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?

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.

Oh! Fence!

You can see from a recent meeting of the Randy Newman fan club just how intimidating those tall fences can be. It's enough to scare a giggle o' gals into a tight huddle.

Don't Want No Tall Fences 'Round ME!

This must be what a dwarf meant by "personally affected."

Only?

Only. Sounds restrictive, right? As in singular. Unique. Like Costco saying "only those over 60" allowed during Olde Farte Power Hour, and enforcing it. Sounds like a clear definition, plainly stated in plain English. 

Of course, none of this applies at city hall, where a "Seniors Only" apartment complex really means 80 percent reserved for seniors. That's right, the "Seniors Only" apartments, vocally supported by a majority of the seven dwarfs, with one effusing about looking forward to this development and stating, incorrectly, that it will not affect our schools. 

Wrong on two counts.

First, council approval supports twenty percent open-market units and there will be no prohibition against school age children for any resident demographic. Do you NOT know a grandparent who is raising a grandchild? Or two? Nonetheless, one in five units may well go to a family. With kids. And this is not a slippery slope, it is a mud slide. That this development will be just another unwanted apartment complex isn't likely. It is all but certain.

Then there is the always there damage this city does to our schools on behalf of developers when they throw tax "relief" their way. The city, by way of the developer's authority, takes these properties off the tax rolls, stealing money from our schools so they can hand it to a developer. In this case the corporate welfare check is $7M, most of it coming from school taxes.

Yet someone has the unmitigated gall to suggest there is no impact on our schools. So, is the difference between mistake and prevarication what you know? Or is it what you should know? Or have we sunk to the level that ignorance is an acceptable excuse? Or maybe we just don't care. No one at city hall does.

Perimeter Mall Closes Food Court...

...and moves it to Dunwoody Village. Can Perimeter Mall caliber crime be far behind? Will the city do anything about that? Does anyone at city hall have the stones to even try?

Goosestep In Spandex

There was some expectation that the election would begin the end of social media insanity. No such luck.

The pin that was pulled in the stupidity grenade was the SVA on Dunwoody Club complete with flips and flames but thankfully no fatality. You could hardly count to ten before stupidity shrapnel was shredding social media. 

While acknowledging the complexity of multiple jurisdictions some rather sane folks noted a need for enforcement, particularly with regards to speeding. Someone else pointed out, correctly, that Billy would be dismissive claiming that the average speed in the area is right at the speed limit. He's done it before and it was just as offensive then as now. But does he not run a Toll Troll operation on 285? Do they let folks zip by simply because, on average, they're holding it to the limit or do they pull over those exceeding the limit? Hmmm....

A couple of the dwarfs tuned in and piped up attempting to divert the conversation to a private forum but not before dropping some juicy comments. One, the self-proclaimed Bicycle Nutzi, boldly declared that "enforcement is a temporary band-aid" after having said that "speeding is a direct result of the street design." Yep. He farted in the tub AND bit the bubble.  

So here's a clue: speeding is a direct result of a driver's operation of his vehicle. Period. Which is exactly why enforcement actually works. He may be suggesting that our police department is only going to provide enforcement on a very limited, temporary basis, begging the question of why we even bother with a PD at all. Furthermore, let us hold this dwarf's feet to the fire next time an ordinance comes up for a vote. If enforcement is, in his mind, not to be bothered with, then why have an ordinance at all? 

But to understand the silliness dribbling from this dwarf you must understand we're talking a one-trick pony, or perhaps a mental unicyclist peddling a world of bikes. When you're goosestepping to "bicycles, bicycles uber alles" you see everything as an opportunity to advance your narrow singular agenda: it's all about bikes. Sadly he has the same vote as the other dwarfs but perhaps this is one situation where having the city run by anyone but the seven dwarfs, while not optimal, may curtail some of the stupid. 

It is discouraging to see elected officials working diligently to prove this is not a Smart City and is in fact quite the opposite.