Remember The 1970's?

Many don't, maybe most. It was when Sally Struthers was selling poverty and sympathy and we were constantly told about all the folks starving in America (by which they meant the U.S.A). Turns out much of that wasn't true and as the truth leaked out, folks might not be getting three squares but they weren't dying of starvation, the message changed to "food insecurity" where it has remained, though the meaning has become malleable. Malleability was key because as greater truths appeared the meaning was modified to suit the agenda and its narrative. Easy Peasy.

The 1970's were also the time of climate alarmists who were able to commandeer headlines and front pages of major magazines. With that much runway, and cautioning from experts who at that time were respected, one might think something would have been done. You might even point to CFC bans and reduction of the ozone holes. But the real problem is that these alarmists were warning of a coming ice age. This is despite the fact that other experts correctly pointed out that we were still in the current ice age. And it was coming to a close. Since then there has been a "expert 180". A pivot to global warming. After a few harsh winters where folks were freezing their collective arses off and paying mightily on global warming causing fossil fuels to boot, the "message" got lost. So we got an upgrade to climate change. This predated full control of media channels so legitimate voices pointed out that the climate has always been changing and would continue to do so. This forced a side step to climate change caused by human activity. 

And that is where we are today. 

The problem is that almost no one wants to do anything about it even though the answer is pretty obvious: reduce human activity. And the easiest way to do that is even more obvious.

There Is Nothing More Unequal...

...than the equal treatment of unequal people. So sayeth Thomas Jefferson (ed: didn't he get cancelled?) thereby making the irony more poignant as this egregious mistreatment has been occurring, for years, at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. For the past few years the educational storm troopers running this otherwise highly ranked school have been withholding notification of National Merit scholar awards from the students and their parents, denying them access to scholarship opportunities. 

Why have they done this?

All in the name of equity. And this can only happen if you become dogmatically devoted to the appearance that excellent students are no different to the struggling stragglers. First must look like worst and to avoid hurt feelings these "educators" will not publicly announce these accomplishments. 

And yet...

How do they make this work with athletics? Do they throw football or basketball games so as not hurt an opponents feelings? Hurt feelings in sports appear to be OK at TJ. Those accomplishments are celebrated. 

So this is just a race to the bottom for academics but not for sports. These "educators" could not be any more clear about their priorities.

Where Is The Power?

This city is out of [our] control. We now have parts of our community signing petitions to block the destruction of their neighborhoods by bureaucrats at city hall. And it seems these bureaucrats have the power:

"According to the residents, although several council members have told the homeowners that they support its removal, the trail remains in the proposed plans."

The citizenry's only tool is the ballot box: our chance to elect proper and faithful representation. Except it doesn't work because the city charter explicitly prevents our elected representatives from direct, operational action. Which is why we get diversionary blather:

“Public input is an important part of master planning for our parks...For the park at Vermack, we began listening to feedback more than a year ago, and we continued that process with Saturday’s open house. We take all comments to heart in working toward a final concept.”

Isn't that nice? Wonderful that a city bureaucrat would lower himself to listen to the little people. But you know what? That "trail" is not coming out of the plan and it is going to get built because there are bigger plans in the works. Far bigger than a parks "master plan."

Ask yourself "what can the mayor or council do?" Then go ask them. If they're honest you will learn that the last time anyone in this city had a vote that mattered it was when the referendum to form the city passed. Since then everything in this city is at the hands of city bureaucrats, a growing band of vandals.

And next year they will sneak in another referendum to raise taxes for a bond that is almost twice the original city budget used in sales pitches for the first referendum. Don't screw this one up.

Happy Holidays From The USPS

Did you hear? The Double-D tag team of Ossock and Warnoff are fixin' to get ready to start getting to the bottom of this. Holding your breath until you see that report? Didn't think so. 

Dare We Hope?

As mentioned earlier, cameras have been cropping up in some interesting places over the last several weeks. Now we have one located at the entrance of the No-Truck zone aimed northbound on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road. This one is situated at a point that the truck [driver] is committed to violating the law (which is never enforced-this IS Dunwoody). 

Even more encouraging is the new camera located on Chamblee-Dunwoody Road just past the intersection with Roberts Road. Being right beside the always ignored No Truck sign is a hopeful sign.

Dare we? Dare we actually hope this may result in someone enforcing the laws that the City Manager and his Police Chief refuse to enforce? 

Shining Path

Not THAT Shining Path, though there may be similarities. No, it is THIS Shining Path, the one hellbent on paving your slice of paradise. With the help of city bureaucrats of course. Oh, and the accelerant on this dumpster fire is your very own tax dollars. 

But the money isn't the real problem. The fact that we hired an army of bureaucrats but not a single one with any relevant domain expertise for this issue or frankly any other--that is the real problem. It is the fact they hire single issue, dogmatic theocrats who see your world through the pinhole vision of their manifest destiny. They built their power and authority around nothing more that "paths are good, more paths are great" and anyone who challenges them is a heretic...an infidel. Even if what they do causes harm to you and yours. You must worship their golden calf even if you have tablets of your own. And you are powerless to resist because they are in an unholy alliance with the aforementioned army of bureaucrats who will overwhelm you with shear numbers. 

This city was promoted on the promise that "we could do better ourselves." Do what exactly? Import outside agendas? Hire "better" (our just more?) consultants? We've certainly done the former but the latter has not served us well. 

This is not the happy path we were promised.

It Was Not Natural Causes

There has been a tragic death. The death of expertise. It wasn't murder...it did not come from without as some have suggested. It was suicide. Perhaps unintentional but suicide nonetheless. Some may suggest it was self-inflicted due to far too many deposits in the bank of bad habits, but there is also now a smoking gun [slinger].

Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Under a Freedom Of Information Act records request some members of the Fourth Estate, perhaps even some that should be unindicted co-conspirators, demanded the NIH (think: Fauci) release emails regarding the squashing of the Lab-Leak-Theory. And they did. But they were so heavily redacted as to be completely unreadable, bereft of any actual information. Litigation ensued and the courts bitch-slapped Fauci & Co. out of their cover-up and into compliance. The cat is now out of the bag.

As some had suspected and others had leaked through back-channels, the NIAID (the Fauci part of the NIH) had worked decisively to discredit mention of a Lab-Leak possibility with existential threats to any researcher who did not toe the party line of some untraceable natural selection creating the furin site. After all, NIAID (nee Fauci) has almost complete control of world-wide funding for virology research. This, unlike natural selection, is the most plausible explanation for respected, widely published researchers who had entertained the possibility of a Lab-Leak doing a very quick 180 degree turnaround. If Fauci were to merely hint your career is over, it would be. 

Apparently this iron-fisted control and its chilling effect on independent research has been in place for quite some time. So long that research is no longer independent and in fact is not even research, at least not scientific research. It is a herd of followers. Following a fascist dictator because he controls the money. And this is what has assassinated expertise and the laypersons' confidence in anything said by anyone who lays claim to expertise. Especially ones with the hubris to claim that disagreeing with them is disagreeing with science.

In that complete skepticism, that total disbelief, lies our only hope. Fauci will go, as he should, to join the likes of Madoff, Epstein and Ponzi in whatever dark hole history reserves for them. Lest he simply be replaced by a clone the system must change and it will not change from within...change will come because of the relentless, intense disdain that Fauci's actions, throughout his career, have inflicted on the public and ultimately the body politic. Now THAT is infectious.

