Blog Topic: Government
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In the Loop: Need Legal Advice? Two Free Clinics Are This Week
Superior Court Judge Regina Quick has organized a free legal clinic Saturday.
The Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement will host a "Know Your Rights" workshop at 5:30 p.m. today at the Athens-Clarke County Library to educate people on how to file complaints under the city's anti-discrimination ordinance.
Speakers will include lawyers Nancee Tomilson on civil rights and John Beasly on workplace discrimination, and ACC Attorney Bill Berryman on the "bar admittance" ordinance, which bans bars from denying entry based on factors like race, gender identity or sexual orientation.
Saturday, newly sworn-in Superior Court Judge Regina Quick will host the first of several "Access to Justice Pop-Up Clinics" from 9–11 a.m. at the Rocksprings Community Center.
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In the Loop: Commission Considers Deal to Sell Parking Lot to Hotel Indigo
The Athens-Clarke County Commission will vote tonight on a deal to sell Strong Street and a city-owned parking lot between Strong and Dougherty Street to Hotel Indigo for a development that will include hotel rooms and office space.
The deal calls for ACC to sell the property to Athens Hospitality Holdings LLC, the company that owns Hotel Indigo, for $3 million. Athens Hospitality Holdings would then build a new five-story development on the property that would include 45 hotel rooms; office space for the ACC Economic Development Department; 8,000 square feet of meeting and event space; 7,000 square feet of coworking space where entrepreneurs and startups could rent desks, offices and conference rooms; a street-level restaurant; a rooftop bar and 60 underground parking spots. Strong Street would be closed and converted into a courtyard.
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In the Loop: RIP Former Commissioner Charles Carter
Photo Credit: Lord & Stephens
Former ACC commissioner Charles Carter died on Thursday morning at the age of 91.
The Winterville native, a cattle farmer, represented District 1 in rural eastern Clarke County from unification in 1991 until his retirement in 2006.
“He was a man of few words, so when he spoke, everyone listened,” said Sharyn Dickerson, who worked for ACC when he was a commissioner and now represents District 1.
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In the Loop: Hice: GOP Will Try to Repeal Obamacare Again
U.S. Rep. Jody Hice mostly echoed common Republican rhetoric during his visit to the University of Georgia College Republicans on Wednesday, lauding Republican lawmakers’ new tax plan, which is still taking shape, and efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Hice, who represents most of Athens in Congress, predicted that the GOP is not done trying to overhaul the ACA after two failed attempts earlier this year. "This battle over health care is not over," he said. "That's the good news."
Hice dove into the gridlock in Congress, particularly the Senate, saying the 60-vote filibuster rule in the Senate has caused a "backup of House bills waiting at the door of the Senate." He also explained the reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority to pass a budget bill. Republican Senators tried unsuccessfully to repeal the ACA using the process earlier this year.
When asked about future plans to attempt to repeal the ACA, Hice said he has heard talk of another reconciliation-based strategy next year, but did not know of any specifics.
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In the Loop: UGA Professors Sue to Overturn Campus Carry Law
Photo Credit: The University of Georgia
William B. Whitman is one of three UGA professors who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Less than three months since it took effect, Georgia's campus carry law is facing a lawsuit.
Six professors at Georgia colleges and universities, including three from the University of Georgia, filed a complaint Monday against Gov. Nathan Deal and Attorney General Chris Carr, arguing that the law interferes with the University System Board of Regents’ authority and educational mission, and it endangers students, faculty and staff. The lawsuit, filed in Fulton County, seeks to have the campus carry law declared unconstitutional.
"Reasonable minds can and do differ on this issue [gun control], but this case is not about who is right," the complaint reads. "Rather, it is about which entity decides."
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In the Loop: Commission Approves Downtown Condo Tower Over Community Opposition
A rendering of the 155 Mitchell Street development.
The Athens-Clarke County Commission voted to approve a rezoning for a towering upscale condominium development near downtown Tuesday night despite concerns raised by citizens about the scale, design, price and environmental impact of the project.
The development, at 155 Mitchell Street behind the Steeplechase condominiums, will include 256 bedrooms, mostly in two-bedroom, two-bath units, on top of three stories of parking and one level of office space. Situated on a steeply sloping lot, it will measure seven stories on one side and 10 on the other, barely coming in under ACC's 100-foot height limit when measured from the midpoint.
Several dozen speakers opposed the rezoning during the five-hour meeting, in addition to more than 100 who emailed comments in opposition to commissioners. They argued that the ACC government should be encouraging affordable housing downtown, rather than housing aimed at wealthy retirees, and raised concerns that the development would wind up as mostly empty gameday housing or student housing.
Activist group Athens for Everyone opposed the development as "a giveaway to those who already have enough" on behalf of its 1,075 members.
"We want to be a community that meets the needs of all of our residents," including the 38 percent in poverty, A4E's Adam Lassila said.
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In the Loop: Athens Rep. Chuck Williams Named to Forestry Post
Last week, Flagpole blogger Lee Becker reported that state Rep. Chuck Williams (R-Watkinsville) was in the running for Georgia forestry commissioner.
Gov. Nathan Deal made it official today, appointing Williams to the post. Said Deal's office in a news release:
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In the Loop: Podcast: Bannon and Breitbart
This week, co-host Baynard Woods talks with Wil Hylton, whose New York Times Magazine story "Down the Breitbart Hole" came out just two days before Steve Bannon, booted from the White House, returned to the site. And then Bannon called Wil...
Democracy in Crisis is a weekly podcast hosted by Baynard Woods and Marc Steiner, produced and engineered by Calvin Perry for The Center for Emerging Media. Theme music by Ruby Fulton and the Rhymes with Orchestra.
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In the Loop: Georgia Republicans Can't Seem to Bring Themselves to Condemn White Supremacists
President Donald Trump has been roundly criticized for his milquetoast statement on the riot in Charlottesville, VA yesterday—during which white supremacist thugs killed a counterprotesterand injured dozens more, and two police officers died in a helicopter crash—blaming the violence on "many sides" rather than a particular group of bigots who happen to be his core supporters.
But he's not the only one who refuses to identify the people who committed the violence or their ideology. Several Republican Georgia congressmen have skirted the issue themselves, condemning violence and hatred in general terms while acting like they're things that just sort of ... happen, instead of things that people do.
Call them the alt-right, white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis. Call them whatever you want. But call them out.
Here's Sen. David Perdue, one of Trump's staunchest supporters:
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In the Loop: Protestors Raise a Ruckus at Doug Collins Town Hall
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville)
Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins—who represents a sliver of North Athens—held a town hall meeting in his hometown of Gainesville yesterday, and although the district is one of the most conservative in the country, Democratic protesters were out in force.
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