Friends Fortify Ford

It was an honor and a privilege to attend the press conference yesterday at Country International Records and stand with so many of Joy Ford's friends as she moves into the next phase of protecting her property rights and ours. It was obvious that she was a bit overwhelmed by the the number of friends and strangers who came to encourage and fortify her for further battle.

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting Miss Joy and exchanging hugs and thanks. She thanked me for blog posts which were encouraging. I thanked her for standing strong and taking on this battle.

Miss Joy's plight strikes a chord in me that is some 30 years old. Many years ago I would walk the mile and a half to my junior high school each day. A significant part of that walk was across a viaduct over a very large railroad yard that served to move grain and iron ore from the upper midwest to the rest of the nation. That viaduct wasn't built for the heavy traffic that eventually began to use it. It was a bit disconcerting to have my cadance thrown off because the walkway had moved with the weight of the heavy truck passing by (I wasn't watching traffic, I was reading). No one disagreed that the bridge needed to be replaced. Unfortunately, the home of a widow woman of advanced age, who was well liked in the neighborhood and kept chickens would have to go. It seemed a pity that she couldn't spend her last few years in the home she had shared with her husband and in which she had raised her children, but it was clear, a new bridge was necessary. The rail yard completely separated our neighborhood from the city and emergency services. No one liked taking her home but we knew we had to have a new bridge.

After being discharged from the Army I returned to my hometown to find a glorious new bridge spanning the tracks. However, it was upsetting to discover that the widow's home wasn't really needed and the state had sold the property to a man who replaced that home with a tavern. Taking her home for the bridge was one thing---but for a tavern---well, that was just too much. It was at the public hearing about a zoning variance that I spoke for the first time before a political body. I can't help but think of my elderly hometown neighbor when I see Miss Joy's property being snatched by the city.

Conversation with Miss Joy's friends yesterday revealed that pretty much since her husband died in 1999 she's had real estate vultures circling overhead waiting for the opportunity to pick up her property. She told us that it got so bad she stopped answering the phone or door and even worked at night--which is probably why Lionstone Group was asserting she was never there--as if being there or not gave her more or less property rights. I was listening to Phil Valentine's radio program yesterday afternoon and he stated that after the press conference a survey crew was on the property (Phil's studio is just across the street). Miss Joy explained that they have done that before and the Institute for Justice folks told her it was a common intimidation tactic. That explained the marker I found just outside her fence back a couple of weeks ago on July 7.

If only Lionstone Group sent a landscaping crew over as often as surveyors and real estate agents. Pictures from yesterday clearly show that despite being in clear violation of Metro codes Lionstone Group has yet to clean up their property. It's haying time, gentlemen.

The press conference was to announce that the Institute for Justice had filed an answer to the city's condemnation of 23 Music Circle East and further had filed interrogatories of their own for MDHA and Lionstone Group to answer. You can read the IJ press release here and everyone should take the time to read their background document here. Highlights from that backgrounder:

• MDHA has declared the area surrounding Miss Joy's property as blighted---but not her property. In fact the survey done way back when 'consists of vague, confusing and arbitrarily assigned categorical distinctions and an unclear methodology'. Not one of the properties surveyed at that time met the necessary designation of 'extreme deterioration and decay due to lack of repairs and care of the area'.
  
• MDHA's blight designation is based on a 1999 information and the state legislature made some significant changes in 2006 to Tennessee's eminent domain law after the astonishing US Supreme Court's Kelo decision. MDHA hasn't caught up with the current law. I guess they were hoping no one would notice.
  
• Lionstone Group has previously stated they don't actually need Miss Joy's property.
  
• MDHA has the burden of proof here. The Tennessee law says blighted areas are 'detrimental to the safety, health, morals, welfare of the community'. It's going to be impossible to prove that Miss Joy's property meets any of those requirements---though Lionstone Group's property is getting closer to being detrimental to the safety and health of the area every day.

One of my children just returned from Mexico where they rebuilt an old woman's gate and walkway. They were told that because she didn't have any family in the area and was a widow she was often abused and taken advantage of by others in the town. She was thrilled with the improvements to her yard but much more thrilled to have her neighbors see that she was no longer alone and that she had strong friends that would help protect her. Miss Joy has strong friends also. Pictured here are essential members of her team from left to right: James W. Fisher, a Nashville attorney with the firm Lassiter Tidwell Davis Keller & Hogan, Joy Ford, Carroll Ford, and Scott Bullock, Senior Attorney, Institute for Justice.


Other coverage of yesterday's press conference:

An Ol' Broad's Ramblings Here's Kate standing next to Phil Valentine. She doesn't look like an Ol' Broad at all to me. She's got photos and her own observations on her site.

Blue Collar Muse: "Reviewing my server logs showed that Nashville PR firm, McNeely, Pigott & Fox, stopped by. This is significant as their homepage lists both the Lionstone Group and MDHA as clients they are proud to work with. The people of Nashville may want to make note of that. McNeely, Pigott & Fox are proud to represent the bad guys in the fight to force Joy Ford from her property. (snip) [Earl Swennsen Associates] is also one of the few publicly identified anchor tenants of Lionstone’s development which will oust Miss Joy. Surprise of surprises, they are designing the complex as well!

Nashville City Paper: It's Music CIRCLE East, guys. Not Music CENTER. They got the headline right and the copy wrong. The City Paper reports that local CM Michael Craddock has some legislation ready if things don't go Miss Joy's (our) way.

Tennessean: "Ford's building and Lionstone's land are separated by an alley, which Lionstone has asked the city to close to give construction equipment room to maneuver on the building site, Warren said. Ford has sued to stop that plan, saying she needs the alley to reach the rear of her property."

Give me a break. This would leave only a narrow side entrance that obviously won't accommodate a bus or trailer both of which are so much a part of ordinary business for Miss Joy and her clients. This shouldn't be allowed either. Lionstone Group's got nearly three acres and they need the little bit of right away that Miss Joy has? If Lionstone Group can't find a crew that can maneuver around three acres without closing the alley they're not the expert developers they think they are.

