City Commission candidate James Radford points out a discrepancy on the city’s website that almost cost him his candidacy.

Amongst the vast sea of 6-point font that is the city of Decatur’s website is the Elections & Voting page with two conflicting statements.

The first is this…

Qualifying is held no earlier than 8:30 a.m. on the second Monday in September and shall end no later than 4:30 p.m. on the following Friday in odd-number years. A notice of candidacy and affidavit can be obtained, completed and returned to the Decatur City Clerk during this period.

Grammar and spelling?  Check!  Semi-confusing date and time frame?  Check!

Accurate?…umm….well, scroll a bit further down the page and…

The opening date for qualifying will start Monday, August 31, 2009 beginning at 9:00 A. M., and continuing until Friday, September 4, 2009 at 4:30 P.M.

Oh dear.  But that’s not the second Monday of September in an odd-numbered year!!

Radford found the error on the city’s site after Kyle Williams tweeted that he had filed for his candidacy this morning.  (Commence unfounded rumors of a Williams/Radford coalition)  The city has already told Radford that they are correcting the error.

So, if you’re running for the city commission or the school board get your patriotic pa-toot to the City Clerk’s office this week!  Oh and don’t forget your $144.00 (city commission) or $35.00 (school board) qualifying fee.

With those fees in mind, here’s a suggested political slogan for any CSD candidates: “Why am I running for the CSD Board of Ed? Because the city commission was too damn expensive!”

Voters love a frugal candidate.

Photo Courtesy of Decatur Garden Tour.

Allison sends in the press release announcing this year’s Decatur Garden Tour. For the list of gardens on the tour, click here.  It doesn’t look like tickets are available yet, but once they are I’ll make sure to let everyone know.

DECATUR, GA — Step into autumn with the twenty-first annual Decatur Garden Tour, September 26 and 27. Explore 12 gardens, both private and public, across this charmingly eclectic intown community. From the stately and formal to the artsy and whimsical, the tour blooms with ideas to feed gardening inspiration all year. The gardens present unexpected plant combinations in vivid fall colors, sustainable and edible plantings, innovative outdoor living areas and serene water features.

Tour-goers will enjoy “art in the garden,” as the creations of local artists further enhance the outdoor environments. Other highlights include a Japanese-style garden featured in Backyard Living magazine and the renowned “garden rooms” of noted author and designer Ryan Gainey’s private home. The tour features Saturday evening hours, during which visitors can explore two gardens along with live music and wine.

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This morning’s AJC front page story about the Anne Frank exhibit moving from the Old Courthouse in downtown Decatur to a strip mall in Sandy Springs in December, reminded me that I had looked into this story a few months back, after Susan sent in a note pointing to another article in the Sandy Springs Reporter.

At the time, I sent an email to the Executive Director of the DeKalb History Center, Melissa Fogerty, to find confirm the news and learn of the DHC’s plans to fill the gap left by the Frank exhibit.  This was her response…

The Anne Frank is a moving, or temporary, exhibit and the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust’s contract with DeKalb County is for three years (ending this year). Before locating here, the exhibit was in Kennesaw for three years. DHC is developing new exhibits to cover the history of DeKalb County, and temporary exhibits on special topics and areas in the county.

When I first started reading John Kessler’s report from Billy Allin’s Cakes and Ale backyard garden, it sounded like he was being one those nosy Decatur neighbors, just wandering into people’s backyards unannounced…

Billy and Kristin Allin’s home seems like any other on its Decatur street — quaint and well-tended, with a mini patch of green lawn and neighboring houses crowding either side.

The backyard is another story. A patio, a sloping yard, a wooded backdrop and — hello — a path.

The path leads through a thicket of tall trees, meanders past a jungle gym and arrives at a sudden, sunny clearing. At the entrance, a hand-painted sign hanging from a trellis announces the “Cakes & Ale Garden.”

Umm, John?  I think that’s called trespassing.

Happily it turns out my fears of food-writers-gone-wild were unfounded.  Kessler does eventually relay some quotes from the Cakes and Ale chef himself (assumedly not given under duress).

Regardless of how the story was obtained, it’s a good piece and worth a glance by backyard gardeners, neighbors and Cakes and Ale fans alike.

Rus writes in…

Yesterday it was officially announced at The Artisan homeowners meeting (by HOA president Nan Pratt) that the Tossed/Countrywide space is going to soon be a Kaiser Permanente clinic.

We had heard rumors of this a couple months back, but had yet to receive confirmation.

We will all have our personal reactions about what SHOULD have gone there, but I don’t think anyone will argue that it’s reassuring to see some of the most expensive commercial spaces in the city still finding tenants.

UPDATE: Asst. City Manager Lyn Menne gives a few more details in the comments section…

The new office will include exam and procedure rooms, physician offices, a laboratory and a pharmacy. It will initially offer internal medicine and pediatrics for Kaiser Permanente members and additional specialties may be added. Kaiser Permanente will invest about $1.5 million in construction, furniture, equipment and IT in the property and expect to open the center in downtown Decatur in the fourth quarter of 2009.