Living Life Like A Song

Apparently some bloke witnessed shoplifting at a local Publix and reported the activity to the store's management. All good. Things went pear shaped when he decided to report this to [anti]social media. He may have expected a rough 'em and cuff 'em reaction from fellow Dunwoodians (this was a Dunwoody specific unsociable venue), sorta like this:

Instead he exposed an incredible number of our neighbors who tolerate at the least, and some who downright support shoplifting. Apparently in their mind every thief is a Jean Valjean. 

You have to wonder how many of these bleating hearts actually think it is OK to steal from a large faceless corporation, because well, it is just another big profit-making company. Wonder if that position would change if they knew that Publix is employee-owned and this thief is stealing from your average, common working stiff. 

Reckon this shoplifter will ever pay Publix back?

Suicide?

What's That Slime?

 

They're Coming To Take Me Away

What could it be?

No. No. Not the bench. They cannot have that rare bird. They're coming for this:

Yes. It Works.

That's what they're coming for. The phone. AT&T is no longer taking any orders for landlines, and by that they mean copper pair landlines. The kind that have been in operation since the 1880's. This is just the first step in coming after current copper pair customers, shutting down their existing service. They may be grandfathered in for now, but it won't last.

They are coming to take it away.

Caveat Emptor

One of the city's foundering fathers is at it again, pondering if we've brought DeKalb into Dunwoody and if so, how? Well, the answer to the first part is "unequivocally no!" because what we have here and now is actually much worse than DeKalb. This pondering founderer would likely disagree and offers up some original intention:

"We wanted accountability, efficiency, ethics and local control." [emphasis added]

That's where the "how" comes in.

Did he read the legislation behind the referendum before he (most assuredly) voted yes? If so, can he please explain how he justified his approval of this deeply flawed city charter? The founding fathers of this country, having recently broken away from a king they despised, were keenly aware of human shortcomings and took steps to ensure that should someone missing the character and moral compass of the founders ascend to the presidency that it would not go badly. What they did not foresee was a self-serving administrative state that would grow without bound. This city's founders ignored the wisdom of  our forefathers regarding unchecked power and they have no excuse regarding a self-serving administrative state since that is exactly what they were railing against when proposing the city in the first place. 

Can someone please explain the surprise?

The city charter is modeled more after DCSD operations than DeKalb County where the CEO has real responsibilities and accountabilities, and as recently proved by Michael Thurmond, we can indeed elect someone who can make a difference. A positive difference. That is not the case with Dunwoody. And anyone who has read the charter before or after the referendum knows that. So what is it? Did all those cheerleaders for citihood, even our foundering fathers NOT read the charter before they promoted and voted? How can there now be surprise at what has happened? Did they not anticipate an ever growing bureaucratic, self-serving government? After all, it is all there in the city charter.

This was self-inflicted.

Horton Heads To Whoville

Is it too soon? Maybe.

As everyone now knows the allegations against Dr. Horton have resulted in Federal indictments, and as a result he has submitted his resignation which has been accepted. Nice try, but some in the public are calling for board members to resign, suggesting those who voted for Dr. Horton are culpable for this outcome. It is as if they feel the root problem lies with the individuals, that they themselves elected, holding board positions. 

The problem is far greater and a new batch of clowns on the school board will fix nothing.

Let's start with the Acting Superintendent, Dr. Norman C. Sauce III. 

Is he a potential Superintendent, the secret sauce, or is he just a Great White Nope? If you guessed the latter, you see a problem, one that will not be fixed by the board, no matter who holds the seats. This problem is institutionalized. Educational doctrine states that Black students perform best when they see positions of leadership filled by Blacks. There is no claim this performance level is adequate, just better, but this has been institutionalized, and urban school superintendents are overwhelmingly if not exclusively Black. Is a full meritocracy a solution? Perhaps, but politically it is an unacceptable solution, suggesting the top priority is other than highest educational performance.

Not buying it? Consider Carstarphen. She had to go. Despite performance exceeding any who came before or after she was shown the door. Do you have a credible explanation other than the obvious?

Glad we got that out of the way. 

Now to the pipeline. Where do we get superintendent candidates? Not just the executive search firms, but what system produces these candidates? Certainly some of it is a component of each and every school system in America, as they set the parameters of what they want and what they will accept. It is also the educratic institutions that control the agenda, the narrative. Certainly unions (and teacher organizations) are a part of this, but so are those who teach, train, certify and accredit systems and individuals. What isn't happening is a clearly articulated set of skills and capabilities of school leadership, at the top, and at the lower levels as well. So why should we expect the next candidate to be substantially better than previous candidates? Bear in mind, Michael Thurmond is one of the very few highly capable leaders DCSD has ever had and it is noteworthy that he is not a product of this system. He was not squizzed out of that pipeline. It simply is not clear how we find the next Michael Thurmond. We are more likely to find the next Dr. Horton.

As for the board, the fact is the board not only will not fix our longstanding issues with superintendents who cannot long endure, but they cannot. They are structurally prohibited from exercising any control over operations other than hiring, firing and accepting resignations of superintendents. In fact, should they step out of line, the accrediting agency will step up and step in to defend the administration against the board. And it has been proven that should this occur, board members will be removed. Mom with a calculator, dad with an attitude...it doesn't matter. The board has one employee, the superintendent and bypassing that one employee is verboten. This is the same structural defect crippling Dunwoody and the other Porter-dales.

So, if the board members don't matter then what about your vote? Well, by extension, it doesn't matter either. Not only is the board serving a largely ceremonial role, even when they have a vote for approval of an administration initiative the superintendent knows he only has to please, to convince, a simple majority. Not only do you elect the relatively powerless, once elected, their power, their influence, is greatly diminished. 

Is this situation hopeless? Yes. Yes it is. Expect more of the same.

Dunwoody Fruit Stand

You may not have noticed. It's where bureaucrats and elected officials get together to compare apples and oranges. The fruits of the moment are the fruits of your labors: taxes. See some folks, including Mother Mayor, have gone to social media to whine about Dunwoody's low tax rates. You know, the one they brag about not raising? Each and every year as they greedily grab a backdoor tax increase. Yeah, that's the one.

Now they like to compare Dunwoody to neighboring cities including the original Porter-Dale: Sandy Springs. What these propagandists do not disclose, and it is propaganda, is that Sandy Springs runs its own fire department, whilst Dunwoody? Well, not so much. And if they did, and they did trial-balloon that, they'd run it about as well as they run the city. Abysmally. 

Yet, they're starting the campaign to get their hands on more of your money.