On your November 2nd ballot, Decatur residents will find this lovely legalese…

Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Decatur to exercise redevelopment powers under the ‘Redevelopment Powers Law,’ as it may be amended from time to time?”

In layman’s terms this essentially asks you, “Should Decatur have the option to create Tax Allocation Districts inside the city limits?”

Tax Allocation Districts or “TADs” have been used with mixed success throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area in recent years. The most prominent – and successful example – being Atlantic Station.  In a nutshell, TADs use additional tax revenue generated by new development on-site, (i.e. – the difference between your taxes pre-renovation and after renovation) to pay-off the very construction bonds that funded the development in the first place.

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At first glance, it may seem that there are few local topics up for discussion as insanely boring as parking.  But just try discussing it with your neighbor and you’ll quickly discover that “parking” is a volatile closet issue for many.  Open that door and you may suddenly find yourself knee-deep in a personal struggle for “what is right” and “what is annoying.”

Here in Decatur, a walkable ‘burb fighting the influence of surrounding speedable sprawl, the issue takes on added weight and dimension.

For decades now, Decatur has bucked almost any developmental trend taken up by the rest of greater Atlanta.  Back in the 1970s, when many of those same suburbs shunned MARTA, Decatur asked that the line be moved so it would cut straight through the center of the city.  And while the Atlanta suburbs continued to crawl across the Georgia piedmont and into the mountains and swamps (circa 2008), Decatur looked towards greater density, shunning wider artery roads with highway-like speed limits in favor of street-narrowing.

But there’s one area where Decatur has a harder time ignoring the car-tendencies of greater Atlanta. Parking.

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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)

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Sent out in a press release this morning.  A more candid reaction can be found on his Twitter page.  (Those tweets have since been removed)

“I congratulate Patti Garrett for her win on Tuesday. I am proud our campaign. We fought a hard, clean campaign, based solely on the issues that face Decatur. This campaign began and now ends with my love and my commitment for our great city.

I want to thank all of our supporters, contributors, and especially the 1,372 people who voted in this race on Tuesday. It has been an amazing experience that I will never forget. Our campaign put together a coalition of neighbors from across District 2 over varying races, ethnicity, ages, sexual orientations and economic circumstances. Our campaign engaged the public, as turnout in District 2 was 82% higher than it was in the last municipal election in 2007.

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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