Collins Lied About Medicaid
I am not being sarcastic: It was a relief. We all want an honest answer, and I thought I had one.
In an email from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins on May 22 at 8:13 a.m, he wrote: “… there are currently no plans to cut Medicaid funding. Also, even if Medicaid cuts were being considered, I oppose cuts because there are many people who truly need Medicaid for their healthcare needs.”
As a concerned constituent, I wrote to him to oppose Medicaid cuts. As a teacher in a school of low-income students, most of my students relied on Medicaid. As a CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) volunteer, “my kids” received wellness and mental health care through Medicaid. This was good news, right there on official letterhead: Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., Mike Collins, 10th District, Georgia.
Actions speak louder than words. I’m not used to being lied to, are you?
Again, that’s not sarcasm. The truth hurts.
In an earlier email, a news story had already reported a late-night vote which, with Collins’ vote, passed Trump’s “big beautiful bill” with deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, student loan relief to those who had taught 10 years in poverty areas, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and clean energy. Our 10th District has 35% of school-aged children on Medicaid and thousands on Medicare. Collins is not concerned about representing us, the 10th District. He is not serving; he wants to hold on to his power position.
In turn, let’s be honest, and vote him out.
Carolyn P. Gorman
Athens
Traffic Cameras Invade Privacy
Across the country, cities are quietly adding facial recognition technology to traffic cameras. Milwaukee and New Orleans seem to be on the forefront of this, and while it’d be fun to spy on the happy drunks in the French Quarter, it’s still fascism at its most basic.
We added license plate-reading cameras in response to Laken Riley’s murder, and no one seemed to notice or care, but this Orwellian nonsense is something else entirely, something that no one wants, and yet it isn’t stopping the purveyors of spyware from doing it. This is a classic example of governmental lying and a far-too-cozy relationship with some pretty terrible companies. If it’s not here already, it will be soon, unless we stand up to it. Write your commissioner now, before it’s too late.
Bowen Craig
Athens
Hotel Is Bad for Boulevard
I’ve been getting quite a few calls about the proposed redevelopment of the UGA President’s House into a 106-room hotel. While I’m glad that a wider audience is now aware of the proposal, the first thing I’d like to do is call for measured, informative sharing of factually based perspectives. No need for pitchforks (yet). It’s a rezone, and that process will play out as these things do. But I would like to offer my perspective to add to the conversation.
Since the property came under the control of the UGA Board of Regents in 1949, the rear of the property has served essentially as an intown garden, of some renown, for over 75 years. And while the property does have commercial frontage on Prince Avenue, the rear garden extends a quarter of a mile from the back porch into the primarily owner-occupied single-family historic Boulevard neighborhood, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Athens.
Any new use will generate tax revenue, but will also be disruptive (understatement) to those who live adjacent to the property (full disclosure, this includes my family), to the neighborhood as a whole and to all who use Prince Avenue on a regular basis. The essential question is how much disruption is the community willing to accept?
The proposed hotel is massive, about 95,000 square feet. I did some browsing on qPublic to get an idea of what 95,000 square feet looks like, with these results:
• CCSD offices across Prince Ave from the President’s House: four buildings, 36,902 square feet.
• Hotel Indigo: 87,661 square feet.
• ARMC Prince Tower: 125,000 square feet.
Though designed to be the same height, the mass of this development will dwarf the President’s House.
I’d also like to remind folks that the character of the street, especially traffic counts, changes dramatically at Milledge Avenue, so please keep this in mind when discussing “Prince Avenue.”
It’s not a homogenous street.
I’ll admit to a little selfishness here, but I and many others worked for over 20 years to get the current lane configuration, which has seen overwhelmingly positive response, with two unanimous commission votes over two years to affirm that position. The current configuration will probably fail with an extra 1,000 trips per day. Are you willing to give that up?
With all the complaints about short-term rentals serving as party houses in single-family neighborhoods, this is the mack daddy STR. In Boulevard we’ve lived with parties at the Taylor-Grady house since forever. However, those events are usually held on weekends and end by 11 p.m. This proposal will be available as an event space seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Think of the massive excavation required to build a 200-car underground parking garage. Even though the plan keeps most of the construction out of the further reaches of the rear garden, what will be the effect of such massive displacement? Construction traffic alone will be a nightmare. And it seems that every project of this nature involves blasting before digging, will that be the case here?
I understand the benefit of maintaining the house and front garden as the historical resources that they are, and Arcollab has worked hard to present a pretty picture. But in my opinion the scale of this proposal with its attendant costs are too high to accept that tradeoff. The Boulevard neighborhood is worth more as an historical resource than the President’s House serving as a facade to a misplaced commercial development of this scale.
Tony Eubanks
Athens
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
