A Strange Non-Departure

Renee Glover, the much-criticized but long-lived CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, was supposed to have resigned before too long, though she was ostensibly never fired. To this day, she seems to be hanging on. She presided over the demolition of every housing project in the city, a crusade for which she was despised by some.

All I can say is that rumors of Mayor Reed's staff ganging up on a city departmental executive are harmful to city government's credibility, no matter how true they are, or even how deserved it was. To the average citizen, it is made to seem like either a monarchy with excessive executive control, or a dysfunctional joke of office politics and vendettas from all directions.

You Really Can Say Something

Due to unforseen circumstances, I literally phoned in this post, and have just now had the chance to edit it. However, I wanted to let everyone know that my attendance at the City Council meeting today went very well. I had a conversation with some higher ranking people in the police department and they were very receptive to my concerns.

I was advised by Council, however, that neighborhood organizations are an ideal first stop if one wishes to discuss important issues. Every resident of the city is entitled to attend monthly meetings at their local NPU. Many other neighborhood groups also exist, such as the Downtown Neighborhood Association, which meets just as often. Usually, City Council meets with a predetermined agenda of items to discuss and vote on, and it is imperative to at least know some of these.

I encourage everybody with concerns to attend the City Council public meetings relevant to those concerns; if you articulate them well enough, the response you get may surprise you.

To Protect and Serve Whom?

The abortive traffic stop of Mayor Reed's brother has finally produced a casualty in the police department, at least for fifteen days. The commander of Zone 4, Major Rodney Bryant, was found to have personally intervened in the traffic stop and pardoned Tracy Reed, despite his license having expired six years before and the existence of a warrant for his arrest. It was the second time he had rescued Tracy in such a way.

I haven't let this burst of nepotism alone bother me more than it should, but in the first Journal-Constitution article I linked to, the Mayor is quoted as insisting that he didn't request his older brother's special treatment. I, personally, can't fathom another reason for Maj. Bryant to go to such inane lengths to shield Tracy Reed from, of all things, the law. Why would Bryant even fear punishment if such favorable treatment contradicted the Mayor's will, or worse, his orders? Has Mayor Reed been caught in a lie?

Ostensibly, to atone for such blatant favoritism, the city has toughened it's vehicle use policy somewhat. This is only prudent; perhaps there linger yet more city employees who have been abusing a portion of the 4,673 city-issued vehicles. There's no implication, of course, that this will foil the undue generosity of a Mayor who appears to value his friends and family over the integrity demanded of his title.

How to Get Rid of Hustlers

Early this morning, while walking a friend of mine to the Garnett MARTA station, I found the sidewalk resolutely blocked by four or five men, aged from about their late 20s to early 40s. Slicing through the crowd as I usually do, we were then both offered anything from weed to crack by the group. I answered "no," evidently too sternly for their liking, as I was met then by a barrage of loud disapproval and provocative phrases for a good thirty seconds or more. Of course, when I returned home on the other side of the street, I was solicited again, this time as I was talking on the phone, mid-sentence.

Perhaps it's only my perception, but the hustlers on my street seem to be increasing in number and aggressiveness over the past week or two, and I much more rarely see police cruise through than I did three months ago. I can only hope that it's not somehow the result of a recently altered police beat for my neighborhood, but in any case, I've already voiced my concern to the department.

My concern mostly stems from the propensity of drug activity to foster violence.

If this is happening to you in your neighborhood, call 911 on the hustlers who loiter nearby. Give an exact location with landmarks, not only addresses. This cannot be overemphasized; the last time I tried to call police on a group of non-homeless men, who didn't live in my building, squatting outside it, the cop looked in the building across the street from me instead, and left without having accomplished anything.

If you're already sick of calling the police as often as you do, voice your concern at City Council's Public Safety Committee meetings, which are held on some Tuesdays. The next one is 29 November at 3:00 PM, and I'll most likely be there.

An Occupier Heads Home

My day began in an abyss: my Macbook had died, I was alone, and had spent several hours allowing Apple to ostensibly try repairing it. However, as helpful people are known to come along in the weirdest, most opportune moments, I indeed found a straggler needing a way to get home.

