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Mother may I break the rules – just a little - just this once – please?

People seem to have a difficult time figuring out my politics when, in my mind at least, it is very simple and clear.

There are Rules. Live by those Rules.

That’s it. Call it playground logic if you will.

Armed with that little insight you can see why this little piece of propaganda from the Savannah Morning News had me boiling:

“SAVANNAH CITY Council should either approve a rezoning at White Bluff and Hampstead, or buy the land from the developer.”

Partly I am mad cause they are wrong – partly because the editorial staff presented a whole page of wrong under a bigas animated banner ad for Enmark- the owner of the land.

This goes back to that whole Enmark thing from last week’s city council meeting.

Enmark is asking for permission to break the zoning law on a piece of land in a neighborhood. The paper would have you believe that is not only okay but their GAWD given right.

City leaders can't preclude property owners from the rightful use of their land indefinitely.

Rightful use? So, according to the paper, City Council has lost the power to enforce zoning laws? When did this happen?

Does this mean I can pursue my lifelong dream of operating a deer processing/taxidermy shop in the heart of Ardsley Park. I can put in the Helicopter landing pad I’ve always wanted?

Oh but no… Enmark is going to enhance the neighborhood by breaking the zoning laws.

“That Enmark is moving to get the rezoning anyway is a testament to its corporate stewardship.

The company has also pledged to build a store with a more residential-looking design, muted colors, and a single low sign on the White Bluff side of the property.”

Okay… see Enmark knew the zoning when they bought the land.

Everyone involved including Enmark says they can build the station they want without breaking the zoning laws but we are supposed to applaud because they want to break the zoning laws?

The paper tries to do a little MPC dance pointing out the “transitional” nature of the area as an excuse to allow further commercial encroachment into the neighborhood.

Doesn’t that just push the transitional part into the residential part?

Where do we stop the transitioning part?

Will there be any houses left?

UPDATE:

This past Thursday’s City Council meeting is up on the web for all to see now.

The file claims it was created on Friday – but was not posted until this morning.

Skip ahead to a about 1:24:00 to see Alderman Clifton Jones peel back the curtain on what’s been going on over at the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

“In meeting with the neighbors I found that the MPC was responsible for encouraging Enmark to move into this area and intrude in that block. In my opinion I find that awful unusual. I did not know they made that type of recommendations but in this particular instance they made a recommendation. The MPC did - the staff I imagine because that is the way it is in this report.”

“…they told me there was a sign posted on the property - “Ben Farmer Realty”. So I checked it out and then we’re talking about a grand conflict of interest because I think Mr. Farmer had something to do with the very motion that got this where it is today.

 I found that through his company there was an agent by the name of Carl Francis that actually sold this property to Enmark.

If I am wrong I got the wrong information but if I’m right then this is the information that I’ve been given. Mr. Mayor I’m saying all this because I don’t want to see this property affect a whole lot of other properties in the City of Savannah. If Enmark is able to further encroach into this area then what about the rest of Savannah?”

So the only thing Alderman Jones said that is in dispute is the part about a specific agent from Ben Farmer Realty that “sold this property to Enmark”

Mr. Farmer says that never happened. Okay – but what about the rest of it?

ADDENDUM: I have the direct quotes now posted at: http://stupidsavannah.vox.com/library/post/est%C3%BApido-savannah---monday-november-09-2009-13559-pm.html

A whiff of scandal

I am just going off of what I have read. I don’t like to do that because much of what I read is wrong. In this instance I have no choice as the City of Savannah is not following its policy of re-broadcasting and posting the regularly scheduled City Council meetings to the web within days of the original broadcast.

I don’t want to belabor that sudden change in public information policy because I don’t want to get distracted by minutia but I missed the meeting and haven’t been able to see it yet and am not as well armed with the facts as I would like to be going into this. That being said I sally forth.

Go Clifton – Go Clifton It’s Your Birthday! We gon' party like it's your birthday. We gon' sip on Bacardi like it's your birthday.

Clifton Jones called THE MAN out -- right up in the middle of City Council!!! He put it right out on Front Street for everybody to see (unless they were counting on seeing it on the rebroadcast or the web).

