Under no circumstances should anyone at city hall have conducted, or even supervised an investigation with serious negative consequences for those investigating. Furthermore, those involved in that decision, the police chief and his boss, the city manager, retain their positions. The stain of this sexual predation is upon them, and if council takes no corrective action, which to date they have avoided, it is upon them as well.

Crisis Is The Fulcrum

Agenda is the lever.

And both were in full misuse in a recent opining from the AJC's fave left wingnut when he took his anti-conservative agenda and propped it on a recent school shooting to someone draw a twisted line, one that can only be straight in his mind, between parental desire for age-appropriate materials and practices and a reluctance on the part of Republicans to eviscerate a constitutionally enumerated, inalienable right. He pulled out all the Liberal Fascists' Propaganda Handbook memes. Hyperbolic "weapons of mass destruction." Dancing around "we ain't teaching CRT." 

Given a recent op-ed from the AJC exposing the incredibly poor performance of our schools at teaching reading, one might have thought the most obvious response to age-inappropriate material in schools would be: "no worries, they can't read it anyway." This would unravel as a brief glance at most classroom and libraries would reveal that words are few and pictures dominate. A concession to the fact that schools haven't been teaching reading for some time, that they are well aware of that fact and have adjusted accordingly.But...not the agenda.

But there are real issues here that deserve informed debate by rational, deliberative stakeholders. How has allegedly representative government schools disenfranchised parents, voters and taxpayers to the point that asserting their position as stakeholders results in vitriolic vilification? In the presence of this failure how do parents best care for their children and what are the socioeconomic consequences? What role should parents have in directing curricula, modalities and pedagogy? And yes, how do we enforce current laws prohibiting firearms from our schools. And why has law enforcement, at all levels abdicated their primary responsibility as well?

But all we get, and all we're are likely to get, is incessant harping from nags drunk on partisan agenda.

Let's Lead With That...

...and that would be? Agenda. 

Reports had hardly surfaced of a new variant first noticed in Southern Africa when media, including the AJC, wrapped the incredibly scant information around their agenda. In this case vaccinations, particularly for kids. At the time of publication no solid information, beyond the number of alterations to the virus, were available. Pretty much everything else was anecdotal. It was being touted as faster spreading, but R-naught values were strikingly absent. Not that R-naught has appeared much in any US mainstream media, regardless of variant. And it will be difficult to gather the necessary information because reports are also indicating that symptoms are notably weak closer to seasonal flu than you're-going-on-a-respirator and where testing is driven by symptoms, many of those "afflicted" won't bother. Many report fewer, weaker symptoms than the vaccine side effects reported on the CDC's VAERS. You won't read that in the paper because it it is not well aligned...with their agenda.

Reversing Osmosis

Over at the AJC, their bloggin' schools' apologist has had an epiphany: readin' don't just happen and it ain't like catchin' a cold. The decades old pedagogical orthodoxy was based on osmosis, the notion that by simply watching someone else read, or even having someone, particularly for a photo-op, read to you then magically those capabilities will transfer to you. As if our schools (which means teachers, admins, teachers of teachers, and yes, media apologists) have adopted a monkey-see-monkey-do approach. It has its advantages. For them. They offload responsibility for their inability to teach even basic reading skills, and NAEP has diligently reported these failures, onto parents claiming "there just ain't 'nuff readin' goin' on at home." And they still take credit for that third of students who are teacher-proof and will become proficient at reading, even though, as we all now know, this happens at home. 

The techniques (modalities?) that work require effort. On the part of the student who must actually spend significant time practicing and on the part of the teacher who must intercede, correcting any mistakes. These are the kind of draconian tactics Sister Mary Vattaveist  used back i the day. Effectiveness not withstanding, that just ain't the way learning gets done these days. Of course the NAEP reports that not much learning is going on anyway.

Maybe the problem is systemic lack of domain expertise. Given how long this failed pedagogy has been in effect it is very likely we have the illiterati "leading" in the classroom and school offices. How can someone who never encountered the teaching of reading in their own life ever figure out how to teach our children? Especially if they cannot even read about it.

Bad Signs

Do you know what is wrong with these signs? Not just that they're illegal (and downright ugly) by how so?

Constant Offender

How Could You NOT See This Put Up?

Touch The Sign-Kick Your Ass

Good Cause? Still A Bad Sign

North Point? WTF! Really?

99&44/100s Pure Bad Sign

Well, if you know the answer then you are overqualified to work in Dunwoody Code Enforcement.

So Concerned. So Caring.

But really just political posturing bordering on farcical. The mayor takes issue with DCSD building an urban elementary school making it sound like the mayor has a real commitment to safety of the folks living in this city. And why is urbanity the most wonderful thing to grace city hall when it comes to "renewal" and adding intense density destroying our suburban lifestyle, but when our school system needs to add capacity to address the consequences of this out of control development, urban is a four letter word? Is there a developer waiting in the wings with eyes on that property? It cannot be because school system ownership takes it off the tax rolls because that is exactly what the city does for any developer.

So why all the lip flapping? Is there any room she is in that really needs more hot air? Maybe the mayor thinks this looks like sincere concern and the fact that is completely outside the purview of the mayor, and in fact the entire city, there is bullet-proof political cover. How can you fail when it isn't any of your business?

Anyone living in Dunwoody knows there is zero concern about safety or any other quality of life issue in our neighborhoods. Neither the mayor nor any of the other dwarfs care about speeders ripping through our school zones or truckers arrogantly, frequently violating No Truck zones which are also school zones. If they cared, even a little bit, they would lay down the law. They would tell the city manager to enforce our city ordinances, to enforce our traffic laws or pack his bags and get the hell out of Dodge.

And they'd quit shadow boxing with non-existent opponents.

Found Your Turkey

 

What IS That Stuffing?

Protecting The Neighborhood

A developer has been told no. Hard to believe, right? It gets even more unbelievable. They were told they could not add apartments to a shopping center. 

What's the problem with that?

It did not, and probably will never, happen in Dunwoody. It happened in Johns Creek.

Here's what inquiring minds want to know: how many of the Dunwoody bureaucrats who have no problem selling us down the river actually live in Johns Creek where their quality of life is protected?

New Dwarfs In Town

Does that mean we'll get some law and order? Will there ever be any consideration for the people who live here?

 

Not likely. Why? Because this happens ALL THE TIME and nary a dwarf has lifted a finger to help.

Private Parts

You know, if it really were "private" you would have something called "privacy" and then you wouldn't need the sign.