Houston developer not keeping up its property

While I never saw it in the print edition the Tennessean did print my letter to the editor online.

Houston developer not keeping up its property

To the Editor:

I’m responding to the letter from Scott Lindsey your paper July 12, “Encourage investment in Music Row area.” He obviously has swallowed the MDHA bogus blighted determination of the Demonbreun property hook, line and sinker.

Mr. Lindsey, and other Nashvillians concerned about their property rights should, as I did, walk around that block and see for themselves that it’s not Joy Ford’s property that is the problem but the property owned by Houston-based developer Lionstone.

The Lionstone property is lined with tall weeds, dead bushes, garbage of all kinds and contains puddles and cracks in the asphalt that are prime for mosquito breeding. During my walk, there was a person doing steady business out of the trunk of his car. Clearly, Lionstone is a bad neighbor and codes should have been called on them a long time ago.

Further, Mr. Lindsey seems to think that the blighted designation comes from Ms. Ford not having the money or desire to invest in the property’s redevelopment. The fact is that there is no need for her property to be redeveloped. In clear contrast to Lionstone’s absentee landowner look Ms. Ford’s property is neat, obviously maintained and flowered.

If MDHA is allowed to take Ms Ford’s property despite her being the better property owner and hand it over to a lousy property owner so tax revenues may be increased — no one’s home or business is safe from MDHA.

Kay Brooks, Nashville 37216, KayBrooks@gmail.com

I'm sick of Bob Tuke

These signs have been cropping up on the public right of ways across the city. The ones pictured here are all within one block of each other in my neighborhood and have spawned more ordinance violators.

I couldn't photograph them all without taking my life into my hands.



Bob Tuke, a Democrat candidate for senator and former State Democratic Chair never had a chance at getting my vote but by trashing my neighborhood and city with his signs he will get my negative comments.

Maybe he can explain how he can be for Tennessee and allow the state to be trashed like this. Seriously, does he really need 12 signs within a block of one another? We're working hard to clean up our neighborhoods and then he comes in and throws his campaign litter around. These signs are everywhere too. I thought nothing could be more annoying than those stupid Ron Paul signs. I was wrong.

More agenda items

Blue Collar Muse pulls this quote from a July 2 speech by Barak Obama:

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.”

For some reason I can't post my questions over there so I'll ask here:

What 'national security objectives'???

And who is the 'we' that's doing the setting of those objectives??

And why can't the military achieve those unknown objectives??

Ken and his posters have a lot more questions.

According to the Chicago Tribune the context is community service. But there's service and then there's well...indentured servitude or worse. Servitude is something you'd think a black man would be really sensitive about--especially after sitting under the teachings of Rev. Jeremiah Wright for so long.

[Obama] said he would make federal assistance conditional on school districts establishing service programs and set the goal of 50 hours of service a year for middle school and high school students.

For college students, Obama would set the goal at 100 hours of service a year and create a $4,000 annual tax credit for college students tied to that level of service.

We can't keep them in school now, you're going to force them to provide community service too? I'm beginning to think the first wave of this 'civilian national security force' may be truancy officers.

And why do school districts have to establish service programs? Don't we have enough organizations already available for these students to plug into? Oh yeah, that pesky separation of church and state myth would be a problem. Can't mandate a student work in the church soup kitchen in order for the school district to keep those federal dollars coming in.

Then throw in the new vision the incoming AFT President Randi Weingarten has for our schools:

“Can you imagine a federal law that promoted community schools — schools that serve the neediest children by bringing together under one roof all the services and activities they and their families need?” Ms. Weingarten asked in the speech.

“Imagine schools that are open all day and offer after-school and evening recreational activities and homework assistance,” she said. “And suppose the schools included child care and dental, medical and counseling clinics.” NY Times

and we might as well just hand them over right after birth---if we'll be trusted much longer to conceive and carry to term.

Finally, I'll leave you with this quote of Barak Obama's from that same NY Times article as he addressed the recent National Education Association convention:

“These children are our children,” Mr. Obama said. “It’s time we understood that their education is our responsibility.

“I am running for president to guarantee that all of our children have the best possible chance in life,” he said, “and I am tired of hearing you, the teachers who work so hard, blamed for our problems.”

My problem is I don't have $10,000 for extracurricular activities.

Apparently just clueless

Regarding Michelle Obama's recent comment about spending a $600 stimulus check on earrings the Tn GOP created a list:

Here are some things we think many Tennessee families would be more likely to spend $600 on than earrings:

1. 150 gallons of gas - though they could buy more if Democrats would only stop blocking increased domestic oil production.
2. One to three months of daycare or pre-school for a young child^[ii]
3. A month’s worth of groceries for a family of four
4. More than five months’ worth of the average electric bill.^[iii]
5. Save it in a child’s college fund.
6. Replace an old washer or dryer.
7. Pay for children’s clothes and school supplies for the new school year.

If you can think of better ways to spend $600 than on a new pair of earrings, we’d like to hear about it. Just email us at 600DollarEarrings@gmail.com.

Frankly, I'm still stuck on her bungled attempt back in February to tell Ohio mom's how much she understands their family budgets.

“I know we’re spending — I added it up for the first time — we spend between the two kids, on extracurriculars outside the classroom, we’re spending about $10,000 a year on piano and dance and sports supplements and so on and so forth,” Mrs. Obama tells the women. “And summer programs. That’s the other huge cost. Barack is saying, ‘Whyyyyyy are we spending that?’ And I’m saying, ‘Do you know what summer camp costs?’” National Review

$10,000 on extra curricular activities!! Seriously woman. Have you no idea that's 1/4th of the median US household income? Do you realize that's more than your charitable giving for the years 2000 through 2004 combined? Do you not yet realize that most of us can't afford to own $600 earrings? Why do you think Cubic Zirconium was invented? Hello? She's just now adding it up? Those of us operating under the Dave Ramsey plan out of necessity would have added those expenses up a long time ago. What kind of budget do you have that ten grand can go unobserved?

