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Watercooler
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2011 MACON COUNCIL RACE STARTS. SORT OF. |
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Written by Mike Donila
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Friday, August 28 2009 11:09 |
After meeting with Mayor Robert Reichert, president of the local NAACP Al Tillman said he wants to see a new City Council in place, one - in his words - that will work better with the mayor.
Tillman particularly said he wants to focus on creating a younger City Council, mentioning former 11th Hour Editor Chris Horne as one of his choices.
“Even with the new council members who came in, we still have the same issues,” said Tillman, who added he hasn’t ruled out again running for a seat.
One of the area’s top ranking members of the NAACP said the younger crowd faces a double standard when running for office and it’s not fair. He said local politicians turn to the younger crowd, including students and small business owners, whenever they want to organize special events like music attractions, and that the “young minds in our community always seem to get along.”
“They all come together and if they can get on the council, then I think they can make it work,” Tillman said.
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A New Column By Nancy White |
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Written by Nancy White
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:53 |
Last February local community leaders converged at Lake Blackshear for a two-day retreat. Our host was Commission Chair Sam Hart. The Peyton Anderson Foundation funded this brainstorming and strategic planning event. Civic and business leaders out numbered office holders, and there was strong diversity.
Two remarks made there that have stuck with me. I don’t remember who said them. Maybe Brad Evans does, since he attended. Here they are, paraphrased. First, no one over 50 should hold office (I think that was the age; but regardless the point was we need younger folks in office). Second, elected folks aren’t the leaders – we are.
The substance of those remarks, I believe, defines the readership of The 11th Hour. For the most, you are younger than those in elected office. You are energetic and engaged in Macon’s economic and political landscape. Your presence was strong in Council Chambers during debates on panhandling, the hotel, massage parlors, animal euthanasia, and the $1.5 million grant, to mention a few. Then there’s Bragg Jam, Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, College Hill Corridor, downtown revitalization … the list is endless.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:33 |
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CITY TO BORROW MONEY FROM ITS RESERVES
It’s practically become a rite of summer passage for Macon: borrowing money.
At least time, the green comes from within.
The City Council has agreed to a request by Mayor Robert Reichert to use reserve money to pay the bills and city employee salaries through mid-October.
The mayor’s director of external affairs Andrew Blascovich said he expects that the city will need to borrow about a third (roughly $2-million) from its $6-million rainy day fund to make it through early fall.
However, he said, the plan is better than taking out a tax anticipation note, or TAN, from a bank (something the city had to do from 2004 through 2007) because it would have to also pay back interest rates.
“This will get us through while we’re waiting on (a $5.5-million insurance premium check and) property taxes to come in,” he said.
Although the City Council typically has been reluctant to let loose of Macon’s purse strings, members felt if they didn’t go along with the plan, the city could still pay the bills, but just not on time.
“I think that’s important,” said Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, a member of the city’s appropriations committee, which passed the plan along to a full council. “We certainly don’t want to downplay what’s happening and we want to make sure everybody knows the status of city finances.”
Lucas said she initially wasn’t in favor of using the fund and “still has concerns”, but said as long as the administration meets with the committee and presents accurate monthly reports on where the money is going, she’ll be satisfied.
Said City Council President Miriam Paris: “We were pretty pleased that we could borrow money from ourselves instead of an outside entity, and that we have the insurance reimbursement coming back in a timely fashion. It’s not like we don’t see ourselves paying it back.”
I hope so. Taxpayers will be watching.
Because as Paris added: “Right now every dimes counts.”
FEDERAL FUND TO BLOSTER MACON’S POLICE FORCE
With crime being the way it is (bad), the city has received some good news from the White House.
Macon, which applied for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this spring, will receive $1.7-million to increase its police force by 14, said city spokesman Andrew Blascovich, adding that the city initially asked to fund 16 new officers.
“We didn’t do too bad,” he said. “The federal government will provide the money for three years and we have to then provide the money for a fourth year, but with that length of time, we’ll be able to manage it.”
He said the sworn officers will start out on patrol, like all new officers, before getting promoted to higher rankings if they earn them.
According to the Macon Police Department’s Web site, the city has an “authorized strength” of 305 sworn officers and 108 civilian employees.
“Any time you are able to increase a police presence in areas that are perceived as needing additional officers, then I think that’s a good thing,” said Councilman Larry Schlesinger, a member of the city‘s public safety committee. “According to statistics, crime is actually down but the perception is that it’s up and in some quarters, running rampant, so anything we can do to address the problems and the perception is to our advantage.”
Uh, crime is actually up in some areas, but anyway.
The Recovery Act will provide $1-billion in grants to hire and keep law enforcement officers across the country, according to a White House news release. The idea is to save and create jobs and allow “every American family to live a better life than the one they are leading now.”
