originally published July 2, 2008

All Wet: If the State of Georgia has made any sort of progress politically in recent years, it is in the realm of doublespeak. Witness last week’s joint press conference in Atlanta, featuring EPD Director Carol Couch and State Climatologist David Stooksbury. Stooksbury gave yet another of his dire reports on the worsening drought, while the Journal-Constitution had just run an op-ed of Couch’s saying, basically: We’ve got it under control, and depending on where you are, sprinkling your lawn or whatever you want to do is okay right now.

There’s some truth in that, sure. As UGA prof Todd Rasmussen points out in this Flagpole, landscaping is important, and it’s worth keeping it alive. Conditions vary across the state, yes. More than all that, those of us saying Georgia communities might should be a little more cautious than we’re being with our water supplies this summer may yet get caught wrong: the heavens may open in August, and we’ll be the Chicken Littles who said the rain would never fall.

All that aside, though, Georgians need to realize one thing: that the landscaping industry appears to have successfully hijacked the drought-response decision-making process. It happened during the legislative session, and it’s happening right now. How else to explain the resistance to rational advance planning as this dry summer progresses?

Meanwhile, yes, you can use your sprinkler again in Athens if you want to. The details on the weekly watering schedule and other rules are online at www.thinkatthesink.com.

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The Week That Was: Qualifying week turned out not to be so boring after all; see below for the news on ACC Commission races. School board-wise, the very end of the week brought Eastsider David Huff into the school board District 8 race against Chinami Goodie - that’s the seat that Sidney Anne Waters is leaving behind. J.T. Jones will challenge school board veteran Vernon Payne, and as noted last week, Jim Geiser is going up against board chair Charles Worthy. Getting off easy - i.e., without a challenge - are school board member Allison Wright and ACC Commissioners Andy Herod, Alice Kinman and Harry Sims.

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“Behind the Rail,” for Now: District 10 Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Elton Dodson believes Mayor Heidi Davison recruited political operative Mike Hamby to run against him in the November election, though he has no proof. Not so, say Davison and her consiglieri, husband Al Davison. Not so, says Mike Hamby. Although the Davisons had lunch with Hamby just before Hamby announced his candidacy, they say that was the first time they knew Hamby might run. Mayor Davison says she told Hamby to “go for it,” but she says that’s what she tells anybody contemplating running for office. “Nobody promised him any support,” Davison says.

Dodson and the Mayor have had a strained relationship since they disagreed over the way funding was cut for two social service agencies largely serving the black community, and Dodson has been less than a team player in some instances on issues important to the Mayor.

Dodson has also been spotty in his attendance at budget and other committee meetings and has been called unresponsive to his constituents. He acknowledges these lapses and blames them on his struggle to grow his business, Firefly Aviation, on top of his law practice. Dodson says he has reluctantly made the decision to wind down the aviation business because it was distracting from his work as a commissioner.

Some observers wonder why Hamby is running against a progressive incumbent commissioner instead of running for the District 6 seat that will be open because of Commissioner Carl Jordan’s decision not to seek re-election. Hamby lives in District 6, which is part of District 10, and that smaller district would have demanded much less time, money and energy for an election campaign. Red Petrovs is running for that seat, and he is generally acknowledged to be much more conservative politically than Carl Jordan, Mike Hamby or Ed Robinson, who’s also running in District 6.

Hamby says he’s running in the larger District 10 because in the course of his work managing other campaigns he has made wide contacts and established relationships throughout District 10.

Hamby denies that he is running against Dodson. “I’ve always told candidates you can’t win by running against somebody,” he says. Hamby declined to state any philosophical differences with Dodson but said they would come out as the campaign progresses.

Dodson says he feels backed into a corner but welcomes the campaign. He points to the mass-grading ordinance and the Criminal Justice Task Force as examples of his ability to provide leadership and get things done. Dodson says he has supported Mayor Davison but feels she is pursuing a policy of divide-and-conquer.

“Why are we fighting each other?” he asks. “This community is falling apart, and it’s going to get much worse. We should be working toward reconciling people instead of finding somebody to run against Elton.” [Pete McCommons]

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Addendum: By Monday, Dodson wasn’t feeling quite the same about the race, which he worries could be damaging to progressive politics and government in Athens-Clarke County. He went so far as to say, “My personal need to stay on the Commission is outweighed by the community’s need for unity on a progressive platform.” That, he said, could mean “a clean, decisive victory in November” - with a campaign based on the issues - “or it could mean an alternative way of helping the community… I’m not sure what yet.”

Will Dodson stay in the race? Expect a decision within the week, he says.

Ben Emanuel

Send your city dope to ben@flagpole.com.