The City of Decatur just sent out this press release to all the major news outlets…

On Friday, February 18, 2011, the Decatur Police Department arrested City of Decatur Municipal Court employee Sonequa L. James on charges of felony theft within her capacity as a Court Clerk. An investigation is in progress which may result in additional charges. Ms. James has worked for the Municipal Court since 2006. “Ms. James has been suspended without pay and her termination is pending” said Andrea Arnold, Assistant City Manager for Administrative Services. “The City will not tolerate behavior that undermines the public’s trust in our government. We intend to prosecute Ms. James to the fullest extent possible under the law.”

Second Avenue, Oakhurst (pic submitted by Robert)

Onto Decatur Strategic Plan goals 10 & 11.  Most of Goal 10 is a “continuation” of things the city is already doing.  However, there’s a task in here that calls for the evaluation of the homestead exemption and another under Goal 11 that calls for integrating more art into public spaces, which sounds interesting.

Goal 10: Continue to provide quality services within fiscal limits acceptable to the community

Task 10A Pursue energy saving options and long-term sustainability policies to reduce the cost of providing services.

Task 10B Continue to access grant funding opportunities to pay for capital projects, support strategic goals, and improve quality of life.

Task 10C Use the budget process to assure the most cost effective use of city resources.

Task 10D Evaluate homestead exemptions, including their effect on residential tax burden and city’s ability to provide services.

Goal 11: Assure the efficient use and coordination of all community facilities by strengthening public-private partnerships

Task 11A Create facility committees as needed to work with community institutions to identify opportunities for shared use of public facilities, to allow for more efficient use of these facilities, and to make certain that existing partnerships like the athletic facilities partnership meet regularly to accomplish this goal.

Task 11B Incorporate multi-use rooms into as many city-owned buildings as possible to provide for flexible community use opportunities.

Task 11C Convene an annual forum for non-profit, public, religious, and institutional organizations to share ideas, resources, and strategies to meet the strategic goals of the community.

Task 11D Integrate art into public facilities, such as sidewalks or new buildings, in partnership with local schools, the Arts Alliance and local artists.

From the DeKalb Public Library website…

The renowned Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser visits us to discuss his eagerly awaited new book, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier. It’s a book that faces up to the bad rap America’s cities get: they’re dirty, poor, crime-ridden, expensive, environmentally unfriendly. Glaeser shatters these myths and demonstrates that cities are actually the healthier, greenest and richest — in cultural and economic terms — places to live. Glaeser is the Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard who studies the economics of cities, segregation, crime and innovation.

Glaeser will speak at the Decatur Library on Tuesday, February 22nd from 7:15p – 9:00p.

What might he be discussing?  Here’s are of his more interesting arguments mentioned in the recent New York Times’ review of the book…

[Glaeser] chastises city planners in Paris and Mumbai, making a passionate argument for building up — and up and up.

Though he admires Jane Jacobs’s insights into the virtues of mixing residential and retail together, he thinks her prescription for small-scale neighborhoods is wrongheaded. He’d much rather see neighborhoods of skyscrapers than acres of suburban developments.

…Glaeser is scathing in denouncing local conservationists for their devotion to “leafy suburbs,” which he sees as being at odds with true environmentalism. Reminding us that even Thoreau benefited from association with a circle of urban intellectuals, he insists that suburbanization is producing an ecological disaster.

Based on my own exposure to such things, I’d say that coffee machine theft is up 100% since last year!

From the Emory Wheel’s Police Report blog…

Persons unknown stole $2 from a coffee machine on the third floor of Rollins School of Public Health sometime between Feb. 4 at 11:30 a.m. and Feb. 7 at 8:30 a.m.

In case it’s not clear – and I’m sure it isn’t – this is my not-so humorous attempt to point out that our perception of crime – or any event really  – is based more on the amount of reporting it receives than actual occurrences.  Sudden increase in sewage spill stories anyone?