I didn't have a chance to think about $600 earrings. Our stimulus check was gone before it got here.

MNPS Principal Assignments

Here's a .pdf of the new principal assignments as announced by MPS via the Nashville City Paper.

Agendas

Whatever the Chamber has in mind for Nashville's schools, you can bet that educating all of Nashville's children is not topping the agenda. The Chamber's agenda is intended first to help its member businesses and that doesn't mean being an advocate for children who live in challenging social situations and who have no options other than the city's public schools.

The Chamber is not evil. It has a voice and it has a right to be heard. But if it's going to throw its money and power around at election time, it's a fair target for criticism and it better become accustomed to that. Progressive Nashville

The exact same thing can be said about the Metro Nashville Teacher's Association , the Service Employees International Union and a few other politically active groups. We're not going to make any progress until we recognize that all of these organizations have their own best interests at heart first and foremost. They exist to serve the needs of their members. Like any organization self-preservation is "Job 1". While individual members, no doubt, are quite concerned about the welfare of students and do their best to ensure students get the best education possible these organizations are much more concerned about the welfare of their organization and its members than the welfare of students with uninvolved parents of little means either financially or politically.

When I ran for school board back in August of 2006 questionaires from these organizations were full of questions about how I was going to ensure they got better wages and benefits. Not one of them asked me how I was going to ensure that students were safer and better educated. The SEIU questionnaire was so focused on their needs that I refused to fill it out and chose to read a prepared statement about me and my qualifications instead. It's certainly part of their job to get as much as possible for their members but my job was to focus on getting as much as possible for the students.

Coming to a BOE near you?

The tug-o-war between the people's servants and the people's right to know continues in Giles County.

A Giles County blogger said Wednesday his First Amendment rights are being squelched by a policy that bars unapproved cameras from school board meetings.
(snip)
Director of Schools Tee Jackson said the policy was not directed toward any single person. He said the board was updating its policy manual and received legal advice from the Tennessee School Boards Association.
“We make sure we meet all the necessary standards and laws,” he said.
A spokesman with the Tennessee School Board Association could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Giles Free Speech Zone

Well it's Friday night now, the TSBA has the weekend to work on a press release assuring citizens that barring cameras from public meetings is not part of their updated policy manuals for school boards. That policy manual is a humdinger, btw. The used copy I was given in 2004 was the 2003 version and is 366 pages.

From the Table of Contents:

How Will You Do It?
Why Would a Board Use Outside Help?
Working with a Fragmented Board
Revision of a Policy Manual is Never Finished
Sample Policies
The Sunshine Law
Public Participation
How Board Meetings Create Negative Impact
Building Parental Confidence in the Schools
Using Students to Build Parental Support
Working through TSBA to Influence Legislation
Selling the Media on the Value of Conventions, Workshops and Retreaats
Use Student Work to Build Public Support
Recreational Programs That Build Community Support
Giving Realtors the "Real" Story
How to Conquer the Grapevine

Starstruck I'm not

I'm so not impressed with Mr. Narvel Blackstock's editorial in this morning's Tennessean newspaper. In fact I had to laugh at his calling Miss Joy Ford of Country International Records an 'out-of-county resident' in his desperate effort to garner support for condemning her legally owned property as if we'd forget that developer Lionstone is a Houston, Texas business. A quick search of the Nashville tax rolls fails to bring up any property Blackstock, his Starstruck Entertainment or his wife Reba McEntire own in Davidson County. Last I heard they lived in Gallatin, Los Angeles and Oklahoma. They did own some Davidson County property though:

Lionstone's plans for the three-acre site they acquired from Reba McEntire in March 2006 include development of a 125-room hotel with an adjacent 100-unit luxury high-rise residential condominium tower. [via AllBusiness]

I'll grant that in 1999 that strip of Demonbreun was a mess and needed major improvement. Blackstock and his partners have done yeoman's work in improving it. But that was then, this is now. The only blight on this corner is Lionstone's failure to keep their property neat. A neat but empty lot does not equal blight.

Blackstock writes:

The owner refuses to sell her seldom-used building or even to meet with the developer to discuss alternatives. She says she is holding it because it was used to produce music.

"...it was used to produce music." So was Studio B just down the street on 17th Avenue. That excuse was good enough for the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Personally, I don't care why she's holding out. It's her property. The taxes are paid and her business isn't a public nuisance. It's a private nuisance to people who had big plans to renew the entire area but are now realizing that having been very successful in that effort thus far find that their 'blight' is gone and cannot/should not be used as sufficient reason to steal Miss Joy's property. They are victims of their own success, so to speak. So, now, they need to redraw their plans and decide just what they can do with what's available to them. There is enough land without Miss Joy's to still make a tidy profit.

My biggest concern, and it should be the concern of Blackstock as well, is that with their reasoning the city can steal anyone's property and we've no recourse. What if Gallatin or LA decided that the Blackstock homes were more valuable to the tax roles as tourist meccas and condemned them? Blackstock implores us, for the love of Music Row, to stand with him against Miss Joy. No. I'll stand on the side of property rights especially now that I understand that if Music Row won't stand with Miss Joy, one of their own---they're sure not going to be there when they come for my house.

BTW: This issue has caught the attention of CastleWatch which tracks eminent domain abuse.

Maybe, but it wasn't the ONLY reason

Former MNPS Superintendent of Schools Pedro Garcia isn't gone yet.

Thanks to MNPS BOE member Ed Kindall (District 7-Downtown-Glencliff) Garcia's sour grapes have entered the current rezoning controversy just in time for tomorrow's vote by the MNPS BOE. The Post quotes from an email from Garcia to Kindall back in January:

“I know that the situation I find [Garcia] myself in today, and the pressure exerted upon me by Marsha Warden [Chairman of the BOE], is the direct result of my decision to fight against her desire to move the African American children from the Hillwood cluster so she could be reelected,”...

