Overreaction to students playing a game

Apparently, slavery is a hot topic right now in Gwinnett schools.  As you may recall, a few weeks ago there was a controversy over slavery-themed math questions at Beaver Ridge Elementary that resulted in the resignation of a teacher.  Now, there are reports of students at Camp Creek Elementary playing a slavery-themed game during recess.  While I am not sure that the resignation in the Beaver Ridge case was warranted given the stated intent of the teacher, I am certain that the district's reaction to kids playing a game is overreaction.

In the Beaver Ridge case, there was no doubt that the teacher exhibited a lack of judgment.  He stated that he "did not write those questions with the intent of being malicious or offensive."  That is easy to say once you are in hot water, but I find it believable because we, thankfully, live in an era where overt racial prejudice is fairly uncommon.  Nevertheless, I can at least understand why people were upset and I can understand some degree of reaction by the school system to address the matter.  Perhaps, that experience, especially being so recent, is helping to fuel the overreaction this week.

At Camp Creek, an investigation concluded that a teacher was not involved in the playground incident:

The school district looked into concerns regarding four students who participated in a playground activity. The district determined that the activity was student initiated and that allegations regarding the teacher's involvement were unfounded.

So, if the district, itself, concluded that this game was initiated by the children themselves and not organized by a teacher, why is the system wasting taxpayer dollars as well as the time of dozens of professionals by subjecting them to "diversity training", better called "political correctness training?"  If you have ever had to sit through diversity training, you know it is a mind-numbing experience that can be summed up with some old fashioned common sense - treat everyone with respect.  I realize it is not that simple, that there are cultural differences that influence how different people may see the same thing.  However, diversity training, with it's over the top scenarios, rarely achieves insight in this sense.  Even if standard diversity training achieved anything useful, why is the school system wasting time and money in this situation when the people to be "trained" - the staff at the school - had absolutely nothing to do with the game?  Given that, what is the training intended to achieve?  I expect the goal is political at the expense of both hard-working professionals that deserve more respect for their time and the taxpayers of Gwinnett County that have to fund it.

HOT lanes see increased usage

One month after launch, use of the HOT lanes on I-85 have seen a threefold increase in usage.  After initial low usage worsened traffic congestion during rush hour, Governor Nathan Deal lowered tolls and is seeking to reinstitute free use for two-passenger vehicles.  

I can appreciate the frustration of those drivers who previously used the HOV lanes with a single passenger, but I am glad to see the new option for other drivers.  This past weekend, on the way to the Georgia Tech-Clemson game, an accident below Indian Trail Road caused significant delays.  I simply jumped over to the HOT lanes and got around the blockage with little time lost.  In this instance I had a passenger so I could have used the original HOV lanes, but had I been alone, I would have been stuck.  In fact, the HOT lanes may have kept traffic flowing for some cars.  With HOV lanes, the number of multi-passenger vehicles that could have used the free HOV lanes during such an incident could well have clogged that lane.  The result could have been no cars free-flowing past the accident.  

Hopefully, the tweaks sought by Governor Deal will improve the utilization of these lanes and eliminate any detrimental impact to I-85 congestion.

Peachtree Corners to vote on cityhood

Next week, Peachtree Corners will go to the polls and decide the question of whether their community should become a city.  The Gwinnett Buzz strongly endorses opposition to this ballot issue.  As I have written previously, there are far more potential negatives to cityhood than benefits.  

The most obvious is yet another layer of government that duplicates services already provided by another entity.  Redundant and unnecessary government imposes unnecessary costs for taxpayers, businesses, and visitors.  Granted, Peachtree Corners says it will limit it's government powers to code enforcement, solid waste and planning and zoning.  However, we all know the penchant of government to grow.  You can almost be guaranteed that a police department will soon follow that will, as do so many municipal departments, turn Peachtree Corner into a speedtrap cash register in order to raise revenue for the growing government.

The local planning and zoning is a major negative as well.  While many will tout "local control," area residents stand to lose more than they would gain.  It's not like the Gwinnett County Commission is developer-friendly.  Most planning and zoning rulings by municipalities serve to negatively impact property rights and make it more difficult for businesses to conduct business in the city.  Over time this can result in fewer shopping and entertainment options as new retail centers are denied or impaired wireless coverage as wireless communication companies struggle to add the towers needed to serve growing wireless demand.  Financial woes for the city are not even out of the question as businesses and the taxes they pay are denied access to the community.  The latter concern may be muted because of the existing business base in Peachtree Corners, but the possible negatives are still substantial.

The vote will be a crucial turning point for Peachtree Corners.  Local voters would be advised not to try to fix that which is not broken.

