Decatur Commissioner and Bicycle South’s Fred Boykin writes in…

Agnes Scott has just started a Bike Agnes Scott program with Bicycle South and Fuji Bicycles. Their program is modeled on the Bike Emory program that Emory, Bicycle South and Fuji started as a pilot project in 2007.

Agnes Scott deserves some credit for setting this program up. The web page just went live today.

To learn more about Agnes Scott’s new bike lending program, “purple bikes”, and check out discounts on Fuji bikes for ASC folks, click HERE.

Photo courtesy of the Agnes Scott “Purple Bikes” website.

During the city comission campaigns this past year, now-commissioner Patti Garrett brought up the issue of what would be done with remaining campaign funds after Election Day during a debate between the District 2 candidates.

We now have the answer.

According to December’s campaign disclosures obtained by DM, Ms. Garrett made a $500 donation to the parent organization of Decatur’s MLK Service Day Decatur Preservation Alliance with her remaining balance.  Of the $270 still left in the account, campaign chair Allison Adams explains that the campaign is leaving the funds in the account “in case something unexpected comes up.”  Ms. Adams also noted that there is still an outstanding loan of $750 to Garrett’s husband, Gary. (View full report here)

Ms. Garrett’s opponent, Kyle Williams also took to the act of donating, distributing every penny held by his campaign after expenses were paid to local groups.   During the months of November and December, Mr. Williams donated over $2,000 to various organizations in the Decatur and Atlanta area.  Donations were made to Decatur High School ($500), Decatur Seniors Helping Seniors ($964.56), Friends of Simone Bell ($400), and Neighbor in Need ($250). (View full report here)

Read the rest of this entry »

Nothing says “Bring in the New Year!” like a good dose of oath-giving and contract renewals.

On Monday evening, Decatur’s City Commission will be dealing with both, performing many of the annual housekeeping items that define the structure of our city’s inner circle for the coming year.

Among items on Monday’s agenda (pdf), oaths of office will be given to incoming city commissioner Patti Garrett and reelected commissioner Fred Boykin and the commission will elect its mayor and mayor pro-tem from amongst its own ranks.  And if all goes according to plan, the city will reappoint Bryan Downs of Wilson, Morton and Downs LLC as the city attorney and reappoint all existing municipal court judges.

The first commission meeting of the year also means renewal of the city manager’s contract.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an interview with a newspaper, Fred Boykin credited “the blogs” for making this most recent election cycle “more interesting.”

This race by far was the most eventful for Boykin, who ran unopposed in 2001.

“This election was different because of the blogs,” Boykin said. “Some of the electronic media made it more interesting. There was more information going back and forth that was covered in more detail than with the traditional media. The anonymity of the blogs made it a little mean spirited at times.”

Aside from the occasional sniping on the blogs, Boykin said the Internet made fact-based information such as campaign finance reports available more quickly, which was beneficial.

Two years ago, I couldn’t for the life of me determine any notable differences between the candidates running for office.  There may have been unspoken, behind-closed-door differences, but that didn’t help this resident who couldn’t hear beyond the doorjamb.  Hopefully the public dialogue this time around helped people make more informed decisions in their respective races.

I also hope the candidates’ extended foray into interactive media will make them – and other public officials – more comfortable with using it in the future.  We’ve come a long way in just two years and I think we’ve proven the added value of an easily accessible, public online environment, regardless of the occasional “sniping”.

Dare I say it, but the community blogs of today have a higher calling than just trying to fill any newspaper gap.  They should strive to take their “community service” to a new level, providing not just a platform for stories (well-written or not), but also informed discussion on a city, town or region’s most pressing issues.

h/t: InDecatur

From his blog…

It’s the morning after the election and a time for reflection. I won re-election to my third term on the Decatur City Commission with 69% of the vote. The widest margin of any of the city races. I deeply appreciate the community’s support and vote on my behalf. I will continue trying to do my best for Decatur.

I can’t tell you how I’ll vote on the issues, but I can tell you that I will do the research, ask questions, listen to what folks have to say, think about what I’m about to do, and use my best judgment.

Thank you.

Here are the campaign disclosures (in PDF format) for Decatur City Commission candidates for the month of October.

District 1

Fred Boykin – Total Oct. Contributions – $350 / Total Oct. Contributions less than $101 – $100

James Radford – Total Oct. Contributions – $450 / Total Oct. Contributions less than $101 – $250

District 2

Patti Garrett – Total Oct. Contributions – $815 / Total Oct. Contributions less than $101 – $665

Kyle Williams – Total Oct. Contributions – $525 / Total Oct. Contributions less than $101 – $275

Welcome to Decatur Metro’s Live Online City Commission Debate! The debate begins promptly at 8pm and is scheduled until 9:30p. If you have a comment or a follow-up question to ask the candidates during the debate, enter it below for consideration. A few more details below this window.

Candidates will take turns answering questions first, second, third, fourth. The order will be announced at the outset of the debate. Candidates will be asked to wait at least 30 seconds between replies to avoid any sort of “pig-pile” effect.

Both InDecatur and city commission candidate James Radford have posted extensive articles about last week’s meeting at Decatur Heights Baptist Church, regarding the “Peer Support and Wellness Center” at 444 Sycamore Drive in Decatur Heights.

At issue is whether the facility  – which aids people with mental health problems – classifies as a “licensed personal care home”.  If so, it can operate within a residential neighborhood (i.e. R60) without variance.  When I first contacted the city’s planning director Amanda Thompson about this issue way back in May (after receiving a note from a resident in the district) she said that the city was still determining whether this was indeed the case.

However, in late June/early July, Thompson visited the facility and determined it did qualify as a “personal care home” for the following reasons…

Read the rest of this entry »

On October 12th, District 1 incumbent and city commission candidate Fred Boykin reflected on the original Town Center Plan (and its 1989 update) and wondered out-loud to city residents, “Are we there yet?”.

Addressing “downtowners”, long-time residents and new, Boykin states…

I think it’s time for a community conversation on where Decatur started from and where we’re headed. It’s an opportunity to look at our city development “road map” and see if we’re still heading in the “right” direction. Though it took a long time to happen, the early part of this journey was somewhat easy and straightforward – find someone to build mixed-use residential on vacant lots and bring residents to downtown. The next leg of our trip isn’t so obvious; we’ve done the easier stuff, what do we do next?

Decatur’s Strategic Plan is due for an update. I think that creates a perfect opportunity for a community conversation on these questions; it is a chance to evaluate past efforts and think about the future as we decide where we’re going next. I look forward to getting that conversation started.

This time next week, city of Decatur residents will be rushing from work to the grocery stores, filling their buggies with bottles of Honest Tea and fresh veggies (a Decatur version of soda and popcorn), in preparation for what has been called (by me, right now) the most anticipated hour-and-a-half ever hosted on the internet!

That’s right, we’re just one week away from Decatur Metro’s online live city commission debate, piped directly into your homes via the internets at 8pm (7pm Central) right here at DecaturMetro.com!

As detailed previously, we’ve got all four comissioners in the same space at the same time!  Boykin, Garrett, Radford and Williams!  District 1or District 2, we’ve got’em all!

So keep sending in your debate questions via decaturite[at]gmail.com. Questions can be addressed to individual candidates, district candidates, or the whole lot.  Please also provide your first and last name along with your street address so I can confirm residency.  All resident questions will be posed as “Joe on Clairemont Road asks…”

See you there!

(Phew! Huckstering is exhausting work!)