In the release, Attorney General Eric Holder said the thousands of requests made for the money is “indicative of both the tough times our states, cities and tribes are facing and the unyielding commitment by law enforcement to making our communities safer.”
Er, tribes?
Anyway, he added that the money focuses on “hiring officers who will be on the streets, in our neighborhoods, and on the front lines of our fight to keep the . . . people safe.”
COUNTY CUTS MEDICAL CENTER FUNDING
Bibb County commissioners cut almost $3-million in funding for The Medical Center of Central Georgia, and the hospital’s CEO said he is disappointed that the local leaders do “not recognize the needs of these patients and the critical role they play in serving them.”
CEO Don Faulk added that the cuts will “negatively impact their well being, physically and financially, (and) the entire county and its economy.”
But, he said, the plan is not to shift “these costs to the backs of patients everywhere.”
The center usually receives money from the county to combat the costs of treating uninsured residents and indigent patients. This year, the county budgeted $1-million for the center, which is down from last year’s $3.9-million.
Faulk said to offset the costs he is soliciting ideas from management staff and reviewing options for serving all the hospital’s patents.
Last year, the center cut more than 200 employees, and when asked if it would see similar slashes, he said “there have been no decisions made but the county, (with) their cuts, are telling us to do that - cut serves, expenses and jobs.”
He said he expects to know more within 60 days.
County leaders have suggested that the hospital, which employs about 4,700 people and has an annual net revenue of $639-million, dip into its reserves to make up for the loss.
However, Faulk said the roughly $400-million in reserves is typically used as an insurance against catastrophic changes and events, as well as, temporary issues.
“We have no indication this county cut is temporary,” he said. “Using reserves for strained operations is a strategy for failure.”
He also said he’d like to meet with commissioners to plead his case.
However, it doesn’t appear county leaders will budge.
Bibb County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Joe Allen said hospital representatives can meet with the commissioners all they want, but “they’ve got a lot more money than the county does.”
He said no county employees received raises this year except for Lake Tobesofkee lifeguards and that the budget is already cut to the bone.
“I know health care is a major issue, but Don Faulk and the medical center are not the only issues on the table,” Allen said. “We’ve got libraries, the jail and there’s talk about closing the halls of fame. We can’t even get the grass cut in Macon and Bibb County, and they want to come talk to us?”
He even issued a challenge to medical center leaders, saying that if they took a pay cut, then he’d introduce a resolution, asking that county commissioners take a percentage cut that equals the medical center’s cut.
“You send the people down here enough and it doesn’t intimidate me,” Allen said. “All it does is make me mad.”
TELEGRAPH NEW COURTHOUSE? PROBABLY NOT
Bibb County Commissioners have added The Telegraph as a potential site for a new courthouse, but a majority of the five-member board don’t see it actually getting selected.
In fact, Commissioners Elmo Richardson and Lonzy Edwards actually voted against adding it to the list. But board Vice Chairman Joe Allen, who is also against the site, agreed to put it on the list, which needs four sites and had only three.
Already commissioners are looking at the following sites: the parking lot on the corner of Mulberry Street and First Street, land on Oglethorpe Street by the jail and Mulberry Street’s BB&T building.
Right now a needs assessment study and site evaluation is being conducted by Atlanta-based Cooper Carry and Macon’s Brittain, Thompson, Bray, Brown, Inc. because Bibb County Superior Court judges issued an order to provide a new facility, since studies show the courthouse more than likely has outgrown its 601 Mulberry St. location.
The Telegraph reported that it wants to sell its 4 acre Broadway location to the county for $2.1-million, although some commissioners are wary because of possible environmental concerns.
“I’m not in favor of it, but I felt we had the responsibility to look at all facilities,” Allen said. “I’m still sold on the BB&T location, but I couldn’t in good conscious not want them to have the opportunity to sell their property.”
The county is expected to know more about a possible new location in the next few months. If Bibb needs to build a new courthouse, it could cost the county $100-million and require approval from voters in the form of an additional penny sales tax.
GEORGIA MUSIC HALL OF FAME GETS SOME NEW MONEY
Well, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame received some money as a show of faith to the state that local government is willing to support the institution.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to take $20,000 from the hotel/motel tax revenues and apply it to the hall. The money initially was set aside for Lake Tobesofkee, board Vice Chairman Joe Allen said.
Las year the county budgeted $269,000 for the campsite and park’s overall $2 million spending plan.
“We had to do it or we would have lost the hall of fame,” Allen said.
Well, you still might.
FREE MONEY AND IT TOOK TWO MEETINGS TO MAYBE GET IT
For a group of city leaders complaining about little or no finances, it’s almost ridiculous to turn down the possibility of free money.