Give me a break. There were plenty of good reasons to encourage Garcia to leave and not one of them had to do with rezoning.

And again, Kindall, who is running for reelection after 23 years on the board already, makes race the issue and not the actual education of the children. That racial box he's got MNPS in is one of the reasons he does not need to be reelected. It's not 1985. It's 2008. We've come a long way since then.

Councilman Erica Gilmore (District 19) also felt the need to speak to the MNPS BOE. Her statement can be found, again, at the Nashville Post. Basically, she's against the plan because it will "result in an increase in the percentage of economincally disadvantaged minority students attending schools in lower income areas" and wants the new BOE and the new Superintendent to make the decision. Her council district hosts three schools: Hume Fogg Magnet High School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School and Rose Park Middle Math/Science Magnet School.

LionStone Blight

I took a walk around the property between Demonbreun and Music Circle East this morning. It's here that Miss Joy Ford's County International Records is located. That's the property that MDHA wants to take from her and give to LionStone developers so they can build a big tax revenue generator for the city. If they succeed this is where we'll add shame to the city and 15 years down the road we'll regret allowing this robbery from the widow and handout to the corporation.

MDHA's authority to steal this property from Miss Joy comes by declaring the area 'blighted'. However, what I saw with my own eyes was Miss Joy's small neatly kept business. She's got flowering plants out front. The property is fenced, no doubt since over the years she's been there this area hasn't always been nice. The fence is in good repair, unlike the motel's next door which is majorily out of plumb. Her trash can is secured to the fence and it's obvious this property is regularly maintained.

However, the rest of the area. The part LionStone already has control of, if I understand things correctly, is in shameful condition and if the word 'blighter' can only be applied to one or the other---it's LionStone that should hands down get the label.

On my walk around I saw two sections to this very large LionStone lot. Half was asphalt in sore need of attention with cracks and potholes and the rest bare ground with a solid weedy border encircling it. There were several large mosquito attracting puddles, plenty of trash (including some kind of two foot cylindrical filter amongst the Styrofoam clamshells and drink cups and a plywood box stuffed with trash), overgrown or dead hedges left over from the Shoney's restaurant, tall grass, thistles in full bloom, stick-tights and other vegetative opportunists. The overgrowth was so bad along one part of the sidewalk I was forced to walk in the street. The contrast between this LionStone property and the landscaping and thriving businesses along side on Demonbreun was stark. If anyone is bringing down the property values and beer buzz in those establishments--it's LionStone.

Here's a photo of one of three puddles after several days of dry weather.













Lots of weeds, nearly all with a variety of litter caught within.













These are dead hedges about 4 feet tall.







Along Music Circle South Division it's thick with weeds.













This is some sort of trash box on the LionStone property.

In the shadow of the trees left behind after the Shoney's Restaurant was demolished there was a man doing a steady business out of his trunk and on his cell phone. I didn't dare point my camera in his direction. Further down, there were a couple of private ambulance employees in their cab who seemed startled to see me walk by with a camera and shortly moved on. (Apparently, Channel 5's Phil Williams and his exposes on extra long employee breaks came to their minds.)

If this were my neighborhood, I'd have called codes on LionStone long ago and demanded a prompt mowing, trash removal and filling in of the puddles and potholes that could be mosquito breeding grounds. I'd also have checked with the local police department to ensure a trespass waiver was on file and the property posted to ensure that the fellow doing a steady business from the trunk of his car was encouraged to move on.

It's landlords like LionStone that make neighborhood's blighted, not Miss Joy. It's just wrong that the property owner being a responsible neighbor is the one being forced out.

If you haven't written your councilman and the mayor yet. Please take a few minutes to do so. YOUR property is at stake if we allow the city to take property merely because it will generate more tax revenue.


For further reading checking out Blue Collar Muse's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" Part I and Part II.

Cash is King?

Proving that their goal isn't actually the education of their children and that Cash is King the Memphis Commission ....well, I'll let Smart City tell it:

In a vote that was unanimous in its political extortion, the Board of Commissioners jacked up the lease on the KIPP DIAMOND Academy from $50,000 a year to just under $300,000 a year. The circular logic, pandering rhetoric and political opportunism as symbolized by the educational malpractice of Dr. Jeff Warren at that meeting were nothing short of stupefying.

Welcome to Memphis new Superintendent of Schools Kriner Cash.

Metro Nashville Public Schools have never been very welcoming to our own KIPP Academy (or charter schools generally). While on the BOE I objected to the condition of the building KIPP was offered by MNPS and expressed my opinion that MNPS, as landlord, should do more. I was pretty quickly shut down by fellow BOE member Kathy Nevill who insisted it was a standard commercial lease. Clearly, in her mind, that was the end of our responsibility to those children. I found that shocking. The mindset at MNPS has been that these charter schools, PUBLIC schools, are red-headed step-children and deserve the back of our hand for daring to buck the bureaucratic system, the unions, the usual constraints that the BOE has wrapped our schools in. The next year KIPP had to suddenly deal with food and bussing costs. AND, let's not forget that former Superintendent Pedro Garcia was only to happy to snatch those KIPP kids back when their education had vastly improved.

Nonsense like this proves we're not putting children first. It's nonsense like this that drives parents from the government school system. It's nonsense like this that drives taxpayers to close their wallets. We had a more vigorous debate over the 'deregulation' of cable TV in this state than we've had over the government school monopoly. Sadly, I believe more people are concerned about their cable TV than their local schools. Hey, maybe it's because they actually pay that cable bill themselves and have some choice in what they get. Hmmmm....

Hat tip: Ben Cunningham

Charity, yes. Patriotism? I don't think so.

This line jumped out at me while reading Gail Kerr's column in this morning's Tennessean titled "Selfless Acts Inspire New Concepts of Patriotism". She lists several folks who have obviously gone above and beyond but this one....

