SPLOST Turnout

As of 7:50 this morning, only 3 people had voted at the Watkinsville East Precinct. The contrast to the jammed polls of November could not have been more stark.

While my son did enjoy the empty building and took the opportunity to show off his nascent football skills to the poll workers, it doesn't say much for voters in Oconee County to have such a small turnout. SPLOST will raise as much as $3 million for sewers, sidewalks, greenspace, playgrounds and public safety investments in the City of Watkinsville (and $37 million for the rest of the county).

Information (and some opinoions) can be found here, here, here, here, and here. The Chamber of Commerce has also weighed in in favor of SPLOST. As I have said before, it is a no-brainer.

Neat Story

I missed this neat story about President Lincoln -- check it out when you have time.

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State Ownership of Transit

Our own State Rep. Bob Smith is proposing that the state have some control Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Watkinsville native Scott Trubey reports here for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Dan Matthews thinks it's a terrible idea, but doesn't say why.

I think it is interesting, at least. While the day-to-day operations of Hartsfield are generally well run, its approach to capital projects is often disastrous.

• Example 1: the planned International Terminal, which is sorely needed as passengers arriving in Atlanta from foreign destinations not only have to deplane but have to collect and re-check all luggage (even if you are not changing flights!), which is a tremendous inconveinience. This project has doubled in cost since its conception. Recently Delta requested $400 million in budget cuts to the project (as an added bonus, the project is now three years behind schedule).
  
• A new people mover to transport passengers to the rental car areas dubbed "CONRAC" has seen its budget spike by at least $30 million since inception as well.
• See also the infamous "new runway" built several years ago where the contractor who provided the dirt was convicted of corruption (he was allegedly "required" to raise $100,000 for then Mayor Bill Campbell's campaign as a condition for getting the bid).
  
• Until recent years, it was also always understood there was a certain level of corruption just below the surface at the airport, especially during the Maynard Jackson and Bill Campbell eras. Respected former Airport Manager Angela Gittens said essentially that as she left.
  

So the idea that there should be some level of state input on the future of this statewide asset makes sense to me, although state management of any profitable, successful asset gives me pause. I do believe that Ben DeCosta is a good manager (the airport has good retail choices, is clean, efficient, etc.), but it is obvious there is something that constantly gums up the works on big projects at Hartsfield, and I'd love to know what that is.

However, the real transportation asset that should be taken over by the state is MARTA. If there is one asset that needs new management, new capital, and new ideas, that is it. Limiting both our rail and air transportation assets -- which are of critical importance to the state's future economic health -- to the revenues and skill sets available in Atlanta and/or DeKalb counties, doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Stem Cell

This week, there will be more debate on stem cell legislation in the Georgia House after a weaker -- but still dangerous to the bioscience industry -- bill passed the Georgia Senate late on Thursday.

Jim Galloway of the AJC continues to offer real insights from the Gold Dome, and his story on the issue shows that Georgia Right to Life really cares very little for a key industry in this state. Check out the excerpt below:

The Senate measure has injected uncertainty into the mind of any biotech executive operating in Georgia, Becker said. Keep up the fight year after year, and eventually businesses that rely on embryonic research will realize they’re not welcome.

Becker cited a similar strategy executed in Missouri. Many efforts at embryonic stem cell research in that state have shifted to nearby Kansas and Illinois.

There is no doubt this is a complex issue. After watching the debate around the Senate Bill on Thursday, I realized that the danger isn't necessarily that we are having a dialogue on the issue in Georgia. It is the non-scientific, non-informed nature of that debate that may be truly damaging to our efforts.

Whether you agree with President Bush's decision to ban the use of federal funds for stem cells in 2001 or not, at least he made a serious speech about it and explained his rationale. Watching Georgia's conservative senate delegation attempting to defend their own legislation as something benign -- and at times, as something totally different than it was -- was downright embarrassing, particularly when they claimed the bill would not harm the in vitro industry in Georgia. Fortunately, much of the offending language in that area was removed from the stripped down bill that passed the Senate, and its fate is uncertain in the House.

The stakes are particularly high for our region, which is seeking to position itself as a bioscience hub. One of our own senators introduced the legislation that is now in play -- what does this say for our area? Even if we never have a large stem cell research company in this area, the overall message that this legislation sends to the industry and to researchers is absolutely not a positive, and those who would rather not see bioscience industries in Georgia understand that. And so do other states, which are already using our "drought," transportation woes and other issues against us. They'd love to have one more issue to add to their list.

This makes me wish I had HBO

This and That

A lot going on, and not a lot of time to blog. Some quick hits:

• Georgia's move to restrict stem cell research and in vitro fertilization is bad news for parents struggling to have children and for scientific research.
  
• Surprise, Surprise. North Carolina, which has its act together on rail and transportation, stands to get $8 billion (yes, with a "B") for inter-city, high speed rail. That would be enough to fund the brain train as well as commuter rail to Lovejoy and Cobb County, the last time I checked. Georgia legislative leaders please take note about the power of actually having transportation plans in place and a dedicated funding source.
  
• UGA professor Larry Nackerud stirred up a hornets' nest with his comments on ICE raids in the Athens paper yesterday. It boggles my mind that in this economy (with unemployment approaching 10%) that there are still people out there who want us to go out of our way to accomodate those who enter our country illegally rather than using the valid, legal processes.
  
• In "Confessions of a Tax Man," blogger Grift Drift has a great post on why a move to "change the rules" for legislators with tax troubles doesn't make a lot of sense. That said, I do believe there certainly should be no special exceptions for elected officials.
• Georgia desperately needs a solution for trauma care, and super speeder fines are one of the easier solutions. No brainer. The only real question is why there isn't a trauma care center closer to Athens than Grady Hospital in Atlanta. We probably can't afford one.
  
• Jim Thompson and the guys nail it here. It is about time our legislators toned down the rhetoric and started really working to address our budget challenges. It only took 25+ days of work to get there.
• David Brooks, my other favorite columnist, is at it again, offering up way too much practicality for most Republicans to handle. Guys, despite what Rush says, being "Dr. No" is not going to win us the next election. Nor will waiting on the President to fail.
  
• In case you missed it yesterday, some Georgia legislators want to move the state back to the gold standard. If tax dollars were used to draft this bill the legislators should be reported to Casey Cagle.
• Any predictions on how the largely conservative Bulldog nation would react to having the brother in law of the president as our next hoops coach?
  

Sign of the Apocalypse, II

Okay, Georgia Legislators attempting to bring back the gold standard? Unbelievable. Biz Chron subscribers can learn more here. What is wrong with these guys (1, 2)? Do they have nothing better to focus their energy on?