But that’s what some did when they voted against a $1.5-million housing development grant that would allow the North Carolina-based Landmark Group to build lofts in the old Atlantic Cotton Mills behind the Kroger on Pio Nono.
Then, they came to their senses. And during a second meeting in late July the council finally agreed to let the city apply for the federal money.
Initially, Council members James Timley, Ed Defore, Elaine Lucas, Lonnie Miley and Mike Cranford rejected the proposal. When the council met again, only Timley didn’t vote for it.
The dissenting members said they felt the grant should be used for Village Green, which is blighted and filled with crime. And maybe it can, since it’s actually a revolving loan. You see, the money goes to the developer and then the developer pays the city back once the project is complete. Then the money is funneled into another project.
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Written by Rick Hutto
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:31 |
A Look at the City by Rick Hutto
After six years on City Council, I’m beginning to feel like those “veteran” members such as Ed DeFore who carry such a valuable store of institutional knowledge. Occasionally I even begin to mouth the words, “Back in my day…” or some other disturbing introduction to a tidbit of knowledge until I bite my tongue and swallow the temptation. I’m often asked how this Council differs from the last, and my answer is that, while half the members have changed, we still have workhorses and showhorses. I give the voting public enough credit to know which is which.
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Written by Mike Donila
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Monday, August 24 2009 09:27 |
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CITY TO BORROW MONEY FROM ITS RESERVES
It’s practically become a rite of summer passage for Macon: borrowing money.
At least time, the green comes from within.
The City Council has agreed to a request by Mayor Robert Reichert to use reserve money to pay the bills and city employee salaries through mid-October.
The mayor’s director of external affairs Andrew Blascovich said he expects that the city will need to borrow about a third (roughly $2-million) from its $6-million rainy day fund to make it through early fall.
However, he said, the plan is better than taking out a tax anticipation note, or TAN, from a bank (something the city had to do from 2004 through 2007) because it would have to also pay back interest rates.
“This will get us through while we’re waiting on (a $5.5-million insurance premium check and) property taxes to come in,” he said.
Although the City Council typically has been reluctant to let loose of Macon’s purse strings, members felt if they didn’t go along with the plan, the city could still pay the bills, but just not on time.
“I think that’s important,” said Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, a member of the city’s appropriations committee, which passed the plan along to a full council. “We certainly don’t want to downplay what’s happening and we want to make sure everybody knows the status of city finances.”
Lucas said she initially wasn’t in favor of using the fund and “still has concerns”, but said as long as the administration meets with the committee and presents accurate monthly reports on where the money is going, she’ll be satisfied.
Said City Council President Miriam Paris: “We were pretty pleased that we could borrow money from ourselves instead of an outside entity, and that we have the insurance reimbursement coming back in a timely fashion. It’s not like we don’t see ourselves paying it back.”
I hope so. Taxpayers will be watching.
Because as Paris added: “Right now every dimes counts.”
FEDERAL FUND TO BLOSTER MACON’S POLICE FORCE
With crime being the way it is (bad), the city has received some good news from the White House.
Macon, which applied for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this spring, will receive $1.7-million to increase its police force by 14, said city spokesman Andrew Blascovich, adding that the city initially asked to fund 16 new officers.
“We didn’t do too bad,” he said. “The federal government will provide the money for three years and we have to then provide the money for a fourth year, but with that length of time, we’ll be able to manage it.”
He said the sworn officers will start out on patrol, like all new officers, before getting promoted to higher rankings if they earn them.
According to the Macon Police Department’s Web site, the city has an “authorized strength” of 305 sworn officers and 108 civilian employees.
“Any time you are able to increase a police presence in areas that are perceived as needing additional officers, then I think that’s a good thing,” said Councilman Larry Schlesinger, a member of the city‘s public safety committee. “According to statistics, crime is actually down but the perception is that it’s up and in some quarters, running rampant, so anything we can do to address the problems and the perception is to our advantage.”
Uh, crime is actually up in some areas, but anyway.
The Recovery Act will provide $1-billion in grants to hire and keep law enforcement officers across the country, according to a White House news release. The idea is to save and create jobs and allow “every American family to live a better life than the one they are leading now.”
In the release, Attorney General Eric Holder said the thousands of requests made for the money is “indicative of both the tough times our states, cities and tribes are facing and the unyielding commitment by law enforcement to making our communities safer.”
Er, tribes?
Anyway, he added that the money focuses on “hiring officers who will be on the streets, in our neighborhoods, and on the front lines of our fight to keep the . . . people safe.”
COUNTY CUTS MEDICAL CENTER FUNDING
Bibb County commissioners cut almost $3-million in funding for The Medical Center of Central Georgia, and the hospital’s CEO said he is disappointed that the local leaders do “not recognize the needs of these patients and the critical role they play in serving them.”