AJC "Misinformation"

Mainstream media is notoriously left lilting noted for "coloring" their language in support of their deeply held beliefs. Sometimes is so smacks of propaganda that it would, by any objective measure, constitute cancel-worthy misinformation for any social media censors. They injected a prize nugget in an article about the Remington headquarters relocation to Georgia:

'an attention-grabbing TV ad that showed him aiming a firearm toward "Jake,"'

where in this case "him" is Governor Kemp, who has been labeled "governor shotgun" in the AJC. True colors shining through? You may be wondering why they would take a hit after the play is over as anyone else might risk a personal foul, but this is the AJC and they own the refs (think Notre Dame). Hell, they think they ARE the refs. But they did cross a line...a hit out of bounds.

They made interesting choices. Now, it is "firearm" when previous references had more precisely noted it was a shotgun. Then "toward" rather than the previous "at" which while completely incorrect it had been the term. Perhaps the biggest lie is "aim" as Kemp never shouldered the shotgun and never sighted down the barrel, two things you do when you actually aim a shotgun (read the AJC puff-piece on Barnsley Gardens). Only some irresponsible left-wing-nut like a certain well-known actor actually shoots from the hip. At people.

Perhaps the vagueness is to provide a "parsing semantics" escape clause should someone suggest they've laid out egregious misinformation, but being legacy media they probably don't care about social media, cancelled or not. And you may have noticed it is VERY easy to sign up for an AJC subscription online but actually impossible to cancel online. Seems like every part of their operation is skewed to our disadvantage.

Honey Badger PD

We appear to be blessed with a Honey Badger PD, one that just doesn't give a shit. See:

One of these two vehicles actually belongs here and the other is violating the law. But one must reflect on the lonely tree in the woods: if there NEVER is any enforcement is there really a law? Not when all you get is a Honey Badger PD.

Tenure Censorship

The USG BoR recently made changes viewed by some as an existential threat to tenure of professors in Georgia's public colleges and universities. Of course, "some" means "tenured professors" as the change improves the ability of administrators to improve the faculty without necessarily taking a knew before the faculty itself. It isn't a big change, but it is one moving a modicum of control to administrators where folks in the real world, subjected to annual performance reviews, might have thought it already rested. 

Not so.

Now J Tom Morgan, a well respected legal beagle in DeKalb and now an adjunct at Western Carolina has weighed in suggesting these changes will cripple recruiting the best and brightest to our public universities. It isn't clear if he has all the facts. It isn't clear anyone does because those in control, tenured faculty, have no interest in opening their kimono and those directly impacted by the process, tenure-track faculty will self-censure. Because the tenure process lies somewhere between immoral hazing and employment sadism. 

However, if you are or are very close to tenure-track Assistant Professors (AKA pre-tenure) you might be exposed to a different reality, but there is a mountain of misinformation, from "authoritative sources," to get past. 

Is tenure tough to get? Sure is, but not for reasons you've been spoon fed. First even getting a tenure-track position is very, very difficult as academia pumps out several hundred potential candidates each year for open positions, which don't open up very often, because, well, tenure. 

Pre-tenure, tenure track faculty face are under attach from almost every side. Student evaluations play an outsized role in acquiring tenure. Why? Because tenured profs and admin are not going to do the time consuming, often difficult work of actually evaluating the teaching chops of the junior faculty, which is exactly the way it should be done. If you believe, like JTM, that these tenured professors are truly the pros from Dover. But they're too busy with their research. Oops, another secret leak. All the top profs are doing research, and once tenured aren't doing so much teaching and never the service courses (think Calc 1). And with tenure comes added responsibility, and power, and without it comes self-censorship. Even if you see a problem with a clear solution you'll not raise the issue if you don't have tenure for fear you'll never get tenure. You'll toe the party line established by your "betters." They feel, rightly, powerless and you might be surprised how many will start a conversation with "when I get tenure I'm going to..." And yet, they never do. It is as if they've self-censored for so long they don't know anything else. And the bullshit gets deeper. Every university has a "tenure clock" though you can petition for early tenure and most likely get dismissed out of hand. Why? Because evaluating a several hundred page tenure packet is a painful labor and frankly because the process is fundamentally just hazing. They'll make you suffer because they can and they like it. That secret is exposed by timing. Go up early and the packet/petition is due in the fall. You'll get reject in the spring. Next fall, when the clock expires, you go up again. In less than six months what could have dramatically changed regarding the last six years?  Nothing but the clock. And the hazing. It is clear that the process of getting a tenure track position and then acquiring tenure does nothing to ensure that our students are actually getting even competent teachers.

Do we have to get rid of tenure to fix this broken system? Not necessarily, we can modify it. First we can age the dinosaurs out. We retire airline pilots at 65 which seems a reasonable age to promote a tenured professor to emeritus status, opening positions for those with a newly minted PhD. And if there is merit to the argument that these long-in-the-tooth professors are that good, then their protege might be even better. We should give that a try. And if their research is all that good, they'll transition smoothly into a research position in industry, right? Well, unless they're an English prof.

Mansplained

If you've not taken a walking tour around daVille lately you should. You'll be treated to the talking street crossing at some of the intersections: you walkee; they talkee. The first thing you'll notice is the voice is distinctly male. Kathleen Turner couldn't imitate that voice even if she'd just raided the humidor. Definitely a dude. And this is no dude straight outa Compton. It is an english-speaking euro-caucasian mansplaining you through traffic. 

How un-woke can you get?

Cath The Council

It IS silly season so you may have seen the "Cath" signs loitering on roads around daVille. Now if you're of a certain age and circumstance where proximity to Pill Hill is major advantage to you location then you might be thinking "Cath" is short for "catheter." You might be thinking that's not a bad idea, cath the council. If you've been paying attention you might think a better MD would have ordered a high colonic. But. You gotta start somewhere.

Then you find out out that "Cath" ain't catheter, it actually refers to the dwarf-wanna-be that really, Really, REALLY wishes she lived in Sandy Springs instead of Dunwoody. To read it in the Blue Bag Rag, it would seem somehow impolite to mention that, so...

We should definitely skip THAT Cath.

Drugs In Schools

The school systems' drug of choice is taxes and DeKalb is no exception. If they distinguish themselves at all it is in that they all but refuse to tell anyone exactly what they intend to spend E-SPLOST funds on. The last time they did it was exposed as a lie and their little feelings were hurt. 