I met this young man, whom I'll call "Rob," as I was debarking the Garnett MARTA station. I could immediately tell he was lost, and sure enough, he was trying to get home from Atlanta's Occupy encampment to Wisconsin. Not having money to buy him a ticket, I led him to a Western Union inside the nearby Greyhound station, where his father wired money to him.

What I learned from Rob was that, although Occupy isn't incapacitated by tuberculosis, their leadership isn't being forthright about the minor outbreak with newcomers. Rob was simply told that there was "no tuberculosis" whatsoever, and although leader Tim Franzen assured the local media that the group had been thoroughly tested, Rob never saw anybody undergo a test. Perhaps tuberculosis was completely gone from the shelter by then, but I wouldn't be so blithe to assume such a thing without evidence, were I, say, a health department worker.

He also mentioned outbreaks of random violence from bystanders at Occupy Charlotte, and ample free food at Occupy DC and Occupy Wall Street, but altogether, he was ready to head home. Perhaps his timing is not unusual; as winter approaches and national attention veers, barring a surprise uprising, we may be witnessing the end of the nationwide occupation.

Welcome to Atlanta, Now Find Something to Do

In my typically rushed way of walking, I actually stepped onto the asphalt a bit to pass a family of five on Pryor Street early this afternoon, on my way to Five Points MARTA station. Perhaps I should have asked them what it was they were looking for; they were white, expensively dressed, and nervously scanning their environment with every step. No information kiosks were immediately available to them; indeed, they would soon pass the visitor's center, into which I've never personally seen anybody enter. It appeared closed today, presumably for continuing holiday-themed carnage at the airport and various stores, most of them in other parts of town.

On Wednesday evening, during a rare scenic stroll of mine, I found a man and his young teenage son sitting outside the Capitol, puzzling over a map of Downtown attractions. As soon as I approached, the father, in a melodic Middle Eastern accent, asked me how to get to the King National Historic Site, and whether there would be anything entertaining for his son there. Not wanting to direct him to a civil rights center that was likely closed after evening rush hour, the day before Thanksgiving, and sincerely knowing of nothing there but Martin Luther King's tomb, I so informed him. I could have directed him to the World of Coca-Cola, but as their money would go farther at the solidly enjoyable restaurants on Marietta Street, I advised him to head there, and told him how.

It's fine, and even commendable, that the Convention and Visitor's Bureau is trying so hard to lure visitors into town for attractions other than pole dancing, or those less legal. However, for the Bureau to obscure just how spread apart attractions are in the city is less than welcoming to those unfamiliar with its layout. Though it's true that, to truly enjoy a city, one must dig deeper than the standard, heavily-promoted tourist spots, there are still throngs of people who are content only with those, and we must not leave them stranded for their inflexibility. The Bureau has issued maps of attractions, divided into different parts of the city; in addition to this, I propose that further subdivided 'visitor's district' maps be issued, for those areas bestowed with several attractions separated by no problem areas.

By the way: if anybody wants to know of some truly fulfilling, decent places to visit according to their own tastes, ask me. I never leave people stranded.

Pass the Obligatory Seasonal Gratitude

I'm currently in eager anticipation of turkey with giblet gravy, stuffing and at least two types of pie. There's not much to say about urban issues today, especially when one's relatives all live beyond the boundary of the pridelands, but I'll take a crack at it.

Atlanta has had a fair amount of things to be thankful for in the past few years. Some of those, such as People TV, are most likely about to pass into history. Others, such as a huge planned reservoir and park beside the Howell Station Historic District, are yet to come. What's more, we still have our old standbys to lift our spirits and keep us living in Atlanta, among them a genuine urban rail network, plenty of houses of higher education, and the Majestic Special at the diner of the same name.

In line with my usual demeanor, I am thankful yet watchful. As enjoyable as much of our city sometimes is, nothing is free, nor is it necessarily permanent. We must not only enjoy the city, but maintain it, as neighbors, voters and representatives abroad, and that's something I can drink to later tonight.