BOWLING FOR BUSH

After watching the Oscars with Michael Moore's speech, I have to say I disagree with his method, not necessarily the message. I think at this point in time to criticize the election results is not needed. What I was hoping Moore would have done is point millions of viewers to ideas or information unknown to them. Maybe if he had said, "I ask all of you to recognize that I had a political speech prepared but instead I ask of you to put down the remote and pick up a pen and paper and write down the name Greg P-a-l-a-s-t and his book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, and pick that up the next time you are in your local bookstore or on the Internet. Also while you are on the Internet check out some great sites such as moveon.org, disinfo.com, and commondreams.org or znet.org. Anyways, moving right along, I'd like to thank the Academy... etc., etc., etc."

The part that turned me off was how Moore fails to use the moment to bolster his ideas and friends. Even if only 1,000 were to visit the sites or even buy the book, that would still mean something. You've got to know where to pick and choose your battlegrounds, and many made people aware that the Oscars was not a place for the Moore vs. Bush platform. Moore could have used the event to bring even more people unaware of the Florida election problems onto his side, but instead he chose to take a cheap shot. If I didn't already like Moore, I would probably care even less for him now.

Joseph Peterson
Athens

RENT & DISSENT.1

Brad Aaron correctly points out [City Dope, March 5] that the former ACC commission's practice of routinely granting rezoning applications caused the multi-million dollar judgment against us (taxpayers) in the Watson land condemnation case. Government decisions that are not carefully considered, with relevant questions asked, lead to unfortunate consequences.

The same pattern is now repeating itself. By failing to pierce through the self-interested lobbying campaign of fear and misinformation that resulted in the commission's approval of the Barnett Shoals (dubbed "suicide and greed alley") project, the commission has reinforced similar lobbying campaigns for other projects - including the proposed rental house registration ordinance.

Unfortunately, when factions become polarized, the decision maker frequently does not recognize that less extreme, common sense alternatives are available. In the case of rental property registration, the draft ordinance appears to go too far, unnecessarily, in creating an expensive new bureaucracy. Rental property owners need to be asked only to list their rental property, identify their tenants, and acknowledge liability for violations of existing ordinances by their tenants (which, itself, will require a minor amendment to those ordinances). The annual "listing" fee per rental unit should be minimal, and those persons charged with enforcing the housing ordinances should be asked to limit the additional resources needed to do their job.

The voters expect common sense, intelligently reasoned decisions by government, not undue deference to "well-connected" members of the community that conflict with the interests of the larger public.

Jim Ponsoldt
Athens

RENT & DISSENT.2

I'm really surprised that our new, popular, grassroots elected ACC government supported by so many Flagpole readers, including myself, has come up with a new elitist system to monitor those deemed undesirable.

The current proposed rental registration program amounts to group of homeowners on a high horse who have decided that their lifestyle is superior to that of renters. Those who rent rooms in their homes to defray mortgage expenses and others who peacefully co-habit out of wedlock are hence lesser citizens. In fairness, some may be unaware of their elitism or have forgotten their younger days in funky old houses.

At its core, it is a crafty way to make rental so inconvenient that renters take flight to apartments, aiding in paving the way to more un-checked apartment sprawl. Besides, who is to say a peaceful bike riding renter must register and be monitored by a Marshall, but a crack-dealing homeowner living with eight relations parked on the yard is exempt from the ordinance's auspices? This is, at best, good intentions followed by a poorly thought out plan with many potentially undesirable results.

All neighborhoods go through cycles. Gentrified rentals have proven to increase property values in neighborhoods like Boulevard and Newtown. Home ownership, often aided by roommates paying rent follows. No artificial engineering in this regard is required.

Nevertheless, I'm sure that most landlords (like myself) would pony up for a business license, list properties, and provide a business contact number. Owner occupied rentals (roommates) should be exempt.

First though, let's see some legislation that gets rid of the "enforcement through education" policies of recent times. Bad landlords will lose business if the police are empowered to ticket, fine and arrest those parking on yards, making too much noise, deferring property maintenance, etc. These landlords and tenant violators will tire and move on. We're not ready for another new Department of Homeland Security.

Drew Dekle
Athens

RENT & DISSENT.3

The American Civil Liberties Union wrote to Mayor Davison saying that Clarke County's current rental registration proposal "raises clear red flags for civil liberties," specifically citing concerns about "requiring tenants in RS zoned neighborhoods to sign and file affidavits relating to their identities, relationships and household composition as well as requiring rental property owners and managers to gather and register this information." The ACLU went on to say that they intend to review whether the right to privacy, the right to not incriminate oneself, and the right to equal protection under the law of the U.S. and the Georgia constitutions are infringed upon by this proposed law. These concerns about privacy and equal protection are at the heart of the opposition to this proposal.

Imagine if in order to drive a car you had to sign an affidavit stating that you would never break the speed limit. Then, if you were caught speeding, in addition to being given a ticket you could be convicted of a felony - perjury. What if only one group - say, immigrants - had to sign an affidavit to get a license, in order to "clean up the roads?" Tenants in Athens could find themselves in a similarly tough spot.

If the current proposal passes into law, a new branch of city government will be created to monitor and enforce the ordinances in RS zoned neighborhoods, especially upon one group which comprises 60 percent of Athens residents - renters. Landlords and tenants (even if you just rent one room out of your house) would be required to sign affidavits declaring the names and relationships of each person in the house. The affidavits would have to be filed with City Planning within 15 days of any change in occupancy. Failure to file a completed affidavit could result in a fine of $100 per day of non-compliance, up to $1,000. If found to be in violation of the current single-family zoning rule which says that no more than two unrelated people can reside together, the tenant could be evicted; if they fail to provide full disclosure on the affidavit, they could be taken to court and convicted of perjury. In Georgia, perjury is a felony punishable by "a fine of not more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than 10 years, or both." A felony conviction is carried on a person's record for the rest of their life. The tenant is likely to be evicted, and the landlord have his or her rental permit revoked or restricted and lose part of his/her livelihood. This could happen even if the tenants were the ideal neighbors - neat, quiet and respectful.