The last E-SPLOST was widely known as a waste and the best some could muster was "well, we hope some of the money gets to the classroom." The situation for those who think you can never dump enough money down the sinkhole that is public education has gotten much, much worse. Their best practices have been broadcast to dens and basements throughout the district and found horribly lacking. By parents. Parents who can no longer maintain the myth of "my child's education is one of the best." Parents who saw something that cannot be fixed by more money. 

Then our turbulent times blew open the kimono putting the politicization of public schools on full display. It isn't just the politics of racial divisiveness which they long ago integrated into their system, it is the growing chasm between their system and the parents who support it with their money and children. And the educators arrogantly assert they are in control and their political and industrial supporters are running interference on their behalf. They are saying, out loud, that parents should have no input on what their own children are taught or how they are educated.

A system that was intended to support the needs of our parents and children has been turned completely around. The refuse to teach the three R's, finding unaccountable indoctrination more to their liking. And their capabilities. Maybe what we actually need are public day cares, because our children sure as hell are not getting the education needed to compete in a global world.

It is time again to just say No! to E-SPLOST.

Touch Down!

Anyone who knows Touch Down Al knows he has sailed to warmer waters with sandy beaches, beautiful sunsets and safe harbor from political silliness. There is not and never will be a "City of Blue Mountain." But those same folks know of TD's obsession with local fauna, particularly of the fawn variety with one being foaled in his back yard. TD has migrated but the fawn are left behind. 

City Crackdown

No, no...not that...the state is not stepping in to clean up the craziness at city hall. In fact city hall is amping up on that. As recently reported in the AJC, Dunwoody is going to crack down on "party houses." 

There's lots to unpack there, starting with: this is not a problem in Dunwoody. And you might consider this being pro-active as the AJC/Dunwoody PR consortium points out. Or you might consider this a fast skate down the slippery slope of a non-elected bureaucrat-empowering permission society. If this works according to their plan, some bureaucrat is going to rock back and forth in an Aeron and ponder whether or not an particular part even might be disagreeable. To them.

The optimist suggests that if this is enforced with all the vigor uses to enforce the ordinance to keep trucks from barrelling through our neighborhoods it is the same kind of non-issue. The realist knows it IS the same kind of something. Ask yourself: where is this coming from and who are the motivators behind it? Could there be any business in Dunwoody that might be "negatively impacted" by pop-up party venues? Hmmm... Could be. Are there any businesses that are negatively impacted if trucks were NOT playing frogger with your kids? You betcha. And that is exactly why the former will be aggressively enforced and the latter never will be. And it is why The Citizens OF Dunwoody need proper representation at city hall.

Publius Identifies Dunwoody Failure

In explaining the underlying design of the new republic, the United Stated, Publius touches on topics and offers thoughts that are no less relevant today than when pen was first put to paper. One point brought by those opposed to a republican form of national government was the power vested in the chief executive, the President. On the contrary Publius argued that a strong executive, answerable only to the people, was necessary to a properly functioning government.

The administration of government, in its largest sense, comprehends all the operations of the body politic, whether legislative, executive, or judiciary; but in its most usual, and perhaps its most precise signification it is limited to executive details, and falls peculiarly within the province of the executive department. The actual conduct of foreign negotiations, the preparatory plans of finance, the application and disbursement of the public moneys in conformity to the general appropriations of the legislature, the arrangement of the army and navy, the directions of the operations of war, these, and other matters of a like nature, constitute what seems to be most properly understood by the administration of government. The persons, therefore, to whose immediate management these different matters are committed, ought to be considered as the assistants or deputies of the chief magistrate, and on this account, they ought to derive their offices from his appointment, at least from his nomination, and ought to be subject to his superintendence. 

And therein lies the problem with Dunwoody and all the other poisoned-mushroom cities springing up around us. Rather than follow Publius' sound advice, Dunwoody founding fathers chose to deny a representative form of government, operated by those elected to do so, and in such a manner that it serves the needs of the citizenry but instead to empower un-elected bureaucrats more beholden to others than to the citizenry. In effect, they sold the elected offices before the first election was ever held and in so doing installed corruption as a structural, foundational cornerstone of that government.

Dunwoody has proven, by eviscerating the offices held by our elected representatives, that Publius was indeed correct. There is no need to continue proving it.

City vs Developer

An interesting turn in the Buckhead breakaway movement are the naysayers highlighting the financial damage done to the city, Atlanta, left behind. To amp up the rhetoric they point out the millions of tax dollars this will siphon away from the Atlanta Public Schools.

Somehow none of these folks were very concerned when their developers' authorities did exactly the same thing.

Dissin' On The ATDC

A former dwarf is pushing the idea of creating a high-tech incubator somewhere in Dunwoody as a way, to well, do something. Not clear what that is and allusions to how Peachtree Corners and Alpharetta have done with their efforts is a bit like saying "London's ferris wheel is such a success we should get one too." A case of "monkey see, monkey doo-doo." 

As some in TOD have actual experience with high-tech startups, including some germinated at ATDC, a few insights are on offer. Early stage startups, zygotes if you will, need ready access to technical talent on flexible and inexpensive terms. As it so happens GaTech grad students are ideal and if your startup is actually on campus, as is the ATDC, you'll not get greater access. As the startup matures, regular full time staff is required to attract funding as the dirty little not so secret is that you're actually building a company to sell, not a product or service. Consequently you're selling your talent, your employees and anything that detracts from building that talent base is wasted resources. Think: high-rent, Class A offices. That's why the startups reaching this stage move out of the city, towards the 'burbs and this is exactly what has fueled the success of Technology Park-appropriate rents; a developed high-tech community; and access to housing and amenities demanded by those with a Master's degree in EE or CS...and a couple of kids. 

Yet we have a bureaucrat who squizzed out these prizes:

"Dunwoody already has the infrastructure, including plenty of banks and office space, low personal tax rates and high quality of life;"

and;

“Why go all the way to ATDC when you can get the same resources in Dunwoody?”

You have to wonder what, in that little mind, constitutes "infrastructure." And the bit about banks leaves you wondering if this is really being reported by The Onion, because that is NOT a legit gating factor. Office space? Really? When you're a hop, skip and a jump away from appropriate, affordable space in Technology Park? Do you really want to pay Class A prices for the obligatory wanna-be-like-Spotify ping pong table? Quality of life? Clearly this bureaucrat hasn't had to deal with high-speed, illegal truck traffic in HIS neighborhood (probably NOT in Dunwoody) and hasn't a clue about crime in the perimeter area where all that office space sits. Probably hasn't looked at the public schools either. And what does this city know about Venture Capital? NADA. Also, it's not as if they're offering generous tax handouts to startups, are they? Given the hate-hate relationship between our only university and the city, and the fact that this campus isn't known for high-tech, then yeah, go all the way to ATDC, because that is where the talent is. Startups are risky enough without taking on the burdens Dunwoody has on offer.

