Well, first let’s clear up the Lee St. timeline. Last night, Elton said he used the words General Lee as an anecdote. No, he said April 24, “that street is definitely named for General Lee.” Then, March 9 Linda Logan put in the agenda packet a slide that said the road was named for General Robert E. Lee. In the interim I called Ryan Anderson for a curt conversation in which he said, “they got their mind made up.”
Now. I don’t know if he was referring to management or the city council. But I don’t have to care about that part. My job is to point out that this city hasn’t changed.
We have a $300,000 limit per artist. Per artist, and not per show. There’s ~3200 usable seats. No one in this city can pay enough to make that profitable. No one can ever make $300K “artists” break even. There is no clause in place to stop E.g. Brett Michaels. Who never performed here in 2025, but that no-show show cost us $110,000 and got the city sued for $8000 due to Ga. Radio Alliance for advertising. The potential for fraud is as high as it ever was. Their willingness to lie about serious subjects is present, here, now in this road renaming gambit.
Someone at City Hall last night said, “we’re just getting started.” The thing is. You work for the people and the people haven’t brought any of this forward. You need to be performatively Black with a capital B for the new mayor and city manager. Well, I’m sorry, this isn’t Campbellton Road. We don’t want to live in “Black” downtown. We just want a normal downtown like Roswell. As the Mayor opened with a proclamation about bookstores. If someone wants to open a bookstore, I hope it would have Langston Hughes alongside Isaac Asimov. More likely than not, it won’t have Hughes or Asimov. It’ll stock Kamala’s Diary and half the store dedicated to the Clinton Family.
As to the road renaming. Council blames Staff. Anderson blamed staff. Elton blamed Vanessa & staff. I here, now blame Shawn Edmonson. This is his play at, ‘showing them who’s boss.’ At the end of the day. Whether it was staff, council, inside, or outside of the city hall. The fact remains that this road renaming was designed to torpedo the Pinehurst Catering real estate listing. Set aside that renaming something does absolutely nothing, in the real sense of the word “doing.”
If anyone of you built something new and wanted to name it for Mr. Thomas no one would stand in your way. But what you’re doing is using time honored dead people to do stupid, unpopular things. “align the corridor” is the stupidest excuse in all this. This isn’t your “corridor.” It’s my neighborhood. Until the city comes up with a plan for the 330 people effected & entourage effects created by the TAD & Redevelopment plan, sic semper tyrannis.
Let me illustrate: I don’t work for you, Shawn. You don’t own my house, Shawn. There ain’t no bossing us around over here in these neighborhoods. Change any street name you want. We own this neighborhood. Until you pay for the relocation of these residents as the law proscribes [OCGA 36-61-8 (7) To prepare plans and provide reasonable assistance for the relocation of families displaced from an urban redevelopment area, to the extent essential for acquiring possession of and clearing such area or parts thereof to permit the carrying out of the urban redevelopment project;] we will continue to own this neighborhood.
You should all at least read the Redevlopment Powers Act law you voted for by referendum. It says wonderful things about my neighborhood, such as:
OCGA 36-61-2 (18) “Slum area” means an area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence; inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces; high density of population and overcrowding; existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes; or any combination of such factors is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare. “Slum area” also means an area which by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slum, deteriorated, or deteriorating structures; predominance of defective or inadequate street layout; faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness; unsanitary or unsafe conditions; deterioration of site or other improvements; tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land; the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes; by having development impaired by airport or transportation noise or by other environmental hazards;
The only thing in Stockbridge that is, “conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare.” is that amphitheater. It drained the coffers and ended Mayor Ford’s reign as diabolical downtown dictator. That thing is toxic, even to politicians and not only my patience & tinnitus.
Yet again, this isn’t Southside Atlanta. All your hopeful bleating about blight is contrary to the evidence. I can show you actual blight all over Stockbridge City. However you don’t want to hear about that because it doesn’t fit the narrative you need. And I’m not otherwise not trying to throw people under the bus because they have some material indifference to my station in life.
Another “F you” from the legal department last night:
Barber:
[4693.1, 4703.1]: Those residents, business owners in the church that is affected by the name change Lee Street.
[4704.1, 4706.5]: Do they have an opportunity to appeal that?
[4706.9, 4709.8]: And if they do, what is the time frame?
Lawyers:
[4710.4, 4727.2]: I would recomm I would actually defer to our zoning attorney and um our planning and zoning attorney, Valerie Ross, although she’s not here right now. Um and if those residents are interested in appealing that, I would recommend that they contact their own council.’Cause I can’t provide legal advice to residents on that.
Barber:
[4730.3, 4731.3]: Okay, so
[4732.2, 4734.1]: I’m asking you on behalf of
[4734.6, 4735.6]: The governing body.
[4735.9, 4737.8]: Me as a member of the governing body.
[4738.1, 4739.6]: Who represents this district?
[4740.4, 4743.4]: Is there an opportunity to appeal the name change?
Garbage ass lawyers:
[4743.9, 4747.8]: And and what I’m saying is, ma’am, that I I can’t answer that question for you.
[4749.5, 4750.4]: Thank you.
They’re trying to pass code about street renaming rules. But the lawyer present can’t answer question about that which is at hand. Around here we call that what it is. Bullshit. You see, the draft agenda had a draft ordinance for procedures to rename roads…
Somehow, anything beneficial to this side of town will always be removed from the agenda. When staff identifies downtown as a priority. Alexander and not Berry refocuses the money (my money) back to Eagle’s Landing Pkwy. We did 20 years of J.T. Williams DDA sucking up every tax dollar the city could send him to Eagle’s Landing area. The goddamn golf course is going to wait in line this time. We’re building a downtown in the actual downtown, by God. Go play golf. Go fuck around on Jekyll Island or some shit. But whatever you do, golf fans. Get out of my way.
Another observation You can make about the legal department is the racial framing. The white girl does unpopular stuff like firing Harold Young the Tubman Museum Manager (which Washington wasn’t present for), renaming Lee St. (which Washington wasn’t present for), or telling Barber my neighborhood has no say in what my neighborhood is. Well. You’re fat, sad lawyers with giant student loan bills. We don’t give a fuck about you either, Hizzoner, The Quizzoner Washington. Not a Tinker’s damn…
Put that in your Black Bookstore and read it, partner.
