The Campaign for GOOFUS

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For immediate Release from the

Campaign for GOOFUS

It has recently come to the attention of many Alpharetta residents that our city government has failed to appropriately address the enormous threat to our population caused by global warming. Once residents realized the catastrophe facing our city we immediately organized a committee to raise awareness of this issue.

Unfortunately snow and ice caused the Fulton County School System to close down for an entire week in January so we are a little behind schedule. But to make up for the lost time our organization is now coordinating a community awareness program we call the Campaign for GOOFUS.

GOOFUS stands for Giving Our Offices Full Undergarment Sustainability. Our hope is that on February 28th, 2011 the city of Alpharetta will encourage every public employee to display their underwear on top of their heads. The Campaign for GOOFUS realizes that it could be dangerous for public safety officers to display underwear on their heads during the course of their duties so we ask that they simply wear a tasteful green thong on their right sleeve. The Campaign for GOOFUS also requests that the mayor and city council pass a proclamation setting aside every future February 28th as GOOFUS day in Alpharetta.

Some people may be critical of this effort but by displaying underwear on their heads the city employees will retain the body warmth that is normally released into the atmosphere causing man made global warming. In addition the Campaign for GOOFUS will allow the city of Alpharetta to turn the thermostats down in all public buildings and projections show that the city will save 6 trillion dollars while protecting the planet. This is an important issue and we hope everyone in Alpharetta will join us in encouraging the mayor and city council to make this vital issue a priority.

To demonstrate the overwhelming support for our cause that exists in Alpharetta we have created a poll which we invite stakeholders to participate in below. Please do your part to save the Earth by participating in this Campaign for GOOFUS… for the children!

That’s what organizers do

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Right now there is a major confrontation taking place in Wisconsin that will have an impact on the future of our nation. The public employee unions in the state of Wisconsin are disrupting the state legislature and the Democratic state senators have fled the state to prevent the governor of Wisconsin from enacting legislation which would attempt to correct the state’s budget deficit.

Wisconsin teachers have closed down the state’s schools to protest and state legislators are afraid to go home for fear of retaliation from union thugs. It is scary to see that happening in the United States of America but the scariest part of all to me is that the president of the United States of America is siding with the protesters against the duly elected representatives of the people of Wisconsin. 

According to the WashingtonPost:

President Obama thrust himself and his political operation this week into Wisconsin’s broiling budget battle, mobilizing opposition Thursday to a Republican bill that would curb public-worker benefits and planning similar protests in other state capitals.

Obama accused Scott Walker, the state’s new Republican governor, of unleashing an “assault” on unions in pushing emergency legislation that would change future collective-bargaining agreements that affect most public employees, including teachers.

The president’s political machine worked in close coordination Thursday with state and national union officials to get thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.

I was not a fan of President Obama in the last election and I did not vote for him. I did not believe that electing a community organizer to be the most powerful man in the world was in the best interest of my family or our nation however I have tried to be respectful of Obama as my president. And while I couldn’t care less about Barack Obama’s race I do realize that the election of a black man as the president of the United States serves as an inspiration to millions of people. But President Obama’s support of  public union employees over the duly elected representatives of the taxpayers of Wisconsin is absolutely unconscionable and dangerous for our nation.

Before Barack Obama was elected I remember reading an article in National Review by Byron York. It is titled “What Did Obama Do As A Community Organizer? And is it really a qualification to be president?” and you can read the whole thing here. Mr. York’s piece was a thorough exploration of President Obama’s past as an organizer and as we watch the political upheaval taking place in Wisconsin it is well worth going back to see how prescient it was: 

Perhaps the simplest way to describe community organizing is to say it is the practice of identifying a specific aggrieved population, say unemployed steelworkers, or itinerant fruit-pickers, or residents of a particularly bad neighborhood, and agitating them until they become so upset about their condition that they take collective action to put pressure on local, state, or federal officials to fix the problem, often by giving the affected group money Organizers like to call that “direct action.”