Capitalism to clean up Green's Corners

This bit of news came out last week but I wanted to highlight it for a great point is makes about America's capitalist system.  Walmart will redevelop the Green's Corners shopping center at Jimmy Carter Blvd. and Rockbridge Rd. in Norcross.  That news, in and of itself, is not all that noteworthy.  Retail development, even in this economy, is hardly a earth-shattering event.  However, at a time when we consistently see attacks on private industry from the likes of the Occupy Wall Street protestors and even our President, this project highlights the benefit private industry offers us all the way down on the community level.  

Green's Corners used to be a significant shopping destination in Norcross.  Now, Green's Corners has become a "troubled shopping center."  It's previous anchor tenant, K-Mart, closed and the complex "has become a haven for litter and crime."  In the words of an attorney representing Walmart, Green's Corners is a "mess."  So Walmart, the "evil corporation" that so many liberals love to hate, is going to step forward and clean up the mess.  

Is Walmart going to undertake this project out of the kindness of its heart and solely for the good of the community?  Of course not.  They are going to do this in a dastardly effort to earn a...*gasp*...profit.  Walmart obviously sees an opportunity to make money by rehabilitating Green's Corners and opening one their often attacked SuperCenters there.  In the process, they will be tearing down two night clubs that have become a thorn in the side of Gwinnett police.

The point here is that, even if area residents never set foot into the new Walmart or spend one dollar at the store, they will benefit as a result of Walmart's effort to successfully compete and be profitable in a free market economy.  The next time you hear a quasi-socliast liberal railing about all the bad that corporations do, remember, that, while their record is certainly not spotless, corporations bring far more direct and indirect good to our society than they do bad.  Just ask residents near Green's Corners in a couple of years.

Cobb changes highlight flaws in TSPLOST project list

Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee this week proposed changes to the TSPLOST project list, changes that highlight precisely the flaws that I discussed earlier this week.  The changes would shift money away from the proposed Cumberland-Atlanta light rail line to, among other things, local surface road improvements:

But Lee’s amendment would put more emphasis in Cobb County on highway projects. He said input he and other Cobb officials received in public meetings showed strong support for improving Windy Hill Road’s intersections with Interstate 75, U.S. 41 and South Cobb Drive.  Lee’s amendment also calls for improving Ga. 120 in Marietta and adding “premium” bus service from Acworth and Kennesaw down to MARTA’s Arts Center station in Midtown Atlanta.

First, let me be clear.  I am not anti-road.  Rather, I think Atlanta is sorely lacking in regional freeways.  Development of our freeway network along with regional mass transit are keys to addressing our transportation issues.  However, surface road intersection and interchange improvements are hardly the scope of project that TSPLOST should be addressing.  These projects may be needed but not at the expense of a regional solution such as light rail.  True, a single light rail line will not solve our gridlock, but it is a first step to developing what could be a comprehensive, interconnected, regional transit network.

A more practical consideration is why should Gwinnett (or Fulton, Dekalb, Clayton, etc.) taxpayers pay for surface street improvements in Cobb County? We shouldn't.  Projects of that scale should be handled by the local jurisdiction and funded by those that benefit from them.  "Wait!" you say.  "Gwinnett taxpayers would rarely ride the Cumberland light rail either.  Why should we pay for that?"  That is a fair question but whether we should help fund that project bring into question whether there is a vision of a regional network.  With proper planning the Cumberland light rail line could be a part.  A transportation project can only be regional in scope if there exists a broad vision and plan for our transportation infrastructure.  The question then becomes  is TSPLOST merely a collection of unrelated projects from the wish lists of various metro Atlanta jurisdictions or are these projects integral pieces of and progress toward a regional plan?  To create a regional tax without clearly answering that question puts the cart before the horse.  If such a plan is in place, then regional solutions which ultimately impact everyone in the region are properly funded by everyone in the region.   

The more I see of the TSPLOST campaign, the more I am convinced that the planners do not have a metrowide vision and that voters need to tell them to come back with hat in hand once you have a plan meriting consideration.  This plan should be backed up with comprehensive planning from a regional oversight body with legitimate authority, preferably the state via DDOT and GRTA.  Gwinnett and their fellow metro Atlanta taxpayers need to begin demanding better leadership on this critical issue if officials expect to be given more of our hard earned dollars. Thus far, they have failed to make a compelling case how TSPOLST is not just more business as usual for Atlanta transportation.

Gwinnett parks may face more budget cuts

As work continues on the 2012 Gwinnett County budget, Gwinnett parks may face the brunt of falling tax revenues.  Some of the shortfall may land in the laps of local youth athletic associations.  While I sympathize with families who would face additional time demands for sharing in park upkeep as well as increased fees, this is actually only fair.  Whether you use parks yourself, the community as a whole does benefit from the park system through improved quality of life and reduced crime.  These benefits go to support property values.  As such, it is entirely proper that we all share some of the costs of the park system through taxes.  However, those who actually use the parks should bear a greater share of the costs due to their direct benefit.  I have long felt that there should be some sort of permit that park uers should have to purchase to use the county parks.  The fee for such a pass would not necessarily be exorbitant but would shift more of responsibility for supporting the parks to those who benefit the most.  I say this as a county resident who uses my local park.  The possible shift of funding park maintenance to the sports associations would indirectly progress toward this goal, though many park users who do not participate in sports would continue to no more of the costs than taxpayers who never visit a park.