“As council members debated the rezoning, Alderman Clifton Jones repeated and expanded on an allegation from one of the residents.

He stated that Ben Farmer, a local real estate agent and member of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, had an agent who had sold the property to Enmark.”

This is the Boring Background Part: Enmark says it wants to throw up another quality gas station at the corner of Hampstead and White Bluff. They want to take a bite out of the residential property in the neighborhood to do it.

MPC staff and of course the industry-heavy MPC signed off on the plan.

This despite objections from 99.999% of the people in the neighborhood and pleas for patience from the city. It seems the parcels in question are in the Project Derenne study area and if Enmark would just wait they would have a better idea of how the changes in the area might change the landscape and the property they own there.

Thus the request to violate the zoning laws came before council with great big green checkmarks from both MPC Staff and the MPC but with a great big red X from City Manager Michael Brown because the whole thing may become moot if the city takes out the land in question to build a new road for Project Derenne.

Enmark is simply being asked to wait which they seem unwilling to do.

The More Interesting Bits Resume Here: The reason I’ve waited days to report this is because the two emails I got from people in the room suggest that the paper overstated Clifton’s accusations.  My sources say he simply pointed out that Ben Farmer had a sign on the lot in question and that an agent of his company had represented the property and that the property next door is owned by Enmark.

“Farmer, reached after the meeting, said the claim was untrue. He once had a listing on the property, but it expired with no sale.

"We had nothing to do with that transaction. If I had I would have disclosed it."

So he DID represent the land at some point but he wasn’t the one who actually did the deal.

Interesting split of the hair there.  

I would like to ask Mr. Farmer how many parcels of land either owned by or purchased by Enmark has his company represented and profited from?

My Take –

Metropolitan Planning Commissioner Ben Farmer has a conflict of interest.

That is a broad statement of fact. Let’s drill down a bit.

As a real estate mogul Ben Farmer has a vested interest in making sure parcels of land have as many potential uses as possible so as to more easily sell said parcels.  This is in direct conflict with his role on the Metropolitan Planning Commission which is a pseudo regulatory body partially responsible for enforcing zoning limitations on the potential uses of parcels of land.

I have pointed out this conflict in the past. Mr. Farmer is not the only one on the board with such conflicted interests but he is by far the most outspoken and I would argue the most successful in both his business and in voting in favor of variances that allow property owners to violate zoning regulations.

Enmark owns lots and lots of land; Farmer represents lots and lots of land owners. It would be odd if there was no interaction between the two.

Mr. Farmer should never place himself in a position to make any decisions that would profit any of his business associates past or present, directly or indirectly.

As the apostle pointed out to the good people of Thessaloniki so long ago – “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” In other words if it even looks like you might have a conflict of interest you should probably step away.

Ben Farmer needs to step away and somebody needs to buy Clifton Jones a drink for having the brass eggs to point it out.

Is it only in the TV business that you can lose money and market share and get a promotion?

This blurb about Savannah’s alwaysabridesmaid WSAV-TV caught my eye because the guy who has overseen the decline of the station’s fortunes over the past three years, Brad Moses, is being rewarded with a trip to a much larger market.

"During the past three years, Brad has provided exceptional leadership in all areas of broadcast management as general manager for WSAV," said Media General North Carolina President/Market Leader James R. Conschafter.”

Really Connie?

Cause the way I hear it, in addition to the layoffs imposed on the station from those corporate geniuses up in Richmond, Moses couldn’t keep a sales staff, fired a veteran anchor who was then hired at WJCL on the same day and somehow managed to run off the entire marketing department, the crime reporter, neighborhood news reporter, weekend anchor and sports director as well as the executive producer.

I can’t give you a link to the ratings, they cost money and aren’t shared freely, but my understanding is they have been flat or down significantly during his entire tenure.

I guess the good news in all this is that WSAV may improve under Moses successor; it certainly can’t get any worse. We need to say a prayer for the folks in Raleigh.

From the Vox - Dumb, Dumber and downright Stupid:

"The reason we have so much foreign trade today is greed. American merchants just want to make more money."