Mr. York then does an excellent job of outlining Mr. Obama’s work in Chicago and showing that he did actually help some people in impoverished areas. Mr. York also points out that after accomplishing a few minor achievements over three years Mr. Obama was determined to organize from a position of more strength.

The solution, Obama felt, was to find a way to political power of his own.

“He was constantly thinking about his path to significance and power,” Mike Kruglik told me. “He said, ‘I need to go there [Harvard Law School] to find out more about power. How do powerful people think? What kind of networks do they have? How do they connect to each other?”

And two months before Barack Obama was elected as preseident Byron York concluded with these lines:

When he left for law school, Obama wondered what he had accomplished as an organizer. He certainly had some achievements, but he did not — perhaps could not — concede that there might be something wrong with his approach to Chicago’s problems. Instead of questioning his own premises, he concluded that he simply needed more power to get the job done. So he made plans to run for political office. And in each successive office, he has concluded that he did not have enough power to get the job done, so now he is running for the most powerful office in the land.

And what if he gets it? He’ll be the biggest, strongest organizer in the world. He’ll dazzle the country with his message of hope and possibility. But we shouldn’t expect much to actually get done.

I am disappointed that the President of the United States has chosen to support threatening protests against a sitting governor and legislature in the state of Wisconsin. I am disappointed but I’m not surprised. That’s what organizers do.

City Planners… Demigods or little Napoleons in Big Capes?

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I recently read a stunning article,”The Next Normal: Control the Masses” which can be found here. The article contains an interview with urban planner Andres Duany and in the interview Mr. Duany displays the typical arrogance I find so prevalent when trying to discuss zoning issues with developers, city planners and consultants. For example:

Even 50 years ago, planners were still considered demigods. They had reformed cities to be beautiful, healthier, cleaner, and more stable. Planners had done more for public health than doctors. By making lives much better, they had come to be trusted by the people.

Demigods? Really? City planners did more for public health than the doctors that were out there making house calls in the middle of the night? City planners did more for public health than the doctors that were delivering babies and inoculating children against polio? City planners were trusted by people? I hate to break it to Mr. Duany but most people don’t even know who city planners are, much less trust them. The arrogance of a man that could say that with a straight face amazes me so the next quote wasn’t surprising.

While the New Urbanist system may work well, it is also expensive. To mount a charrette requires those rare, highly skilled professionals that can speak to regular folk, think clearly, and draw quickly. Charrettes can cost $300,000. We need to get the cost down to $50,000.

It is quite interesting that Mr. Duany whines about the need for those “rare, highly skilled professionals that can speak to the regular folk, think clearly and draw quickly”. Apparently Mr. Duany never met an elementary school teacher. I could walk into any school in Alpharetta and find 40 great teachers that meet his criteria and I bet any of them would be glad to organize a “charrette” for less than $300,000.

After reading that interview it was nice to see that not everyone in the development community is so contemptuous of public participation. For a much more encouraging perspective you can read urban planner Della Rucker’s refutation of Mr. Dulany here. Ms. Rucker counters:

Public participation is important not just to try to get people to go along with our vision, to give us a chance to yell loud enough to drown them out, or to allow us to demonstrate the superiority of our Grand Vision over their piddling little concerns…

Understanding the real reasons why people oppose a project requires the willingness to do so, the humility to listen, and the internal fortitude and self-assurance to admit that possibly, oh just possibly, we don’t know everything that there is to know.   That is the real mark of wisdom.

If the people who live around a proposed development oppose a development, chances are those people know something that is important to the health of their neighborhood and the larger community. If we think that we know more than to have to listen to them, then we are no better than little Napoleons in big capes, creating monuments to our hubris that our children and grandchildren will have to clean up. The lessons of the damage caused by our ignorance are all around us.

Local residents may have valuable insight? What a refreshing perspective. Too bad that isn’t the prevailing attitude of the city of Alpharetta lately.