You have to wonder if there is some "build back better" grant funds behind this or if it is just the flatulent lip-flapping you get when a mouth-breath has the hiccups.

Is The Phoeix Rising?

You know about the first town homes in the Dunwoody Village area, don't you? The ones across Chamblee-Dunwoody from the Spruill Center for the Arts? With the adjacent cluster homes off Ashford Center Parkway, a real parkway with medians hosting trees. 

Do you remember how that happened?

Well, back in the day that property lay empty and was owned by Emory University who wanted to cash in, so they found a developer. As you do. Remember what Greedy Developer wanted to do? Build a shopping center anchored by a super-sized Publix. When the Village already had THREE grocery stores. Not because it was what this community needed but simply because it would rake in the most money. 

So why didn't that happen?

Dunwoody Home Owners Association. They stepped up to the plate and made it clear this community would not be steam-rolled without putting up a fight. An expensive fight. A long, drawn-out legal battle. And guess what happened? We got some damn nice looking town homes instead of a yet another ticky-tacky strip center with all that traffic that really belongs on Highway 41, not in the heart of Dunwoody. 

There is some indication that the DHA put some effort into protecting our neighborhoods and our suburban character in the developer (and city) assault on Dunwoody Village. Are they back? Perhaps. Perhaps they're coming back as they lost their way in the early years of city-hood, weakening their capabilities to fight the good fight. After all, wasn't city-hood supposed to be the ultimate victory and not a toxic bait and switch? 

Let's all hope the DHA is revitalized and only getting stronger. It may be the only hope we have.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Workin' hard for profiteering businesses. Yep, we have a seemingly unlimited number of tax-payer funded bureaucrats knocking down insider-awards for doing the business of CoC for businesses. Aren't you happy to be paying your taxes?

Are You Ready For Some Football!??!

Watching the boob toob has become more confusing than ever. Scientists are cautioning against going normal with the head scientist over at the CDC over-riding her own scientists because her science is more potent. And yet...football, high school, college, pro-s, it doesn't matter are in full-bore, packed stadium, maskless, screaming hordes. Obviously football has a the Iron Dome of CoVid running at full power.

So what's up with that?

It IS odd. A year ago games were being cancelled. #COVID. Those that weren't played to cardboard cutouts. Restaurants were going away, or going curbside. All queues, indoors or out, were at six foot spacing. Masks for all. And that was just with CoVid which hit our shores in early 2020.

Fast forward. The Delta variant, more transmissible than the original and impacting younger cohorts more severely. Yes, there is a vaccine, but death rates are rising. Hospitals are filling again though the truth leaks out that it isn't ALL, or even a majority, CoVid. But by all measures, including the usual pockets of hysteria, all things CoVid are as bad as a year ago. But not for football. Stadia are packed. Popping the Mercedes Benz eyeball constitutes "ourdoor" and no one is mentioning the crowds at the restrooms or the concessionaires. 

So what's the REAL difference? Well, if you look to who is still screaming about the gloom and doom, of inadequate vaccination rates, or necessity of booster shots, that would be the same folks who last year were positioned on one side of the great political divide and well, inertia. Football, and football fans in particular, could care less about political posturing. THEY are ready for some football. And that is exactly what they're going to get. #RATINGS.

Earnest Leaves Dunwoody

"I came! I saw! I got blowed up!"
-- Earnest P. Worrell

Arrive Perimeter has, with gas and a spark, been transformed to Depart Perimeter. Who could have smelled that coming?

Arrive intends to demolish the site ASAP and if yelpers are to be trusted it should not have taken an explosion to get that [wrecking] ball rolling. But this is the kind of "quality" development the city encourages in Dunwoody, so rest assured, apartments will be rebuilt on that site. It is an odds-on favorite that these will be bigger and the beneficiary of tax handouts from the city.

You gotta wonder how Dunwoody's "urban renewal" team is engaged.

Dunwoody Chamber Of Commerce

Dunwoody doesn't have one. Perimeter does, because Perimeter has footprints in three cities and developers and profiteers need an umbrella organization to coordinate efforts across all three. Dunwoody doesn't have a Chamber of Commerce because our tax dollars (residents, because developers don't pay taxes) are covering the paychecks of city bureaucrats who do everything a chamber would do. Everything a chamber should do. And more.

Don't believe it?

Look here. That's right, a city bureaucrat picked up an award for resident-funded CoC activities. And city bureaucrats are so proud they've issued a press release on receiving an award for going above and beyond doing CoC PR. A press release on how well they do press releases.

This is an outstanding example of a city bureaucracy that should be shut down and anyone surplus to needs should be made available to the greater PR community. Perhaps even a re-constituted Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce. Think the dwarfs can or would make that happen?

Ever Heard Of Google?

Or Yelp? Zomato? Open Table? 

Like, you know, when you're looking for a place to eat or shop? For the fun of it, just Giggle "Dentist near me" or "Best hamburger." It worked in the later years of the 20th century and it works even better now. 

And yet...

We have profiteers with their bureaucratic minions at city hall who are hell bent on promulgating visual pollution thru rampant, devil-may-care signage throughout the city. Why? Because they can. And just why can they? Well, first they have greater pull at city hall than anyone actually living in this city. Then there is the brutal fact that they do not have to justify anything. All they have to do is say "this works, we want it, so get those ordinances in compliance and do it NOW!" Do illegally located sandwich board signs really work? Who knows. The profiteers have no data, no idea. Who cares. They don't care and they don't need to even consider joining us in the 21st century. As long as the profiteers want it, the city bureaucrats will take a knee. No skin off their collective nose since most don't live here and may not even drive by the garish eyesore they've created. 

And the dwarfs? Well...who knows what they're doing and who they're doing it for.

Whose We?

Escaping containment, that blivet of paternalistic condescension, President Biden,  squizzed out some priceless arrogance:

"We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us."

regarding the reticence of some to get their Fauci Ouchy. Condemnation heaped on the deplorable "you-s" who refuse to be directed by this greater, smarter, self-appointed and now controlling "we." 

