News & Views You Can Use
Call In The Doc
Eldridge to Head Chamber
originally published May 23, 2007
On May 17, the huge fires in southeast Georgia passed the 300,000-acre mark (or almost 470 square miles: and that’s just in Georgia, not counting what’s burned in north Florida). The shaded area shown above is roughly equivalent in size to the burned area of south Georgia, as of May 17. It ought to give you some idea of what things would be like if fires like those were to burn in our part of the state. (Note: Clarke County’s area is 122 square miles; it’s the smallest county in Georgia.)
After a several-months-long search for a new president to head the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber’s board announced May 11 that they’d found their man: former mayor Doc Eldridge. Eldridge, an Athens native and former insurance agency owner, was mayor from 1999-2003 and represented District 7 on the Athens-Clarke County Commission from 1995-1999. The former Chamber president, Larry McKinney, left in mid-December to take a job with a chamber of commerce in Daytona Beach, FL.
Even before McKinney left town, Chamber board Chairman Phil Bettendorf says, the board met to discuss tweaks in the president’s job description, largely in the realm of local politics. Local political observers know that those tweaks are sorely needed, as McKinney’s relationship with Mayor Heidi Davison and most of the Commissioners broke down some time ago.
Bettendorf says the board “redirected a little bit.” The Chamber will remain politically active in representing the business community, he says, but it will focus on issues rather than on certain candidates or elected officials. The Chamber’s commissioner scorecard, for instance - “ill-fated” to begin with, in Eldridge’s words - is out the window. Bettendorf says the board is excited to have new blood in the position, and that Eldridge was attractive because he’s local. (Of 10 interviewees, half were from out of town.) “He knows the local area, he knows the people, he knows the players,” Bettendorf says.
But Eldridge admits that righting the Chamber’s political ship will be a challenge. The challenge doesn’t all lie at City Hall, either: retaining and expanding the Chamber’s membership is an especially important, if ongoing, task. “I’ve gotten frustrated with the Chamber over the years myself,” Eldridge notes, adding, “We’ve got a ways to go; we’ve got bridges to mend and rebuild.” Mayor Davison agrees: “I think he’s got some challenges,” she says. She adds, “The Chamber is not relevant to a lot of the community, and he’s got to re-establish its relevance.” The community, meanwhile, in Davison’s eyes, has made its preferences clear through recent local elections; the Chamber’s board, she says, can’t ignore that. She asks, “Can Doc bring them along?”
What does Eldridge expect from the new job? “In some respects, it’s like going to the Mayor’s office,” Eldridge says. He references the collaboration and networking that are at the heart of both jobs. So far (he doesn’t actually start until June 1), things are good. “There’s a new face, new blood,” he says. “A lot of people are being supportive and congratulatory: we’ll see where they are in two months.”
In addition to a different Chamber relationship with City Hall, Davison and Eldridge both say they see the need to refine the Chamber’s role in local economic development efforts. When Eldridge was mayor, he helped create the Economic Development Foundation (EDF), which took over responsibility for recruiting new businesses and industries from the Chamber of Commerce. Davison says that job needs to stay with the EDF (which is a partnership of four groups: the local government, the Chamber, UGA, and Athens’ Economic Development Authority), while expansion and support of existing Athens businesses is the role of the Chamber. Says Eldridge, “The Chamber of Commerce needs to be at the table, they need to be a partner - a part of - economic development. They do not need sole responsibility.”
Eldridge also says he hopes to encourage a regional approach to economic development, looking beyond county lines. That idea is part of the recommendations of Partners for a Prosperous Athens, which has had Chamber support in the form of board member Ed Graham. Graham has also served as interim president lately at the Chamber, a role Eldridge says has been crucial.
As for City Hall, Eldridge says he wants “a good, solid working relationship with the local government,” and the degree of change among elected officials since his days in office isn’t lost on him. But Davison says she’s ready for a good working relationship, too. “I wish Doc well,” she says, “and I hope this works for him and the Chamber, and I’m going to do my best to make it work.”
And what of that point pressed so much this spring by a certain local newspaper publisher, that Eldridge would have made a great candidate in the special election to fill the late Charlie Norwood’s seat in Congress? Eldridge says simply, “Sometimes, things work out for the best.”
