The Public Speaks...

Some other members got up to speak before council, but they weren't there to talk about animals. The first guy gave a speech about Harriet Tubman, saying that if she'd been a white male she could've been President, which he followed immediately by noting "and she couldn't even read or write!" Considering the smarts on our present President, I guess he's right: you don't have to know how to read and write, being a white male helps though.

One guy made an impassioned plea for help with cleaning up historic Linwood Cemetery. He also railed on the "so-called black folks who will dress up in their Afro-centric clothes and wear their kufis" but won't come volunteer to clean up Linwood.

And Mathis Moore, a self-professed schizophrenic, tried to talk about police harassment but was cloudy and confused. When his speech was cut short by the five minute limit, he politely asked if he could say one more thing. In a moment of compassion, council president Miriam Paris nodded, and Mr. Moore said, "I also direct movies." He was gaveled quiet. (The point is not to make fun of the mentally ill, but to illustrate the variety of interesting moments that take place at a City Council meeting.)

As far as the public comments go, no moment was more entertaining than the speech given by Howie Handsel. According to his repeated testimony, Mr. Handsel was once a reporter for Fox24 in Macon (though he has no official connection to them now), but following several unfortunate incidents, he relocated to Miami for a time. After dealing with family tragedy, he returned to Macon determined to make a name for himself, though he claims his name is still big enough that he can trade on it. His efforts have mostly been centered around a promotions company that he calls The 4 Godfathers. Their goal is to "revolutionize" the Macon nightlife. You can see his videos on YouTube on the 4 Godfathers Channel. They are quite entertaining.

Handsel was at Macon City Council to speak out against alleged police abuse he suffered at the hands of Macon Police Officers as they arrested him outside of Coasters. These videos tell his story best. Enjoy.

Legislatin' for tha City: going to city council so you don't have to

For our editor, Chris Horne, it'd been a while since he appeared in the chambers of Macon City Council, and according to his verbal and written reports of the night, he chose a great time to return. In fact, it may take multiple posts to cover it all. (But that's what I'm here fer.)

Going in, the word was all about council member Nancy White's proposed ordinance to outlaw the tethering of dogs. If you aren't familiar with this practice, as apparently councilman Erick Erickson was not, it involves tying a dog (or, we guess, cat) up and leaving it alone. Someone might do this if they had no fence to keep their pet in, or if they were feeling particularly cruel. Despite widespread animal abuse, according to Macon animal control, the city didn't have any prohibition against said treatment. That's where White stepped up.

Originally, the language made it legal for pet owners to leave their dogs (and cats) tied up for up to eight hours consecutively or, for 12 hours total in a 24 hour cycle. Wisely, they changed it after complaints came in that suggested that provision would make enforcement nearly impossible. Now, you can't have your pet tied up unless you're with it, like walking your dog, etc. The ordinance would also prohibit letting pets ride unrestrained in moving vehicles.

One of the funnier moments in the evening came when Erick Erickson spoke up, saying he originally wasn't going to vote in favor because "while I love pets, I do consider them property" and he doesn't think the government should have so much say about someone's property. Then he said he did some research into the matter and was convinced it was the right thing to do, but he wanted to amend the ordinance to allow hunters to drive around with their dogs unrestrained since, he said, many had told him they only went a short ways like that and he wanted to prevent city cops from issuing tickets to them. First Alveno Ross reminded folks that hunting within City Limits is illegal so why make the provision, and then Tom Ellington made an even better common sense argument: "I don't believe the issues of public safety change just because an individual is only hunting."

It's always nice to see people try to mask their contempt and venom within the language of Robert's Rules of Order.

Speaking of... apparently Erickson was feeling quite chatty. In response to a "point of information" comment Elaine Lucas made about what other animals are protected by the ordinance (none), Erickson interrupted with a "is this relevant" comment of his own. Lucas snapped at him, but Erickson only waited until after she was done to snidely return volley, asking if council should be allowed to debate using "points of information". You know, it seems much more dramatic in person than it does here.

Anywho. That ordinance eventually passed without objection. Sponsor Nancy White said afterwards that she was surprised that the vote went so favorably, and gave the credit to the dozen or so animal rights activists who showed up in support. Several were signed up to speech beforehand, but only three or four were allowed to because the meeting was running so far behind. Of the chosen representatives, Chamblee Abernathy of Athens spoke out, citing the ordinance passed in the Classic City. She was followed by an impassioned woman named Mrs. Greene, who recounted her memory of seeing a dog put down. She said, "I'll never forget that memory just as I'm sure Mr. Schlesinger--I hope I'm saying it correctly--just as I'm sure Mr. Schlesinger will never forget the gas chambers." Her reference to Rabbi Larry Schlesinger's connection to the Jewish Holocaust was stunningly inappropriate, but it passed by without much of a flutter. Obviously, living in the South, Rabbi Schlesinger is accustomed to some of our innocent ignorance. Either way, he let it roll off his back. She was followed by a Mercer professor who specialized in animal psychology, which was interesting since it didn't seem apparent beforehand that one could specialize in that sort of thing.

Con't in next post...

As the worm turns...

Welcome to the New Macon, population you!

