With all the legal maneuvering currently going on in regards to that $6 million in bond money for downtown development, it’s gotten kind of ugly. My position is still to question why the government is involved. Despite assurances from city commissioners that this is essential, I still find myself at odds with the government’s involvement in private business in any manner besides customer. I’m not alone, with the Dougherty County Taxpayers Association being the driving force behind the suit against the bond. Now, the Albany-Dougherty Inner City Authority is trying to require them to put up a $600,000 bond for legal fees.
Meanwhile, the association calls the call “legal extortion”.
The law apparently says that the court can require a bond in the case of lawsuits where folks oppose “public improvements”. Unfortunately, this law needs to die, and die gloriously.
In this nation, the government is supposed to serve the people. It’s supposed to be answerable to them. It’s supposed to exist solely for the people and nothing more. But this particular law is a punishment for people who try and hold the government accountable. Instead of ensuring that the government is answerable to the people, those who it’s meant to serve, this law is really just a way to deter dissent among the populace. Not everyone can put up $600,000 in bond money.
Supporters of the downtown development may well argue that they are acting in the best interests for the entire area, and they at least believe they are. Whether they are in fact is something that won’t be sorted until all the dust has settled and we’re looking back on it with 20/20 vision. One thing to keep in mind is that acting in the greater good, while it landed us on the moon, also gave us laws like gun control legislation and the Patriot Act. Acting in the greater good isn’t always right, no matter how noble the intent. There is no reason to punish those who are doing nothing more than making sure our government really is acting in our best interests.
ADICA needs to drop this ridiculous idea of requiring a $600K bond from a citizens group. All they’re successfully doing is looking petty and mean, and when so much of the population is telling me that they’re against what they see as financial waste in downtown, that should actually tell you something. This is far from a slam dunk as far as popular support goes. Trying to hit a group that’s basically trying to make government accountable again isn’t going to help either.
The 600K amount made my mouth drop when reading the paper this morning. But, what should be done to keep well-intended groups from filing lawsuit after lawsuit to stop actions they don’t like. I think I just answered my question: once lawsuits are decided the judge has the options to penalize a party if that party brought a frivolous suit.
But heavy damages against a citizens group would mean nothing because they simply don’t have it; similar to bloggers using pictures and videos without proper approval…pot…kettle…black.
On June 3, 2009, Commissioer Bob Langstaff wrote: “There are numerous, smart, bite-sized projects proposed that really could bring meaningful private investment into the downtown area. There are some larger projects that could also occur, but most likely won’t occur, if I offer any more detail than I already have.”
Am I the only one who is skeptical about the city borrowing $6 million to fund projects they won’t disclose, which will be handled by Don “Domestic Violence” Buie?
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?s=8687600
Slyram: I have zero problem with a judge penalizing frivolous suits, and I think that’s a great work around actually. But like you, I saw that dollar amount and was like “WTF?” I have a serious problems with that one, especially in this case. Downtown is a touchy subject, and one that hasn’t gotten a lot of public scrutiny IMHO.
Jack: I figured that those larger projects are sensitive in nature, which is why Commissioner Langstaff couldn’t talk about it. Personally, I’m not crazy about something like that either, since I’m a fan of transparency in government, keep in mind that Commissioner Langstaff is only one commissioner and it may not have been his call. However, I can assure you that you’re not the only one skeptical about the $6 million bond. I’ve talked to a lot of people who are.
I’m not just skeptical about the $6 million. I’m skeptical about Buie.