The 2007-2008 city budget has been adopted and goes into place July 1. While it is a realistic budget and tight, it does allow the city to continue to move toward its goal of a clean, vibrant and active city. There are significant changes in the way we recruit, hire and pay police officers in an effort to reach a fully staffed force. In November the city will make the last payment on the bonds for the conference center and parking deck which will lead to a decision of whether we continue in that business or sell the facilities. The money we collect from the hotel-motel tax goes toward that debt and when the bonds are paid we will install a tourism board so that we can legally continue to collect the tax. The funds will then be used for maintenance and upkeep. There are funds for a marketing study to look for ways that we can support our existing businesses and restaurants. In these tough times we must continue to look for ways to help our local economy. There are some other key items in this year’s budget which I will address later. As tight as this budget is, it continues to put pressure on us financially through property tax. We continue to look for ways to lower our property taxes and one way to help keeps popping up - Annexation. It is obvious and will make a significant difference in all of our property tax bills. More later. I know I haven’t written much lately but that will improve. Thanks for your interest and patience. 

Tuesday evening I had the opportunity to attend the Siemens Science Teacher Awards Dinner at Fernbank.  Siemens is a world wide company with over 400,000 employees who has created a foundation that provides nearly $4 million annually in support of math, science and technology education from grade school through graduate school in the United States. They were ten winners of this award this year in the metro area and two were from Decatur. I congratulate Susan Brooks of Renfroe Middle School and David Schaar of Decatur High School who are this years winners from Decatur. Congratulations on a job well done. Teaching is the worlds hardest job, lowest paid and yet the most important, and not for everybody. It takes special people to do it right and we don’t thank them enough. We are proud of our school system in Decatur and it is great to see them recognized for there work. THANKS GUYS!!!!!!

I was privileged to join the Atlanta Regional Commission ”links” trip to Denver last week along with several others from the metro Atlanta area. It snowed and was cold, but other than that it was a very informative trip. We had the opportunity to hear of Denver’s public health system (their Grady that actually makes money with out state assistance). We rode the light rail system from downtown Denver to Englewood and back and listened to them tell how they weathered a drought worse than ours. As with any region they certainly have their own issues and problems to deal with, but it does help to see what they have done that has worked for them and see if there are lessons to be learned for the Atlanta area. It became apparent toward the end of the trip that most everyone felt that transportation and water are our greatest challenges here in Atlanta. There were a number of Decatur residents on the trip and all seemed to think it was worthwhile. As one said to me as we were departing Denver “We certainly are not perfect, but we ain’t so bad either”.  

Visit http://www.elifemagazine.net/ , click on The Elizabeth Wilson Story and see one of Decatur’s real hero’s.

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GDOT announced at a public meeting in late Feb that the sidewalks scheduled to be improved and in some cases installed new along Scott Blvd had been dropped from a proposed project due to funding. The project, in play since 2001, was to improve the sidewalks along both sides of Ponce de Leon and Scott Blvd from Moreland to North Decatur Road approx 3 miles. The anticipated cost and the funding established in 2001 was just less than 1 million dollars and it has now risen to an estimated cost of 5.0 million, thus cut backs. Now they propose to do just sidewalks in the Fernbank - Deep End Park area. But after discussions with our GDOT board members (Emory McClinton and Robert Brown), Rep Mary Margaret Oliver and Stephanie Benefield and Bryant Poole, GDOT District Engineer and a neighborhood meeting at Westchester on Tuesday night (April 1), they appear to be receptive to doing some work along Scott Blvd within the city of Decatur. The decision on our part, the community, will be to decide between improvements to existing sidewalks or new sidewalks where there are none (south side of Scott across from Westchester, Lamont to Clairemont). I don’t need to mention to any one the danger of walking or riding a bike for that matter, along Scott. Which choice would you prefer? New or repairs?  I would love to hear from you.

The old Relax Inn has been a problem for this city as long as I can remember. It is now gone!! Hallelujah!! While the current economic times may slow the development scheduled for that site, I believe it will start in the foreseeable future and that part of our downtown will continue to become an active and involved area. We have seen significant change in recent years with Twain’s, Feast, Carpe Diem and The Depeaux. Lets watch as the area changes dramatically with the addition of residential and retail space.The Dairy Queen has watched  it all happen. They are looking for a temporary site during construction and are scheduled to return to the new building. Construction is always disruptive, but the end product will be worth the trouble.

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Since the people in Dunwoody first began to discuss the possibility of becoming a city, I have been supportive of that effort and their right to decide their fate. That applies to them and those in other areas of the county, or the state for that matter, that wish to consider being a city. Those who will be within the city limits of the new city will now get a chance to consider the pros and cons, and vote in July. If it passes, they will elect a mayor and council in September and become a city a few months later. The county should embrace this change rather than oppose it. The closer your elected officials are to you the more access you have to them and the more impact your opinion will have on any decision they make. The people in Dunwoody are in for a treat if they pass the referendum. They will experience the joy of being part of a city and the feeling of belonging. Strong cities in Dekalb will make for a stronger and better county. While those elected officials in the county will experience some loss of political power and control and influence, it will pale in comparison to the benefit they will get from having a strong, effective and efficient city of Dunwoody. I wish them the best and offer my support and help.

Well here I am, a baby boomer blogging. The world is certainly changing. Over the last year or so I began to pay attention to blogs, not just those that are about Decatur, but several that deal with just about anything from politics to sewage ( my profession). I believe when used properly, they have value. This is my attempt to let you know what is on my mind about those particular issues that may or will have an impact on our city. I encourage your comments on what I have said or any issue you wish to discuss. This is being done by me personally and has no official ,or unofficial for that matter, ties to the city. So, the opinions you see here may not be those of the management, but lets get started.