Like A Good Neighbor...

...Big John's is there.

Properly Permitted And Displayed

Don't you wish other businesses in the Village respected the community as much as Big John's does?

Local Control? Not So Much

The city's proposal to rape the east side of Tilly Mill Road to install one of their nonsensical, misplaced lanes inspired by the Eisenhower Interstate highway system. Oh, yeah and pushed on communities far and wide via the "PATH Foundation"--other people, not from around here, using other people's money coming from god-knows-where and possibly more than just a little of ours.

How local is that? Not very.

Unsurprisingly some really, really local villagers, who are more than a little upset about outsiders paving a slice of their paradise, have come up with a plan that is acceptable to those who actually live there, is far less costly, improves traffic safety and lo and behold, is the epitome of "local control." 

Perhaps a bit too local, eh? Seems like folks at the city are very cool to the idea and are punting to the PATH Foundation for a rinse and repeat. One council-folk even stated that they would devise a plan that "the best interests of the city and its citizens." Unpack that. It is either casual political blather or a surprising dose of honesty. Note that first in line is "best interests of the city" which is the most important thing in this city and we can expect that what the city wants the city will get. So don't expect the plan originating from hyper-local-control to ever be put into place.

What's On A Website?

Have you used the city's website? Lately? Pretty slim pickings, eh?

If you need proof, cruise on over to the calendar, search for the upcoming special called meeting being held at Vintage Pizza and click on that link. Now muddle around to get to the agenda. Three items: Call To Order;  Dunwoody Village Planning Discussion; and Adjournment. For funsies click on the Planning Discussion for item details. Spoiler alert: all you will get is "Dunwoody Village Planning Discussion." Maybe if they cannot post a proper agenda and meeting materials they shouldn't be having this meeting. Not now. But, it would be worth attending just to see how much alcohol is involved in the "planning" that goes on in this city.

If that didn't steam your broccoli check out the PD request for public feed back. The online form is "unobvious" and once you get there it is far from a solicitation of your views and opinions. Instead it is limited to two questions: what are we doing great; and where could we improve? And before you submit you must agree to "Terms and Conditions" which you can read before you submit by clicking a link. Or can you? You will get a pop up window with this text: "By using the Social Pinpoint Mapping Tool you are taken to have accepted these Terms and Conditions set out below." Only one problem...there is nothing below. So does that mean there are NO T's and C's? Or are they just lying about their existence and hiding the details? At least the survey is operating as well as anything else in this city and definitely NOT at internet speed.

Paint The Town

Normally this would be followed by "red," but this is Dunwoody so...no. Apparently some folks think Dunwoody in its original condition, Williamsburg 4-4-and-a-door brickers, is far too red. So the bureaucrats down at city hall (NOT brick, NOT red) have decided to paint this town white. Now this is all based on a conversation overheard by a friend of TOD in a city hall restroom but you can rest assured this is much, much more than potty talk. They mean business. There is some serious "incentivizing" going down.

It started when Berkshire-Hathaway came to town. Out came the white wash. Faster than Tom's fence those red bricks were one shade of white. Next was the pizza joint that never was and now is urgent care. Did we really need yet another pizza joint in Da Ville? Really? Then right across the street we see a bank/dry-cleaner blanched into a Chipotle. A white one. Now, what once was a red brick Whopper shop is now, you guessed it, white washed. NFA is looking to build a larger place attached to the Chevron. Think it will be red brick to match the existing structure? Not a chance. It is far more likely that city bureaucrats will impose a requirement that the existing bricks get a heavy coat of white paint. 

These bureaucrats cannot be stopped and won't be happy until the brick chimney at the farmhouse is just as white as the house itself. This is scorched earth cultural genocide. And it has some folks really pissed off. Apparently the local BLM club, the very same folks who defaced the obelisk, are fixin' to git ready to do something because they consider this white washing to remove all remnants of color to be a "macro aggression." No one knows for certain what they have planned but everyone is pretty sure it will involve lawyers and lots of money. The city may well end up spending more on legal fees, compensation and court costs than the police chief has cost us with his high jinks.

Holiday Job Opportunity

 

Happy PATH...

...or maybe not so much.

First we gotta get our terms straight. Is this a "walking" path or a "multi-use" path. We need to know because these are radically different creatures. And, just to be very clear, these aren't what anyone who spends much time in the great out-of-doors would consider a path. These are paved lanes and in the case of the "multi-use" variant they can be as wide as an interstate lane.  

Apparently these things have become somewhat contentious. Some have suggested that one council-folk is showing favoritism when it comes to the location of Tilly Mill Road paving and the change to the other side of the road ups the cost by $700K. This particular council-folk denies the charge claiming to "have made a concerted effort to not discuss this issue at all with the other council members." So? Like council members or the mayor are in charge of this? Really? Have you not been paying ANY attention? The real question is whether or not there has been communications with the city bureaucrats (who are really in charge) that would influence this enormously expensive change. Any of those folk friends and family? 

It gets better. Another council-folk went on a 10 minute rant about the issue, even pushing up council comments to have a say. Lots to unpack. Council gets open-ending comment time? Hmmm...mere resident taxpayers only get a very limited chance to voice their concerns. So exactly who is serving who in this scenario? This must be the operational definition of "distinction" plastered on the side of city patrol vehicles. 

Both council-folk are dodging the real issue: who, EXACTLY WHO, and we need a name here, decided we simply must have these "paths" in the first place? And WHO can rescind this ill-conceived decision? And why aren't council-folk demanding this nonsense be stopped? And exactly who, staff bureaucrats, friends and family, whomever,  benefits from all this? Is this just more grant-grubbing nonsense?

One thing we know for sure: no one at city hall has the character or integrity to put these crazy things up for a vote. We, the voters, are only ever allowed one referendum, that ill-fated first one and we blew it.

Happy (Belated) Birthday

 

Mableton Maybe?

Voters in Mableton have approved the cityhood referendum and the voices from both sides are singing the same hymns as those who've come before. The pro choir have dropped the verse about a city police force which is interesting as this new city will be the largest in Cobb County. Perhaps they watched the dumpster fire that is the Dunwoody PD and decided to pass on that one. The anti choir is saying they'll be watching, especially on the pro's commitment to not raise taxes (a lie from the get-go), but everyone knows the proposed budgets were unadulterated bullshit and while they may not raise the millage rate for the first few years, taxes will increase. As will the general cost of living due to fees.

One thing does set "Mableton" apart: geographically it isn't what was commonly thought of as Mableton as the cartographers have sucked much of south Cobb into the newly imagined city. This includes areas which are at least under developed or ripe for re-purposing from aging industrial to something else. This could happen organically (think: artists' village) but before Mableton sends their second tax bill there will be a Mableton Developer Authority handing out tax breaks to boost the profits of developers. An argument might even be made that a five-on-two that will be dilapidated in 8-10 years actually is an improvement over brown-field that already IS dilapidated. Just doesn't fit the recycle-repurpose-reuse paradigm of the eco-minded. 

Mableton, we're gonna miss ya.

You Have To Wonder

Now that she is convicted and her extortion is a matter of public record you have to wonder how she pulled this off. How exactly did she coordinate this? How did she keep in touch? Maybe, and this is just a guess, but maybe she used her personal cell phone. Seems like one reason to avoid formal communication channels. Looks like it didn't work out so well. Maybe there IS hope for Dunwoody too.