Yes. And?

For this little piece of ignorance I blame the schools. They apparently are no longer teaching the basics of economics.

Supply and demand… capitalism… is this ringing any bells?

"Grocery stores don't seem to be competing for our business. I'm clipping coupons and trying to save like a desperate fool. They have us figured out, charging $3.55 or more for a bag of chips."

Let me get this straight… you are clipping coupons and beeatching about it because you can’t afford a bag of chips? A bag of chips that, when consumed, will provide to your body absolutely no nutritional value. A bag of chips that, when consumed, will probably make you less healthy due to trans-fats and sodium levels and general greasiness?

How can you look at that level of intelligence and still believe in “survival of the fittest”?

"The caller who said he wouldn't buy a Chevrolet because of the stimulus funds doesn't understand that, without stimulus funds, there wouldn't be a Chevrolet to buy."

Yeah…I think that’s what they meant. There shouldn’t be a Chevy unless Chevy can survive without being propped up with tax money.

Savannah’s self-appointed GAY spokesperson Kevin Clark is at it again – This time he’s right – for the most part.

Clark is beeatching about how a group of gay “leafletters” were treated at the recent innovation awards. The police acted “stupidly”, to borrow a phrase from the president, when they rudely and unconstitutionally sent The GAYS away from the public streets and sidewalks where the awards were handed out.

However he makes a key mistake in is tirade that the paper should have cleared up or excised from this SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS piece.

Moreover, why did prominent politicians, including Alderman Tony Thomas and County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis, who were in attendance, stand by and watch as their police committed this embarrassment?

Mr. Thomas and Mr. LIakakis could not, by law, say boo to the cops in this or any other situation.

The SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS knows this, they have lauded this particular part of the Manager Form of Government and they have berated the City Council for Micro Managing when they dared to ask a difficult question of the police chief because they simply wanted to know how many cops we have and where they were assigned.

The paper should NEVER have printed this unfounded accusation.

They know full well that repeating Clark’s criticism makes two electeds look as though they don’t care when the truth is they were as powerless as The GAYS.

In the city’s case Aldermen are strictly forbidden to interfere with the day to day operations of any city department. On a bigger scale anyone – ANYONE – interfering with a police officer duties in just about any situation could be charged with obstruction.

Don’t like the idea that the police can break the law and trample your rights and no one can stop them on the spot?

Tough!

This is the price you pay to live in the false belief that you and your family are safe.

One from the VOX:

"The news told of a young lady being gang raped as a crowd of chicken livered onlookers watched. How revolting and cowardly. That would not have happened back in my day."

When exactly was your “day” - 1964 perhaps? That is the year Kitty Genovese was stabbed and suffocated on her own blood within site and earshot of more than a dozen people who did little or nothing to help her.

Or perhaps your “day” was the 1920’s or 1930’s or perhaps 1940’s or 1950’s when groups of people banded together to hang individuals from trees until their necks broke or they choked to death. No one lifted a hand to stop them and instead cheered them on back in those days.

We are a violent group of animals. We have always been a violent group of animals and we have always run away from our fellow animal’s problems when we have the opportunity.

That is why we survived so long and so well among faster and deadlier groups of animals.

Don’t play dumb!  The exact same levels of violence and cowardice exist in each and every one of us yesterday, today and tomorrow.

For the first time in a long time I was at a complete loss for words but oddly proud of myself at the same time.

So what did you do on Halloween?

I decided to stay in and get caught up on what happened at the quarterly town hall meeting they had over to the civic center the other night. Scary dull I know.

You might be asking yourself “what town hall meeting?” I certainly was since I saw nothing on it from my usual news sources. I managed to find a blurb that it was coming up but no coverage of the actual meeting.

Turns out I didn’t miss much, however the Savannah Morning News could have used this as an excuse to report the current and future economic state of the city -- since they missed that story at the last City Council and still have yet to report it. Head Penny Pincher Chris Morrill provided a brief budget explanation for the apparently very small crowd of neighbors who showed up.

