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Broken promises on Sandy Springs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning boys and girls! Today Sesame Street is taking a road trip to the city of Sandy Springs. This isn’t like the road trips daddy used to take in college when he went to spring break, drank too much foamy soda and lost his pants. Funny daddy!
No this trip will be about learning how government operates, and letter today will be “I.” Now if you play Little League or peewee soccer your coach has probably told you there is no “I” in team. But there are two of them in politics.
Now three years ago, when some of you were just little babies, your mommy and daddy and a lot of other grownups voted for Sandy Springs to become its own city. Then they voted for people to represent them on the city council. Those people, who are called politicians, promised to protect the integrity of the neighborhoods around the city.
Now when mommy and daddy promise something, you know they really mean it. But when a politician promises something, it’s like when grownups say “we’ll see” and you know that can mean anything.
Last week the Sandy Springs City Council had to decide if Holy Spirit Preparatory School could build an athletic complex right next to neighborhood. The grownups in the neighborhood let the city council know they did not want this, and they expected the council to look out for their interests.
The city’s own planning staff - some very smart grownups who went to big-kid school to learn how to evaluate the impact of things like dropping a sports complex into a neighborhood — told the council they should vote it down.
So what did the council, who promised to look out for the neighborhoods, do? They voted 4-2 to allow the school to build its field. If this does not make sense to you, boys and girls, don’t feel bad. There are a lot of grownups who don’t understand and they are using their outside voices to complain and saying words that would get you a full month of time out.
It looks like some promises got broken. And you know how serious that can be. If you don’t understand this, it would be like if mommy and daddy let kitty guard the parakeet, if kitty promised not to have the parakeet for lunch. Then an hour later they came back and kitty had a full stomach and there was no more parakeet. Kitty would have broken his promise, but it would be too late. Bad kitty!
One of the politicians that ignored the city’s planning staff and all the people who live near the property in question, and voted to let the school build their field, said this was a “win for our city.” This is called spin, boys and girls. They call it spin because if you listen to the words and try to find the logic you get all dizzy and feel like you’re going to throw up.
Well, that’s all the time we have for today boys and girls. But next month the city council will get another chance to look out for the integrity of a neighborhood. The Epstein School wants to expand its campus but the people living around it don’t want them to. And they have sent letters and e-mails and petitions to the city council members asking them to vote against letting the school get bigger.
I’m sure mommy and daddy do not want you to gamble since you’re so young, but I wouldn’t bet my allowance that integrity of the neighborhood is going to win.
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Football season brings hope, but concerns as well
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the best seasons of the year arrives this month when the high school football season begins.
The professionals have the show biz, the college game has the passion but the high schools have hopes and dreams. For some boys this will be the pinnacle of the athletic part of their life, for others it will simply be a chance to be part of something.
But the sad thing is that these days it seems there is a story about another kid dying either during practice or right after. And I don’t think this is a case where we can say it just seems like it is happening more because it’s getting reported.
I played one undistinguished year of high school football back in 1973. I was slotted behind a kid who was so good he earned a full scholarship to Furman University. I started one game when another lineman was hurt and played on the kickoff return team. Trust me — the cute girls did not stop what they were doing to check out my downfield blocking.
Back in ‘73 the prevailing attitude was that water made us weak and part of getting “football tough” was to gut it out in the heat. We got one paper cup of sports drink during practice and if we were allowed to take our helmets off it was a great day.
Yet back then you didn’t hear about boys dying. We never even had a kid suffer a heat-related malady. I don’t know how we did it.
Today everything has changed. Kids still work hard, but there are plenty of water breaks and helmets are only worn when in drills and scrimmages. Some teams even have those massive fans to cool the players. Yet the heat keep taking its toll.
I do not think we were tougher in my era or that today’s players have gotten soft. It is true that most of the kids who grew up in Sandy Springs in the 60’s and early 70’s lived in homes without air conditioning, so we might have been more used to the heat. And we did not have video games, the Internet and our TV only had three channels — maybe we played outside more.
But today’s kids are better fed, better trained and have access to better medical care. Our pre-football physical back was getting our blood pressure checked and having the doctor listen to our hearts. It took two minutes - maybe. That was it.
When the games kick off this fall we should be watching young boys living one dream and perhaps chasing another. We shouldn’t be holding and breath and crossing our fingers.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
Public officials and freebies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The city has put a cap on the value of gifts that police officers can accept after a recent incident that culminated in the resignation of Police Chief Gene Wilson. Story
As best I can tell this was more about a lapse of common sense by some in the police department than a far-ranging scandal that will rock the city to its foundation. But it also points to the fact that perception can override reality when it comes to certain jobs and items with high price tags.
Where does being a booster of the city stop and impropriety start? If I buy the police department 25 bullet-proof vests am I being a friend to the police department or am I trying buy some influence should I ever get pulled over?
If I host a dinner for the mayor and city council at a high-ticket restaurant in Buckhead am I showing gratitude for all their hard work or laying the foundation for something a little less altruistic down the line if I need zoning variance?
When I was hired to write this column I first had to agree to abide by the company’s rules on the acceptance of gifts, which is essentially one word - don’t. Understandably they don’t even want to deal with the appearance of impropriety. And neither do I.