If You Were Trying...

These four words are the beginning of a thought exercise, perhaps even a litmus test. This exercise ends with "what would you do differently?" Most of the fun is in the middle. For example, "If you were trying to create a failed government, what would you do differently?" You could ask this any day, any time at Dunwoody City hall of anyone you bump into. What makes it an exercise is that you'll never get an answer from anyone on the payroll. 

A more topical thought exercise is "if you were trying to convince the public this government is corrupt, what would you do differently?" This relates to the longstanding use of personal communication channels for official city business. This gives the impression of a culture of backroom dealings, and underhanded under the table negotiations where the well connected are, well, connected. And you aren't. And since it is all off the books you'll have a damn hard time even finding out what is really going down (spoiler alert: it ain't your taxes) and apparently the folks down at city hall really like it that way with the mayor enjoying the practice for a decade.

Well at least until they were called to task and then someone pointed out these clandestine, covert practices are uncommon and in many jurisdictions verboten. So now they're fixin' to git ready to start thinkin' 'bout doin' somethin'. Bless their little hearts. But you would be wise to NOT hold your breath waiting on this city to do the right thing or come close to doing anything the right way. Just look at their track record.

Park That Budget

Eleven Alive reported that the cost of the Olde Austin Park will be just shy of $10.5 million and the Vermack, on hold until they do a little political pas de deux, is estimated to be a little over $4.3 million. But...the newly minted budget allocates a mere $3.1 million in 2023, less than one fourth of the (enormous) cost of these parks. Bear in mind the little political side step known as "requesting public feedback" is a delaying ruse: you will never see any of this feedback in the raw, only filtered through "we're the government--trust us." The only thing this will affect is the price which will go up. 

Maybe Eleven Alive's numbers are wrong, but they would have to be off by an order of magnitude to align with the budget. What is more likely is the city is using the same financial software as DeKalb County schools and have their finances about as well in hand.

What IS A Budget Anyway?

Council passed a budget touted as "holding the line" on spending and services and yet this budget includes salary increases. Hmmm...now just what line were they holding? It also has burgeoned to completely consume the revenue bump from the millage rate increase and even then requires draining $2M from reserves. Companies across America are managing financial hardship with pay freezes, layoffs and restructuring. But this is government run by bureaucrats who will do anything to up the headcount and increase pay. What line really concerns them?

King John rose to the challenge, at least verbally referring to what he saw as "an ugly baby" and suggesting "the toddler picture doesn’t look like it’s going to be much better." He also noted that it is a structural deficit that has him concerned. From this we can conclude that the structural deficiencies are intentional and the only option that we (or council) will ever be presented with to alleviate them will be larger tax increases. KJ also questioned the bureaucratic priorities. It is about time someone did. 

“I’m just concerned that we are funding things that the public doesn’t want and not funding things that they do want. I’m particularly concerned that we have sidewalk projects in this budget when we have heard from citizens that they want to slow down on them.”

There are likely many more opportunities to inject some sanity into the lunacy of city hall. But that's not going to happen. A high ranking bureaucrat told council that the budget can, and will, be modified throughout the year. “This is something that will be modified 20 or more times throughout the course of the year.” Again, is there really a line being held? Do they write this budget on toilet paper? They may as well. At least then it would be good for something.

Finding More

 

And...It Is In A School Zone

Here's A Shocker

A local government, DeKalb County in this case, touts a commitment to transparency but when pressure was applied and the financial system was audited the report itself was so heavily redacted that you would have to change toner cartridges half way through printing it out. The excuses were offensive. Odious. Concerns of system vulnerability? Really? Isn't this a fairly recent acquisition from a highly respected company? Then they wanted to lessen the possibility of the operating system being sabotaged from without. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot! The relativism is a typical politician's ploy. Just how susceptible is this to outside attack? What are the attack vectors? How in the name of all sanity is information in a financial report PDF going to facilitate compromising firewalls, gaining access to an internal system and gaining admin control? And how much, exactly, precisely, measurably, do these redactions reduce specific vulnerabilities? And finally, when is someone going to fire the fool who came up with and/or approved these statements?

They are slinging bullshit and expecting the public to like it. So far it seems to be working.

Tough Going

The spinmeisters at city hall are aflutter. That said, most of what they say is just because they fell like they have to say something. They've proposed a budget with a baked-in deficit despite an over 10% increase in the millage rate suggesting that yet-another millage increase is in their plans. 

Well, that one is obvious as they decided that a mid-term election year with guaranteed high turnout is not the best time to present the voters with a referendum that perforce includes a millage rate bump. At least if you want to get your hands on that money. And they do. So they'll sneak that one in during vacay season in '23. 

Since there seems no oversight or other control at city hall to rein in the bureaucrats and their addiction to budget bloat we can expect millage rate increases on an ongoing basis. Not surprising since we've had nothing but tax increases since this city was founded.

Go Set A Watchman

No. This is not about that book. But since we're on the topic, if ever there was proof that Truman Capote wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, it is Watchman. This actually about some interesting cameras cropping up in our community.

This one is just (barely) outside a school zone and sports a wired connection to nearby telecom service cabinet. Police departments, who insist on NOT doing their own damn job have been pressuring the school system to install, or rather contract with a for-profit firm, to install and operate traffic enforcement systems. This includes the Dunwoody Chair Force.

This invokes an interesting thought exercise to answer a pressing question: since the city refuses to enforce laws where can we, the mere citizens turn? Well, decades ago public schools charted a course away from education towards a land of expansive wrap-around services. The greater community, including Chair Forces, have not only supported this expansion they are now demanding it. Why shouldn't we? We already know that schools have a police force. Now we know they can levy fines outside the school grounds. Or they can at least contract it out. So, here's the thought: what other laws can they enforce and what other fines can they levy? How about this: maybe these cameras can be used to track illegal truck traffic through the school/no-truck zones and issue some hefty fines to egregious offenders. Like Coke, who sends multiple trucks each day into violation. Makes you want to drink Pepsi or go all Birkenstock against all manner of fuzzy brown sugar water. 

So maybe we should just agree with city hall and give up on the city ever doing their job and direct our efforts to the school system. They'll at least try. 

The Truth Slowly Oozes Out

The pandemic has been over for some time (it officially ended when Costco dropped Old Fart Power Hour) and the truth is finally seeing the light of day. Part of the reason is that media outlets' death grip preventing speaking the truth has begun to backfire and part of the reason is that truth can only be repressed for a limited time. Even if it bypasses traditional information channels, truth will find a way. 

And so it is with mRNA vaccines. Much is exposed in a recent, two-part publication in the Journal of Insulin Resistance: "Curing the pandemic of misinformation on Covid-19 mRNA vaccines through real evidence-based medicine"

• Part 1: https://insulinresistance.org/index.php/jir/article/view/71 giving a better understanding of the true benefits and potential harms of the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) coronavirus disease (COVID) vaccines. 
• Part 2: https://insulinresistance.org/index.php/jir/article/view/72 identifies the major root causes of the public health failures and provides recommendations to address these failures. 

This is a terrifying read. A story of greed, collusion, power, oppression and the subversion of nearly all aspects of health care. People were needlessly harmed. People died who shouldn't have. Who otherwise wouldn't have.