We, the little we, have seen this before. Hell, we see it all the time. Like when some corporate SVP or C-level shows up to speak to the little people, littering the talk with "we" even when really just congratulating themselves. In their case it is political, an attempt to portray a large team, and themselves a part, when everyone, even the bobble-head toadies in the first row, know it is really all about them, the speaker, not you and certainly now "we."  And it would be easy to pummel out-of-touch politicians and executives but we, the little we, know this rhetorical device for what it is: manipulation. 

And it isn't just coming from those far above us. In many cases, including our own little burg, it is coming from bureaucrats who see themselves as positioned far above us. 

This is coming from our own little potentates of their Direktorates at city hall, including the Direktorate of community development and the Direktorate of economic development. From the latter we get:

 "We sort of have two Dunwoody's right now. We have single-family, suburban residential neighborhoods, and then we have Perimeter Center (largely made up of office and retail space [AND apartments!]), and they don't always work with one another. Sometimes they work against one another."

Let's unpack that "we." To be very clear when this bureaucrat is using "we" he is NOT including the little we, that very same we that came out in droves to vote Dunwoody Yes! His "we" are the crony developers and profiteering businesses and if there is any consideration for the little we it is only to acknowledge the annoyance they might inflict--like complaining about the gnats during a Tybee Island getaway. Wouldn't it be great if you could just get rid of them?

That needs a bit of unpacking as well. When factions "work against one another" what role does he play and what side does he take? Well, again, that would be whatever side is in opposition to "single family suburban residential neighborhoods" as he and his supporters in the development and business community can no longer satisfy their greeds without displacing the little we. And make no mistake he will throw the little we under the bus in a heartbeat because it is no skin off his nose. He doesn't even live here.

And that is the real problem. This city has been taken over by outsiders. It is run by outsiders, for the benefit of outsiders to the detriment of the little we. It is time for the little we to rise up just as they did when breaking bonds with DeKalb County. It is time to shut down these Direktorates, time to ensure every operation within the city benefits those living in the city and that those operations even remotely for the benefit of developers and profiteers be operated by those groups outside of city hall.

And maybe it's time to require that folks running this city have some skin in the game. Just like the little we.

Good Witch? Bad Witch?

GLINDA

And so, what the Munchkins want to know is, are you a good witch or a bad witch?

DOROTHY

But I've already told you, I'm not a witch at all. Witches are old and ugly. (High pitched giggles are heard) What was that?

GLINDA

The Munchkins. They're laughing because I am a witch. I'm Glinda, the Witch of the North. 

DOROTHY

You are! I beg your pardon! But I've never heard of a beautiful witch before.

GLINDA

Only bad witches are ugly. 

This is probably one of the most subtle insults on the silver screen outside of just about any Rosalind Russel dialogue. Bad witches ugly. Good witches beautiful. Which witch are you? The homely one? Perhaps somewhat handsome? Somewhere on the spectrum. Not that spectrum. The spectrum that starts at ugly ending at heart stopping gorgeous. 

Where's our Dotty? Who, or rather what is our Dotty? Our Dotty? That would be local control. So, is our local control a good witch or a bad witch? Which witch is it? Or is it a witch at all? Or, like witches in the storybooks is local control just a convenient myth?

Since local control is THE foundation of this city this topic warrants a bit of pondering.

It has become painfully clear that our elected officials, the seven dwarfs, are not in control of much of anything that goes on at city hall. They have some of the best seats at the theater but they're not the actors on the stage, not the director, not the writer and certainly not the producer. They ARE the groupiest of groupies. They get the best seats. Befitting their egos but not conferring any real control over our locality. Try this thought exercise: identify the dwarf that will raise a hand and fess up to instigating, driving and directing all the local zoning changes to support developers' goals for Dunwoody Village. What's that you hear? Munchkin laughter.

So who is running the show? And where are THEY from? And do they live with the consequences of what they do to OUR community? Are they good witches? Or, are they bad witches?

Well, the general label applied to our masters at city hall is "bureaucrat." Witch might seem more appropriate, but we're stuck with bureaucrat. And they're not from around here. They're from the North (community development) and the South (economic development) and seemingly every where but here. You do a little bit of very simple internet searching and you'll begin to wonder if any bureaucrat at city hall from the very top down currently living OFF this city actually lives IN this city. To be honest it appears that we Munchkins are being ruled by witches from somewhere else working on behalf of someone else. This should be shocking. It is insulting. It is ugly. At least we don't have to ask if these are good witches or bad witches. And if local control is truly foundational we know why this leaning tower is about to topple. On us. Not them.

They're Going To Do It

The folks who want to bring Dunwoody-calibre dysfunction to East Cobb are at it again. Still yet. They ARE going to get their city. And that's not all.

They ARE creating MORE GOVERNMENT, layer cake or junk-in-a-box, it is MORE GOVERNMENT.

They ARE going to create a DEVELOPERS' AUTHORITY that will hand out your tax dollars to developers who will destroy your quality of life at the same time robbing your children's schools of needed money.

They ARE going to build a government of outside bureaucrats who will operate unsupervised and infrequently observed by your elected representatives.

They ARE lying: about "local control"; about your tax dollars, where and how they're spent; and about preserving damn near anything you value.

But make no mistake: they ARE going to get their city. Unless you fight and fight hard. Because there is significant money at stake, relationships to be made and power to be leveraged to the benefit of those behind this effort. 

Now if you're in favor of a city then by all means, listen to a city manager, a manager who has directly benefited from the creation of these fairy ring cities. He certainly should be a fan-boy. If you, as a resident, a taxpayer, a voter, would like to get an idea of what is in store then drop in at a Dunwoody council meeting or better yet, chat up a few of the folks living around Dunwoody Village. 

You may be of the mind that you can, that you must fight this. That you can win. You may be right. You may be able to fend off "Jaws 2" and certainly many are rooting for you. It IS a good fight, victory is uncertain and the enemy, and they ARE your enemy, is relentless. Good luck and godspeed.

That Didn't Take Long

The ink is barely dry on the MOU and the developer is already man-splaining to the Developers'  Authority that they, the developer, ain't gonna stick to the deal. And what did the bobble heads at that Developers' Authority do? That's right, they bobbed their heads up and down in all-but-violent agreement-to violate the agreement. 

Now the developer trotted out some authority on senior development to justify their actions (like they really needed to do that). Well to be accurate, they didn't trot anyone out, instead preferring to leave their alleged experts behind the curtain of anonymity. But, they're developers, you can trust them, right?

What they were probably doing was letting everyone know who is really in charge and it ain't even the bureaucrats down at city hall or the Developers' Authority. It sure as hell ain't the dwarfs. The developer has made it clear that the dwarfs get one vote and after that vote the developer can change anything they want, whenever they want and it doesn't matter how ludicrous the change might be.