"There's the Catholic priest who comes to the aid of immigrants, no matter their legal status. "

I'll have to agree this is a new concept of patriotism to me. I'll grant you it's an act of charity to be sure. And I'll grant you this priest is obviously following the call of a higher authority to care for the needy and love. But if patriotism is still defined as "love for or devotion to one's country" I don't see how it is an act of patriotism to enable the breaking of one's country's laws.

The Headline is the Bottom Line

Great information in this morning's Tennessean by Jaime Sarrio titled "Poor Kids Teachers Earn Less in Metro". Just a short note, as time will allow at this time of my life, regarding a bit of it.

Don't overlook the Excel sheet the Tennessean provides. Feel free to manipulate those cells as you want. The real headline of the story may be the bottom line of that Excel sheet.

The lowest paid MNPS teachers work for KIPP Academy at $36,543.71 a year. The school has made AYP (adequate yearly progress), 94.3% of the students are on the Free or Reduced Lunch program, 7.7% are white, 92.3% are black, Teacher's Average Years of Experience is a mere 1.2 years and none, NOT ONE has an advanced degree. Kudos to KIPP-- again.

Who failed?

A very poorly timed analysis appeared below the fold on this morning's front page of the Tennessean. Terence Hunt of the AP wants to call the game before the clock has run and states:

"Seven years of tough talk by President Bush failed to stop North Korea from enlarging its stockpile of nuclear bombs on his watch and Bush's administration is winding down with deep doubts about whether Pyongyang really intends to abandon its weapons program." (Not on Tennessean site. Here's a link to the AP version.)

Embarrassingly for the Tennessean, while their presses were running last night Pyongyang blew up one of its nuclear water cooling towers.



What bad timing, since Mr. Hunt had worked so hard to include 'cowboy diplomacy', 'axis of evil' and seemed so happy to provide in his analysis that Bush was stuck with Korea's six month late report regarding plutonium production. And the Tennessean was glad to put 'Bush fails' on the front page. The Korean's Koreans inconveniently blew that expert analysis out of the water, so to speak. It's looking like the failure wasn't Bush's.

What about OUR American Dream?

Good grief! The Senate is seriously considering taking $300 BILLION of our tax dollars to bail out people who shouldn't have gotten home mortgages in the first place. Congress uses the illogical but very emotional excuse of protecting 'the American Dream' which is supposed to be home ownership. Well, what about OUR American Dream. The one where we get to keep the money we earn and don't have to pay for the obvious political pandering of a Congress that has lower approval rating than the current president--about the only thing this Congress has done well.

Home ownership is not a Constitutional right that must be protected. What must be protected is the pocketbooks of taxpayers who have too few advocates in Washington DC. If they keep this up WE won't be able to afford our very modest mortgage which is hundreds of dollars below the rental rates in our neighborhood.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans. AP News

How is it that people manage to become adults, let alone congressmen, without the basic financial skills necessary to recognize that, like the lottery, an Adjustible Rate Mortgage only makes sense if you can't do math. These 400,000 people shouldn't GET loans at all. They're a risky investment. Why should America take on that risk? They need to be renters. They need to live with their in-laws. They need to get roommates instead of living off of America.

Regarding the crooks that took advantage of people's lack of sophistication regarding mortgages---they need to have everything they own sold at auction and that money returned to their victims. They need to get their own roommates--ones with striped uniforms in very special gated communities and they need to be there for a very long time. THAT's a housing plan I can back.

Bogus Blight

Joy Ford is fighting a battle that's important to us all and we need to do what we can to voice our objections to city leaders.

Miss Joy has got a bit of property on the backside of Demonbreun. Here's a Google picture of it. She's probably got the only real tree in the entire area. It's a utilitarian building and the property is much neater and well maintained than her neighbors'. Within that nondescript one level brick building is a small music business that she had her husband ran for years. He's passed on now and Miss Joy is carrying on and facing the Lions(tone) alone. These out-of town-developers want it and the city is helping them get it over her vehement objections.

The city is trying to use the old 'it's blighted and needs to be redeveloped' argument. Baring health and safety issues the city shouldn't be in the business of butting their noses into the property rights of citizens--especially on behalf of a money making entity. The blighted excuse is just bogus. This area is no where near blighted and the city should be ashamed of picking on Miss Joy to line the pockets of a developer that will never have the ties to that neighborhood or this city like Miss Joy and her Country International Records.

Does any of this look 'blighted' to you? Can you even FIND Miss Joy's property in these pictures? If Lionstone lacks the vision to make money with the property they have available perhaps they're not the entity that can make the best use of the property at all.

A couple of times a week I go down that section of Demonbreun and Music Circle East. From my regular trips through this area over the years I've seen it go from a fairly thriving tourist hang out where the Shoney's did a regular business and then Barbara Mandrell's gift shop did too, to a horrible eyesore where properties weren't cared for and were an embarrassment to the Music Row neighborhood.


In the last several years though lots of revitalization has occurred. The Shoney's motel was bought, renovated and seems to be fairly busy. The Shoney's restaurant has been replaced by a parking lot that services that essential need of the many business across Demonbreun. When driving through there I'm regularly having to dodge pedestrians, delivery trucks and local radio remote trucks coming and going. At times the number of delivery trucks makes that section a one lane road such is the amount of product that passes through those businesses. There's a new condominium complex going up there and that has added to the activity in the area. A new office condominium has gone up. This area is the most thriving and successful blighted area I've ever seen in my life. Miss Joy's property did not hold back any of that development.

All this puts me in mind of a small men's clothing store in downtown Nashville called Petway-Reaves. Back before the turn of the century Big Bank wanted to put up a high rise office tower but this stubborn little business, displaying the sort of fortitude that allowed it to stay in business for decades, and decades refused to sell. As I remember, it wasn't until the bank relented and created a building plan that wrapped around the clothing store that the issue was finally settled and the property owner sold. I can't find any archives about the battle and I don't recall exactly how willing the sale was.