If you read this (and you should, please don't wait for the movie) you will see how organizations we are supposed to trust betrayed that trust, how that betrayal was perpetrated and the harm done to trusting souls. The bad actors run the gamut from research institutes, to governments and their agencies, huge pharmaceutical companies and non-profits with vested interests in the financial outcomes of these companies. And then there is media, legacy and new age. In the handling of the pandemic all of these entities participated in efforts resulting in the net loss of human lives. And they may well have known this cost existed. It should be noted that unlike what has been standard practice with other vaccines Pfizer have not published the raw data behind the trials used to obtain FDA authorization and approval for independent third party evaluation. 

When you read this, you will find it hard to believe that "long COVID" is anything more than a (possibly well known) consequence of mRNA vaccines needlessly foisted on an unsuspecting public. 

Autopsy Report For Higher Ed

A recent article in the Communications of the ACM regarding participation bias in CS education research boldly exposed why higher education is dead. It has to do with the grade distribution of a CS class at a major public university:

This Is The "Dumb Bell Curve"

This is not an atypical distribution for college classes in America and has been since the shift from the "attrition" model where poor performers go elsewhere to the "developmental" model where nearly every student accepted is ultimately awarded a degree. It should come as no surprise that almost no students are assessed as average with a cluster of non-performers at the bottom and everyone else pushed to the top. This situation is much worse than wholesale shifting upward of grades towards A's and B's (the average score shown above is a B- with a median of a B+) and away from C's - this is happening as non-academic factors are being heavily weighted in admissions. High grades are being awarded to students who not only could not have passed under the previous model but who would not have been assessed as college-ready in the first place. And this graph was presented with no apologies, with no shame. This is the way it is. 

Colleges and universities are no longer in the education business, they are just in business. They are increasingly open about NOT educating our children.  

In Time For Halloween

 

Flying Spider

When All Else Fails...

...act like a petulant child.

Compelling Intellectual Argument?

Mystery Solved

You know all those dump trucks barreling through the Village and blasting past Austin? No? Really? What, are you on city council?

Turns out this isn't just the Dunwoody PD and City Manager's refusal to enforce our laws, it is quite a bit worse. These trucks were hauling away asphalt from road milling prior to repaving. That's right. City Hall not only refuses to enforce traffic laws they are actually paying to have them violated. 

Only in Dunwoody.

What Do You Envision...

...when you hear the word "path?"

Is it something like this?

Looks a LOT like a path, right?

Do YOU call THIS a "path?"

You have to wonder how the word "path" can be associated with the two vastly different things. In today's world the second is called a "path" as a way of "managing perceptions." In the '50's and '60's it was called marketing. In the first third of the 20th century it was propaganda. In the late 19th century it was called by what it actually is: a lie. 

You've got to wonder why the bureaucrats running this city are so hell-bent on ramming this down the community's throat, especially in the face of vocal opposition. Maybe it is grant-grubbing or friends&family, or both. In any event they will claim that these highways-by-the-road are highly sought after by members of the community. Only one problem: they cannot back that "assertion" up with actual factual data. 

These bureaucrats are using the not-so-local-control government paradigm of "trust us, we're the government."

Do you trust them?

Remember When...

...there was a Dunwoody Village Overlay that protected the character developed organically by the community? Remember when that overlay was actually enforced. Remember when ticky-tacky visual offenders were prosecuted?

The Five Tackiest Were Once Prohibited

If you remember all that then you've been around more than a decade, because those things only happened before there was a City of Dunwoody. As it has turned out that referendum was not about local control. It was about a total sell-out. 

Everything's Better With...

...BOOZE!

Or so say the bureaucrats down at city hall. Apparently they are teeing up booze changes to let more "personal service and entertainment providers" get a special license so their patrons can be serviced and/or entertained and get a buzz on. To quote the Blue Bag Rag this would cover businesses that offer "an activity or experience while allowing patrons to drink, such as with 'Paint and Sip' and axe-throwing establishments."

Here's some thought exercises.

Does this mean that 7 Massage could offer some "happy time" in the middle? Would they source their alcohol from Moondog, just a short schlep away?

Suppose someone opened a gun club and shooting range. Would they be able to offer shots of whiskey with shots at targets? Why not? Probably as safe as axe throwing. And they could call it "Shooters" with employees that look too good to work at Hooters. Who doesn't want a smart woman holding a real warm gun?

And what about that most au naturel entertainment: dancing. With poles. Wouldn't this fit right in with city bureaucrats' vision for Dunwoody? Or will they inject some thoughtless (and probably unconstitutional) irony into the situation by making this the only type of entertainment business that cannot obtain a license? No "Dance and Drink" in daVille.

Once again city hall has proven that this is NOT a "Smart City."

Any Day, Most Of The Day

Want to see what is rotten in the state of Dunwoody? It is really very, very easy to do. Just go to the intersection of Roberts and Chamblee-Dunwoody, stand right next to one of the "No Trucks" signs that clearly indicate that trucks are not allowed on either of these roads north of that intersection. And truck drivers don't even need to be literate because these signs include the comic book version.

And just what will you see while you're standing there? For years now you'd see all manner of illegal truck traffic making deliveries to daVille. But now? You'll see convoys of illegal dump truck traffic. There are many times you will have three or more of these trucks within view. And this starts before 7AM and continues pretty much all day. 

And they're not moving slowly. They barrel past Austin and blast through the village. In fact they're not going to the village proper they're actually going much closer to I-285 than to the Northridge GA-400 exit. That's right. They could exit from I-285, a closer exit and be legal. But they don't.

If you stand there long enough you might even notice a Dunwoody Patrol SUV. What you will not see, not ever, is that police officer  enforcing the law and ticketing these offenders. They've been told to stand down.

Not all that long ago Dunwoody's Top Cop sent a complaining resident an email (so it is discoverable) basically saying there were not enough violations to justify the cost of enforcement. So much to unpack, but let's revisit. Suppose a patrol officer has a W-2 salary of  $52K per year and the burdened cost is three times that. So the city is paying $3K per week for a patrol officer. That's $600 per day. Now if you stand at that intersectiton for just an hour you will see 15-20 violations and if only $100 per violation our Top Cop is making a hefty profit. Maybe enough to pay for another junket to the Holy Land. 

So this isn't about the money. This is about a city hall filled with bureaucrats who disrespect the residents and their own ordinances. They only care about one thing: the developers and business to whom they are beholden.

There Oughta Be A Law

Maybe there is. Maybe it's a Federal Law. Maybe that's why no one at city hall is going to do a damn thing about this.

Nah...even if this city had such a law they wouldn't it enforce it. They don't enforce any of the others.

But Wait...

...there's more

Makes Sense

Not much does in daVille, but this does.

Well Marked Trip Points

Now, you know the city didn't mark these, right? So just who would? Well...glad you asked.

Business Is Already Good Enough

In Season

Lofton To Head Dunwoody PD

Kenny Lofton, having proven creds, will be taking over the Top Cop job at the Dunwoody PD. While Truth Botcher has no comment because hiring is a personnel matter the word has hit the streets. Looks like he will fit right in.

Going Postal

The USPS has a spot of a problem. Seems checks have gone missing and some have been cashed...just not by the intended recipient.  And this is a localized issue. All these checks have gone through the Dunwoody Post Office. 

