Athens Speaks
Athens Speaks
"Athens Speaks" showcases letters and emails submitted to the Mayor and Commission,
Athens leaders and/or media sources
by friends of Athens Classic, Inc.
Contact Mayor and Commission
Athens leaders and/or media sources
by friends of Athens Classic, Inc.
Contact Mayor and Commission
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NOVEMBER 2022 Letter to Mayor & Commissioners and Athens-Clarke County Unitied Government regarding Prince Avenue Pilot Project To: Athens Clarke County Board of Commissioners Subject: Athens Classic, Inc. Supports Hiring/Promoting Our New and Next Chief of Police from within the Athens/Clarke County Police Department One of the most important public servants in any community is the Chief of Police. He or she has to often walk a fine line of enforcing the law, and at times being compassionate as well as professional with people experiencing times of crisis or clear symptoms of mental illness and/or addiction. Knowing the community well is an integral component of this position, and while Athens/Clarke County has had some fine Chiefs, as well as elected Clarke County Sheriffs, we have also experienced a significant amount of turnover in this position in recent years. We all believe that the best fit for our community will be an experienced command officer, who already has the trust and support of the police force, as well as deep relationships, respect, and bonds built across our community. We collectively believe that the best candidates already exist WITHIN the Athens/Clarke County Police Department. The Interim Chief, as well as the two Deputy Chiefs, have decades of experience within the department as well as within the community they serve. Each of these men has the respect of their command structure and fellow officers, the confidence and support of the immediate prior chief, and an irreplaceable institutional memory of this community as well as the existing strengths and weaknesses of the department. We found Cleveland Spruill to be an outstanding Chief of Police, and we wish him well in retirement as well as his return to his native mid-Atlantic/Tidewater region, but we think that we would all find a better result, skipping the time and expense of a 'national' search, when we have three serious, known and well-regarded options already within the department. The undersigned, as well as many others strongly recommend that you look no further than the Police Department HQ on Lexington Road, to make a final selection of our new permanent Chief of Police. Sincerely, Alison Bracewell McCullick JUNE 2022
Letter to Mayor & Commission regarding the search for New Athens/Clarke County Chief of Police To: Mayor Kelly Girtz, Members of the Athens/Clarke County Commission, and Blaine Williams, County Manager Subject: Athens Classic, Inc. Supports Hiring/Promoting Our New and Next Chief of Police from within the Athens/Clarke County Police Department One of the most important public servants in any community is the Chief of Police. He or she has to often walk a fine line of enforcing the law, and at times being compassionate as well as professional with people experiencing times of crisis or clear symptoms of mental illness and/or addiction. Knowing the community well is an integral component of this position, and while Athens/Clarke County has had some fine Chiefs, as well as elected Clarke County Sheriffs, we have also experienced a significant amount of turnover in this position in recent years. We all believe that the best fit for our community will be an experienced command officer, who already has the trust and support of the police force, as well as deep relationships, respect, and bonds built across our community. We collectively believe that the best candidates already exist WITHIN the Athens/Clarke County Police Department. The Interim Chief, as well as the two Deputy Chiefs, have decades of experience within the department as well as within the community they serve. Each of these men has the respect of their command structure and fellow officers, the confidence and support of the immediate prior chief, and an irreplaceable institutional memory of this community as well as the existing strengths and weaknesses of the department. We found Cleveland Spruill to be an outstanding Chief of Police, and we wish him well in retirement as well as his return to his native mid-Atlantic/Tidewater region, but we think that we would all find a better result, skipping the time and expense of a 'national' search, when we have three serious, known and well-regarded options already within the department. The undersigned, as well as many others strongly recommend that you look no further than the Police Department HQ on Lexington Road, to make a final selection of our new permanent Chief of Police. Respectfully,