Lionstone property needs to move on and realize that her little bit of property isn't theirs to have. The city needs to quit being the gun at the head of Miss Joy. Citizens need to realize that if we don't stand with Miss Joy 'our property rights' won't be worth the paper the deed is printed on.



"Metro Acts to Seize Music Row Property" Tennessean, Saturday, June 21, 2008.

Presumption

Obama unveils his new logo. Seems presumptive to me. He didn't entirely ditch his old logo--it takes the place of the shield. I'd rather have the shield, thank you. At least he didn't eliminate the arrows.

Vero Possumus=Yes we can. Apparently, he can think highly of himself.

Granted his old logo was lame but this is waaaaay over the top for a guy still running for the job.

Friends in low places

From Americans for Prosperity who have a planned balloon launch to call more attention to Al Gore's climate beliefs.

Roy Wilson, the director of the Board of Parks and Recreation, has even reportedly told one of our staffers on the ground that Nashville police officers will be on hand and will physically restrain members of our crew if they attempt to launch the balloon.

(snip)

UPDATE 3:00 pm Eastern time: Roy Wilson at the Nashville Parks Department must not have liked our earlier post, since he just completely revoked our permit -- even though his department's own rules state that he can't do that unless we break a law or one of the department's rules, which we haven't done and have no intention of doing. Then he hung up on our legal counsel. Get ready for the FOIAs, Mr. Wilson. If you've gotten any e-mails or phone calls from any of Al Gore's cronies, we want the world to know about it.

This is unfortunate. The event could have been portrayed as just another political stunt and quietly gone away after a couple of days had it gone on as planned. Now it's got longer legs and life. How Mr. Wilson couldn't have known what the AFP plans were seem beyond belief since it's been widely reported in the media. If it comes out that he's doing Gore a favor and didn't have the authority to do this, he needs to lose his job. I'll be surprised if Chief Serpas actually allows his officer's to be drawn into this pettiness.

This is the sort of stuff that makes Nashville look like a hick political town and for what gain?

UPDATE: Mapquest says the park and the Gore home are more than 6 miles apart. How much real inconvenience is this going to be to the Gores? Are they even home today? Seriously, if it actually does fly over the house, it's a balloon not a buzzing crop duster. What more privacy could they lose than what Google has already violated?










Hat tip: Instapundit

They've decided

Truth in advertising via Brit Hume at Fox News where they didn't wait for you to decide. It got a chuckle out of me.

If it were Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggert fleecing the flock like this it wouldn't be just Brit Hume sniggering about this.

Hat tip: AC Kleinheider

On my wish list

This is just what I've been suggesting for over two years that Metro Nashville Public Schools should do.

John Allman, Brentwood information and technology coordinator, said it will probably take about six months for the new system to be online.

Once it's finished, residents will be able to watch specific discussions of items on the city's Web site, www.brentwood-tn.org.

"The public can watch a video just like they do now," Allman said, "except they can scroll down the agenda and click on a certain item and it will jump them right to that position in the video." (via Truman's Take)

It took my being on the school board to realize that the wimpy little two page agenda MNPS had been publishing wasn't helping the community out at all so I started to .pdf them myself and upload them to my own web servers. Then, after I left the BOE, I had a conversation with the BOE secretary and got the entire board packet .pdf'd and uploaded to the MNPS website. But still, the problem remained that Metro 3 archives the BOE meetings in 10-15 minute segments that make it akin to throwing dice to find the portion of the meeting you're seeking. Connecting the agenda and the video was the thing to do. I'm so glad Brentwood is leading the way. I hope Metro Nashville, MNPS and the State Legislature follows suit.

Politicians get paid to attend these meetings. Citizens don't and the personal cost to them to wade through agendas and video files to find just what they need in order to make their case with politicians and fellow citizens can be huge. I'm sure that this technology will result in Brentwood citizens being more involved in their government. While that may make it a bit more inconvenient for politicians and call them to more accountability I believe it's a solid win for Brentwood.

Wa waa wawa

The Tennessean provides cover, again, for Al Gore's 'energy' usage this morning by confusing apples and oranges:

In fact, over the past year the Gores’ utility bills have dropped 40 percent, thanks largely to the house’s spanking new geothermal heating and cooling system, which has reduced the Gores’ natural gas bill by 90 percent in the past year.

TCPR wasn't talking about his 'energy' use. Just his electricity use. Notice the Gore spokesman isn't denying that the electricity use has gone up and I'll grant that renovations could have used some extra electricity--but since November the savings haven't been enough to more than counter that and slow that electric meter? Oh, but that's OK, because he's buying green power. That's also beside the point. (Is there really this much 'green power' being created by NES/TVA or is this another shell game like Gore's carbon credits? )

Surprising to me is that Gore's 33 solar panels only provide 4% of his electricity needs. This family of six doesn't even have room for 33 solar panels. The part that America cannot get past is why do the two of them need 20 times the electricity of the average household? Around here the big energy consumers are the children. Teen showers, fridge door opening and closing over and over, computer games and television use, reading lights, LAUNDRY--and we're using a clothesline! The Gore children are adults out on their own, right? How can Al & Tipper use this much electricity in a home?

Gore needs to lead by example. The Gores need to simplify their life before he hits the stump again with scary stories about what will happen if we don't. Otherwise, it all sounds a lot like the adults in a Charlie Brown special: Wa waa wawa, wawaawaa.

Gore Powered

Sometimes the RSS feeds come in just the right order. First we learn that Al Gore has yet to reduce his 'on the grid' electricity use despite being shamed into making major energy amendments to his Belle Meade compound:

"In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research." From TCPR

And then comes the news that:

'Americans for Prosperity (AFP) will attempt to fly its 70-foot-tall hot air balloon over Al Gore’s Belle Meade mansion on Friday, June 20, from Nashville’s Warner Park. (snip) Prior to take-off, the event will feature a presentation from Phillips and other speakers about the policies being promoted in the name of “fighting” global warming and the economic impact of those policies on Tennessee. ' From the Tennessean via AC Kleinheider at the Nashville Post.

