New Falcons Stadium Being Shoved Down Our Throats

Here's where I roll my eyes.

American men are evidently so enamored with football that, when in positions of power, they're apt to subsidize it at the expense of themselves and every one of their constituents. Did I mention that the Georgia Dome is younger than me, and I'm barely old enough to buy liquor? Did I mention that the Falcons have never, not once, won the Super Bowl? Did I mention that our local economy is performing way worse than the national average, and we don't have money to spare? What else is there to mention?

I resolve to boycott the Falcons if I have to pay a red cent for any new monument to corporatized, televised combat ritual that doubles as a warehouse of slave labor (busboys, janitors, security guards who are treated as fully expendable and worthless--I've been there. Ask me about it).

Fulton Commands Atlanta to Tell the Whole Truth

Some moderately good news arrived today in the form of a Fulton County court order to the City of Atlanta, to divulge many more bidding documents to those concessions providers who lost bids to operate in the airport's new international terminal. Will formal protests follow? Most likely. I can only hope the city has learned that it can no longer get away with the blatant favoritism of the Maynard Jackson era.

The Castle Lives Again

In a story which I've sadly overlooked, the famous old Castle on 15th Street is being converted into a boutique hotel. The building, completed in 1910, had fallen into disrepair by the late 20th century, and was referred to by Mayor Andrew Young as a "hunk of junk" in 1986. Today, it is one of the oldest residential buildings of its size in Midtown, and is certainly a unique reminder of a different era in Atlanta's history; soon, it will once again be inhabited.

SS-Town? The Springs? The Sandy?

I apologize for not posting yesterday. A friend and I were trying to rid ourselves of the first-week-of-the-year doldrums.

In any case, I found this story interesting (and well-tailored to the AJC's favorite readers, upper-middle-class white suburbanites) just because of how nebulous mailing addresses are in the Atlanta area. I've known people with Atlanta addresses who live in Vinings, Sandy Springs, southwest DeKalb, and Doraville. Indeed, thanks to Sandy Springs never having a distinct mailing address as default, Atlanta is actually listed on my birth certificate as my birthplace, and in all honesty, it looks better there to me than Sandy Springs would.

I'm not troubled by the outcry for a default Sandy Springs mailling address, even though residents already have the option to choose one. If people can't stand to be identified with the city of Atlanta, then it's a good thing that they don't live here, really. Other than financial and name-recognition objections raised by Sandy Springs' own UPS, it seems to be a non-issue at the very least, and at best may help to de-nebulize the Atlanta region, if nowhere else but on paper.

Atlanta Gets Taken To Court

I was hoping not to write about this mess today, but as I couldn't find any more interesting stories on which to comment, I leave you this lengthy description of formal opposition to the airport concessions bidding process.

Hopefully, tomorrow will bring me a refreshing break from this battle, which might escalate further still in the future.

The Journal Constitution Finally Makes Note of Airport Contracts

Some puzzling aspects of City Hall's secrecy in awarding airport concessions contracts were revealed in this article in the Journal-Constitution. For instance, Mayor Reed has asked City Council to keep much of the process secret to maintain "attorney-client privilege," an easily distorted concept, not to mention a puzzlingly legalistic phrase to show up in such a mediocre newspaper. Also, a Fulton County judge denied a motion to force the city to reveal all contract proposals, and no explanation is given in the article.

It might seem excessive to dwell on this one issue when our city has so many others to correct, but given a shady history of concessions contracts at the airport, it's definitely worth watching.

Mayor Reed Throws Another Tantrum

You may recall this mayoral outburst from the heyday of Occupy Atlanta this past October. Well, a tradition of whining and finger-pointing may have already begun at the mayor's office, after he somewhat theatrically accused Common Cause Georgia of being hypocritical in their opposition to the bidding process for airport concessions contracts. Also, in a stunning show of class, Councilman C.T. Martin reminded William Perry, the executive director of Common Cause Georgia, that City Hall "is his [the mayor's] house."

Stay tuned for more top-grade discourse from the mayor and his pals.