Police can do little to prevent crime, despite their best efforts.  Everyone always says to increase police presence, but police can’t be everywhere.  In this instance, there will be questions about where the police presence was.  After all, there was a rap concert downtown.  There should have been law enforcement present, right?

Whether there was or not is actually irrelevant.  The fact that surveillance cameras were put in downtown to supposedly prevent this sort of thing is irrelevant too.

What actually is relevant is that parents have apparently dropped the ball in raising their children to be decent human beings.  Everywhere you go, you’re bound to see some unruly kids.  It’s probably as old a problem as there is.  I can picture the medieval lord lamenting the actions of the youth in the village.  But things have ramped up.

In my teenage years, we were likely to get busted for things like drinking underage or tresspassing when “rolling” someone’s yard, that idiotic rite of passage that was both wrong and non-destructive.  Today, teens are far more likely to get arrested for taking part in brawls or shooting classmates than we were.  So what do we do?

Some may try and think about what kind of legislation can be passed to prevent this kind of thing, but let me ask you this: isn’t this already illegal? We’ve already got laws against just this sort of thing, and they didn’t prevent this from happening.

No, the problem truly lies with the parents shirking their responsibility.  Many parents will pass their kids off to grandparents, aunts, uncles, or whoever else will take care of their little bundle of joy in an effort to put off the act of actually raising their child.  They’ll put it off indefinitely, if possible.  Unfortunately, that prior generation didn’t seem to do that good a job in the first place, otherwise they wouldn’t be in that boat in the first place.

The solution is actually simple in concept, but difficult in implementation.  Peer pressure.

If everyone in the community began to basically shun those who are irresponsible parents, you would start to see fewer and fewer.  If everyone in town points at these people and said “you suck as a parent and we’re the ones getting stuck paying for your pathetic lack of effort,” you would start to see a shift in their attitudes.

No, I’m not dumb enough to imagine it will happen, but I do know what would happen if it did.  Peer pressure doesn’t just affect teens, but affects everyone at almost any age.  Yes, there will always be those who don’t care what you think, and in many instances that’s just fine.  But it would affect enough to radically change attitudes.

It’s not close to enough, but it beats what looked like was going to happen.

The deal was apparently offered in response to the jury being deadlocked several hours earlier, with the District Attorney’s office fearing a mistrial.  Buie took the offer, and told the judge that he used his position to funnel money to Shanon Buie and Nicole Brown.  His attorney, Johnny Graham, said that he knew this wasn’t “proper”.  And yet, he did it.

Poor supervision at all levels has to hold the ultimate blame for what Buie did.  Let’s face it, this wasn’t some brilliant scam that we could excuse local officials from catching due to the complex nature and perfect forgeries of invoices that made everything look legitimate.  Oh no.  This was a guy just asking for checks…and getting them.

First and foremost, if any City Commission wants to pretend to give a flip about preventing this kind of thing again, then Al Lott needs to be relocated.  I’m thinking somewhere the hell away from here.  We have enough problems in this town without having to worry about whether Lott is keeping a better handle on his subordinates than he has in the past.  Frankly, I don’t see it happening.  He’s more concerned if someone is answering “interrogatories” from the press than if his people are…oh, I don’t know…stealing from the city?

Next, ADICA needs to go.  While some may still argue that downtown needs all this taxpayer money, the damage is done with ADICA.  While I’ve applauded acting CEO James Taylor’s efforts, it’s still damaged goods and no one is going to trust ADICA no matter who’s in charge.  If, and I’m still not convinced, but if downtown needs an authority to manage redevelopment, then start fresh.

Also, kill the $6 million bond.  After all of this, we’re still stuck having to trust officials with our money?  These same officials who didn’t bother to look at invoices (some of which didn’t exist) under Buie?  Sorry, that’s just not goig to cut it.  If the bond is defaulted on, the taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill…but we aren’t even told what the heck it’s going to be spent for.  Remember, it’s all a secret.

The Buie trial is over.  The effects of Hurricane Don still linger.

If you believe that, I’ve got some beachfront property in Northwest Albany to sell you.

First, all that is about settled are these particular cases. There’s still a lot unresolved and unanswered, and those with the authority to address and answer don’t seem interested in actually doing so.

For example, while deputy City Manager James Taylor seems to have ADICA moving in a positive direction, a move he should be applauded for, there needs to be a serious overhaul in how things are done if ADICA is to continue to exist. Two people signing checks isn’t going to cut it either, since some of the questionable checks were signed by ADICA chair Jane Wilson.