FEBRUARY 2022 To: jesse.houle@accgov.com; kelly.girtz@accgov.com Subject: Commission Raises To the Athens Clarke Board of Commissioners: As a taxpayer of Clarke County of 45 years I oppose the raising of your salaries, period. The three top employers and budgets in Clarke County are 1. University of Georgia 2. Piedmont Hospital 3. Clarke County School District/ Board of Education. The BOE many years was paid $25 a meeting. When I was elected to this Board in 1996 the salary was $300/month. Today it is still $300/month. Is the BOE considered to be a more “volunteer” position? Is overseeing the education of the students of Clarke County just not as important as deciding to put a Portland Potty downtown? The BOE puts in as much time as any commissioner. I was a BOE member through 2008, 12 years. A raise was never even mentioned. The Board President does make $500/month since the positions has extra responsibilities. A first year teacher on State base makes $36,000. As an Eastside resident I do not see any proof that you deserve any more compensation for your service. I do respect your position and fully understand the time spent in doing your job as Commissioner. I too had full time responsibilities operating my own business as a BOE member. Thank you, S. W. OCTOBER 2021
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2021 10:27 AM To: jesse.houle@accgov.com; kelly.girtz@accgov.com Subject: Homeless camp Commissioner Houle, Mayor Girtz, My name is Apryl Hughes, I am President of the Phil Hughes Automotive Group located on Atlanta Highway. My property Phil Hughes Honda is surrounded by homeless and on a daily basis our ability to conduct business and service our customers is becoming increasingly difficult. This email is in regard to the latest camp located directly on Atlanta Highway, the busiest and main thorough fare into our city. This is not only hazardous to these individuals but also oncoming motorists. I implore you to take action removing this camp before someone is at best injured. Thank you for your attention regarding this matter, A. H.
MAYOR'S RESPONSE:
On Oct 15, 2021, at 1:34 PM, Kelly Girtz <Kelly.Girtz@accgov.com> wrote: Hi Apryl- Thanks for reaching out. A couple of residents alerted me this week about that location, and I visited early this morning. The carts contain an odd collection of empty plastic soda bottles and other random items. I’ve reached out to our Code Enforcement division to assist with cleanup. Sincerely, Kelly Sent: Friday, October 15, 2021 1:48 PM To: Kelly Girtz <Kelly.Girtz@accgov.com> Cc: Jesse Houle <Jesse.Houle@accgov.com> Subject: Re: Homeless camp Kelly and Jesse, Athens can do better than this. It has gotten out of control especially on our end of town. This is giving Athens a bad eyesore and customers and homeowners near my store are really getting turned off by Athens turning its back to keeping our streets clean and inviting. This is not the legacy you want nor is it what I expect having a 99 year old business in this town. Please help clean up our community. We can do better. Stuart Cofer SEPTEMBER 2021
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2021 To: Kelly Girtz <Kelly.Girtz@accgov.com> Subject: AADM & The community oversight Board Mayor Girtz, I am sending this email message in hopes that you and the commissioners can see, and even agree with the position I, and many, many others in our community have re: the proposed “Community Oversight Board.” Below, please find a flyer being promoted by Mariah Parker. We obviously disagree with most all of her proposal, but allow me to focus on her proposal for $250,000 for board and auditor operations! Seriously? I, also, cite Tim Denson’s 50/10 Reimagine proposal (per his website), with $50,000 for a “community based committee,” and a 120 day vacancy freeze that (he states) saves $800,000?? I submit to you that in December, 2020, the results of the Police Advisory Task Force Town Hall Feedback report, conducted on the ACC website revealed that 86% of the citizens who responded DISAGREED with the formation of a police advisory review board; with ONLY 6.13% AGREEING with the formation of such an advisory board. Yet, here we are… Further, as an Athens-Clarke county citizen and business owner who strives to be fiscally responsible, please provide me (& other citizens) the legitimate rational of spending taxpayer’s hard-earned money on a board and/or auditor…whether it be $50,000 or $250,000. And to imply that we are “saving $800,000” with a vacancy freeze, who are we kidding? We are already almost 50 police officers “short,” and we all know that violent crime is on the rise in our community. I submit to you that our focus should be on supporting law enforcement and the addition of a full police staff instead of micro-managing our police department. I have other comments and feedback that I will gladly share upon request. SEEKING A CLEAN AND SAFE ATHENS. Presently, we have neither. Respectfully, S.M 