One explanation, a very weak one, is that the blue bins out front had been compromised. One might argue, some do, that outside forces have pulled mail out of the bins. Problem with that is some of these missing checks were headed to local residences. These never see the inside of those blue bins. The only thing these missing checks have in common is that they spent some time inside the Post Office itself.

But rest assured the USPS is on top of things and investigations will continue until the public quits asking questions.

Adult Supervision

It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry. The city has done it again. Implicitly acknowledging that city hall is lacking in core competencies council has unanimously voted to spend $117,500 on consultants to tell the city manager what to do about dysfunctional police command. Seems the city's army of bureaucrats can't get their heads around this so hiring someone with the sense god gave a pigeon to "sit" on a statue makes a silly, Dunwoody kinda sense. 

But the real kick in the crotch is where they got the money. Turns out unassigned monies from the general fund. WTF! Is this a bucket of mad money? And if they have money lying around why, why, did they have up the millage rate on top of the never ending tax increases? WTF are we really paying for? Bureaucrats who self-assess their abilities at levels that require expensive outside help? And they told us this city was going to be fiscally prudent and well managed. What. A. Whopper.

Blink And You've Missed It

But...they're back at it again. It seems a never-ending pas de deux between Grubb[ers] and the city with Grubb always in the lead. First it was a 1200 unit MDU then after DHA pushback all the apartments went poof. Suddenly nothing but condos. But all those parking spaces, lots and decks stayed, because, well, the brief era of Transit Oriented Development is dead. Must not have been enough Federal subsidies pouring down that rat hole.

Now Grubb[er] is back and so are those apartments. Somehow this is not seen by the city as a clear indication of untrustworthiness-perhaps the eye does not see itself. Perhaps it does. In any event, about all the city has issue with is sidewalk and buffer reductions. And what gives the developer hope? Well if past behavior is any indicator the city will rubber stamp the request just as they did for the condo development on Dunwoody Village Parkway. 

Looks like we're going to be getting some new, but soon to be trashy, apartments. Dunwoody Yes!

Common Sense Gun Control

When have you heard that before? Well you hear right after any mass shooting. And you hear it from the left and their media toadies. What they propose is neither common nor sensible. Nor effective. And usually not constitutional. But none of that matters to them. They have their agenda. Take guns away from law abiding folks; defend the criminals; de-fund the police. They have their narrative. Guns kill. They have their media megaphones. You know the ones. And they do pretty well. Until they don't.

Fairly recently the left have been confounded by two cases of lunatic shootings. First was the Robb Elementary School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Normally school shootings get them fired up but this one came with some baggage: the less than responsive first responders. The are the government employees the left are saying, by disarming everyone else but the lunatic shooters, will be there to protect us. Unless they've been de-funded or maybe just demoralized. By the left. Looking for the common sense in this? Look real hard. Take your time. It isn't there.

Things went pear-shaped with the Greenwood Park Mall Shooting in Indiana. Not a good day for gun-grabbers who consistently bleat that Good Guys with Guns are a really, really Bad Idea. Since the Bruen decision the left have exploded every time a state adopts Constitutional Carry as Indiana had a couple of weeks before the Mall Shooting. And guess what? Some folks were carrying. At the mall. At the time of the shooting. One, a young Mr. Elisjsha Dicken, took action. He engaged and advanced on the lunatic shooter while directing other shoppers to flee in the opposite direction. He fired ten shots, landing eight, starting from thirty to forty yards out. So who is this guy? Former military, right? No, not at all. Well then he must be on a police force. Again, no. Alec Baldwin's nephew? Too soon? Turns out he's a regular bloke who defended his girlfriend, himself and those around them. With a gun. A Good Guy with a gun. The man the left hates more than any other.

For the leftist agenda the Mall Shooting is far, far worse than the school shooting. Dicken pulled this off without any formal training. He did not have to please faceless bureaucrats to justify his own protection. No a priori, recurring fines to exercise that right. Absolutely everything the left has done to redact the Second Amendment was confronted head on and the left lost. They ended up with nothing but blathering about proper use of "Good Samaritan."

Full disclosure: there were (at least) two Good Guys with a gun at the mall that day but one was shot and killed before he could take action. Were there not two (or more) Good Guys with guns the carnage could have been horrific. Common Sense demands more Good Guys with guns, not fewer.

Call A Cop

Reports are indicating a shortage of badge-wielders in the North Atlanta suburbs (it doesn't matter what they say to get their hands on grant money, Dunwoody is a suburb) and Dunwoody is in direct competition with some, well, shall we say, better managed  cities. The irony of The Smart City being out-smarted is lost on few and surprises no one.

Explanations and excuses abound but as is governments' wont it becomes just another excuse to raise taxes. As you're probably aware Dunwoody has never seen a year without a tax increase and has recently rubbed salt with a millage increase justified by, you guessed it, police un-de-funding. While some funds are directed towards salary increases (for the entire army of bureaucrats) they did not do the right thing: dedicate all revenue garnered by this millage increase towards PD spending. Even if they did they would simply claw back any, perhaps all, of the revenue currently supporting public safety. 

Earlier this year Billy-Bob Grogan trotted on-trend accusations against the de-fund the police movement and there is some merit to that. But he's also revealed what is likely the primary reason: they are leaving for other jobs, other careers. And why wouldn't they? Billy-Bob, with the unwavering support of his boss, has created a toxic work environment, a captive porno den that would make Larry Flynt jealous. The kind of work environment that spawns award-winning whistle-blowers. 

Honestly, the problem is not difficult unless you make it unnecessarily so with lack of honesty. The city should have asked and answered, directly, completely and truthfully, a very simple question: what problem are you trying to solve? If the problem is under achievement of the primary commitment made when the city was formed, public safety, then more money may be in order. Determine exactly what that number is and figure where to get that money. The next step is to calculate, in the current budget, how many mils are dedicated to public safety. That number is the baseline and any further millage increase would be added to that to bring public safety spending to the level necessary to meet the original commitment. Obviously an enhancement would be to cut the enormous fat from the bloated bureaucracy, freeing funds for rank and file members of the police force because they really should be paid a living wage.

Pretty Sneaky

The local Developers' Authority recently pulled a fast one. According to the latest Blue Bag Rag they cancelled their regular meeting only to call a "special" meeting within a week. Lot of notice, that. 

You know...by the time you smell something fishy it IS time to throw the whole thing out.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong...

...with uncontrolled growth of government?

We're already seeing metastatic growth of government on the local scale with Dunwoody devouring all available resources. But if we want to know where this is headed we need but look a mere 600 miles north and see what the end-game of out of control growth in an administrative state looks like. And how it works. And how it self-corrupts.

Just one example of DC rot: incestuous corruption at the National Institutes of Health. That's right. Administrative bureaucrats totally out of control. We have a minor role-player on a research paper, a paper now probably fraudulent, intentionally, who is now a bureaucrat handing out millions of our dollars to a primary author of this paper. And this paper, a result of previous government funding has resulted in enormous public harm--exactly not what this alphabet-bureaucracy was supposed to do--and now this out of control aristocracy of bureaucrats is totally open-loop, continuing, growing this human cancer. 

This same cancer runs throughout any government that is left unchecked by those it is supposed to serve. Including Dunwoody. Do your job voters.

Happy Trails To You...