There are broken mechanisms in this local government, and so far they haven’t even been looked at in a meaningful way.  The only attempt at oversight has really been Commissioner Roger Marietta’s proposal that ADICA members serve at the pleasure of the Commission, meaning that they could remove members who aren’t doing there job.  Granted, there’s a potential for abuse there too, but that’s where we voters kick in…we oversee the Commission after all.

And none of that will deal with the disaster downtown that is Al Lott.  The man who allegedly doesn’t check references because he never made a poor choice in personnel hasn’t had his wings clipped in the least.  In fact, now he’s telling employees not to answer the “interrogatories” of a committee appointed by our elected officials and even seems to dispute the authority of that committee to ask those questions.  Apparently, in Lott’s world, the people don’t have a right to ask questions or…you know…know anything.

Yes, the whole Buie-gate fiasco is soon to be resolved.  But the situation that permitted all of that to happen still exists.  Unless that underlying system is changed to prevent future abuses, it will happen again.  We are already seeing abuses of a different kind by our city manager who apparently doesn’t believe in open government.

Bouncing Lott into the unemployment line would be a great start in cleaning up our government, but he’s not the only problem.  The City Commission needs to step up and remember that these people (And they themselves) work for us, and should be answerable to us.  If they do that, then maybe there’s a chance for this town.

Doesn’t that just make us feel all tingly?

The year of 2008 was a rough year all around, there’s no denying that. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, who provided all the data for the Forbes story, the per capita income for the United States fell from $52,163 to $50,303. However, Albany’s per capita income wasn’t even close to that. Ours? A whopping $21,359 per year. For those keeping score at home, that’s less than 43% of the national average.

Another metric that Forbes used were the number of people under the age of 65 who are on some form of government healthcare. Albany’s winning number? 32,895. As they are using the metro area population totals, which is 158,415. That means that over 20% of the population in this area are on medicaid.

To top this off, the bottom 20% of the folks here earn $8,350 per year. That’s it. Frankly, I don’t see how they can function on that. And to make matter worse, this is the kind of jobs that our city leaders seem the most focused on. You see, this is what people make when you open up restaurants, bars, and retail shops. You know, the kind of stuff they keep talking about needing to open downtown?

There are jobs still out there. It takes effort to bring them here though. We don’t need retail shops and bars in downtown right now. We need jobs that fit with our workforce, but optimize our pay. Replacing jobs lost when Merck and Cooper left would be a good start, but it would take more.

A staffing specialist at one of the local temporary agencies confided in me that the number of people who come into her office unable to read is beyond justification. We have a public education system, for better or for worse, and we are producing a large number of people who can’t even read? Obviously, this isn’t going to help.

To Mayor Adams’ credit, it does seem that he’s been part of a non-profit effort to help increase our literacy rate. Honestly, I applaud him for that. That is a great start, and I personally feel it needs to be expanded. But for right now, there’s little point for those who are illiterate. You see, they may well reason that there’s little point in putting in the effort without jobs being here in the first place.

In one of the emails I received, a source who wished to remain anonymous said “I love my city, but this is just embarrassing.” He hit the nail on the head. There are a lot of Albany natives who feel the same way. The mayor saying he isn’t surprised isn’t what any of us care about. People want to hear solutions, not surprise.

The poverty stricken nature of this congressional district is irrelevant. While the past should be studied and understood, it shouldn’t be an excuse. While I’ll give the mayor the benefit of the doubt and assume he intends no such thing, let’s be frank. He’s on his second term, and he hasn’t done a blasted thing. He wants to make his mark? This is the time and place.

I just don’t think he’s got it in him.

Meanwhile, the city still believes that reshaping downtown into something it’s not is somehow even possible. On top of that, it thinks it’s essential. Personally, I want some of what they’ve been smoking.

I’ve advocated for downtown to be a center of government and not sweat a lack of evening and weekend traffic in downtown. There are businesses which can and have made it work downtown basically be being open when the folks downtown are working. Riverfront BBQ is one example as best I can tell. While I haven’t looked at their financial info, I have been inside that place at lunch time. I don’t see them hurting.

Yesterday, Old Times Country Buffet was mentioned as being interested in moving downtown. While this sounds like someone doesn’t agree with me, it’s important to understand that the new restaurant’s focus will be lunch. Guess who’s downtown at lunch time? That’s right, the same type of folks who flock to Riverfront, the Cookie Shoppe, and other downtown eateries.