Plans for Parks
Spiffing ’Em Up
originally published May 23, 2007
Next month the Athens-Clarke County Commission may approve expansion plans for three county parks: Dudley, Ben Burton, and final plans for the East Athens Community Park. That new county park - just off Loop 10 at Peter Street, but currently accessible only from Trail Creek Street near North Avenue - will have a second entrance added from Peter Street next year. The park is already partially developed with two football/ soccer fields and a baseball diamond, but went seriously over budget as a result of land acquisition costs. (The county ended up paying over 10 times what it initially offered an unwilling seller for part of the land, after the case went to court.)
But roughly half of the 113 acres will remain in trees, with over a mile of nature trails through the woods and along Trail Creek (and another trail from the park will eventually connect to the North Oconee River Greenway at Dudley Park). Some of the undeveloped land will serve as buffers along the Bypass and nearby residential areas, while in other places the topography is too steep or rocky to develop at reasonable cost, Leisure Services Director John Dargle told Flagpole. With commission approval, the park will add lighted tennis and basketball courts, picnic shelters, playgrounds and a “sprayground” water-play area, and a nature/ education building. An “interactive basketball court” provides different sizes and shapes of backboards and other diversions for individuals or small groups. “It just takes playing horse to another level,” Dargle told commissioners at their May work session. Construction should be completed within two years.
Changes to Dudley Park (along the North Oconee River off Poplar and East Broad streets) and to Ben Burton Park on Mitchell Bridge Road haven’t yet been planned, but commissioners on June 5 will be ask to approve lists of “must haves,” “highly wanted,” and “nice to have” items for both parks (the full lists are available in the commission agenda on the county’s website). At Dudley Park, a new building would include time-locked rest rooms, a security office, and meeting space.
Also on the “must have” list for Dudley Park: a canoe launch, native plant area, “improved park visibility,” connection to nearby neighborhoods, and picnic shelters. “Highly wanted” items include playgrounds, a volleyball court, interpretive signs, and an amphitheater (the canoe launch made both lists). “Nice to have:” skate and skateboard areas, a dog park, public art (but “not bulldogs,” as per a citizen comment) and a water fountain. When the restored trestles of the federally-funded rail-trail are finished in several years, the trail will pass through Dudley Park and “the views will be stunning,” administrator Mike Wharton told Flagpole last year. Changes to the parks could cost up to $5 million for Ben Burton and $8.5 million for Dudley Park, he said.
Off Mitchell Bridge road near the bypass, Ben Burton park comprises 32 acres along the Middle Oconee River. At the park’s far end, next to river shoals that are among our area’s prettiest, lies the ruin of an old dam and hydroelectric plant that once powered Athens streetcars. Georgia Power donated the land to the public in 1967; Ben Burton was the company’s vice-president. For Burton park, the “must have” list includes a canoe launch, river overlook, picnic pavilions, an “outdoor event space,” security cameras, and a building that will have restrooms (with time locks), concessions, and a security office. Playgrounds and a greenway connection are “highly wanted” for the riverside park, and a volleyball court, mountain bike trails, connections to nearby neighborhoods, and a dog park would be “nice to have.” “That’s just a dream sheet of what we’d like the vision of the park to be,” Dargle told Flagpole. “Once we start running out of room, then some of those things may not be able to fit.” Citizen suggestions for a bridge to a mid-river island did not make the list. The illicit sexual liaisons that have given the park a bad reputation are not the problem they once were, Dargle said. Once commissioners have approved (or modified) the “wish lists” for the two parks, a consultant will (for $50,000 each) help draw up master plans within a year, Dargle said. A construction timetable will then be up to commissioners, since no funding has yet been identified.
Candidates to Debate!
Georgia’s 10th Congressional District
originally published May 23, 2007
In case you didn’t notice, we’ve got to go back to the polls on June 19 to elect a Congressman. We’re coming right up on a special election to replace the late Charlie Norwood here in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District. Who’s running? No fewer than 10 people from all across north Georgia. How will you get to know so many candidates with so little time? We’ve got you covered: Flagpole and the rest of the Athens Press Club are teaming up again to bring you a live candidate debate at the Melting Point. The big event will be Wednesday, June 6 from 7-9 p.m. at the Melting Point downtown, and broadcast live on WGAU 1340 AM. Keep your eyes peeled for more details as the date gets closer.
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