But no one should have to wait until someone higher up in the food chain scripts an ethics policy. Whether you write a newspaper column, run a police force or hold elected office it doesn’t take a genius to know that your career can zero out with just the appearance of something suspicious. If there is a grey area, declining is the safe answer, if for no other reason than preserving present and future employment.
A former editor of mine gave the newsroom a good rule to follow that I would pass along to anyone in public office anywhere. If you’re offered something and you’re not sure accepting is a good idea where your reputation is concerned, think about how it would look if it was splashed across the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper.
If that makes you cringe, well, just say no.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
Teachers are casualties in budget plans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The slumping economy has state legislators looking for places they can trim the budget and one of the areas is teacher pay raises. This comes a week after an Atlanta Hawks player signed a deal to play in Greece for $20 million over three years.
Something is out whack in the universe.
I don’t begrudge a pro athlete taking what the market will offer, but where is the tipping point where we start making is economically desirable to be a teacher? We have all this poetic talk about how no one teaches for the money, and what a noble calling it is to teach. Some times I think we do that so we don’t have to state the obvious - they are going to work long hours and short pay.
Once a child toddles off to kindergarten they begin a 13-year odyssey where their teachers will see them more during a weekday than their parents will nine months out of the year. We expect them to establish the foundation of our kids’ academic careers and then nurture it.
Our two kids went to public school from K through 12 and they had some great teachers. They had teachers that pulled great work out of them, inspired them and made them want to learn. Of course there were some along the way that were less than wonderful, but that does not diminish those who were good.
When do we start to place a greater value on these people than those who put a ball through a hoop, or hit a ball with a stick, or drive a car over 200 mph. When do we realize that teachers deserve every penny they can get. When, at very least, do we call our state representatives and tell them to leave the teachers’ pay raises alone.
And where do they make up the money? Starting with the governor they could cut their salaries, benefits and perks. They could stop taking fact-finding trips to exotic locales, or attending seminars in places that just happen to be near beaches and golf courses. Maybe a few less receptions funded by tax dollars. The money is there - they just have to look for it and be willing to eliminate some pork from their legislative diet.
And if they claim they can’t I know a few math and civic teachers who would be happy to help.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
Get out the checkbooks, it’s back to school
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the second consecutive year my wife and I are out of the back-to-school business in our house - but this time around I think I’m fully appreciating what that means more than I did last year.
Our son went off to college in the fall of 2005 and our daughter fled the nest last year. Because we were so busy with our final child heading for college I wasn’t able to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.
I always dreaded back-to-school time as it signaled the end of summer and the beginning of the annual cash drain that comes with putting a kid back into school. If we could recover the money spent on glue sticks, folders (with pockets and holes to fit into binders), binders, pencils, pens, calculators, tape, paper, index cards, colored pencils, gel pens and various sundry other things we’d live in the south of France, albeit with uneducated children.
I truly do not begrudge the money as both our kids got great educations. But it’s just strolling into a store and seeing an entire wall of book bags that says the clock is ticking down on summer and there are no timeouts left. Especially with school starting earlier and earlier. The message was clear - fun’s over, get your checkbook.
Not that sending kids to college doesn’t have its share of expenses, but somehow it doesn’t feel the same. Sending a child to college is a right of passage - a sign that an exciting new chapter has begun. They are stepping out into the world, not moping toward the bus stop.
Back-to-school just means a shopping cart packed to the gills with things that are going to have to be bought again 12 months hence. For example, I still don’t know were all the mechanical pencils went, but it seemed like they had a shelf life of one school day before they had to be replaced.
But I blame myself for the great pencil drain. There was a period where I traveled a lot for business and I always brought home the disposable pen from the hotel room. I reasoned that way when one of the kids needed a pen - voila - no trip to the store needed! Of course as soon as my desk drawer began to sag under the weight of all those pens, mechanical pencils were all the rage and pens were as welcome as a Barney lunch box.
So for you intrepid parents out there taking a second mortgage to load up for another year of school supplies - we won’t mention the PTA, booster clubs, annuals, parking passes, t-shirts, lunch tickets, locker fees, gym suits, etc. - I salute you. I have been where you have been and I feel your pain.
And if you need a pen, call me.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Jim Osterman
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I have to say, I think this is good use for some rather crappy property. It is overgrown with kudzu, borders 285 and have been sitting vacant for a long time. Its parking will be mostly hidden from view, the bleachers only sit 400 people, and it is going... read the full comment by gttim | Comment on Broken promises on Sandy Springs Read Broken promises on Sandy Springs
Jim, your comments are extremely appropriate. In the case of Holy Sprit, the planning committee even objected to the construction of the field and yet the council still voted in favor of it. This makes little sense since the neighborhoods were also generally... read the full comment by Ed J | Comment on Broken promises on Sandy Springs Read Broken promises on Sandy Springs
I get so tired of hearing people CRY about new development in the City of Sandy Springs. Guess what folks if you don’t like it MOVE! All over metro Atlanta we see new development. Do we want to keep traveling to spend our money?? or do we want to... read the full comment by dj | Comment on Broken promises on Sandy Springs Read Broken promises on Sandy Springs
Mr. Osterman incorrectly states the “promise” of Sandy Springs. It was not that every neighborhood would get its desires. Rather, it was that all citizens would get a fair and thoughtful hearing. This was never the case under Fulton county.... read the full comment by Oliver Porter | Comment on Broken promises on Sandy Springs Read Broken promises on Sandy Springs