Or, maybe not so happy. According to a recent edition of the Blue Bag Rag, it seems there a few unhappy residents out there. Seems the city so proud of their former glory as Tree City USA, is now in the business of clear cutting vast swaths. Right in front of the restless natives' front doors. You see, this city has, since inception, been hell-bent on paving paradise by putting in these concrete highway lanes and call them "multi-purpose trails." 

The ones they're fixin' to git ready to start puttin' in real soon now are exactly well known, well designed or well planned. But one thing is for certain: they have their Friends and Family construction companies lined up to get their hands on some lucrative government money. And, they cannot even tell the folks directly affected by this arbor-geddon exactly what lies in store. Why? Because it isn't important. Neither are the families impacted. All that counts is shoveling money to their faves. 

You might think this would have council pulling back on the reins, maybe even ditching the plan to take the city into debt for even more freeway lanes that just piss voters off. Nope. You'd be wrong-thinking. They're still planning on plunging the city into debt, scheduling a bond referendum (and associated millage rate hike) for 2023. Look for that to happen during vacation season so as to marginalize as many voters as possible. 

That's the way this city rolls.

Just Wait Til Next Year

To bond or not to bond? That is a false choice. The correct answer is: just wait until next year. 

There are lots of reasons for the delay. A recent millage hike has drawn unwanted scrutiny and unwelcome questions. After all this city has had a tax increase[1] every year of its existence which has been downplayed but now it it is no longer a back-door increase. And no one had the stones to "shut the front door." Another problem is the mid-term elections. When the city (or Citizens For Dunwoody/Dunwoody Yes!) want something passed that is unpalatable to the thinking voters they schedule the vote in an off year at an unusual time. Think: round about the Fourth of July. Worked the first time. 

Heneghan nailed it with “A November [2022] referendum for me is off the table.” Lautenbacher confirmed the delay“We need to march down the road so we’re ready.” Odd man out, Joe Seconder voiced surprise that a committee of three would make these decisions unilaterally rather than having the full council weigh in. That's because success requires this thing be downplayed until the ambush vote next year.

What We Got Here...

...is a failure to communicate. Or...so says an audit of DeKalb County public schools. Seems a couple of years ago DCSD decided to install a new financial system, something they are in sore need of and should really learn how to use. Of course no software system can fix stupid especially when you have no clue about anything related to finances. Remember that these are the fools who refused to adopt the standard accrual method preferring instead to keep cash in brown paper bags. No one, absolutely no one, was surprised they never reported financials on time. 

Setting up this software went the way it ALWAYS goes: off the rails. But in the real world, where things have to work or you go out of business, you watch this process very closely and when things go pear-shaped you do something immediately. But these folks are on the public dole, responsible to no one and accountable for nothing. So here's the real shocker: they didn't even know the train was off the tracks until someone else told them.

The Ga DoE put them on a tight lease. Sort of. They have 120 days to come up with a recovery plan with unanimous board approval...but...they have already indicated they have no intention of complying. Board member Dr. Joyce Morley indicated her willingness to delay that process, asking, “What if we don’t all agree?” Dr. J seems to be setting the stage willful noncompliance. Others on the board seem less rebellious but equally out of touch with reality. Dierdre Pierce offered up: “I just want to thank you for getting us from late and high risk to on time and moderate risk.” Is this because they're running a system built on social promotions and participation awards where any improvement no matter how unacceptable the accomplishment is cause to cheer. Anything but abject failure gets an A for participation. Allyson Gevertz rosily cheer leads with “Just in my years on the board we have come light-years on the audit” riffing on Deirdre Pierce's “I just want to thank you for getting us from late and high risk to on time and moderate risk.” 

Even though educators are supposed to be society's great communicators, it is unsurprising this project has gone open loop. What continues to surprise is how voters keep approving eSPLOSTs. 

No Place To Hide

As predicted council voted to increase the millage rate and now there is no political cover. In the past council and mayors excused their consistent, non-stop tax increases by saying "we did not increase the tax...rate." Ahem. Now they have blown that cover and the mayor, as required by city bureaucrats, is out front trying to sugarcoat their stupidity. Isn't going well. Mostly because of dearth of data and the enormous distance between truth and what is said. 

The first thing greased out is the property value freeze. OK. Want to back that up with some data? You DO have an overpaid army of bureaucrats at city hall, maybe one could pull together a quick analysis of residential property (developers' property pays no taxes) showing percentage of residential digest vs years of ownership. Because, as you know homes mark-to-market whenever they sell so the excuse of frozen assessments should be easily backed by data, right? Unless the data actually tell a completely different story. What do these data say, mayor? Are you suggesting there have been no houses sold in Dunwoody in the last 11-12 years? Because that's what it sounds like.

Next excuse? Police. No kidding, really? The Dunwoody PD. This is where it goes from "you can't handle the data" to "you're too stupid to not believe this." Scary thing is, she may be right. But by stepping far outside the realm of credibility with "public safety is City Council’s primary responsibility" nothing that follows can be believed. If this had one iota of truth to it the mayor and council would look to the south, to Atlanta, to see how they are handling force shortages: community policing and quality of life enforcement. Want to give that a try, mayor? Want to address the real, morale crushing issues with PD command? Didn't think so.

Or how about you do what every business in the USA is doing right now: right-size your workforce; focus on your core charter; put a stop to the metastatic bureaucratic bloat; and stop giving tax handouts to developers. Get. Your. House. In. Order. Or is that beyond your ability? If so, step aside and let someone more capable take the reins.

Is The Party Over?

As in: turn off the lights, the party's over. 

Seems the city wants to ban brightey whiteys...as in outdoor lights. What makes this of any interest at all is the wishey-washey city is the most egregious offender having demanded that Ga Power replace existing argon street lamps with LED lamps. LED lamps that are now in violation of city code. And did we save money? Hell to the no! Why? Because Ga Power collects a capital recovery fee when they replace perfectly serviceable lamps with the trend du jour. Do these new shiny lamps work better? Nope. Turns out they cast a light that is brighter, but it is also less broad than those they replace leaving dark regions between the lights. You may be asking: "what were they thinking?" Consider this: they weren't, but that is the best they can do. Bless their hearts.

 At this point it isn't clear what they plan to do if you've got brightey whiteys indoors that shine through your windows. They're not accustomed to thinking ahead. They're playing checkers when we pay enough to get chess grand master level of thought.

Floor Wax? Dessert Topping? Just Another Scam?

 

They're calling it a nursing "facility," because Pill Hill is just toooo far away. Well, that's ONE thing they're calling it. But they're downplaying the fact that it really is just a sleight of hand to inject even more high density housing into a city founded on the promise that such development projects would never see the light of day. 

Doesn't really matter what they call it. It will be built on a foundation of broken promises.

[Un]Real Estate Moguls

Shortly after getting bitch-slapped over trying to steal four acres of land from a local mega-church Dunwoody's bureaucrats are back in the game. Just a small walk away from the church's property is a lot Dunwoody picked up back in the day in order to pull Wieland's financial ass out of the fire during the real estate meltdown. One of their first Friends and Family successes. 

Then seeming contradictions set in. 

