« Snellville trying to settle crematory lawsuit? »

There is some indication that the City of Snellville is attempting to settle a lawsuit filed against it as a result of the controversial crematory case.  The Cremation Society of the South has been railroaded in recent months by the Snellville City Council in a politically motivated denial of the company's property rights.  The crematory sued the city in November after the city appeals board took exception with some trivial differences between the as-built facility and the submitted building plan; as a result, the crematory's operating licenses were revoked.  Unfortunately, the prospect of a settlement seems dim given the comments of Councilman Tod Warner who noted that "'there seems to be some division on the council, so it appears there won’t be any solutions forthcoming.'"

Furthermore, the political vendetta appears to be ongoing.  Councilman Robert Jenkins has shown little concern for the crematory's property rights during this fiasco and little appears to have changed on this front:

Councilman Robert Jenkins said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on pending litigation, but he said he hadn’t even seen the lawsuit.

“In the meantime, the crematory’s closed down, so that’s fine with me,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know what the next step is going to be in this thing.”

Let me get this straight?  Jenkins' name has come up in this controversy numerous times.  Therefore, based on several newspaper reports, I think it is fair to say he has been closely involved in the Council's consideration of this matter.  As such, I must ask, why, in a month's time, has he not read a lawsuit against the city of which he is an elected official?  Is he merely grandstanding and attempting to slight crematory owner Chris Nuzum, or is he failing to dedicate himself to his service to the residents of Snellville?

I think I have now realize what is going on here and, frankly, I am disaappointed in myself for not having recognized it sooner.  I have encountered similar situations when I used to work on cell phone tower applications.  When faced with a politically unpopular planning and zoning issue for which the elected official has little legal standing to stop, the official digs in and staunchly opposes the matter.  Though they probably know that a court would likely never back their stance, they remain defiant rather than truly leading and making a decision that may be politically unpopular.  In doing so, they can then tell voters that they fought for them and blame the legal system for greenlighting a project.  What makes this tactic sleazy, the lack of leadership that it entails notwithstanding, is that the elected official wastes countless taxpayer dollars on government staff time and legal fees.  The petitioner, in addition to having his or her property rights held hostage, may have to spend thousands of dollars simply trying to protect the basic freedoms, dollars they may or may not ultimately recover.  I recognzied some time ago that Kelly Kautz and company were playing political games but a comment she made to a Gwinnett Daily Post reporter woked up to the fact that this tactic was apparently in play once again:

Councilwoman Kelly Kautz, who drafted an air-quality control ordinance that would regulate businesses such as crematories, said she knew the issue would wind up in court.

“It’s up to the judge now to decide, so maybe it’s a relief now that it’s out of our hands and in the court’s hands.”

How the residents of Snellville can even consider reelecting Ms. Kautz is beyond me.  Of course, the parade of people in zoning hearings, city council meetings and county board meetings never fail to highlight that many citizens either do not appreciate or simply do not care about private property rights.