AUGUST 2021 After reading that Costco was locating in Oconee county, I was very frustrated and wrote an email venting to the mayor. His reply is below and just reinforces that we need a change ASAP. The economic damage being done to Clarke County is huge and irreparable. Anyway, one person's opinion. LETTER TO THE MAYOR: Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2021 To: Kelly Girtz <Kelly.Girtz@accgov.com> Subject: Economic Development Mr Mayor, I just read the announcement that Costco is coming!! I was very excited until I saw, oh it’s going to Oconee County. Once again the county of “No” has missed out of both the property tax and sales tax revenues that will accrue to our neighbors. For the life of me I don’t understand why you and our commissioners are against economic development and growth. In truly is mind boggling. Our big announcement in Clarke County is the established of a homeless encampment which I’m quite sure pays no taxes. It was approved against the advice of the Sparrows Nest, Salvation Army and many other concerned citizens who spoke out against it. Two highly reputable agencies that combat this terrible problem every day thought your encampment was a bad idea. Is it the commissions view to welcome more homeless people to Athens from around the region, state and country? Does the commission want a panhandler on every corner in the county? Why is the commission against economic development? Please cite the list of businesses that have decided to locate in Clarke County? It’s certainly easy to cite the ones that decided not to locate here. As a tax paying resident of Clarke County it is becoming more discouraging every day seeing the actions the commission are taking that reduce the quality of life in what should be America’s greatest college town. Please don’t take this that I don’t have compassion for the homeless. I am 100% in favor of supporting Clarke County residents that are homeless for any of a variety of reasons. I have served on the Boards of Directors of two different homeless organizations and know the problem can be tackled,but not by increasing the population. But seeing business after business locate outside of Clarke County while the only thing our commission does is build homeless encampment is truly discouraging and doesn’t give one hope that there is a bright future for Clarke County. Sincerely D.P. MAYOR’S RESPONSE: From: Kelly Girtz <Kelly.Girtz@accgov.com> Date: August 25, 2021 at 6:44:34 AM EDT Subject: RE: Economic Development Thanks for reaching out about our economic development work here in Athens. We take seriously our economic development opportunities, and have many recent wins to enjoy. These have included siting of the RWDC production facility, which manufactures a biodegradable plastic replacement product from vegetable oil, which was developed here at UGA, ByoPlanet, a cleaning tool assembly plant, also using technology developed on campus, expansions of Boehringer-Ingleheim animal health vaccine production and research-and-development facilities, and our two Johnson and Johnson production facilities. These hundreds of bio-science and production facility positions pay significantly more than retail, and they return much more to the property tax coffers than retail facilities. The same is true with healthcare jobs that are expanding in the Prince Avenue corridor with the expansion of Piedmont Regional Hospital and other nearby facilities. A few notes on retail in the region: while former county commissions circa 2000 made some decisions that were not completely wise in my estimation, the Highway 316 corridor was lined-up as a future commercial corridor when state transportation authorities began assembling land in the 1980s for a new divided highway connecting Gwinnett County and Athens. The retail cluster there reflects the placement of the highway, similar to the cluster in Barrow County twenty miles to the west. Ultimately, with a growing population (we and our adjacent neighbors grew from 255k in 2000 to 380k today), there is a big enough regional pie of economic development opportunity for everyone to get a slice. Still, Athens-Clarke draws the greatest amount of retail sales tax dollars in the region, both in total revenue, and per-capita. We also recently created a redevelopment incentive plan for parcels that were initially developed decades ago, and are ready for a facelift. In the coming year, you will see new investment at the former West Broad Street Kroger property, the Mall, and others that have been under-utilized in recent years. That is in addition to the growth we are experiencing north of the Athens Tech campus. Please reach out anytime. I wish you and your loved ones the very best. Sincerely, Kelly Kelly Girtz Mayor, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government 301 College Avenue Athens, GA 30601 706-613-3010 |
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