The map shown in the official notice says 4400 N. Shallowford whilst the text claims it is 4400 Dunwoody Park. Google maps doesn't result in the highlighted lot for either address and DeKalb has no map or GIS data for that parcel ID. It does show "Urban Redevelopment Agency" as the owner of record which is more than odd as there has never, not once, not ever been any structures or other development on this property. Only in the twisted minds of city bureaucrats can you have "urban redevelopment" in the suburbs on property that has yet to be developed. Semantic gymnastics of idiotic proportions. 

It gets better. 

They want offers in excess of $1M for a property is significantly smaller than the church property they low-balled under threat of confiscation by way of imminent domain. To be fair, the county lists a value of more than $1.2M. To be honest, they could have done due diligence on the church property and come away with a rejected, arms-length offer of close to $5M. Maybe they are not the real estate moguls they think they are. Maybe there are other things going on.

Dunwoody PD Visits Italy

Was Espinoza The Tour Guide?

Kinda Smarmy

So the city decided to throw the code book out the window by installing "art" in the windows of businesses in daVille in clear violation of city code. Now one might say they are following the larger blue trend of rules being "for thee, not for me" except they never enforce any rule that might be an inconvenience to Friends and Family. No consideration for residents whatsoever. At least one elected official justified these violations on the grounds that it served as an opportunity to add some art to the Village [bullshit], support local businesses [the real and only reason] and showcase student talent [really?]. This came up when a resident lodged a complaint which was challenged by the same official who questioned whether they had actually measured the windows [and coverage] or were they just presuming it was in violation? Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Exactly who is supposed to be doing this measuring? Would that not be the city? Well, it would in any other city but in Dunwoody no rules apply when you're "supporting local businesses." And exactly how many of these businesses are owned by folks who live in Dunwoody? 

Ultimately the Truth Butcher was forced to fess up to the blatant violation and the offending signage was removed. But why is it a constant battle to get this city to do the right thing?

Misleading Headlines

A (fairly) recent dropping of the Blue Bag Rag sported an above-the-fold main headline of "Police get aid in behavioral health." Sounds great, right? Anyone who has been paying the least bit of attention knows that Police Command is a dumpster fire that seems fueled by an eternal flame. Everyone knows they need some professional help when it comes to behavioral (and mental) health. 

But this is not what is happening.

Rather than spend some money to put a lid on this raging fire and perhaps even slow the exponential rate of increase in legal and compensatory payouts, this money is to be spent because folks at city hall have determined real people in the Smart City need these services. Or, perhaps, this is just another budget and headcount expansion. These is another factor that seems rampant within the bureaucratic mindset: there is no such thing as community policing and this adds to the growing list of reasons that a cop will not respond.

Is that a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

All Or Nothing

We live in a world where stupid knows no bounds and suffers no consequences. The current administration attempted to throw a sizable bone to the yellow-dog faithful only to have it soundly rejected. Apparently a $10K student loan forgiveness was totally unacceptable: seems like it is all or nothing as far as the overly entitled are concerned. These arithmetically challenged, intentionally ignorant "scholars" seem trapped in a never-ending pity-party of their own making. 

Well, mostly of their own making.

Even taking the "all" option will not address the fundamental problem and we'll only see wave after wave of the over-leveraged entitled. Like immigration amnesty without immigration reform this is kicking the can a very small ways down the road. Even public schools are over-commercialized expanding not the actual education services, hence the worthless degrees, but administrative overhead. This happened when the industry embraced the Oprah philosophy, everybody gets a degree, and to accomplish this a transition was made from an attrition model to a developmental model. This requires enormous expansion of wrap-around services, remediation (explicit or embedded), extended stays (outside of service academies graduating in six years is considered success) and exponential expansion of non-educational staff and administrators. Oh, yeah, and budget. 

Because when clear the mental fog you'll see that this is all about the money, not learning, not even credentials...just money. And until we, as a society, address these fundamental failures we will have nothing but a pipeline of the indebted ignorant.

City Escape

The East Cobb vote went down in flames with opponents touting the inevitable increase in taxes, perhaps having watched what has happened in Dunwoody. They also pointed out how the process seemed rushed, it was, making it clear something wicked this way comes. Perhaps they even read the charter and noted that their "representatives' would be legally prohibited from any activity that even looked like representation. 

Proponents pulled their social media presence like a turtle pulling back into its shell but make no mistake they will be back. There is serious power and money behind these cityhood movements and they will get what they want.

Being Kind

No. No. Not TOD. The author of a recent letter to the Blue Bag Rag regarding a tax hike. How was this author being kind? Because the author was actually referring to city bureaucrats' plan to increase the millage rate, because the fact is that the City of Dunwoody has increased taxes each and every year of its existence. Once and only once did anyone on city council dare to even suggest adjusting millage rates down to ensure a revenue neutral (no increase) tax level. That went over like a lead balloon and has never been mentioned since. 

But we need more residents, more voters like that letter writer who have had it with a bunch of unelected bureaucrats running amok.

Doubling Up

City bureaucrats are doubling up on financial pain inflicted on residents. They're going to take the city into debt AND increase the millage rate. Now the debt, bonds, is allegedly for "unfunded capital projects" but no one knows where these projects came from or why they are on any lists and are clearly out of budget. All we know is these did not come from the community. The millage rate increase is just another insult added to the injury of year-after-year tax increases. Each and every year. 

At this time these are being presented as "proposals" but make no mistake for these bureaucrats it is a done deal.

Butcher Eminent Evil

Looks like the unelected bureaucrats down at city hall have gone a bridge too far in trying to steal property from First Baptist Atlanta.  The Truth Butcher claimed the hasty retreat came “after First Baptist Church Atlanta shared new information about the history and plans for this property that had not been communicated to the city previously.”

We're gonna call BULLSHIT on that. It is their job to know what is going on in this community, what residents find important and the historical importance of all elements of Dunwoody, not just the things important to their developer overlords. God knows they have a large enough "chair force" to have someone stay on top of this and it is certainly the mayor and council's job to make sure this happens. That is a job that is not getting done. Perhaps even worse is what spewed out of the mayor's mouth: “The point of posting the notice [about eminent domain] on the property was to foster communications. Clearly this process worked because we heard from a lot of people.” WTF? Is she clueless or does she just think everyone in the "Smart City" is stupid? They were required by law to post the notice (or they wouldn't have) and what brought out the protests was a call from the altar. Period. Hard stop. Worst of all is the firmly held belief at city hall that if you do not, proactively, inform them of your history, the history of your property and your plans for same, then they'll just come steal it if it suits their mood. Is it city hall or a den of thieves?

Let's hope that our "city leaders" recognize this is not a one-off little fuquey uppey and that the rot at city hall is extensive and requires a hell of a lot more than virtue-signalling on social media.

Eminent Evil

Skip To 1:22:31

 

Less than a dime on the dollar. That's what our unelected city bureaucrats think they can get away with. They're offering under $400K on property that has an existing, arms-length, valid offer of just under $5M.Given the overtly cozy relationship these bureaucrats have with developers it is impossible to believe they didn't already know that, so this is premeditated. (Would anyone be surprised if they took it, had a change of mind and handed it over to a developer?) Given this is not anywhere on the approved Parks Master Plan, there is certainly some other plan at work. Something hidden. Something dark. Something rooted in greed. Something evil.

We gone from organized malfeasance to institutional evil.

You Can Never Go Home...