CEO Don Faulk added that the cuts will “negatively impact their well being, physically and financially, (and) the entire county and its economy.”
But, he said, the plan is not to shift “these costs to the backs of patients everywhere.”
The center usually receives money from the county to combat the costs of treating uninsured residents and indigent patients. This year, the county budgeted $1-million for the center, which is down from last year’s $3.9-million.
Faulk said to offset the costs he is soliciting ideas from management staff and reviewing options for serving all the hospital’s patents.
Last year, the center cut more than 200 employees, and when asked if it would see similar slashes, he said “there have been no decisions made but the county, (with) their cuts, are telling us to do that - cut serves, expenses and jobs.”
He said he expects to know more within 60 days.
County leaders have suggested that the hospital, which employs about 4,700 people and has an annual net revenue of $639-million, dip into its reserves to make up for the loss.
However, Faulk said the roughly $400-million in reserves is typically used as an insurance against catastrophic changes and events, as well as, temporary issues.
“We have no indication this county cut is temporary,” he said. “Using reserves for strained operations is a strategy for failure.”
He also said he’d like to meet with commissioners to plead his case.
However, it doesn’t appear county leaders will budge.
Bibb County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Joe Allen said hospital representatives can meet with the commissioners all they want, but “they’ve got a lot more money than the county does.”
He said no county employees received raises this year except for Lake Tobesofkee lifeguards and that the budget is already cut to the bone.
“I know health care is a major issue, but Don Faulk and the medical center are not the only issues on the table,” Allen said. “We’ve got libraries, the jail and there’s talk about closing the halls of fame. We can’t even get the grass cut in Macon and Bibb County, and they want to come talk to us?”
He even issued a challenge to medical center leaders, saying that if they took a pay cut, then he’d introduce a resolution, asking that county commissioners take a percentage cut that equals the medical center’s cut.
“You send the people down here enough and it doesn’t intimidate me,” Allen said. “All it does is make me mad.”
TELEGRAPH NEW COURTHOUSE? PROBABLY NOT
Bibb County Commissioners have added The Telegraph as a potential site for a new courthouse, but a majority of the five-member board don’t see it actually getting selected.
In fact, Commissioners Elmo Richardson and Lonzy Edwards actually voted against adding it to the list. But board Vice Chairman Joe Allen, who is also against the site, agreed to put it on the list, which needs four sites and had only three.
Already commissioners are looking at the following sites: the parking lot on the corner of Mulberry Street and First Street, land on Oglethorpe Street by the jail and Mulberry Street’s BB&T building.
Right now a needs assessment study and site evaluation is being conducted by Atlanta-based Cooper Carry and Macon’s Brittain, Thompson, Bray, Brown, Inc. because Bibb County Superior Court judges issued an order to provide a new facility, since studies show the courthouse more than likely has outgrown its 601 Mulberry St. location.
The Telegraph reported that it wants to sell its 4 acre Broadway location to the county for $2.1-million, although some commissioners are wary because of possible environmental concerns.
“I’m not in favor of it, but I felt we had the responsibility to look at all facilities,” Allen said. “I’m still sold on the BB&T location, but I couldn’t in good conscious not want them to have the opportunity to sell their property.”
The county is expected to know more about a possible new location in the next few months. If Bibb needs to build a new courthouse, it could cost the county $100-million and require approval from voters in the form of an additional penny sales tax.
GEORGIA MUSIC HALL OF FAME GETS SOME NEW MONEY
Well, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame received some money as a show of faith to the state that local government is willing to support the institution.
Commissioners unanimously agreed to take $20,000 from the hotel/motel tax revenues and apply it to the hall. The money initially was set aside for Lake Tobesofkee, board Vice Chairman Joe Allen said.
Las year the county budgeted $269,000 for the campsite and park’s overall $2 million spending plan.
“We had to do it or we would have lost the hall of fame,” Allen said.
Well, you still might.
FREE MONEY AND IT TOOK TWO MEETINGS TO MAYBE GET IT
For a group of city leaders complaining about little or no finances, it’s almost ridiculous to turn down the possibility of free money.
But that’s what some did when they voted against a $1.5-million housing development grant that would allow the North Carolina-based Landmark Group to build lofts in the old Atlantic Cotton Mills behind the Kroger on Pio Nono.
Then, they came to their senses. And during a second meeting in late July the council finally agreed to let the city apply for the federal money.
Initially, Council members James Timley, Ed Defore, Elaine Lucas, Lonnie Miley and Mike Cranford rejected the proposal. When the council met again, only Timley didn’t vote for it.
The dissenting members said they felt the grant should be used for Village Green, which is blighted and filled with crime. And maybe it can, since it’s actually a revolving loan. You see, the money goes to the developer and then the developer pays the city back once the project is complete. Then the money is funneled into another project.
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