The US Geological Service, (USGS) has been making maps of our country for more than a century. They are just about done digitizing their entire collection of maps, historical and contemporary and they are available for free at USGS Map Locator & Downloader. I thought you might be interested as topographical features play such a key role in conservation and planning.
Here is the map for our immediate area. If you download the 2014 map for the area, you get all the topographical markings as well.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
An interesting development
A little history.
In 2012, Park Pride, at the behest of South Fork Conservancy, conducted a Visioning workshop over four months in Morningside Lenox Park. South Fork Conservancy is, despite their name, a public infrastructure development group. They are neither a conservation group nor are they a water resources group. Park Pride initiated the meetings and described their role as that of an independent outsider with no stake in the outcome. It was later learned that they in fact had already endorsed South Fork's plan to construct trails through the neighborhood.
South Fork Conservancy initially made the commitment that they would not proceed without consensus in the neighborhood that supported the idea of trails through the nature preserves and adjacent to private property. The South Fork Conservancy position began to shift as it became clear that not only would there not be a consensus but that there was overwhelming opposition to the plan to construct trails. The opposition was rooted in well researched concerns about environmental degradation, ecological destruction, reduction in quality of life and crime/security. Research which South Fork was unwilling to address.
Bob Kerr, the chairman of the board of South Fork Conservancy, presented the final SFC position as "We are going to build these trails no matter what the neighborhood wants."
All of this history is well documented.
In response to this development threat to the neighborhood, members of Protect Morningside Greenspaces approached numerous government officials in an attempt to 1) make neighborhood views known, 2) seek support for an official, public and transparent decision-making process, and 3) seek support for a fact-based decision-making process. Among those with whom we met was Jeff Rader, District Two Commissioner and Kathie Gannon, District Six. The response from all those with whom we met to these three seemingly reasonable requests was circumspect, evasive and noncommittal. It seemed as if there were deeper waters. We documented that some of the corporate financial supporters of South Fork Conservancy were also donors to various local political campaigns and that these corporations also had major contracts with the City of Atlanta and the County of DeKalb. However, there is a limit to what citizens who work full time can do and our research went no further than that.
Now to the present. As you are probably aware, there have been continuing issues of corruption in DeKalb County government in recent years, culminating in the appointment of a Special Investigator by Interim CEO Lee May. An initial report is now in, finding that
In 2012, when Park Pride was conducting its Visioning sessions in a fashion non-compliant with its own policies and methodology, Jeff Rader made two payments of $10,000 each to Park Pride, totalling $20,000. He made a second donation of $200 in 2013 and made a donation of $100 to South Fork Conservancy in 2014. In total, Jeff Rader's office made $20,300 in contributions to two external advocacy groups who he knew at the time were acting against the wishes of his constituents.
The fifth payment was made by Kathie Gannon, with whom we also had met. Gannon was also the recipient of corporate donations to her campaign from the same companies who were funding South Fork Conservancy. Gannon's office made a donation of $6,000 to Park Pride in 2013.
The Report of the DeKalb Special Investigator can be found here.
Jeff Rader's response is here
It is interesting the divergence of views between the two documents. For Bowers, this is a straightforward legal issue. County executives are not allowed to make non-commercial payments to third parties, unless it is directly within the scope of their responsibilities. For Rader, it is not about the law so much as whether the payments were beneficial to some goal of the county. Rader does go on and
So the saga of DeKalb County misgovernance continues. I thought you would be interested to know that there were additional monetary flows occurring between Park Pride, South Fork Conservancy and the County of DeKalb of which we were unaware and which add to the miasma hanging over the county and its over-responsiveness to advocacy money and its lack of responsiveness to actual residents.
