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Column
By
Mark Beardsley
The Commerce News
May 16, 2001
 New
Plan Calls For New Level Of City Commitment
Having, no doubt, heard an earful from Commerce citizens appalled
at the city council's "come hither" approach to subsidized
housing, suddenly the Commerce City Council wants to eliminate
substandard housing.
And who should bring the issue to the table but Bob Sosebee,
who has been leading the effort to lure 100 units of federally
subsidized housing into this town.
Sosebee now wants the city to inspect all rental housing units
between tenants and make the owners bring the property up to
minimal housing codes.
Three cheers, I say, but with a bit of skepticism.
It makes good copy for the city council to propose such a plan;
it will be a lot harder for them to accept it once the city hires
another inspector and goes to work.
City manager Clarence Bryant appeared to share that skepticism,
warning the councilmen that they have to stay out of the process.
Fat chance.
For one thing, Councilman Donald Wilson is himself the owner
of several rental properties that, to be tactful, could stand
some improvement. What will his reaction be after a city inspector
keeps ordering expensive improvements in that property?
City councilmen have been known to interfere in the city's attempt
to enforce the cleanliness of premises ordinance enacted by a
council supposedly tired of all of the unkempt property. Some
council members ask for extensions so friends or constituents
can get work done on their property, work that never actually
gets done. Property owned by prominent citizens, former citizens
or local businesses somehow takes longer to get cleaned up than
the overgrown lot of Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, who happen to live
in Atlanta. Don't think that won't happen to substandard housing
owned by people who have friends in the right places.
The mayor and several councilmen are now on record as supporting
efforts to clean up poor housing. It'll be up to citizens to
hold their feet to the fire when a councilman wants to get involved
on behalf of a constituent. Like all other ordinances, this should
be enforced across the board without regard to race, creed, religion,
national origin, sexual preference, not to mention prominence
in the community or who one knows at City Hall.
If the city council backs the inspection of rental property,
backs the occasional condemnation and enforces the housing code,
over time, substandard housing will disappear. That is a very
big "if."
This is a commitment of more than the several thousand dollars
it will take to hire the right inspector and to fund the administrative
assistant that will be necessary. This is a commitment to getting
tough with landlords who have had a free hand in the past to
rent out anything with a roof and not too many broken windows.
It will be a tough transition for the landlords and for the city
government.
But if it works, over 10 or more years, it will transform the
appearance of Commerce. Drive around, look at all the ratty houses
and imagine the city without them.
It could happen. Possibly.
Editorial
The Jackson Herald
May 16, 2001
End of school
a time to reflect
As school winds down for another year, it's time to pause and
reflect on the status of our education efforts.
As food for thought on this subject, we offer the following:
· Public schools aren't as bad as we sometimes think they
are. With a few exceptions, most public schools offer a fairly
good education for those who really want an education.
· While public schools may not be bad, neither are they
reaching their potential. Part of that is due to federal and
state mandates that tie the hands of those in the classroom,
and part of that is due to a resistance to change from within
the public educational system.
· Standardized tests are one important way a community
can make decisions about its local schools, but they should not
be the only measure. The overemphasis on these tests by the community
and by schools themselves is leading us down a slippery slope.
We have not yet learned how to view standardized tests in their
proper context.
· Private schools educate a small number of students relative
to public schools, but private schools will force public education
to change in ways no one today can predict. The power of competition
is stronger than any other social force and it will eventually
force changes in how we operate public schools.
· Social problems will continue to have a negative impact
on public schools. Someday soon, however, public policy makers
will stop trying to solve all those problems and admit schools
should set educational goals, not social goals.
· If we could get the federal government out of public
education, our schools would be better off.
· If we could get the state government to set goals, not
policies, our schools would be better off.
· If we could get parents more involved in education,
our schools would be better off.
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Column
The Jackson Herald
May 16, 2001
 Some things never change
It's been nearly a quarter of a century since I graduated from
high school. It doesn't seem that long ago, but the calendar
doesn't lie. Neither do the lines on my face.
Starting this week, local high school seniors will don caps and
gowns for their own graduation rituals. What they will find on
the other side of this event isn't just the piece of paper they're
handed. That's just the beginning of their entry into time acceleration.
For years, today's graduates have waited for their exit from
school. Time seemed to move slowly, creeping along while they
wondered if their school days would ever end.