Love Your Children

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My day began with a tragic reminder of how precious, yet fragile life is. And how quickly the world can change for a family. 

Take nothing for granted. 

Love your children.

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Update:

I have received several notes from concerned readers and I want to clarify that no tragedy has befallen my family.

A neighbor called first thing this morning to tell me that something horrible had happened to a young man that was a friend and teammate to both of our sons. As a parent the mere thought of the pain this young man’s family is experiencing overwhelms me. 

If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for his family. And don’t forget to love yours.

Myths About the Suburbs

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The Washington Post recently published an editorial by William Upski Wimsatt which addresses some of the propaganda used to stigmatize life in the suburbs. The editorial debunks many of the perceptions that urban planners perpetuate as they change quiet communities with good schools into concrete jungles. The editorial is probably most notable because of the author’s background.

Mr. Wimsatt is most widely known as the author of a book called Bomb the Suburbs. The author describes the book like this: 

“The angry title captured the mood of many of my fellow Chicagoans: resentment at white flight and the asphyxiation of city and small-town life by chain stores and sidewalk-free dead zones.”

Amazon.com describes the book as posing the question, “Should graffiti writers organize to tear up the cities, or should they really be bombing the ‘burbs?” and notes that rapper Tupac Shakur said, “The best book I read in prison.”

So I think it is safe to say that Mr. Wimsatt doesn’t look at suburban life through the eyes of a rich, racist white guy. Since Mr. Wimsatt doesn’t fit the suburban stereotype maybe he will actually get the attention of the people who dismiss the opinions of those who do.

Like when Mr. Wimsatt addresses the myth: Suburbs are white, middle-class enclaves.

Not anymore. One-third of suburbanites across the country are racial or ethnic minorities, up from 19 percent in 1990. Students in suburban public schools are 20 percent Hispanic, 15 percent African American and 6 percent Asian American.

Or the myth: Suburbs aren’t cool.

In August, Travel and Leisure featured the nation’s 26 “coolest suburbs” that “blow up the stereotype” of these communities as “boring, conformist places.” The magazine focused on older suburbs with traditional town centers, such as Mt. Lebanon, Pa.; Birmingham, Mich.; Lakewood, Ohio; and other “culinary and cultural hot spots.”

Or: Suburbanites don’t care about the environment.

Many suburbs are also beating cities when it comes to recycling. Chicago, supposedly green, recycles less than 19 percent of its waste, compared with 40 percent in Arlington, Va. And a place like Community Forklift – a vast warehouse in Edmonston, Md., where used building materials are resold for a fraction of their original cost – couldn’t afford to pay rent in the District.

I don’t mean to imply Mr. Wimsatt is a complete sell out when it comes to suburbs. He does seem to believe that people buying the single family home they prefer is somehow subsidized by the people who choose to live in dense, urban settings and he still wants to see the burbs become more urban.

But if the man that wrote Bomb the Suburbs can evolve into the man that now promotes his new book Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs then there is hope. Hope that someday politicians, developers and city planners will also see the error of their ways and stop bombing the suburbs with urban density.

The Washington Post editorial was originally brought to my attention by a reader pointing out an article by Wendell Cox on newgeography.com which you can find here. Mr. Cox does an excellent job of addressing some of the false notions which were still perpetuated in the orginal editorial by Mr. Wimsatt.

And if the coordinated attack on suburban life is something that bothers you I highly recommend you add newgeography.com to your reading list. The website provides a skeptical and objective view of the arguments being used to undermine the suburban communities so many American families love.

Johns Creek, Alpharetta argue over park fees for nonresidents

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The city of Alpharetta could have absorbed Ocee Park for free in 2006. They didn’t and now Alpharetta will have to pay the price for that mistake.

