MM: Challenges for Next Superintendent, Beer Bill Passes Senate, and In-Training Beers

24 thoughts on “MM: Challenges for Next Superintendent, Beer Bill Passes Senate, and In-Training Beers”

1. 
   

2. I only drink beer occasionally (not the Pabst swill J_T drinks, or the ridiculously-named beers everyone loves to mention). So I don’t have the knowledge or background to understand why the “beer jobs bill” has everyone in such a lather.

   Can someone explain why it’s a big deal? Or is it really NOT a big deal, but people would rather focus on it rather than something like the $1 billion road funding bill?

   1. Whether it’s a big deal is relative. Georgia currently has a 3 tier system is Georgia. In other words, a brewery can’t just load of a bunch of kegs and sell them to Brickstore Pub. They have to sell any beer to a distributor, then the distributor can sell to the pub. The distributors fight any challenge to changing this law. The current bill (as originally written), did not aim to change that, but to give breweries some extra areas of revenue. Currently, breweries must sell a tour package that allows for samples of beer (up to 34 oz. total). They cannot sell beer by the pint at the brewery, or allow you to take home any beer. The proposed bill would have allowed breweries to sell around 4 pints worth of beer on premises, and up to a 12 pack for off-premises consumption. From what I have read, start-up breweries need to sell around 5,000 barrels of beer their first year to break even. If they were allowed to sell at the brewery (as proposed), that number would drop to 700 barrels. This would allow more breweries to become successful and create jobs. Further, west coast breweries have been opening ancillary breweries on the east coast. They won’t locate them in GA because of the laws here – again missing out on jobs.

      But for me personally (outside my love of beer), I believe it is important to fight any infringement on freedom, no matter how small.

      1. Thanks, Walrus. Now I understand the “jobs” part in the bill’s nickname, and why it’s getting so much attention. Appreciate your explanation.

         If you could also help me get why J_T drinks PBR, that would complete the lesson.

         1. Because he’s a cheapskate, and closed minded when it comes to food and beverage… 😉

            1. I can’t argue. It’s pretty much just that simple.

               1. I thought he drank beer he makes in his big green bathtub.

         2. google “David Chang and cheap beer”– one of my favorite little essays from last year. I love David Chang, and I love cheap beer!

4. Good explanation from Walrus. And I would just add that, though it may only be a big deal to some, its such a common sense decision that’s it’s especially frustrating to see it struggle for passage. Clearly the impediment is entrenched interests and their campaign donations.

   1. That’s what makes it so frustrating. The original bill from the brewers was not a wholesale change from the three tier system. It was marginal changes that allowed them to sell their product on their premises and would not appreciably reduce what distributors sell to their buyers. That the guys with the money won over a better idea is what hurts, coupled with the “politics as usual” trend that we can’t seem to shake in Georgia.

      1. “politics as usual” trend that we can’t seem to shake in Georgia.
         ___________

         I would argue that this is politics as usual everywhere.
         From what I read, the direct sales that were proposed in the legislation would account for less than 1% of the distributors overall sales.

6. It is a battle about dollars vs. doing what is right.
   The distributors spend a lot of money to keep politicians from allowing the breweries to have any direct sales.

8. In all the outcry about Gu’s, did anyone notice that their website says they are looking for a new location. Has anyone offered them a nice space in downtown Decatur? They sure would look good in that old Burnt Fork space.

   1. That would be awesome. I’m guessing they are looking to be at least somewhat close to the Krog St. dumpling shop. From the Facebook comments, there are some clues that the reason for the closing involved issues with the building they were in on Buford Hwy. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of customers.

      1. Atlanta Magazine today reports that Gu’s is seriously considering Decatur for relocation.

10. I still can’t really understand how a city of 19,000 will continue to have a school age population of 7,300. Almost 4 out of 10 people in our city will be in K-12? Something doesn’t jive.

12. “enrollment of 4,336 will nearly double again by 2020, to 7,300 without annexation and 8,145 with it. Depending on projections and annexation, CSD is looking at anywhere from $94 million to $139 million in renovation and new construction over the next five years”

    Agree with Decaturman, the demographic data seems strange.
    What is the projected # of property tax payers that will provide for the 94 – 139 million?
    Where can a DM reader find the data containing the projections and how they were determined?
    Is there more recent Decatur demographic information than 2013?

    1. Let’s say the predictions are true. That we will have 7,300 students in 2020. OK, what happens next? Wouldn’t to sustain that student population (to justify the proposed school building boom) require just about all of those households with K-12 children to move out of the city once their kids graduate, and then be replaced with households with school aged children?

       Do we really think all of these families with children currently in the schools are just going to pick up and move out of Decatur once they are done using the schools? That has not traditionally been the case. Unless increasing taxes to such a point makes Decatur only desirable for families with school aged children. This is what concerns me the most about increasing taxes for a school construction bond – (1) either we are building for a short term student population boom that will fizzle out once those kids move through the system and we will be left with a lot of unused space or (2) we create a community with such high taxes that only people who want to use the schools want to live here. Either situation is not healthy.

       1. If you want anecdotal evidence, this childless couple, with huge equity in our house but without comparable cash to pay the rising tax load, will be moving outside of precious C.O.D. as soon as we find the right place to buy. The status quo is not sustainable. I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.

          1. Us too. But not for the taxes — for the commute! We are taking our equity to O4W/Midtown to get back 40 minutes of life a day. I would guess, however, that many communities with great schools experience empty nesters like us leaving for lower taxes, shorter commutes, more sun or smaller houses. Decatur is an awesome place but when the schools are a draw, lack-of-need-for-schools will mean empty nesters may move on at a higher rate. (And as I have said on other threads, I am happy to pay the proposed tax increase for the schools — we attribute the incredible increase in the value of our home to the excellent schools attracting so many buyers to Decatur.)

          2. When you do leave (which will be a loss for Decatur) please continue to be a presence on DM. Wherever you end up, I’m sure readers would love to get your take on life outside our bubble.

             1. Thanks for the sentiment, but don’t fear. If we leave Decatur – and it’s still an IF as we look at renovating versus selling and then buying a new place – we probably won’t be going far. We love the area and want to stay if at all possible, it’s just reached a point that we are over the need to be in “City of” rather than “Postal”. Either way, we’ll still be “Metro” 🙂

                1. Postal rocks. Come over to the dark side, it’s friendly….

                2. Keep us in the loop, especially if you weight decisions like renovating-to live-in vs. renovating-just-enough-to-sell vs. sell-as-is. If the sell-as-is option is attractive enough and any of this new multiple-household stock in COD is reasonably priced enough, we may be copycats.

          3. Need a realtor?

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