Now time will speed up, the years will become a blur until they,
like myself, will reach middle age and look back to wonder where
it all went.
Yet, there is some good news in this. While change is a constant,
the changes they will see in the coming quarter century may not
be as shocking as they expect. I took a look back this week to
the spring and summer of 1977 when I walked the path now being
tread by others. Indeed, there have been some changes. In 1977,
we didn't have personal computers or cell phones, two ubiquitous
tools of today's graduates. The music was better back then (well,
except for disco, which was my generation's contribution to cultural
genocide). And our hair was longer, much longer than today's
less rebellious styles. (But at least we didn't have body piercing.)
But for every change in the last 24 years, there are many things
which have stayed the same. Here's a short list:
· In 1977, county commissioner Harold Fletcher was making
headlines. In 2001, commissioner Harold Fletcher is still making
headlines.
· In 1977, Zell Miller was a major political force in
the state. Today, he's a major political force in the state and
nation.
· In 1977, people wrote letters to the editor to complain
about animal control problems. Today, well, the problems persist
and the letters still pour in.
· In 1977, Mike Beatty made headlines as a coach. Today
Mike Beatty makes headlines as a state senator. Different game,
same strategy.
· In 1977, there was talk of remodeling the courthouse.
In 2001, we're talking about a new courthouse.
· In 1977, there was a lot of attention on standardized
test scores. Ditto for today.
· In 1977, Andy Byers was a leading spokesman for the
county school system as its curriculum director. Today he is
superintendent and is still a leading spokesman.
· In 1977, Bill Anderson came "back" to Commerce.
This summer, he's still coming back.
· In 1977, there was a drought. In 2001, we're still dry.
· In 1977, sewer and water issues were debated. The debate
continues now 24 years later.
· Recreation baseball was big in 1977, as it is today.
The only difference is that players in that year are now coaches.
· In 1977, there was talk of a joint meeting between the
county's three school boards. Today, they are meeting. It only
took 24 years to get them at the same table.
· In 1977, a photo of me running nude was printed in The
Jackson Herald. (It's a long story, you'd have to have been there.)
Today, I expose less flesh, but more thoughts.
Graduates, no one knows what the future will
hold. But one thing is for sure: the next 18 years will go by
much, much faster than the last 18 years did. And everything
will change, yet some things will always seem to be the same.
It'll just take you another 24 years to tell the difference.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald.
Editorial
The Commerce News
May 16, 2001
It's Time To Re-Draw
City's Voting Districts
It's been years since we tried (unsuccessfully) to get the Commerce
City Council to reapportion its four wards; the latest census
data suggests it's about time for the city to take action before
someone goes to court and forces it to.
The council has fled from the issue over the past two decades
because some councilmen feared that any change in how officials
are elected might cost them their jobs.
The city has a population of 5,292, according to the recent census
count. Ideally, each ward would have 1,323 residents. Only one
ward comes close to that.
Ward 1 has 2,386 voters, Ward 2 has 1,251, Ward 3 has 654 and
Ward 4 has 1,001.
It doesn't take a U.S. District Court judge to notice that the
ward containing virtually all of the city's black voters is the
largest ward. A court's likely interpretation would be that city
officials wanted to dilute the black vote, which is exactly what
has happened.
The deviation from the ideal district size ranges from 5.44 percent
in Ward 2 to 80.35 percent in Ward 1, so wards one, three and
four are far enough out of balance to warrant change.
The logical move would be to adopt as wards the districts used
by the Commerce Board of Education, switching to five wards and
one at-large position instead of the current four wards, two
at-large positions.
With five districts, the ideal size would be 1,058 residents.
None of the school districts are within five percent of the ideal
size, and its District 1, which contains most of the black vote,
is also the largest (1,300 residents). Still, the school districts
are less out of balance than the city's wards.
Commerce has avoided attracting attention because it has two
black city councilmen. Riley Harris represents Ward 1, where
most black residents live, and Archie D. Chaney Jr. is an at-large
councilman. Chaney's at-large election, in a town that is about
85 percent white, has done a lot to assure federal officials
that Commerce's voting system does not disenfranchise its black
residents.
But this is not about race; it is about equity. Ward 1 has three
and a half times the voters of Ward 3, but the same amount of
council representation. All citizens should have equal representation.
The wards have been out of balance for decades; growth has made
the situation worse. It's time for the city council to make a
tough decision, do what is right for all voters and realign its
wards or go to districts.
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