editor’s note
Madness indeed by Jim Morekis jim@connectsavannah.com
Franklin, tennessee, we hardly knew ya. No, really—we hardly knew you. Last week, Savannah’s social media feeds were abuzz with the latest click-bait “contest,” this one sponsored by Garden & Gun magazine and based on the good ol’ March Madness theme. (I’m convinced that many more people use the March Madness theme to promote things than actually watch those games.) These “brackets” involved a bout between cities under 130,000 population—oops, more about that later—for the title of “Greatest Southern Town.” Savannah was in a tough bracket, facing off against high-profile heavyweights Charleston, Asheville, and Key West. Franklin, Tennessee—wait, what?—was meanwhile pitted against titans like Hot Springs, Arkansas and Florence, Alabama. Facebook and Twitter went nuts for days as individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and
Proud Sponsor of the Savannah Music Festival
media outlets (including us) shamelessly solicited frequent voting so that Savannah could “win.” And get.... what, exactly, in exchange for all those clicks Garden & Gun gets? Anyway, it was all for naught when Savannah faced Franklin in the “championship.” Our index fingers no doubt fatigued from defeating Charleston and Asheville, Savannahians (me included) boasted that there was no way little Franklin—who? where?— could possibly beat mighty us. And.... you can guess the rest. Savannah promptly got its ass digitally kicked in an epic blowout. Not that any of this matters. But Franklin is essentially a suburb of the Nashville metro area. It’s “130,000 people or under” in the same sense that Decatur and Marietta are under 130,000 people. I don’t know if any of you have visited Nashville lately, but it’s no podunk country music hamlet. It’s a big, fast city and a major entertainment capital, more like L.A. than Charlotte. So I shouldn’t be surprised that Franklin “won,” and I also shouldn’t be surprised that so many people here got so worked up about taking part in the online contest.
It’s just good clean fun, in the same sense that our annual “Best of Savannah” reader’s poll is good, clean fun (get your votes in now at connectsavannah.com!) I did catch myself wondering, however, how different things might be around here if we put a tenth as much effort into local issues and politics as we do in ubiquitous online contests. I know it’s a lot easier to flex your index finger on a computer mouse than vote in a school board election, or call your alderman, or register to vote, or organize a neighborhood watch, or write a letter to the editor (see below!). Bragging-rights contests are fodder for PR efforts, and certainly help keep Savannah in the national eye, which helps our tourism and service industries. But the other part of it is the inside game. It’s important to present our best face to the outside world, but how are things running inside, when the makeup is off? I think there should be a new rule: For every mouse click, an actual civic effort. For every online vote, a real vote. For each participation in a social media election, a commitment to take part in a real election. Not as much fun, but food for thought anyway. cs
feedback | letters@connectsavannah.com | 1800 E. Victory Dr., Suite 7, Savannah, GA 31404 City’s police chief survey is ‘bogus’
Editor, As quoted by WSAV regarding the hiring of a new police chief: “They (the department) have history,” said (City Manager Stephanie) Cutter. “Someone new coming in has to kind of get a good feel for what that history is. Has to learn the organization. You don’t just come in and boom, make changes impulsively.” Two huge red flags in that statement. Point #1, “He.” That disrespects and disqualifies our current acting chief. ‘Nuff said. Point #2: Someone coming in shouldn’t have to “learn.” They should know how a police department
functions. If you hire somebody that needs to “learn,” then you are hiring the wrong person. ‘Nuff said, again. As for a public survey, that is what an election is, right? So, if you want to pursue that thought, let’s just vote for a police chief. That gets rid of the money spent to search for a “he” that needs to “learn.” And would we be worse off? Probably not. But not better off, either, based on the election results of recent history for other city offices. Oh, wait – city manager isn’t elected, but that got screwed up just like police chief (not referring to current, of course?). The survey is so flawed it is laughable. On first glance, one
might think, “Yes, these are all good qualities for a chief to have.” Then, once you start it, what the survey does is force you to choose the LEAST important quality. (Go to savannahga. gov/chiefsearch to see survey) In the first question, if “Reduce Response Time” ends up the bottom (least important) quality for a new police chief, then all “he” has to do is make sure that one aspect gets better during “his” tenure. Why? Because, at a future city council news conference, they can say, “Well, he improved response times.” He may not have met any other standard, but the Council can be proud they picked someone who could meet the
MINIMUM standard! Seriously, this is so bogus and smells so much of “cover your butt”-ness that the manager and council should be ashamed of themselves. Their defense? To understand the needs of the community. WHAT? Isn’t that why they ran for office? Didn’t they say they understood what was needed and were willing to represent their constituents? And now they abdicate that responsibility with a survey and an outside search agency who needs to “teach” “him” how to be a police chief?! David Elliott
Connect Savannah is published every Wednesday by Morris Multimedia, Inc
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APR 9-15, 2014
News & Opinion
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