Gwinnett to host transportation sales tax forum

UPDATE: I misinterpreted the AJC article about the forum.  According to a radio report I heard today, the forum is tonight at GJAC.  I apologize for any confusion!

Gwinett County will host a forum on the proposed transportation sales tax on Monday, October 3 TODAY at 5P at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center.  The proposed sales tax (TSPLOST), which will be voted on next year, would support a proposed list of transportation projects throughout metro Atlanta. 

There has been some early opposition to the tax from tea party groups.  Obviously, as can be seen by reading the Buzz, I am very conservative.  I generally agree with and support Tea Party positions.  However, I think this opposition is very short-sighted.  Do I think we should support the TSPLOST?  I am not sure, but that is because I strongly feel we need a regionwide comprehensive plan for transportation.  I am not sure that the proposed TSPLOST project list achieves this.  

In recent months, I have travelled to Dallas and Minneapolis, cities of similar size of Atlanta.  While Atlanta was once on par with transportation with any city of its size, in the 10 years since I had last visited Dallas, Atlanta has fallen far behind in terms of transportation infrastructure in terms of both highways and transit.  While I had not previously visited Minneapolis and cannot offer a historical comparison, I was favorablely impressed that their infrastucture was integrated across their metropolitcan area.  

My biggest concern with the TSPLOST is that Atlanta as a region is missing an opportunity to positively address our transportation needs.  However, the TSPLOST project list is not sufficiently regional in scope.  Yes, there are some transit initiatives with regionwide impact - light rail, the GA400/I-285 interchange, etc.  However, there are a large number of projects that are better characterized as local maintenance such as corridor improvements, intersection upgrades, etc.  While these projects may well be warranted, they do not have a broad area impact and are more appropriately handled by local jurisdictions.

It is this limited scope and project list that causes me to pause as to whether to support the proposed tax.  I think they need to scrap the list and start over with a broader perspective.  Once we commit to these projects, we will run the risk of being further left behind other metropolitan areas in the coming decade.  

Furthermore, a big problem for metro Atlanta area transportation is the numerous "fiefdoms" that compete rather than cooperate on transportation planning.  The tax and project list do very little address this key failing.  We must begin to think of our transportation oversight regionally and not as a city and county level only. For a metro area as integrated as Atlanta, to balkanize our transportation management into separate fiefdoms does a grave disservice to our city and state.

I have not decided whether to endorse this tax proposal but I have serious doubts at this point.  The Tea Party is a great organization and the majority of the time is dead-on with their position on the issues.  But, I am concerned that their zeal in opposing taxation, a position I generally share, is blinding them to a reasonable tax for a reasonable function of a limited government.   Rejection of the tax may be the best course, not merely to oppose taxes, but because the TSPLOST does not meet our city's needs.  If planners get that message rather than simply hearing "No new taxes!", hopefully they would go back to the drawing board and develop a comprehensive plan that would have a real impact on Atlanta's transportation and transit infrastructure.

More to come soon!

Sorry for the lack of updates to the Buzz in the last couple of weeks.  I have been under heavy deadline pressure in my real job (I know, shocking that running the Gwinnett Buzz does not pay all my bills!).  I have been spending nights and half of last weekend on this project.  But the light is visible at the end of the tunnel and I will soon have time to post some great stuff.  I have a letter to the editor from a former high school classmate about his experience with Gwinnett's socialized garbage that I cannot wait to get online.  It proves everything I warned about this program when our commissioners unwisely adopted it.  Thanks for being patient!

Upgraded Laser Show coming to Stone Mountain

This summer, Stone Mountain Park will upgrade the venerable Lasershow Spectacular to feature the latest technology, allowing for a  more engrossing experience.

Using video mapping, the laser show can make it seem as if the mountain is not there. "With video mapping, we can project on the mountain and compensate for the cracks and imperfections," [Stan Morrell, director of attractions, entertainment, guest experience and special events at Stone Mountain Park] said. The show will make it appear as if there is water, ice, and lava on the mountain, he added.

I have not been to the Lasershow in a very long time.  I have wanted to go back if for no other reason than nostalgia, but the upgrades make me even more anxious to get to Stone Mountain one night this summer!

Charlotte Nash - new Gwinnett Commission Chairman

Charlotte Nash has easily won the special election to replace resigned Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister.  Nash avoided a runoff by garnering 56% of the vote.  Larry Gause was a distant second with 26%.  Only 5% of registered Gwinnett voters turned out for the election.  Let's hope that Ms. Nash can provide effective leadership to lead the board out of an era of corruption and big government.