originally published March 5, 2008

In the All-Time List of Bad Ideas…: City Dope would like to take the opportunity in this week’s column to join the chorus of those denouncing the foolishness of some of this state’s political leaders in setting off a border dispute with our neighbors to the north in Tennessee. It is not so much the poor statesmanship of the maneuver that bothers this writer, nor the fact that people like our governor expect citizens to admire his sense of selfishness.

The deeply disconcerting piece of the matter is the idea that - lines on a map aside - water ought to be pumped from the Tennessee River to metro Atlanta. Sure, that kind of engineer’s daydream has come true in some places around the world - the Colorado River of the Southwest, with its unwilling watering of Los Angeles is perhaps the prime example - but that’s not to say a diversion of water doesn’t come without consequences both ecological and economic. Besides, drought or no drought, the Southeast isn’t exactly a desert, and any community in this region ought to be able to get along fine on the resources that exist in its own backyard (or river basin, as it were).

It’s the guv’s short-sightedness that really bothers City Dope. Nearly everyone agrees that his posturing with Tennessee is ugly and stupid. The prospect of what would come next, though, if the border ever were moved, would likely be far more disturbing.

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This Just In: Not long before press time, the state Senate had - with just one dissenting vote - passed a bill rolling back prohibitions on homeowners’ use of gray water around the house or yard. Athens has been one of the places around the state where local elected officials have made their curiosity about gray water known, though they’ve been hampered from doing any real work on the matter by the fact that state law has, to date, outlawed gray water use. This move in Atlanta is only the beginning of any process to change policies on the ground, and City Dope will keep close watch on its progress.

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Speaking of Water: Meanwhile, Republican state Senator Bill Cowsert (you know, the one who represents most of Athens-Clarke, ever since the great cleaving-in-two of ’06) has seen some pretty decent movement on a pair of water-policy-related bills that he authored. Although it might sound bad on its face given the kind of characters that make up much of our state legislature nowadays, Cowsert’s basic idea is to blend in some legislative oversight to big decisions that may be made about water withdrawal permits and the like. That’s actually a pretty good idea, given the sorry state of the statewide water “plan” that legislators passed in the first week of the session (without Cowsert’s vote, nor those of Democratic Athens Reps. Keith Heard or Doug McKillip) - a plan which Cowsert is doing his part to try and shore up a little bit. City Dope commends him for trying. There’s no telling, though, what’ll happen if his bills can make it to the governor’s desk.

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Rocketship Obama: City Dope is in the dark, as of this writing, as to the results of the big Ohio and Texas primaries (and, therefore, the viability of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign), but it should still be worth noting the big endorsement news in Georgia as of last week. While a lot of media attention was put on veteran Congressman John Lewis’ difficult decision to switch his superdelegate support from Clinton to Barack Obama, the Journal-Constitution also reported late last week that U.S. Congressman and former Athens-Clarke County Commissioner John Barrow finally endorsed Obama as well. Unlike Lewis, according to the AJC, Barrow had not yet endorsed any candidate in the primary prior to last week.

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Congrats are in Order: The Clarke County DUI Court has received national recognition for its success preventing repeat offenses by local DUI convicts who have alcohol and drug abuse problems. The court was one of four in the country selected as a model for other courts to follow, and was recognized at a ceremony Feb. 29.

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In Business: A little more than a year after presenting a “small business resource panel” at the Lyndon House, the local government folks involved in promoting entrepreneurs in Athens are putting together a similar event geared specifically toward locals involved with what they’re calling the “creative economies” - art, music, and the like. This free event takes place in the Chamber of Commerce Boardroom on Mar. 17 at 5 p.m. Those interested in attending should RSVP by Mar. 10 by calling 706-613-3155.

Ben Emanuel

Send your city dope to ben@flagpole.com.