And this change tops the charts. The original requirement, leasee required to be over 55, was simply and effectively enforceable. Developers, in general, don't like that and in this case will not accept it. Instead they will lease to anyone, any age, so long as someone says "yeah, that's for my dad, he's over 55...yeah...that's the ticket." Of course that is virtually impossible to enforce. 

And you would have thought that the $7M stolen from our children would have been enough. You would have thought wrong.

In Concert

There has been some good news of late. It seems the DHA is awakening. To the fact that this city is built to serve many interests just not those of the residents, many of whom voted it into existence. The DHA is representing and more than a few regular residents have offered their, often not-so-humble opinions. Even some of the dwarfs piped up in the council meeting, specially called to reduce the time between first and second readings, to suggest that perhaps the powerful forces behind the rape and pillage of the village might do a better job of marketing. Not that they necessarily need to change their plans, just do a better sales job. City bureaucrats have been caught with the metaphorical knickers about their knees as they cannot even stay on top of the current zoning nor can they do the requisite research to establish the actual chain of agreements. Probably because those items do not fall in favor of the developers who have enlisted city bureaucrats to advance their, the developers' cause. 

And as bad as what is currently happening really is, there are deeper issues yet to be revealed. Of course if we had transparency in government (we don't) we would already know many, many things that the public has a manifest right to know. Who started this ball rolling. Names please. Who, EXACTLY, made the first contact regarding bulldozing the village to replace it with what, in these pandemic times, can only be described as a petri dish of pestilence and crime. Is high-rise, high density CoVid-proof? Hardly. Is it high-crime? Certainly. Look no further than Perimeter, but if you must, check out Atlantic Station. So who dropped the first dime? Sent the first email? Who, on OUR payroll was involved in that first conversation? How did this expand into ongoing conversations and what, EXACTLY, were those. What meetings were held? Who attended? Agenda? Minutes? And this transparency MUST include commissions and authority and should they feign autonomy exempting them from transparency it is incumbent upon our elected officials to de-commision and de-authorize any that propose opacity as their way of life. If transparency is an existential threat, then their existence should end. 

As the DHA, and others, are fighting the good, fight there should be a concurrent, concerted effort to root out the elements, those bureaucracies and bad actors, who place any interests, theirs or others, above those of the residents of this community. After all, it was zoning control and the associated quality of life that was a key factor in selling this city to the voters. And, if you're still wondering what those red-shirters were hoping save Dunwoody from, you need look no further than city hall and the out of control outsiders having their way with our community. 

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me Your Views

Mainstream talk shows (they like to think of themselves as "news programs") like to characterize the un-vaccinated as ignorant, uneducated, mouth-breathing Trump acolytes as if anyone with a brain is certainly vaccinated. Or...not. As it turns out, when sorted by educational level the greatest vaccine hesitancy is found among those with a PhD. Kind of breaks the narrative, doesn't it? How's your narrative working for you?

Who Does HE Think He Is?

There is an old saying, "There but for the grace of God goes...God" speaking to the hubris of unchecked ego. City hall seems to be a petri dish for hubris.

Commission Chair Bob Dallas said he understood the concerns of homeowners, but ultimately thought the development would be beneficial to the area and had the ability to drive up market values.

“That has been done elsewhere throughout this region, and values have gone up,” he said. “It’s just what the market likes, even though the individuals who live there today may not like it all.”

It is very tempting to demand that he justify "throughout this region" and the "values have gone up" with real, verifiable data demanding that he resign immediately after withdrawing this ill-conceived scheme. But that won't happen. The data aren't there and never was. You, dear reader, can conclude what his statements really are. 

But let's suppose he is right and this atrocious development drives up property values. Who does that impact? Well, not the developers nor the businesses that lease from them because the city will give them a tax handout, because, well, you know, this area just wouldn't be a viable development if we didn't pad their profits. Nope, it will be the residents who will see property tax increases. You know, the folks he admits he doesn't give a damn about. The "individuals who live there today." The ones he intends to drive out of their homes so they can be replaced by more compliant folks. 

Who died and made him god? The corpse littering city hall seems to be that of "accountability in elected office" as this is one of those appointed bureaucrats that [thinks he] runs this  city. Not beholding to the ballot box and doesn't give a damn what the folks who live here, who vote here and who have to suffer under his condescending paternalistic mansplaining have to say. Tonight we'll see if he is right, but don't expect the dwarfs to stand up for the folks who live here if it means standing against developer and business interests. Perhaps by next election day we'll see if the voters really get a voice. In anything.

Of course this is no skin off his nose as he lives far from the impact zone. And he is so proud of his actions that he had Google Maps permanently blur his home from street view. He wants his privacy all the while he laying the cornerstone of high rise apartments with balconies overlooking our kids playing in our back yards. Is it any surprise he is a business attorney? Because that is whose interests he is advocating. Exclusively.

One has to wonder what church of which religion has a seat where he can hear the voice of moral authority say that what he is doing, why he is doing it and who he is doing it for is just and right. Outside of the Church of Unlimited Greed, there is no such seat in any such pew. There is a special place in hell and it will look like a Dunwoody Yes! reunion. 

Sneaky Dwarfs

So...

Rather than take the heat during a regularly scheduled city council meeting, which was recently cancelled, the dwarfs are going to shove through their platform for high rise apartments in the Village during a specially called meeting, offering as little public notice as possible. This is the kind of sleazy behavior that drove secession from DeKalb County and now we see it in full form in this city. You know, the city that was created so we never had to put up with this kind of under-the-table, back-room political bullshit.

Welcome to the New Re-Vitalized Politicized Dunwoody! DeKalb is green with envy.

Choices, Choices

So we have two dogs in the show for District 1: a former councilman and a wannabe. The former is a known quantity and was never defeated for re-election but abandoned the office to take a run at mayor. The latter is perhaps best known for openly, on the record, declaring a greater affinity for Sandy Springs than Dunwoody almost as if it is a personal loss to be in this city. Would that we could keep it an individual shortcoming. This candidate comes with the ringing endorsement of the dwarf most prior whose inability to read and understand ordinances spoke to limited academic achievement and whose grasp of representative governance flip-flopped when "personal impact" was involved. What a vote of confidence. Wannabe intends to "bring Dunwoody Village into the 21st century" a rather shameless acknowledgement of "I will work hard for the developers" and a clear intention to ignore the residents' wishes and help over-build thousands of apartments to overcrowd our schools. And no one will be surprised when wannabe endorses enormous tax handouts to these developers further undermining those same schools. But wannabe also has plans for the old Austin site looking for something "other than a grassy area." Perhaps some 8-10 story apartments? Your developers would really like that. 

