I am imagining the moment Burrell Ellis walks back into his old office as DeKalb CEO once again, reinstated with three weeks left in his term in office, after eight months in stir and a year of appeal time to contemplate just where to stick the shiv. How easy might it be for him to
Democracy requires more of its people than a vote. I’ve said this before – democracy is a tool of war, or perhaps a substitute for war. The Greeks used democracy to husband their strength against common enemies, counting men with spears in hand rather than the bodies on the ground. To prevail in a vote
In the coming Age of Trump, local politics will matter more than ever. It’s been a couple of weeks since the DeKalb county commission race ended for me, and I’ve had some time to process what happened and where to go from here. Gregory Adams, a police officer will face Randal Mangham, an attorney and
The appointment of Breitbart’s Steve Bannon, the Farrakkan of the far right, in a role once held by Karl Rove has landed with as much approval as wearing a Klan hat would at Confederate flag rally. People who were pissed off are bound to be more pissed off. Others who wanted distance from unquestionably racist symbolism are
For the next water bill public meeting in DeKalb, I note that Intown Ace Hardware is closest for picking up pitchforks and torches, although I might recommend the Home Depot on Lawrenceville Highway for bulk volume purchases. I’ve been going to various flavors of DeKalb County public meetings for years. I have never seen the Maloof
The real estate market in Atlanta has been booming, again … he writes, fearful of jinxing things. We’re at a point where we’re worrying about gentrification — and if you’ve got pedestrian-level advertising for plastic surgery shops along the Beltline, I’d say they’re valid. But wide swaths of metro Atlanta are still hanging on by
Warning: rebar would dissolve in the vile, corrosively profane language of this video. Alternative warning: You may laugh so hard that you’ll need fresh underwear after. This is a faithful re-enactment by Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, recreated from a court transcript of “State of Georgia vs. Denver Fenton Allen,” a pre-trial hearing in Rome’s Floyd
Apparently, if you’re investigating the misconduct of court officers, you need their permission. At least, that’s the rationale behind the jailing of Mark Thomason and Russell Stookey a week ago. The two were booked for making a false statement in an open-records request — something I didn’t even realize could be a crime — along with identity fraud and
I’ve been trying not to abuse the privilege of GeorgiaPol while running for a county commission seat in DeKalb. But I’m making an exception today because politics have taken a Hunter S. Thompson turn for the weird of late, and his ghost will burn my house down in my sleep if I do nothing. DeKalb
Find part one of the series here. Find part two here. Find part three here. No incumbent commissioner has lost an election in DeKalb County in at least 20 years. So, what might make this run different? To start, Sharon Barnes-Sutton has truly distinguished herself as an example of how to draw negative attention in