The residents of a single-family, owner-occupied household would not have to be similarly registered with the government. They would not have to sign an affidavit. They could not be tried for perjury, no matter what neighborhood ordinances they violated. Of course they could not be evicted, even after accumulating many violations of ordinances.

Do people who cannot afford to buy their homes really deserve to be punished so much more severely? Do they not have just as much of a right to reside in our RS neighborhoods as owners? Perhaps, along with the ACLU, we as a community should take the time to review whether this proposal actually does violate people's rights to privacy and equal protection under the law before we put it on the fast track to being voted on in May.

Marci Fierman
Athens

RENT & DISSENT.4

I have lived, worked, and contributed to my beloved Athens for seven years - renting the entire time - and thus feel the need to register my displeasure with ACC's proposed RS-Zone Rental Permit Program. The proposed program would require all renters in ACC to sign and register an "Occupancy Affidavit" with the county government, pledging knowledge of and intent to obey county ordinances. Provisions for suspension of an individual's right to rent if he or she violates local, state, and even federal law. A "point system" - which I assume would be similar to the demerit system employed at my old summer camp - would track tenant behavior.

I am uncomfortable with being a part of a government registry and swearing to adhere to a code of conduct. I've always adhered to the social contract wherein it is understood that good citizens respect the law and understand that breaking the law has consequences. In other words, my momma raised me right. I also know that registering with the government is not going to change my public behavior in any way other than forcing me to leave ACC.

And if I, as a transplanted resident of Athens, feel this way, I can only imagine how my one-time neighbor in Five Points must feel. Mrs. Jones, an Athens native, has lived and worked (retired from the ACC government, no less) her entire life. Her two grown daughters and several grandchildren also live in ACC. After the death of her husband and problems with her hip, she gave up the house in which she had raised her family and moved into the apartment below mine. The proposed program would require this white-haired, Baptist Church-going widow to swear in writing obedience to ACC laws just as if she were a transient, 18-year-old frat boy. Her home-owning daughters and teenage grandchildren, however, would be exempt from signing such an affidavit. This elitist, provincial program presumes that the act of signing a lease agreement has somehow erased decades of responsible behavior from Mrs. Jones' mind and character - and so total is her ignorance of good citizenship that even her own grandchildren (who would not be required to register their lack of criminal intent with the government) can be assumed to act more responsibly and be more knowledgeable of local law than their elder.

The program further mandates that landlords designate a "24-hour contact" who "must be available 24 hours a day to respond to problems associated with the property." Are these designates - whether they are landlords or renters - under a form of house arrest then, forced to wait by the front door in case the League of Decency comes calling? Will electronic bracelets be issued for those who have the temerity to travel for business or go on vacation without notifying county authorities?

I currently live in an apartment building in Cobbham which was, at one time, home to Dean Rusk and Bill McFeely. And yes, even the Secretary of State for the Kennedy administration and a Pulitzer Prize winner, respectively, would be forced to promise a county functionary that they intended to behave themselves like good boys.

In Five Points, the two teenage sons of Mrs. Jones' and my former landlord spent every weekend with their truck-and-SUV-owning high school friends, drinking, listening to music, and generally what my grandfather called "whoopin' and hollerin'." Under the proposed program these high school boys and their friends are presumed to need no special instruction in the law, whereas I, a 37-year-old co-owner of a small business, along with the above-mentioned ACC retiree Mrs. Jones, are presumed to need remedial civics instruction.

Which brings me to my next point. It seems only fair to me that all non-home owning residents of ACC (including the children, long-term visitors, and resident extended family members of homeowners) be required to sign such "Occupancy Affidavits." If not, am I not being profiled and singled out as a second-class citizen simply because my income doesn't currently permit me to buy a house and Mrs. Jones simply of her medically necessary choice to live in a low-maintenance apartment? If members of the "Neighborhood Protection Workteam" who drafted the proposal would visit cities - New York, Paris, Brussels, and Tokyo spring to mind - they would realize that there is a whole world beyond Bogart where renters of all ages and income levels, both with and without a desire to own a home, happily live in and contribute to their communities.

Finally, if hypothetically the law passed and I were to sign such an affidavit (and I can assure you I would leave town before I would demean myself in that way) and I bought a house in the following few months, would ACC government give me back my affidavit or would it remain on file? If so, for how long? If not, why not? Does the ACC government see the writing of one's name on a bank loan as a transformative act whereby second-class citizens are, with the stroke of a pen, reborn as model citizens? (If only that were true!) If my parents own a house in ACC, would I, as a 30-something, be exempted from the program as the non-home owning teenage children of my landlord would be? If not, why not?

The proposed permit program is as demeaning as any form of racial profiling. While some citizens are profiled and pulled over by police for the sole violation of D.W.B. ("driving while black"), I am being profiled for R.W.R. ("residing while renting"). The idea of being compelled by law to publicly proclaim my good citizenship and being at the 24-7 beck-and-call of the demerit police strikes me as heavy-handed and demeaning. To call it McCarthyist would likewise be equally heavy-handed on my part, but I do find myself feeling like collateral damage in a sally of class warfare.

Patrick Allen
Athens