Drew Johnson of TCPR is exactly right:

'“Actions speak louder than words, and Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said.'

If HE WON'T walk the talk, why should I listen? When he increases his electricity use I don't believe he's really all that concerned about 'saving the planet'. Really, is this a residence or is he running his whole global Ponzi scheme out of this home?

Kindergarten debating skills

Sunday's Gail Kerr column in the Tennessean was a surprise to me. I didn't expect her to fall into the 'make fun of it' camp at all. I'm not surprised she disagrees with the effort to make English the official language of Metro Nashville business but I never expected her to pound out this sort of rhetoric:

So the Korean man trying to enroll his child in school? Tough beans. The Hispanic woman calling the police because her husband is beating her? Too bad, so sad. And how about murderer Paul Dennis Reid, who sits on death row thanks to the testimony of a Spanish-speaking man? The lone witness almost bled to death in the Hermitage McDonalds as he played dead until Reid left. He crawled to a phone and dialed 911.

This is just the sort of emotional nonsense I've come to expect from most opponents but didn't expect from her. Where does it say that NO Metro employee can speak or write in a different language? Nowhere. The amendment says:

"English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions (those which bind or commit the government) shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be published only in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan government shall be conducted in English. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law." Voters shall be provided the two choices of FOR and AGAINST.

Where in the above does it say that a 911 operator cannot respond to an emergency in a language other than English? Since when does every utterance by a 911 operator or clerk on Bransford Avenue 'bind and commit' Metro? Let's talk about that and leave the kindergarten debating skills behind.

Further Kerr writes:

Apparently Crafton cares little about how his hometown is portrayed. Because he's at it again. He knows the council won't pass it.

The Council DID pass it. It was the former mayor who vetoed it. We're supposed to be more concerned about how we appear to outsiders than running an efficient and effective government? Caring about what our sophisticated and enlightened betters think is not the way to create and carry out good public policy. Being afraid of what they think is no way to ensure the best for the citizens of Nashville.

Absent fathers impact sons

Presidential contender Barak Obama was, amazingly, given the pulpit at a church he visited yesterday. He gave a rousing Father's Day speech which he apparently plagiarized from Bill Cosby. Of course, he was probably preaching to the choir. He should have taken his stump speech to a local high school or Planned Parenthood clinic.

And shades of Bill Clinton, Obama put his finger on another reason not to elect him president:

“I know the toll it took on me, not having a father in the house,” he continued. “The hole in your heart when you don’t have a male figure in the home who can guide you and lead you. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my children.”

So he admits he has a hole in his heart. This was Bill Clinton's story and I believe the nation has suffered a great deal from his attempts to make up for that absent father. I do not want to go through any of that again. These men can be tremendously successful in some areas...but the success is part of trying to fill that hole and prove their worth because Dad wasn't there to provide that approval all along. Usually, at some point, that hole filling goes awry. Do we want that to happen while he's POTUS ala Clinton? Not me.

And now a bit of criticism of a church that would subject its congregation to a political stump speech from the pulpit. Apparently, there is something in the air in Chicago that blinds people from the realization that inviting this man into your church, in this high profile way, will open up the church and its members to intense scrutiny that will likely not serve the congregation as a whole. This is no ordinary church shopping family. I'm not saying refuse him entrance, but giving him the pulpit is over the top and can only be seen as a political move on the part of their pastor or eldership that runs that church. So where are the 'separation of church and state' folks on this?

Community life

Very interesting article in this month's Atlantic Monthly titled "American Murder Mystery".

Nobody in the antipoverty community and nobody in city leadership was going to welcome the news that the noble experiment that they’d been engaged in for the past decade had been bringing the city down, in ways they’d never expected. But the connection was too obvious to ignore, and Betts and Janikowski figured that the same thing must be happening all around the country. Eventually, they thought, they’d find other researchers who connected the dots the way they had, and then maybe they could get city leaders, and even national leaders, to listen.

And they did find others connecting the dots which revealed very similar patterns between crime and Section 8 housing. They haven't yet gotten the ear of Memphis officials other than the police. Obviously, the answer isn't just getting people out of bad neighborhoods into 'good' ones. Community or family seems to be a significant part of the equation. As some of us know, you don't get to pick your relatives. Being able to choose a better 'family' can be life saving.

Maybe the new Memphis Superintendent of Schools can include some of this information as he attempts to create sunshine on the mighty bluffs of Tennessee.

Post's Pen Pans Postcard

My Nashville Post News Alert let me know they had taken a 'fine tooth comb to English First'. I got my hopes up...but that's not what they did at all with the petition postcard. Following in the 'make fun of it' instead of actually examine and argue it camp they critique the grammar and punctuation on the plea for signature side but didn't bother to do half as in depth an examination of the actual amendment. They didn't mention that side at all.

This is another example of what I wrote about this morning. How does this actually move the discussion forward? It doesn't. I expected the Post to turn the postcard over and dissect the amendment itself instead of wasting time and pixels on playing around. Here's the text of the amendment again. Maybe this weekend they'll have some time to give the other side of this card equal treatment. I've got plenty of red pens here if they need them.

The undersigned residents and qualified voters of Davidson County, Tennessee, do hereby propose the following amendment to the Metropolitan charter to be voted on by the people at the November 4, 2008 election. A new section numbered 1.08 will be added to Article 1 of the Metropolitan Charter. The new section shall state the following: "English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions (those which bind or commit the government) shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be published only in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan government shall be conducted in English. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law." Voters shall be provided the two choices of FOR and AGAINST.

Vote for Ralph Emery

The National Radio Hall of Fame is asking for voters in several categories. Nashville's Ralph Emery is on one ballot.

Go here to register to vote. They'll ask for some basic info, send you a confirming email with a link for you to click on so you can vote.

Residents v. Citizens

Mayor Karl Dean's recent comments as carried at NewsChannel 5 are disappointing and bring up an issue that needs to be discussed. The context is the proposed charter amendment to make English the official language of Metro business.