Despite the fact that Morrill called it “The Great Recession” , which is hyperbolic, his talk was to the point and chock full of as yet unreported, important information about how all that money we give to the local government is being spent and who might get laid off and what services might get cut and such.

Besides that we got the regular “Here’s What We’ve Done For You Lately” somewhat self-serving priorities bit from the bureaucracy and a talk about the as yet completely ineffective Youth Futures Authority and something about Black Male Achievement which I skipped over because I have already achieved what I plan to achieve. You too can skip right over that and the other stuff that doesn’t grab you with handy dandy index points provided at the link posted above.

The other thing that I did NOT skip over was the bit from the Housing Authority of Savannah. They are the Public Housing Folk basically the local arm of the Housing and Urban Development department of the Federal Government.

It looked like it would be a right interesting historic perspective on what the HAS has done since its founding back in the 1930s. And it was, interesting I mean, right up until they got to the bit about Stubbs Tower.

Ms. Earline Davis the executive Director of the HAS described a slide she indicated was an Ad for Stubbs Tower at the time of its construction.

“This is Stubbs Towers the first high rise senior building built by the housing authority. For those of you who remember Stubbs Towers, I want to read

for you what is on the literature ‘Move up to Stubbs -Stubbs Towers offers cutting edge high rise living with breath taking views an exciting floor plan with the slickest contemporary design and the clever use of modern materials and space made for today’s living.’…”

I almost swallowed my tongue.

I created that ad for this blog in 2007. It is not a 1960's era ad for a High Rise Senior Living Facility-it is a fake, a fraud, a poor attempt at funny photoshopping.

I don’t know how to react to this, I mean, do I need to put disclaimers on what are obviously photo fakery? Should I be proud the work was so convincing?

I feel I have to point it out but, given the anonymous nature of my work, I can’t very well call up Ms. Davis and tell her.

So I will leave it to you my dear readers to inform her, as gently as you can, that she should remove that slide from future presentations and should check her sources more carefully in the future.

I am a little ashamed that I was at the root of one of those internet artifacts that becomes historical fact simply because no one knows any better.

I also am a little proud that my work could be mistaken for the real thing…is that wrong?

Yo Kettle! It’s The Pot here. YOU’RE BLACK!

Poster child for media bias Campbell Brown claims the White House lacks credibility on media bias issue.

I have largely ignored the supposed battle between the President and Fox News. I couldn’t care less except it makes him look like a child angry at the TV because his favorite Power Ranger isn’t getting enough screen time.

I couldn’t ignore this from AP:

“Meanwhile, Fox received support Wednesday from an unlikely source: CNN's prime-time host Campbell Brown. She interviewed Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett and asked whether the White House considered left-leaning MSNBC biased as well. Jarrett wouldn't speak about the network.

She "seems loathe admitting that MSNBC has a bias," Brown said. "And that is where I think the White House loses all credibility on this issue."

Really Campbell? Really?

What was it Matthew said about removing the I-beam from your own eye before…

I actually have no words to describe the level of hypocrisy that must be present in that young woman for her to be able to say that with a straight face and on Television even.

Yeah, you see we know when you’re just trying to score points for your network at the expense of others dear. Just give it up.

It takes a serious act of will to be this stupid or does it just come naturally?

“He sounds like a nice, unsuspecting guy who doesn't always read the fine print, believes what people tell him and suffers from lousy timing. Then bad things happen, like the condo market going off a cliff.”

An editorial in the Savannah Morning News goes on and on about this moronic guy that bought one of the condos that are inside the old newspaper building on Bay.

Okay – maybe Bartoon could say the guy was a victim of bad timing if he…say… bought at the end of 2007. The real estate bubble was slowly deflating here in Savannah and it looked like we might be recession proof or at least go shallow and recover quickly but that is not the case for this particular “victim”.

“Williams, an interior designer from New York, paid $670,000 for a fifth-floor condominium last December at News Place West at 165 West Bay Street.”

Last December? LAST December? Really?

What “fine print” did he not see? Could it have been this headline in the Savannah Morning News in September: Bailout unlikely to counter slump or perhaps this tiny little headline in December: Forecasters: Georgia's economic outlook 'dreadful' .