The park has always been heavily used by Alpharetta residents but when Fulton County offered Ocee to Alpharetta in 2006 the mayor, Arthur Letchas, and city council declined. So Ocee then went to the newly formed city of Johns Creek. 

Now Mayor Letchas and the city council are mad that Johns Creek has raised the fees for the Alpharetta residents that live all around a park that could have been theirs in the first place.

Pat Fox of the AJC reports on the issue here and Bob Pepalis  Ann Marie Quill of the Alpharetta Patch reports on the controversy here.

(Editors note: I mistakenly attributed the Alpharetta Patch article to Bob Pepalis but the article was written by Ann Marie Quill. I apologize for the error.)

The Scariest Thing You Will Read Today

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“Look, the CBO — their own economic model breaks down in 2037. Because the computer at the Congressional Budget Office basically says [it] can’t conceive of the economy continuing past 2037 because of the strangulation of debt. Because of the debt burden.” – House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI)

The quote above is from the transcript of a radio interview with Representative Ryan and relates the response of the official budget office of the United States of America when he asked how high taxes would be on his 6, 7 and 9 year old children once they reach their forties.

You can read more of the interview here.

There are tremendous challenges facing our nation right now so I don’t say it lightly when I tell you that the wreckless spending of politicians is the biggest threat to the future of our nation and our children. We need to start paying attention.

“High-speed rail is a fast track to government waste”

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I have been saying that for years but it is nice to see the Washington Post finally coming around to the truth in this editorial. The author, Robert J. Samuelson, does a great job of dismantling the false information used to justify the trains which are the darlings of the transportation crowd. I recommend you read the whole thing but I will give you a small sample:

Rail buffs argue that subsidies for passenger service simply offset the huge government support of highways and airways. The subsidies “level the playing field.” Wrong. In 2004, the Transportation Department evaluated federal transportation subsidies from 1990 to 2002. It found passenger rail service had the highest subsidy ($186.35 per thousand passenger-miles) followed by mass transit ($118.26 per thousand miles). By contrast, drivers received no net subsidy; their fuel taxes more than covered federal spending. Subsidies for airline passengers were about $5 per thousand miles traveled.

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The reasons passenger rail service doesn’t work in America are well-known: Interstate highways shorten many trip times; suburbanization has fragmented destination points; air travel is quicker and more flexible for long distances (if fewer people fly from Denver to Los Angeles and more go to Houston, flight schedules simply adjust).

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High-speed rail is not an “investment in the future”; it’s mostly a waste of money. Good government can’t solve all our problems, but it can at least not make them worse.

Commuter rail service is the least effective way for this country to address our transportation needs and I am amazed there are so many people that ignore this fact.

Thanks to Kyle Wingfield of the AJC for pointing this article out to me. If you aren’t reading Kyle regularly, you should be.

Debt now equals total U.S. economy? We should be so lucky.

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 The present course of our nation is unsustainable. An article in today’s Washington Times titled “Debt now equals total U.S. economy” explains:

“President Obama projects that the gross federal debt will top $15 trillion this year, officially equalling the size of the entire U.S. economy, and will jump to nearly $21 trillion in five years’ time.”

And that doesn’t even include the money our government owes to the Social Security and Medicare systems. This article by Kevin Williamson on Nationalreview.com  explains the stunning news that Social Security and Medicare are actually $106 trillion dollars in debt!

Those numbers boggle the mind. That’s like a person making $15,000 a year with credit card balances equal to a years worth of work on top of a $106,000 mortgage.  That’s not good.

In fact too many Americans tried living that economic model and it ended up causing the economic collapse we faced in 2008. And if we don’t make changes now our children are going to face economic challenges that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies.

But the future doesn’t have to be scary. The United States is still the greatest nation that ever existed on the face of the Earth and we have everything we need to succeed at our disposal. But if we the people are going to turn this mess around we are going to have to start by electing people with the courage to be honest about the challenges we face.

Honest politicians are out there. We the people just need to do a better job of seeking them out and electing them.