In a statement Thursday, Mayor Dean said the city has an obligation to protect and serve residents without regard to the language they speak.

If protect and serve means provide basic emergency services and rooting out criminal behavior which takes advantage of them...I'm with him. I don't see the charter amendment as preventing our EMT, fire or police from doing that though. But if the Mayor's comments mean more than the emergency services I'd like to know if he is the mayor of the residents of Nashville or its citizens? Did residents vote him into office or did citizens? There is a difference and I think our community needs to discuss the differences.

I know that those opposed to the amendment want to make it all about those big bad xenophobes denying a pregnant Kurdish speaking woman from obtaining emergency medical care because it makes for easy sensational headlines, however, this amendment is more about the mundane business of the city and the consequences of translating from my point of view. I haven't seen opponents explain how Metro will not be held responsible in such cases. They fall back on the weaker, emotional and distracting rhetoric instead of addressing legitimate concerns about the running of our government, our liabilities, the costs. They ignore the Metro Council's vote for English First last year as if the will of the people via their elected representatives is inconsequential...and thanks to Bill Purcell's veto pen, it was.

While I understand that many residents are utilizing Metro services and paying some taxes which help pay for those services residents haven't made the extra commitment of declaring/obtaining citizenship and registering to vote and participating in the electoral system. Should our elected officials consider their wants over the needs of citizens? Should those who have not, or cannot, make the commitment to citizenship have all the rights of citizenship?

Hat tip: AC Kleinheider

Rays of Hope

Between the Mayor's Special Education meeting featuring Mike Remus and the rehiring of Beth O'Shea some disheartened MNPS parents are beginning to hope again. If the BOE can stay out of the way and let Connie Smith, Chris Henson and Superintendent Mayor Dean have their lead their hopes for their children's attendance in MNPS schools may come true.

New Superintendent--in Memphis

Memphis has a new superintendent of schools according to the Commercial-Appeal. His name is Kriner Cash and he's leaving the Miami-Dade County (Fla.) Public Schools where he served as its 'chief of accountability and systemwide performance'. His only superintendent experience is at Martha's Vineyard (yes, THAT Martha's Vineyard).

The past year has been a harsh year for all involved with Memphis City Schools, as the district has faced operational scandals that have led to federal investigations and school violence that garnered national attention.

Cash said he would want to see the district have its own police force, something he has found effective in Miami.

Good luck Mr. Cash. Memphis has issues that are systemic and go way beyond the school system. You can try and create an accountability plan, but accountability isn't anything that Memphis powers-that-be welcome.

"A new day is dawning for Memphis City Schools," an emotional Cash said. "Starting today, the sun is going to shine for the whole world to see on the mighty bluff of Tennessee."

With poetry like that maybe they hired Jesse Jackson?

Did you get your petition?

I got my English First postcard petition in the mail yesterday. Very handy. Private. No chance of being harassed like the OK3. You sign the postcard, refold it, add a stamp and send it off. It couldn't be easier.

In case you can't read the graphic above here's the actual wording of the petition.

The undersigned residents and qualified voters of Davidson County, Tennessee, do hereby propose the following amendment to the Metropolitan charter to be voted on by the people at the November 4, 2008 election. A new section numbered 1.08 will be added to Article 1 of the Metropolitan Charter. The new section shall state the following: "English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions (those which bind or commit the government) shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be published only in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan government shall be conducted in English. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law." Voters shall be provided the two choices of FOR and AGAINST.

NashvilleEnglishFirst.com

Goo Goo clusters

Sometimes the pieces just fall together.

This morning's Rex Noseworthy column introduced me to a new term.

Increasingly, those in and around Metro government aligned with more moderate politics and business elements in the city are coining a new phrase to describe their self-proclaimed progressive adversaries — the Goo Goos.

It appears this mildly derisive term is aimed at Nashville’s neighborhood-centric gentry, the same neighborhood forces that frequently clash with pro-development types. The more specific iteration is East Nashville Goo Goo.

The phrase was first coined in the final decade of the 19th Century to describe “good government” political factions in city governments seeking change, reform and a path away from machine politics.

And then we get this--also from the folks at the City Paper:

Stacy Mosley, president of the Historic Germantown Neighborhood Association, said Friday that residents of downtown neighborhoods moved there, at a risk, with the “promise” that their children could attend high-performing Hillsboro cluster schools. Mosley said she and other neighbors want their children to attend schools with “balanced” racial and socioeconomic mixes.

I put the pieces together and it was just too obvious: I'm thinking that 'progressive' neighborhood groups should be called "GooGoo clusters". Insert your own joke about their being nuts in every version.


Back on a much more serious note it's a curiosity to me how un-progressive these GooGoos are when the rubber hits the road as it has with these Germantown parents. I understand they took a chance on that part of town but also ensured, as best they could, that their children would attend 'high-performing Hillsboro cluster' schools. Would they have taken that same chance if the Hillsboro Cluster hadn't been available? No one really believes they would have. Likely what they'll do is what the East Nashville GooGoos did, opt out of the neighborhood school and create an enhanced option or design school. These 'urban pioneers' shouldn't pat themselves on the back for their support of public schools when they've done that. The parents who really deserve badges of honor for supporting MNPS are those who rolled up their sleeves and ensured their children graduated from Maplewood or Stratford.

This new right is wrong

More on the renewed battle to make Nashville's official language English. This quote from Mayor Karl Dean:

Dean specifically took issue with specific phrasing of the charter amendment proposal, which states, “No person shall have a right to government services in any other language.” City Paper

We're handing out 'rights' left and ...well, right in this nation. We invent them out of whole cloth. So now, surely Dean isn't saying new citizens have a right to have government business conducted in their native language? How can that possibly jibe with the requirement that new citizens must prove their proficiency in English? If he thinks it'll be expensive to defend the constitutionality of this charter amendment, wait until he sees the bill for this new right.