The choice is yours, District 1.

Preview The NEW Dunwoody Village

Want to see what the bureaucrats (and their developer overlords) have in store for Dunwoody Village? Of course you do! And it is so, so easy. Just take Ashford Dunwoody south from Mount Vernon, past the House of Sauron, down to Hammond and take a right. At Perimeter Center Parkway turn right and be sure not to miss our Lords of Darkness's current dumpster fire: High Street. Well, someone is high. Continue north on Perimeter Center Parkway to the intersection with Perimeter Center West and stop at the traffic light. Even if it is green, because there ain't no traffic enforcement in Dunwoody. No look straight ahead and you see what folks-who-don't-live-here want to inflict on the village. Up and to the right you'll see one floor of retail, but only along ONE side, and six, count 'em SIX, floors of apartments. Look closely and you'll see how they have thousands of parking spaces cleverly hidden behind the facade. Cool, huh? Don't you want some of that butting up to your house? Of course you do!

But wait! There's more.

This retail plus APARTMENTS is replicated throughout just as it will be in their Dunwoody Village. And did you notice that tall, rather phallic building towering over the others (quite an accomplishment given most of those other buildings are seven and eight stories high)? Yep. That's coming to their Village as well. Probably two. Why flip you off with just one hand when you can use both? Right?

And now you know where your next several years' tax increases are going. Straight to some very well connected developers' bottom line.

Personal Finance For Your Kids

For some time there have been efforts to inject Personal Finance into public schools and here's a shocker: it has met with some resistance. Until now the resistance has come from parents who distinguish themselves by actually wanting to raise their children rather than just have a baby and turn the child-rearing over to anyone else. These traditionalists  firmly believe that they, and they alone, are responsible for key aspects of their children's development and this includes things they consider very personal like money and well, personal finance. These naive parents also think they are sending their children to schools to learn, particularly core skills like reading, writing and arithmetic.

Then it went off the rails. 

Eyes were opened with the confluence of a pandemic that forced parents to see what was being served up in their children's school and wokeism (not wokeness, but wokeism), an evil corruption of something good (tolerance) with something very bad (hatred), threatening a complete takeover of school curricula. So in the prevailing context of 2+2=White Supremacy, and the willful innumeracy that entails, what the hell can personal finance even be? 

To put a positive spin on it, personal finance education may be teaching concepts. This isn't just because your child has been mathematically lobotomized by public schools but their teachers have been as well. So instead of learning how to use Quicken (or a ledger) to track a budget or a spreadsheet to determine total interest paid on a loan or compare buying, home or car, to leasing they may encounter buzz-word bingo. They may hear about dollar-cost-averaging. Maybe there will be discussion of investment returns vs inflation. Perhaps various self-funded retirement vehicles. These topics, associated with old-school personal finance, speak to a new taboo: individual responsibility.

So it really isn't likely to even be concepts. If we've learned anything during the pandemic it is that education did not abandon teaching and learning in favor of delivery of social services, but instead it was in favor of indoctrination. This will be no different and personal finance will be just more political proselytizing. Not making personal decisions based on your individual circumstances, but aligning your decisions with their dogma. 

If parents had a better foundation in personal finance themselves they would look at their property tax bill and we would soon be talking about public schools in the past tense.

You Got Nothin' To Say...

...that they want to hear about. The only opportunity we, the mere residents of Dunwoody have to speak truth to authority in a forum that cannot be manipulated (beyond time limits) is cancelled for this month. That's right, after a behind-closed-doors special meeting to address the city-as-a-real-estate-developer they've decided to cancel the meeting where they meet the people and do their business.  It is worth noting that businesses will still get their alcohol license issues reviewed and their planning put in place.  Not going to cancel those meetings because those address issues for the folks our city bureaucrats really work for.

Pretty Infuriating, Really.

Some of the dwarfs and bureaucrats at city hall are fuming at the recent news that Food and Wine Magazine have selected an NFA offering as the best burger in Georgia. Not best in the Village. Not best in all of Dunwoody. The best burger in the whole state. Yep. The best burger in the state can only be had at a gas station in Dunwoody Village. 

And this burger is the effort of a self-made burger genius. Not some "chef-inspired" creation at some overpriced, trendy burger joint (remember "Zin Burger") but a guy with passion and drive. Oh, and that one other ingredient: a community based, suburban center that fosters and encourages the entrepreneurial spirit that has infused Dunwoody Village self-renewing vitality (think: "Village Burger"). 

This doesn't sit well with the dwarfs and their bureaucrat overlords that will only tolerate things they have a hand in even if that is only to their benefit and actually stifles innovation. Because when they don't benefit it cannot be allowed. And that is why the success of NFA Burger has them pissed.

PSA: All The Waze

It has become all too apparent that some of the bureaucrats at city hall are very, very easily offended by what does, and always has, makes Dunwoody special: it is a SUBURBAN oasis. This is particularly frightening (the offended bureaucrats, not suburbia) because some of these bureaucrats, specifically those hell bent on selling Dunwoody to the highest bidder, live in their very own suburban havens.

That's right. These vandals cruise into Dunwoody from their little slice of suburban heaven, feigning to be offended by OUR suburbia and committing themselves to using our money to destroy our lifestyle. The very lifestyle we moved here to enjoy.

They have set their sights on Dunwoody Village which apparently has greatly offended them as they drive through from their suburbia to mine Dunwoody gold. A possible solution is to deny these bureaucrats travel through the village, perhaps issuing permits based on IQ. If you're not smart enough for the smart city, maybe you shouldn't be spending any time in the Smart City Village. And that's OK, because there are many ways for these bureaucrats to get from their suburbia to their office. They can come down 400 to Hammond and drive right by that other train wreck they're continually hawking: High Street-the confluence of commerce, greed and overcrowding. Or, if 400 isn't your speed, try Alpharetta Highway/Roswell Road and cut across at Mount Vernon. For real fun you can take Peachtree Dunwoody to enjoy the Gulag apartments at PD and Hammond that are just like the crap you want to plop down in Dunwoody Village. 

If more of these destructive bureaucrats lived in Gwinnett and drove through the North Dunwoody area maybe we'd see a few long in the tooth dwarfs re-discovering what folks thought they were getting when they voted for this city.