Pardon my French but Reichert is proving to be quite the badass. Just two months into office, he’s making the bold moves that erases some of the last eight years’ sting, like initiating an ethics code for the city. Now he’s hoping to win over reluctant Bibb County residents so they won’t freak out about being annexed. His goal, he says, is to make this city strong and viable. Our editor, Chris Horne, recently did an interview with Reichert and came away with some impressive quotes. It’s obvious to anyone who spends any time with the guy that he loves Macon.

Of course, if you’re looking for the bottom line in all this, just look at the bottom line on the info sheets Reichert passed out. It reads, “Property Value: Within the selected census tracts, the assessed value of the property is $1,077,263,018 (as of 10/2007). At the current city millage rate (10.16), this land would yield an increase of $4,377,997 in revenue to the City of Macon.” You know Macon needs it and finally we have a mayor that gets it too. Growing the tax base is important.

Now, the interesting part will be whether or not the loud mouths will be shouting in support of his plan or against it. It’s easy to point out how flawed Macon is, but it’s a whole other thing to step up and do what you can to make it a better place. This is definitely a great first move in that direction. And honestly, I think he’ll make it work. The reason is that Reichert is the kind of guy that North Macon’s people can trust, and he’s the kind of man that the rest of Macon can believe in. He should be able to explain this to unincorporated citizens without scaring them all off. (Be sure to check out the February 28^th issue with a detailed conversation with Mayor Reichert.)

The Telegraph obliquely references The 11^th Hour

In the Sunday paper, two of the Telegraph’s writers did a story about how the nightlife is important and how it is still going even after The Hummingbird and 550 Blues shut down. Well, in the process, they tried to take a poke at The 11^th Hour saying—I’m paraphrasing here—“Another local publication says the two bars will open up soon but our research on Myspace clearly shows that 550 Blues is closed.” If you haven’t already heard, 550 Blues has been sold. (They could’ve checked another local publication’s website for the story on that before they filed their story.) Oh and despite the article being titled “the Synergy of Downtown”, Club Synergy wasn’t even mentioned—the irony wasn’t lost on them. Co-owner Philip is even urging his clientele to write the writers because it is a little puzzling that the only gay club and two prominently black clubs were excluded from the article, Grant’s and Club Extreme respectively.

The State that Chuck Norris Fooled

I’d like to say something to my fellow Georgians. “Chuck Norris is not THAT cool.” Yes, yes. I get it. He fought Bruce Lee (got his ass whooped by Bruce Lee), was Walker, Texas Ranger, has received recent hipster approval through over-cloned internet slogans (maybe you think you’ll win the love of your kids who’ve outgrown their raising), and wants you to get in shape with the Total Gym Workout. But he doesn’t know how to make good decisions, people! This is the man who married a woman who sent him a topless picture of himself (if he’d been smart, he’d have only banged her), and he starred in movies like “Top Dog” and “Firestarter” (anything with Lou Gossett, Jr., that isn’t an Iron Eagle movie is a bad choice).

Oprah-mania lives?

What seems most complicated about the Obama/Clinton battle is that you “know” it’s about gender and race, but it’s hard to admit that AND what that says about us. One headline proclaimed that Obama took Georgia on the strength of the “black vote”, but he walked away with 66% of the Democratic votes and well more than the combined votes of the top two honkies in the Republican race, Huckabee and McCain. AND Obama did that with only 30% of the voters being black. So, the surprising part is that so many white men voted for Obama—assuming that the only legitimate crossover could come from white men, should gender and racial allegiances hold true—and what that says about Southern white men in Georgia. Firstly, they aren’t as ardently Republican as notoriously believed… but they’re still backwards because they won’t vote for a woman. (Remember, black men won the right to vote before all women did by about 50 years.) So either we’re more divided by gender than race, or white men will just vote for anyone Oprah endorses.

A March that might matter…

The NAACP is working with ten other organizations and entities to start combating crime in historic Pleasant Hill. The goal is to distribute information about solutions to violent crime in the hopes of arming people with alternatives and tools instead of automatically turning to drugs and violence. President Al Tillman says he chose Pleasant Hill because it was a high crime area with close proximity to a rec center “in the event only elderly people showed up to march with me.” He might be joking but only a little bit. This is one of those opportunities for the community to do something that could at least open some eyes. The Pleasant Hill march takes place March 1^st at 11am, meeting at the Booker T. Washington community center. But it isn’t the only event. As promised, Tillman is making the NCAAP more visible in the community. On March 21^st, they’re sponsoring a Free Spring Break Youth Night at Olympia Family Center from 7pm to 11pm, where the Anti-Gang Task Force will speak to the youth. And then the NAACP turns its attention to Village Green on March 29^th in an effort similar to the Pleasant Hill march. For more info, contact Al Tillman at 478-781-8003 or Pamela Lightsey at 478-621-2603.

There are some things you can’t legislate.

Or maybe just shouldn’t. At the first of this month, the Ga. House of Representatives voted 151 to 9 in favor of a resolution to urge the NCAA to create a playoff system for college football. Obviously, if UGA hadn’t been dissed like they were, it wouldn’t be an issue, and while I agree with the House, I don’t know how much good it’ll do. (Although considering how much money college sports brings to the state—millions and millions, I’m sure—I can understand their interest.) Oddly enough, the Ga. State Senate, in 1954, passed a law to keep black people from playing baseball with white people. That is a lot less understandable. Anyway.