have a dose of happy news

Do you like Neil Gaiman? Do you live near Decatur? Then clear your calendar for December 14th.

v for very local

My review of V for Vendetta (and some associated political talk, don’t worry I’ll lead with the review) is coming. This ain’t it. The internet will funnel it into your eye sockets later this week so that when you are making plans for the weekend you will remember that it is good and you will go see it. Twice.

Tonight though was the second Decatur City Commission meeting of the month. I won’t bore you with as much detail as I did last time, but a couple items are worth mentioning (and thus worth you reading).

First, an awesome little figure: 2.5 lbs. That figure is the current amount of trash produced per capita by Decaturites each day. So why is it an awesome figure? Well, there’s this Solid Waste Management Plan which says we need to reduce trash to 10% below the 1992 figure. Back then, Decatur residents each excreted 6.6 lbs of trash per day. That’s already a 62% reduction and they haven’t even gotten recycling figured out for all these just-showed-up-overnight condos yet.

Last time I mentioned a study of traffic signal timing here in Decatur. I learned tonight that the analysis and public feedback is being paid for by the city (my landlord’s tax dollars at work). The signals and the timing of them are all maintained by Dekalb County. They should be the ones paying for the analysis. Sounds like I should be upset with the city for paying, right? Well, despite the fact that we’re the county seat, Dekalb refuses, according to Mayor Bill Floyd, to pay for or even conduct a study. All I can figure is that the county officials have jet packs and thus don’t have to deal with the traffic lights around here. If you’re like me though and actually have a car (or feet), go fill out the questionnaire and/or send an email to trafficsignals@decaturga.com.

And since this is likely the last time I’ll write about local stuff until the next meeting, if you keep waking up at 3AM to find that old busted monitor perched on the edge of your bed leering at you, smack it with a bat and drag it to Electronics Recycling Day this Saturday in the high school parking lot. If you don’t, it will eat your toenails.

in the town where I was born

Your not-so-humble author has just returned from a city commission meeting and, other than the scotch burning its way down my gullet, I’m not very fired up. Not tonight anyway. Certainly not like I was a year ago when the citywide smoking ban kicked into effect. As I know at least one person out there is interested in not only what’s going on here in the “We’re just a tiny little town (with massive condos!)”, but also in my thoughts on same, I’m still going to give a quick run down.

First, the issue most likely to boil my bile, a meeting will be held this Wednesday starting round 7 at the Rec Center for community input on the traffic signals around Decatur. If you live around here you know how horrid the timing is on some of the intersections (especially if you’ve driven round at 2 AM). Apparently, from what I could glean, a group is studying the current timings and will be presenting an implementation plan by the end of May. If you’re busy that night or too damn lazy to leave the house, you can send an email with your thoughts (or rants) to trafficsignals@decaturga.com.

Also learned that the best little coffeshop in Decatur, Java Monkey, is under new ownership. I may well be the last person to have heard about this sale as I don’t go there nearly as much as I should (in other words, David, when are we going?). The place is still to be called Java Monkey (well, I’ll still slip up and call it Church Street Coffee, cause I’m old and my brain doesn’t work when the scotch has drained out of it) and as of tonight it has been approved to keep selling beer and wine.

And finally, a note that makes my more-conservative-than-you-may-realize heart beat proudly, while the commission approved spending an additional $34,000 on sidewalks and crosswalks under their 2005 improvement plan, the total spending still lurks $70,000 under the total budgeted amount.

As I do have much more free time now, expect more write ups on local political happenings. As I said in the pervious post, it’s our job as citizens to keep an eye on what the governments (local, state, national) are up to. Up to now, yes, I am a pot and you are a kettle and we’re both black. It’s time for that to change.