athens rising What’s Up in New Development
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At the very least, the intensity of the giving them the support they need to move in politics over the last year has revealed most that direction. of the major faults that this community has We know what our local assets are. The been dancing around. We’ve seen a county most creative city in the region has all the commissioner chew out unelected managers resources in place to kickstart this effort on over the use or alleged abuse of their power. a shoestring budget. It would cost almost We’ve seen the working relationship between nothing to pull a committee together to the mayor and the commission stretched start talking about what we want. We can go thin. We’ve seen what a commission with no through consultant after consultant, but the leadership looks like. There’s also the dust-up story will always be the same: we have a over redistricting and superdistricts, which strong university, a strong medical industry raises some big questions about the shape of and a great arts community; now we must our government, and then there are the many decide on our values, pick a strategy and run issues surrounding economic development that with it. Unfortunately, these simple facts, so continue to plod along. In particular, there’s often repeated, are being ignored again. The that old fault between those who want good Athens Economic Development Foundation, corporate neighbors and those who champion after backing off the River District concept, is business-friendliness. back to studying a more generalized approach And don’t forget some big questions about of developing incentives for the county, ignortransportation via T-SPLOST, the future of ing these obvious assets and looking for a new downtown via the Classic Center, and many consultant to tell us what we already know. It sparring matches over the importance of comcertainly begs the question of what the EDF munity natural resources like Sandy Creek. is there for, and what it’s done for the last We’ve even been forced to consider what many decade, if only now is it asking someone from around town might outside (apparently call a worst-case lacking the expertise scenario: rumors of or ability internally) Walmart, a symbol to come up with ideas of the destruction for incentives to of Main Street busiattract businesses to nesses, looming on the county. the edge of our downOf course, the town jewel. EDF doesn’t seem to Now, more than have much interest ever, we need to get in being accountable past the reactionto the community ary cycle we find (see last week’s City ourselves caught in, Dope for details and put a real vision regarding the illegal for our community on closed meeting the paper. It caught my EDF recently held), eye recently that one governed as it is by a of the few news stomayor more content ries related to all our to keep secrets for local political intrigue out-of-town developCohesive, forward-thinking development strategies to make it into the ers than driven to for Athens are being held hostage by aversion to acAtlanta media market steer the community tion and stubborn factionalism. was the one about a forward, and a transdevelopment moratoparency-championing rium in downtown Athens. That move by the commissioner who is just along for the ride, ACC Commission, to some degree a reaction among others. Do the EDF and its non-Athensto rumors of the aforementioned Walmart, resident director Matt Forshee really know is an instance of the reactionary approach this community and what sorts of jobs it that contributes to our “business-unfriendly” wants for itself? Or is the EDF just another reputation, and it’s what the outside world is entrenched faction, unwilling to reach a hand hearing about us. Taking this one issue as an out and perform the type of multi-constituexample, if one end of the community thinks ency coordination that modern-day projects that planning by moratorium is running off require? potential businesses, and the other end only Smokestack chasing isn’t the way of the wants businesses that have a strong culture future, but neither is NIMBYism or planning of working with a community, then those two by moratorium, or any of the usual traps that sides must come together to identify and this community seems to fall into. Athens has attract the right kinds of businesses. been stuck for a long time, and it’s clear that If the folks who’ve been soaking the wicks the people in charge, given ample time to try on their torches and sharpening their pitchsomething different, haven’t had the followforks in anticipation of a knock-down-drag-out through to do so. It seems that it’s on the campaign against Walmart are really serious citizenry to drag our leaders forward into the about protecting this community, they should 21st century, or at least to make enough noise be storming City Hall and demanding a proper about articulating a proactive and proscriptive vision and master plan. Same goes for the approach that those leaders feel like they’ve “business-unfriendliness” whiners who would got the mandate to do so. If the business rather take our community back to the laissez- community hasn’t reached out to the folks faire days of the Industrial Revolution, when who are running off their businesses, and the they could build factories on top of streams, reactionary folks haven’t reached out to the unencumbered by city-mandated bike racks. business community, then everyone has only There’s an easy solution here, and it’s to look themselves to blame. It’s pretty clear that no forward for once. If the leadership, elected one will do this for us. or appointed, isn’t smart enough to recognize that and get started, then it’s on us for not Kevan Williams
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