Local media is in a dry spell and have been re-posting (sometimes behind a pay wall) a story about "P-Diddy's abandoned Dunwoody mansion." To paraphrase Eddie Izzard, wir haben einen kleinen problemo. Turns out this property is in SANDY SPRINGS! If it were in Dunwoody, there would be no question about why it was abandoned.

Rush Job? Snow Job?

It could be both. It seems the city's bureaucrats have managed to get the attention of some in the public. It is negative attention, but when you're narcissists even negative attention is better than none.

The bureaucrat's goal is the same as always: get their greedy hands on more money. In this case by way of bonds. That we will pay off, because developments don't pay taxes. So their snow job starts with a long list of projects that they (rather arrogantly) say are merely proposed and may not be the final projects. Does anyone really think this is anything other than bait-and-switch? And yet it appears they have, out of thin air, generated a laundry list of "unfunded capital projects." WTF? These un-elected bureaucrats have created their own "need for bonds" by making up projects? And where did the ideas for these originate? Maybe with well-connected Friends and Family.

Is anyone out there finally realizing that this city is operating from the DCSD playbook and doing about as well?

The Most Important Name

The DeKalb County School System is ditching over fifty-eight hundred diplomas because they don't like the way they're printed. Not that the printer screwed up. No typo-s were found. What they don't like is the name on them. These "bad" diplomas have the name of the superintendent they just fired and there is no abiding that. 

This is so stupid it's funny.

They are still paying the super they fired and lawyers are tee-ed up to make sure they pay even more. And all they had to do is set a very, very slightly later termination date to save the costs of binning these and the ensuing rush job for replacements. Simple arithmetic suggests there should have been about twelve hundred more so maybe the schools' inability to retain and educate has saved some money. But sometimes you get the feeling board members are playing checkers when they should be playing chess.

When all is said and done isn't the most important name on any diploma that of the student who earned it?

Read The Charter

The final press for the City of East Cobb has gone full court with the AJC dutifully parroting proponents chatter about "local control." They even go so far as to drag out the stats on how many voters are represented by a County Commissioner vs the number represented by a member of city council suggesting smaller is better. 

At best this is disingenuous, perhaps rising to the level of now verboten disinformation. Paul Harvey might point out that commissioners have more responsibilities and capabilities and city council (and the mayor) will be legally prohibited from doing much beyond ribbon cuttings. Imagine you could vote for the head coach of your favorite team. Would you give that up so you could only vote for one of the cheerleaders? 

That is what this city charter, like all those coming before, does. Give it a read.

Happens All The Time

Seems there was a bit of an altercation in Dunwoody Village with a belligerent brandishing a firearm while an employee escorted her out of the premises. In and of itself that might be a little bit frightening, but what is even more concerning is the reaction of the employee. Seems they didn't want to file a report. Why? "Because things like this happen all the time."

What does that say about the efficacy of law enforcement? Maybe if we had community policing we'd have a community where these things don't happen all the time.

Defunct The Police

In a recent letter to the editor the writer pushed back against the movement to force schools to install traffic enforcement cameras in school zones. His point, well made, was that turning this function over to private profiteers would result in a company putting profits over safety. This touches on the point that it is always about the money.

And that is a touchy point that should be touched a little harder. It begs the question: what exactly are we paying for this city to do? Specifically when it comes to the police farce it certainly is not to provide enforcement, particularly enforcement to ensure the safety of our roads and neighborhoods. When they refuse to protect our children in school zones then we need to consider alternatives. Maybe instead of privateer's cameras we should give traffic enforcement authority to our school systems' SROs. Let them keep our streets safe and let them keep the public safety enforcement revenue in public hands.

Pots And Kettles

Folks often go on about the hypocrisy of sinners in church, but where would you like the sinners to be? Don't you expect the mentally ill to be in contact with mental healthcare workers? But, you don't expect the inmates to be running the asylum. Unless it is the DeKalb County School System and their Board of Education.

In that case what you get is a completely broken accounting system, totally in conflict with GAAP and state requirements, which has been broken since time began. But what we also get are the folks running this insanity who refuse to play by the rules. The financial rules.

You'd think a CPA would know better, would do better. You'd be wrong.

Voter's Remorse?

Got it yet? No. No. This isn't about the disastrous vote for cityhood. Most of the disappointed Dunwoody-Yes-ers have moved on to warmer waters. No, this is about DeKalb County Schools.

For some mind-boggling reason folks in this county, without fail, vote in favor of every eSPLOST put before them. Even when it doesn't even include a single mention of what the money will be spent on. Now we find out that money from the first five may (or may not) have been spent but it sure as hell wasn't maintenance of our schools as they are sinking into a literal cesspool. Still think that "yay" vote for eSPLOST-VI was a good idea? 

Then there is the board, so bad it is an insult to every dysfunctional bureaucracy in the modern world. You DO know that YOU voted those fools in, right? And remember what Bush said after Trump was elected? "I'm not looking so bad right about now." The Jesters are probably thinking the same thing as the current District 1 either posts vapid puff pieces or worse yet goes before groups to discuss what is going on, only to continually say she's not going to talk about that right now. A spin on "trust me" which speaks to a level of trust that hasn't been earned. How 'bout that vote, eh?

Maybe next time there is a chance to vote the outcome won't be quite this stupid.

Everybody MUST Get Stoned

You gotta wonder. Really. This city has a crisis of leadership. City Hall is snowed in by a blizzard of well-earned lawsuits resulting from (what ought to be criminal) incompetence at the highest levels of city bureaucracy. Hey, if the DeKalb School Board can do it why can't our city council? No stones?

And stones are the new shiny objects city bureaucrats are using to distract the rather short-term attention of our elected officials. They want to ban gravel driveways. That's right. They've got nothing better to do than dish out grief to residents for something that cannot offend more than a very, very few folks, most of whom need a life. Or a HOA. And city hall is on track to exempt businesses and developers (of course) so this is targeted exclusively to residents, and to be clear, single-home-owner residents. You know, the folks who voted this happy horseshit into existence in the first place. 

The silliness has started with one on council remarkably remarking that pervious gravel driveways require maintenance to remain pervious. JMJ and WTF! OK genius, tell us, is that better or worse than a concrete or asphalt driveway that requires no maintenance to remain impervious? But they haven't even begun a legal definition of "gravel." Does crushed granite count? It does look quite a bit like concrete and tends to minimize dispersion, though it is never as impervious as concrete. And, it might actually be to the homeOWNER's liking. No matter. They haven't determined what materials, granite, marble, sandstone, pumice, etc. count as gravel. Nor what size: sand, marble-size, grape-fruit. Not even shape. Flat, like flagstone? What is the smallest a flagstone can be before it is just gravel? How about round river rocks? Got a size limit on those? Or is it just any non-concrete, non-asphalt drive? Do they have a clue? Do they care? Is this just a shiny, distracting object? Or are they all just stoned?

So, after they outlaw your preferred driveway, whatcha gonna do? Well ponder this a bit. They cannot regulate a driveway when there, well, is no driveway. After all do you really need anything more than grass or other ground cover? Probably not. You can you even mark it off with landscape lighting, or...

Pretty Sweet, Huh?

And just think, that newly verboten pea gravel could just be plowed under. Those stones are good for the grass and grass is good for getting stoned.

But more than likely this is nothing but an attempt to distract everyone from the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars being pissed away trying to cover for gross incompetence at city hall. And that is the most concrete bullshit there is.