Full Disclosure

That's what we need. And that need is critically important at this time as we watch, almost helplessly, as Dunwoody city bureaucrats work diligently to attack us in our very neighborhoods as they seek to destroy, to rape and pillage Dunwoody Village. This is being spearheaded by none other than Richard McLeod, the bureaucrat in charge of "community development" who appears to live in Fulton County (by way of property records) and seems offended when he has to drive through the Village to get to his little gold mine.

“I drove there when I got the job here, which was 40 years later, and I said, ‘Wow, the village looks exactly the same."

Yes. That is a WOW! So the folks who actually live here, work here and shop here and have liked it here, some for well over 40 years, have caused a great offense by maintaining a lifestyle they enjoy. Wow indeed. We seem to have committed the heinous sin of offending an arrogant outsider with our very presence, a situation he intends to change using our own tax dollars. Just when we were thinking that the worst thing about drive-through traffic was speeders endangering our children. 

But it gets worse...and back to the point.

"I started talking about it, and more and more people said how they wished something could be done with the village.”

Really? Prove it. Or were these just your developer friends from outside Dunwoody?

And prove it you should. Let's see every communication between this and every other city bureaucrat, both inside and outside that bureaucracy, regarding Dunwoody Village. All emails. All phone Call Detail Records. All meeting itineraries, minutes, lists of attendees and recordings. We know you have them because you just spent quite a bit of our hard-earned tax dollars buying vast SSD storage to back this up. Or are you somehow not quite up to speed on record keeping? Wouldn't that be convenient? And let's see the full results from that easily manipulated internet survey. Show us how the respondents were authenticated and how each voice was given equal weight. Let's see some accountability as we've already seen how easily you dismissed and ignored the issues raised by nearby residential citizens. Many of whom have lived here for decades, pre-city and very much pre-you.

And why wouldn't the city be open? Be transparent? Show some honesty? Some integrity? What have they got to hide? Who are they protecting? It sure as hell is NOT the people who live here.

Promises, Promises

Lots of promises come out of city hall. Lots are broken. An interesting one is wide sidewalks. This started with the Dunwoody Parkway fuster cluck wherein the city promised that proper development or renovation would trigger sidewalk expansion to six foot. This promise came complete with some of those mid-century illustrations showing all the cool folks walking throughout the village on those luxurious strips of concrete. Early on one poor slob fixing up a law office complained but not effectively enough. This was because unelected bureaucrats had yet to take full control of city hall. After that takeover was complete the first developer to complain got an almost instant waiver. That first bloke must feel like a real fool.

Now city hall is mouthing about those wide sidewalks promised for Georgetown. Don't count on it as any developer, and now most businesses, have friends and advocates at city hall. Don't hold your breath. First developer that balks and you'll end up with what looks more like a concrete hopscotch course than a planned development. Just like Dunwoody Parkway. 

Now there is one situation where wide sidewalks are guaranteed.  When they're taking property from individual property owners, actual residents, then city hall bureaucrats have no problem paving paradise. Because they don't care about people who actually live here.

Guest Post: Calinky In The Kitchen

Once again we have our favorite Calinky in the kitchen, this time with, of all things: quiche. As always the spicy language has been moderated so as not to offend the more sensitive palates. Without further ado. 

A Calinky, especially a low-country Calinky will eat darn near anything. But not that surrender-monkey speciality, quiche. That ain't even a real word let alone real food. Another thing about Calinkies, even low-country Calinkies, is we got to grow veggies. And the older we get the more we got to do it and the more we end up litterin' the larder. Stuff just piles up. One thing you got to grow is squash. No one knows why 'cuz it is the most appropriately named veggie in the garden. Maybe the whole world. Squash. Hard to cook so it doesn't look exactly how it sounds. 

But there is one way. Bake it into an egg pie. Now credit where due: this egg pie is inspired by the lovely young doctor who took us to that Eddie Izzard concert in the before times. I didn't have no grocery store pie crusts so I had to make do with my own but since I got one of them ee-murshun blenders that comes with a pigmy food processor I didn't have to fork the butter into the flour. So my messy-plates for the crust was just a cup and a quarter of flour, a stick of butter, a half teaspoon each of salt and sugar and about a quarter cup of real cold water. 

The butter and water gotta be real cold. Heck, you cain't even cube up the butter unless it is pretty near frozen and it don't hurt none to freeze it after you get it chopped up. Ya gotta put the flour, sugar and salt in first and run the machine to mix it all up. 

Then you add the butter and run it 'til the butter bits are small pea sized. After that you add the water and grind on it until you get a dough that holds together. Make sure you don't take it so far the butter bits completely disappear. If you do there ain't no fixin' it and you gotta start over. 

Now the easiest way to work the dough is to dump it onto a sheet of Sara's wrap and then you can roll up the edges, push down with your knuckles and bring the dough together. Run it with the rolling pin to make sure it is all together and fills the plastic. Dough done. EZPZ. 

Start

Finish

Hopefully you did this real quick and the dough is still cold but you still gotta put it in the fridge for a while to keep that butter cool. Don't make much sense but when you take it out you have to let it sit a few minutes to keep it from splittin' all around the edges. Roll it 'til you're sure it'll fit the pie pan.

Get it into the pie pan, make sure it is in the pan all way 'round. If you don't know how to use the rollin' pin to get a crust in a pan your momma didn't raise you right and there ain't no fixin' that either. 

Depending on the pan you can use the rollin' pin to trim off the excess. 

I use the trimmin's to make cookie cutter stars cuz I don't want to throw out that much dough. 

The filling's got two parts and a few ingredients. 

First is the veggie we're trying to get rid of in the first place. This is just sliced thin either with a knife or a vegetable peeler. Your choice. These strips are placed on edge from the outside spiraling in to the center. Mix and match squash with zucchini and eggplant if you got 'em. For the liquid chicken mix that makes this an egg pie you're gonna need eggs, cheese, fresh thyme and maybe a little cream or half and half. Put all this in a bowl and mix. 

You pour this over the veggies already in the pie, adorn with the stars and you're about ready to bake.

This thing has to bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes and you'd be wise to keep an eye on it after the 20 minute mark. Other than that, cook it until it is done. 

That's an egg pie and you cain't hardly tell there's squash in there. Now you might be thinkin' the yellow color comes from the squash. Think agin. That yellow comes from the egg yolks cuz these are backyard chickens and that's what you get from backyard chickens. The best thing is that even when you slice it you still cain't tell there is squash in there. The best way to eat squash is when you don't know you're eating squash.