3/7/2009
ConnectATL Round 2 - TAKE BACK THE CITY
WE HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Three years ago we got together to talk about this city. We got to know where people came from and where they were headed. If that was an act of Observation this is one of Action.
NO MORE MEETINGS.
This time I am going to put a target out there for you guys to hit.
There is a window of opportunity that only exists in our current environment and there is no telling when it will open again. I CAN tell you that if you don’t take ownership of this effort it will have no chance of becoming a movement.
There is no script. I am not here to tell you what you are supposed to do. There is only the prize and if you want it then you are gonna have to take it.
OBJECTIVE
Take back the city.
TARGET
Return bar hours to their Pre-2003 levels
ENVIRONMENT
This is a MAJOR election year for this city. Come November the citizens of Atlanta are going to elect a new Mayor. Shirley Franklin has been in office for 8 years. She was re-elected in 2005 and received 90% of the votes.
She has had a major influence on the development that has been going on in MidTown and Buckhead and the surrounding areas. Before being Mayor she headed up the committee that got the Olympics here.
The majority of this development has been residential and was done in areas that were former club districts like Buckhead and Midtown.
In 2003 a series of violent incidents in Buckhead brought about a decision to cut back the bar hours from 4am to 3am with a alcohol sales cutoff at 2:30 am. She backed the legislation that was presented by City Councilman Howard Shook who represents the Buckhead district.
Other decisions made were the revocation of the 24 hour club license that Backstreets operated under for 35 years and a smoking ban from restaurants that resulted in the banning of the 18+ from establishments that didn’t serve food.
Shook still sits on the council today. In fact most of the people who voted for the bar hour cut back are still on the council. Two of them are running for Mayor. The others are a Lawyer and a State Senator.
Only one of them has spoken publicly about regretting the 2003 decision and its repercussions.
I’ll come back to that…
LOCAL ECONOMY
The consolation for the clubs that weren’t getting their leases renewed in Buckhead was cheap rent and extended bar hours in Underground Atlanta. However when it came time to move the Council backed off on the extended bar hour promise and by then it was too late to remain in Buckhead. Most clubs just shut down including Backstreets.
We currently loose 8 million dollars a year in taxes on Underground Atlanta. The history of Underground’s failure as a city project is long and widely available.
We also are experiencing an 84 Million dollar deficit that has all the candidates with their hands in the air.
PLATFORM
I would like us to make the argument to this city that extending the bar hours would be a much needed source of tax revenue for this city. To that I would add that we need to be able to promote in order to get the convention traffic out spending money in our town.
This has actually been suggested to the council however they are opposed because the City lacks the funds to keep the police on patrol for an additional hour.
Councilman Ceasar Mitchell has suggested charging clubs that want to stay open later a ‘Riff Raff’ fee if you will to cover the extra Police hours.
Get to know this guy. He is our only hope. Pay attention to the perception of his opponents. We will have to address those too.
http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/07/21/story7.html
CONCLUSION
I’m tired of feeling like a thorn in this City’s side. Every decision that has been made over the last 8 years has been Sub Urban in nature and people’s back yards are starting to rob this city of its Nightlife and Culture.
You can’t go anywhere in this city without being in somebody’s neighborhood. Castleberry Hills recently passed a noise ordinance for 12PM MIDNIGHT!! That is 5 blocks from the Georgia Dome. If that doesn’t get your attention, nothing will.
We don’t need to win the election we just need to make this a hot enough topic that it makes it to the papers and into the discussion that these candidates will be having in the next few months.
Then maybe, just maybe, we can get something on the ballot before the November election.
TURNER YOU ARE CRAZY
Am I?
There are 500,000 people in the City of Atlanta.
Only 50,000 decided who was going to be Mayor in 2005.
5,000 people is 10% of the vote. We know 5,000 people or at least will see 5,000 people in our clubs, at our shows and out and about.
A petition of 5,000 signatures would catch their attention. 10,000 and an article in the paper would really put a fire under their asses.
I am going to follow up this post with a proposal. For now I’d like everybody to take all this crap in and give it some thought.
I will be posting this only on Lunar and 404Audio cause yall are my kind of people.
Please bring this to the attention of anybody who you think would be down for the cause.
influential people
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