Truthfully though, in condo boy’s defense, it is hard to get an accurate picture of the local economy from reading Mr. Bartoon’s newspaper.

Here are a group of SMN headlines arranged by date. Can you tell how the economy is doing?

 Ga. economist: State could be facing recession 

Housing may rebound by year's end; economy to grow slowly

New reports give bleak outlook on housing, economy

Growth weaker than hoped; economy shrinks in Q4

Consumer spending gain provides hope for rebound

City Talk: Data suggest ongoing economic weakness

Report: Worst of recession likely over for Coastal Empire

Manufacturing data boosts hopes of recession end

Georgia hits record unemployment

Schizophrenic much?

Yeah people seem to revere Darwin these days without understanding the implications of the man’s theory.

One from the Vox:

"Why should I have to lock my car or anything else I own? Why do people blame the victims? Why am I responsible for the actions of criminals? I'm sick of it."

Here is the deal – Humans are animals and will prey on each other as animals are wont to do.

Why do you think porcupines have quills? They don’t use them to kill their supper. Those spiky hairs have only one simple purpose. They are there so old man porcupine don’t get eat up. A prickle of porcupines is nothing to mess with. Ask any predator dumb enough to try.

Of course even the best defense can be overcome with ingenuity – just ask the porcupines in Kenya… oh wait you can’t since most of them get eaten by humans.

The point to this little Nature Channel excursion is simply this – if you can’t protect yourself you will be preyed upon. Thus is the way of the world, thus the way of the world has always been.

That’s why shortly after the invention of the wheel came the invention of the knotted rope followed quickly by the invention of the lock 4000 years ago in Egypt and simultaneously in Assyria and every other civilization of the time.

You got nice stuff? I want nice stuff. You don’t lock your doors? I know how to open an unlocked door. Suddenly you nice stuff become my nice stuff.

What’s that? Huh? It’s morally wrong to steal?

Yes you drape your house in Moral Certitude and let me know how that works out. I’ll invest in a nice big lock and perhaps a nice big Glock.

You are not responsible for the actions of the criminal you are simply responsible for protecting the belongings you want to keep.  

OH THE INACCURACY!

I couldn’t believe this crappy Associated Press article about the city I love actually made it into print, in the Atlanta Journal of all places.

Really… y'all don’t read the article unless you want to get annoyed or have a completely distorted view of history.

“Savannah was founded in 1733 and was one of America's first planned cities, with a series of squares and parks that can still be enjoyed today.

But the reason for those public spaces might surprise modern visitors: British General James Oglethorpe designed them as part of a military grid so his troops could set up camp and have shaded meeting spots.”

Yeah….uh….no.

First most of the military men were at the forts along the perimeter of the colony. The colonists themselves were expected to protect the town if attacked so I expect the militia did drill in the squares but they were not designed specifically for that purpose. To suggest that was the primary reason belittles the urban design accomplishment that is our amazing city plan.

But this author shows her willful ignorance of our history throughout the piece.

“Originally the city had 24 squares. It's a remarkable feat of preservation that 22 are still in existence and one more is being restored.”

Yeah….uh…no.

Originally Oglethorpe’s Savannah had four squares his plan called for six but they had four ORIGINALLY. Four is the correct answer to how many squares Savannah had ORIGINALLY. We did get up to 24 in 1851 more than 118 years after “originally”.

“Today the area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark districts in the country.”

Yeah…uh…no.

I know people here like to say this but there really is no actual designation for “largest NHLD”. If you go by size there is an 825,000 acre ranch in Texas that will kick Savannah’s ample buttocks.  Butte Montana’s NHLD is now over 9000 acres. If you go by number of contributing structures Savannah may rank 2nd but that would not be largest that would be thickest or densest NHLD. Bragging is fine but this has no place as a statement of fact in a news story.

I find it Sad and Pathetic that people know so little but say so much about Savannah and we don’t ever seem to correct them.

Pretty soon…

What am I saying? Pretty soon? How bout right now?  Nobody knows or cares about our true history anymore.

We have become the Eloi .