Decatur School Board Member John Ahmann writes…

Over the last eight years, I have worked hard to contribute to helping City Schools of Decatur be among the best of the best. But just as in a relay race, I think now is the time to “pass the baton” so that someone else may continue the sprint to the finish line, and I have decided to not seek re-election to the Board.

I do not intend to stop working on K-12 education reform but rather apply what I have learned in other areas.

I have learned a tremendous amount in my two terms, and I am grateful to the community for the opportunity to serve. I’m also grateful to my current and former board colleagues, the students, the Superintendent and the many fantastic teachers, principals and other staff in the school system.

Having worked in public policy change my entire adult life, I am acutely aware that any successful endeavor involves many people working together as links in a chain. I am proud to have been a link in the chain for arranging pro bono support from the Boston Consulting Group to develop the System’s strategic plan eight years ago; brokering philanthropic partnerships that led to the early childhood learning center and the program with the Ben Franklin Academy (which ensured dozens of at-risk students graduated from Decatur High School); and working closely with Lt. Governor Casey Cagle on the legislation that enabled the creation of Charter Districts.

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Clairemont Road, Decatur GA (pic submitted by Jeff)

Here’s Decatur Deputy Police Chief Keith Lee’s press release on the recent phone thefts at Chick-Fil-A.  The guy arrested seems to be the same guy who was stabbed in an altercation at Decatur Library back in May.

The following is a synopsis of the two incidents which occurred at Chick-Fil-A restaurant during the past two weeks.

Incident #1

On August 18, 2011 a 14 year old Decatur resident was inside the restaurant when he was approached by another male. The unidentified male asked to borrow the victim’s cellular telephone. The victim voluntarily allowed the suspect to use his cellular telephone. Instead of using the telephone and returning it to the victim, the suspect left the restaurant with the telephone. The victim followed the suspect to retrieve his property. The suspect then verbally threatened the victim and the victim stopped following the suspect. The suspect was last seen walking northbound on North McDonough Street in the company of another male. Investigators were able to obtain photographs of the suspects from surveillance cameras.

Incident #2

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While trolling the Decatur city’s website a couple days back, I saw this item on the Environmental Sustainability Board’s agenda from last month…

Coca-Cola Curbside Accelleration Recycling Grant: City is a finalist in the program.  City applying for a $200k grant. Funds would be used for an education campaign and also to provide 65 gallon wheeled bins.

I checked with the city’s Resource Conservation Coordinator Lena Stevens and confirmed that this was still underway.  She replied…

The City of Decatur is a finalist in a grant from Coca Cola called the Curbside Acceleration Recycling Program. We applied for $200,000 to provide rolling recycling carts for those who want them, and also for an educational campaign around recycling. The winners haven’t been announced yet, so we’re waiting with fingers crossed. We had a phone call with Coke representatives 2 weeks ago, and they expected an announcement in 4-6 weeks.

Currently, the only option for Decatur residents – in addition to the free, 18 gallon bins – are 95 gallon wheeled bins that cost $68 a pop.