While I can accept that downtown needs to maintain a certain appearance, no one has been able to show me that downtown simply must be something more than it currently is for Albany to prosper. It can prosper in ways that don’t involve what’s been called a nightlife. Northwest Albany has all of that. I’ve even joked with one city commissioner that if it’s essential that downtown meet their definition of thriving, then maybe it’ll be cheaper to move downtown to the northwestern part of the city.

It doesn’t sound like a half bad idea, and would probably be cheaper.

The fact of the matter is that Albany’s downfall didn’t start when people quit going downtown. That started when Firestone shut down, many moons ago. That was the beginning of the end. We have never recovered from that body blow. Cooper coming to town was a big move in that direction, but then they hit the road too. Recovering jobs like these is what Albany needs, not more money being spent on a part of town that no one goes to.

Perhaps someday the folks from City Hall will figure that out.

More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Now, apparently Woods sent an email to acting ADICA CEO James Taylor that was merely read at the meeting, but frankly, who cares? The city is getting the money back, and that’s what’s important. Now, they’re only getting it in payments instead of a lump sum, but they are getting it back.

Per the Albany Herald:

“As I have indicated, it is not my intent nor that of my business to participate in any known form of unlawfull (sic) activity. Since, it has been determined that facade grants were not lawfully issued I have decided to return all grant funds,” she wrote.

Well, that’s super. Of course, she could have done this when the information first became available. Perhaps we shouldn’t worry about the fact that she’s incredibly late to the party and just embrace the fact that she showed up at all. Of course, I’m unable to get past the fact that Phil Cannon made a motion for this to happen and not a single person on the ADICA board had the integrity to step up and make a second. That, I won’t let slide.

In other news involving ADICA, the notorious tenure of Tim Washington and his Dollar Square store is being put to a merciful death by ADICA. Of course, Washington asked for it, which isn’t completely surprising. The Herald reports Taylor’s speculation that the traffic wasn’t what he was promised. Don Buie? Lie? Nah, can’t be.

The board also voted to press the issue on back rent owed to it by Washington, as well as forcing the return of the $40,000 given to him as a facade grant. I suspect that Washington didn’t ask for that. Now, remember that Washington was the recipient of a sweetheart deal that only required him to pay a whopping $1 per month in rent for his space downtown despite a lease stating $750 more. Frankly, I think ADICA’s decision to charge him according to the lease and not the convicted felon’s promise just might have had something to do with his decision.

As for paying out, the board approved paying Dougherty County the $10,000 they owed for the lease on that patch of property downtown.

Yesterday wasn’t without it’s revelations though. More of Buie’s promises were unveiled. Frankly, I’m getting tired of those. Sure, there may be a lot of business people upset because their promised facade grants aren’t coming, but tough. They didn’t get a contract, so they’re out of luck. Sorry, but after my grandfather got hosed in a business deal eons ago because there wasn’t a contract, I don’t trust anything that’s not in writing. Now, these good business folks get to learn that lesson in a new and interesting way. Go them!

All in all, ADICA seems to be moving in the right direction. The return of the Woods grant was a major issue that is being dealt with finally. Now, do I trust this board? Absolutely not. Jane Wilson, the ADICA Chairman of the Board, has been living with her head in the sand if she doesn’t believe that ADICA doesn’t need serious re-organization. Maybe it’s time for her to go first, and then let the new Chairman clean house?

Yep, a busy day indeed. But it wasn’t all good.

First, I have to say I’m pleased with Commissioner Marietta’s proposed amendment to ADICA’s charter. With the mess involving Lajuanna Woods and ADICA’s inactivity makes it obvious that something is needed. Since no one seems to know how to convene the ethics committee, this seems the only way to get rid of “unethical and wrong” board members.

The commission also decided to have Al Lott direct the search for a new downtown manager instead of dropping a pile of money on a headhunter. Commissioner Marietta told WALB that this way, Lott will be held responsible since he hires the new downtown manager. Of course, he was responsible before, but that’s beside the point. What is important is that a new downtown manager will have a specialty. Has that even been discussed? Getting the wrong specialty will be almost as disastrous as Buie-gate has been.

Of course, amid all this actual business, Mayor Willie Adams decided to hold a vote of confidence. He passed out ballots for all the city commissioners and asked them to vote on whether he should resign or not. They all voted no.

Wow. Big deal.

Adams has to understand that it’s not the commissioner’s confidence he needs, but the people’s. Frankly, I think he needs to go, but not by resignation…he needs to be voted out. But the commissioners get one vote each when Adams runs for re-election, the people of Albany get all the rest. So, who’s confidence is most important?