In 2012, Park Pride, at the behest of South Fork Conservancy, conducted a Visioning workshop over four months in Morningside Lenox Park. South Fork Conservancy is, despite their name, a public infrastructure development group. They are neither a conservation group nor are they a water resources group. Park Pride initiated the meetings and described their role as that of an independent outsider with no stake in the outcome. It was later learned that they in fact had already endorsed South Fork's plan to construct trails through the neighborhood.
South Fork Conservancy initially made the commitment that they would not proceed without consensus in the neighborhood that supported the idea of trails through the nature preserves and adjacent to private property. The South Fork Conservancy position began to shift as it became clear that not only would there not be a consensus but that there was overwhelming opposition to the plan to construct trails. The opposition was rooted in well researched concerns about environmental degradation, ecological destruction, reduction in quality of life and crime/security. Research which South Fork was unwilling to address.
Bob Kerr, the chairman of the board of South Fork Conservancy, presented the final SFC position as "We are going to build these trails no matter what the neighborhood wants."
All of this history is well documented.
In response to this development threat to the neighborhood, members of Protect Morningside Greenspaces approached numerous government officials in an attempt to 1) make neighborhood views known, 2) seek support for an official, public and transparent decision-making process, and 3) seek support for a fact-based decision-making process. Among those with whom we met was Jeff Rader, District Two Commissioner and Kathie Gannon, District Six. The response from all those with whom we met to these three seemingly reasonable requests was circumspect, evasive and noncommittal. It seemed as if there were deeper waters. We documented that some of the corporate financial supporters of South Fork Conservancy were also donors to various local political campaigns and that these corporations also had major contracts with the City of Atlanta and the County of DeKalb. However, there is a limit to what citizens who work full time can do and our research went no further than that.
Now to the present. As you are probably aware, there have been continuing issues of corruption in DeKalb County government in recent years, culminating in the appointment of a Special Investigator by Interim CEO Lee May. An initial report is now in, finding that
Appalling corruption and a stunning absence of leadership in the DeKalb County government are a disgrace to its citizens and an embarrassment to our state. A pattern of corrosive and widespread misconduct has destroyed public confidence in the integrity of the governing authority.One of the areas highlighted is illegal gratuities, the payment of gratuities from public funds by County officials for purposes not in the "sphere of the official’s legally delegated powers." Specifically,
There is no authority for a member of the BOC, or a county employee, to make charitable contributions using government funds.There are five such payments of interest to us, four by Jeff Rader and one by Kathie Gannon.
In 2012, when Park Pride was conducting its Visioning sessions in a fashion non-compliant with its own policies and methodology, Jeff Rader made two payments of $10,000 each to Park Pride, totalling $20,000. He made a second donation of $200 in 2013 and made a donation of $100 to South Fork Conservancy in 2014. In total, Jeff Rader's office made $20,300 in contributions to two external advocacy groups who he knew at the time were acting against the wishes of his constituents.
The fifth payment was made by Kathie Gannon, with whom we also had met. Gannon was also the recipient of corporate donations to her campaign from the same companies who were funding South Fork Conservancy. Gannon's office made a donation of $6,000 to Park Pride in 2013.
The Report of the DeKalb Special Investigator can be found here.
Jeff Rader's response is here
It is interesting the divergence of views between the two documents. For Bowers, this is a straightforward legal issue. County executives are not allowed to make non-commercial payments to third parties, unless it is directly within the scope of their responsibilities. For Rader, it is not about the law so much as whether the payments were beneficial to some goal of the county. Rader does go on and
agree that we need better controls to differentiate between permissible and impermissible use of public funds; rules that if in place, would prevent the abuse that now overshadows DeKalb’s government.With the dismissal of the Special Investigator by May, Rader indicates that "The Governor has announced a review by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation."
So the saga of DeKalb County misgovernance continues. I thought you would be interested to know that there were additional monetary flows occurring between Park Pride, South Fork Conservancy and the County of DeKalb of which we were unaware and which add to the miasma hanging over the county and its over-responsiveness to advocacy money and its lack of responsiveness to actual residents.
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