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July 2007
Eyesores are a blight on city
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eyesores are certainly something that Norcross has no shortage of and they frequently come up in conversation.
But an eyesore, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder so some of you might disagree with what I consider some of the worst offenders.
Here goes:
“The Junk Yard” is at the corner of Jimmy Carter Blvd and the northbound ramp. If you ever exit the northbound ramp off I-85 onto Jimmy Carter Blvd… you absolutely cannot miss this particular eyesore once full of junk cars, missing gas pumps and probably a building code nightmare.
“The Dragon Head ” on Jimmy Carter Boulevard is a favorite eyesore to some of my neighbors in particular. They absolutely talk about that thing like it is the most grotesque thing they have ever laid their eyes upon. I personally don’t dislike it. In fact, I love it. I have threatened my neighbors that I would buy it and attach it to the outside of my house over my front door. Ill just make it look more like a gator head if I do!
“Rockbridge Estates Sign” - on Rockbridge Road just up from Jimmy Carter Boulevard was probably once a very grand-looking wrought iron sign guarding the entrance to the subdivision… but now its looks rusted, barely able to support itself and is basically falling apart.
Add to that several shopping centers including (but certainly not limited to) the two that are split by Singleton Road at Jimmy Carter and at the northeast corner of Buford Highway at Jimmy Carter Boulevard. These shopping centers have facades that are obviously dated and look like they haven’t had a coat of paint since I was in diapers.
Throughout Norcross are those extremely ugly electric towers that you would think something could be done to make them not quite so unsightly.
I could spend all day pointing out various apartment complexes and homes in the area that in my opinion should probably be demolished and rebuilt from scratch.
Did I forget anything? What about eyesores in the rest of Gwinnett?
What is your candidate for the Woody Award for “Gwinnett’s Biggest Eyesore”?
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Help Wanted: District 2 County Commissioner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It is ironic that southwest Gwinnett’s county commission seat is District 2, since it is split in two halves: The represented and the neglected.
A quick drive down the area’s main artery, Jimmy Carter Boulevard, reveals a stark contrast in conditions once you cross Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and into the Peachtree Corners community - where Bert Nasuti calls home.
Before becoming the District 2 Commissioner in 2001, Nasuti has held a number of positions in Gwinnett County government, including the Planning Commission (1992) Vice-Chairman (1995) Chairman (2001) and the Revitalization Task Force (2001).
Fifteen years of influence to affect change and improve conditions… throughout District 2… and look where the eastern half of his district is today.
If the eastern half of District 2 were as appropriately represented as its western half, would we even be discussing Gwinnett Village today?
Nasuti wasn’t even an original founder of the Gwinnett Village Community Improvement District and hasn’t attended one CID board meeting or event since the initial kick off meeting back in June 2005.
June 27, while on vacation, he missed both the Quality of Life Department ribbon cutting ceremony, a county event, and the public unveiling of the Gwinnett Village re-development plans, yet, both Ga. State Representative Pete Marin (D - Duluth) and Norcross Mayor Lillian Webb were in attendance.
From January 25, 2005 to present, Nasuti has been absent from official commission meetings seven times (three in 2007), including the June 26 vote for the ordinance to require county contractors to provide verification of their employees legal status. The other four county commissioners have missed eight meetings combined in the same time frame.
What are Nasuti’s priorities?
He wants to bring a minor league baseball team to Gwinnett. The eastern half of his district is in serious need of his undivided attention and he’s more concerned about baseball in Gwinnett.
Nasuti (another local politician who ran unopposed) had time to serve as a panel member in a forum with the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association to discuss Peachtree Corner’s incorporation as a city.
It is no wonder that he encouraged Peachtree Corners residents to vote against incorporation as a city … they already have their “Mayor” - Nasuti himself. No love for Gwinnett Village though.
For his part, Nasuti says that 70 percent of his commission-related work is spent on the east side of Buford Highway, which includes the area I think is neglected.
He said he has attended “countless” community meetings and has been “extremely active” in zoning and code enforcement issues in the Gwinnett Village area - filing about 100 zoning and code complaints himself over the years - and has increased funding to Gwinnett County Police in the southern precincts of the county.
He said missed commission meetings due to hip replacement surgeries in 2005 and 2007, which were followed by weeks of physical therapy. The last time he missed a commission meeting it was due to a family vacation, which he said are difficult to schedule with four kids and a wife who works. “I’m not going to apologize for that,” he said.
As for bringing baseball in Gwinnett, Nasuti says 98 percent of the feedback from the public has been positive and “I imagine people in southern Gwinnett will be anxious to go to an affordable baseball game,” he said.
He said he didn’t encourage Peachtree Corners to become a city because people there were satisfied with the delivery of services there and incorporation would create “another layer of taxes.”
“I’m not a rah-rah guy, but I’m out there every day, making calls, doing county work,” he said.
Lastly, Nasuti said people don’t run against him “because they like what I do.”
But I say the commissioner needs to wake up and start taking an active interest in ALL of District 2 that he was elected to serve or, if I have anything to say about it, his days as Gwinnett County Commissioner are over.
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Does location or perception determine how safe you feel?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few weeks ago, I was on my way out the door and managed to lock myself out of my house.
While I waited on my porch for my mom to drive from Acworth to unlock my door, I started thinking about why I never hid a key outside my home and whether it would be safe to do so. Norcross doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to crime.
But is one area of Gwinnett necessarily safer or more secure than another?
It would all depend upon what your definition of safe and secure.
Take sex offenders in the county, for example. According to the georgia-sex-offenders.com map (as of June 24), Lawrenceville leads the county in registered sex offenders with 73 followed by Norcross (58),Buford (32) and Loganville (30).
According to a recent AJC Gwinnett News article, 19 homicides have already been committed in Gwinnett County this year, double the rate during the same time frame in 2006. Lawrenceville leads Gwinnett with six (2 in one particular location) followed by Norcross with five, Duluth with four,and Stone Mountain, Suwanee, Dacula, and Snellville with one each.
The following are the top five cities (based on the detainee’s address) with the highest charges for burglary/theft and drugs in the Gwinnett County Sheriff Department’s docket book for 31 days from May 24 and ending June 24, 2007:
Burglary/Theft crimes: (This includes all sorts of theft - deception, credit cards, shoplifting, etc.)
Lawrenceville: 57
Norcross: 33
Duluth: 19
Buford: 17
Snellville: 14
(Note: There were 79 individuals who were charged in this category who do not have a Gwinnett County address.)
Drug Related crimes: (This includes charges for the VGCSA - Violence of Georgia Controlled Substance Act, or possession/trafficking of cocaine or marijuana.)
Lawrenceville: 54
Norcross: 46
Snellville: 20
Duluth: 19
Lilburn: 16
(Note: There were 70 individuals who were charged in this category who do not have a Gwinnett County address.)
For all the talk about how Norcross is crime central in Gwinnett County and definitely does have plenty of issues to deal with, it would seem to me that based on these numbers of these types of charges Norcross is not alone.
I, for one, have always thought that your sense of security is not determined by geographic location but by how safe you perceive yourself to be.
Do you agree?
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