Good morning, all.
Don’t blame Jay Cohen for this mess.
The career Navy man turned Homeland Security undersecretary of science has drawn serious fire for his mishandling of everything from process to tax dollars since he was appointed to his post in August 2006. Time and time again, he has refused to separate himself from the vast array of politically motivated stooges speckling this administration. So the fact he muddied up the site selection of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense facility with politics should come as no surprise.
Jay Cohen was just doing his job.
In fact, we should view his actions as a blessing. At least we know now that we’re playing a crooked game.
So, let’s decide if we want to keep playing.
News broke yesterday that North Carolina cried “no mas,” essentially pulled itself from consideration and left four sites on the short list. Industry mag Bio Region News put together a nice read on the behind-the-scenes thinking in the decision (registration required, but worth the effort). A chunk:
The about-face follows more than a year of activity by opponents of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, whose safety and quality-of-life concerns have weakened support for the project among local officials.
“There is enough concern now that the local politicians have. Most of them were enthusiastic in their support a year ago. Now they either have become neutral, or have come out against most recently and said they do oppose it, because they feel their questions have not been answered thoroughly” in the Department of Homeland Security’s draft environmental impact statement describing the project, released in June, said Dave Green, a spokesman for the North Carolina Consortium for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.
“They were expecting to see more definitive information related to their concerns,” he added. “From their perspective, the EIS didn’t address the concerns to the degree that they were hoping for.”
… Asked if the political backpedaling would hurt North Carolina’s chances of being selected by the DHS, Green replied: “I think it’s fair enough to say so.”
That might be the understatement of the process thus far.
Maybe North Carolina started seeing the writing on the wall. Elevated opposition plus squishy elected official support plus a rigged game don’t equal success too often.
Of course, if you didn’t suspect we were playing a crooked game here, then you’re either a complete Pollyanna or representing Georgia in the U.S. Senate. Merit and logic play only bit parts in government projects this large. Guys like Jay Cohen are your headliners.
Mississippi packed a powerful collection of legislators, enough firepower to worm an inferior sit onto the short list. North Carolina has some powerful folks on call, but many of them are too busy hiding in hotel rest rooms. And who exactly do we have to counter? Not much.
And we all know it.
Our editorial board spoke with the lead delegation from the university only days before last week’s public hearing. They echoed their usual sentiments about the strength of our bid and what landing the facility would mean for the community. But when pushed about support received from Atlanta and D.C., eyes darted around the room and mouths clammed up.
Yes, it was a loaded question. We know our statelevel support pales in comparison to other sites. The numbers don’t lie. Also, we know our D.C. delegation, the weakest among the competing states, cannot be counted on to land the facility on their own. But rather than rock the boat, the university’s delegation opted to say nothing and count on winning this fight on merit. Honorable.
To me, nobody looks more foolish than Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. They attached their names to every piece of bad policy backed by this failed administration. They’ve backed an unpopular and illogical war, forgiven bad economic policies, even turned a blind eye to every crooked or incompetent official hired for a high-level government job.
And what’s it get them? A pat on the head, a place on the short list and no chance in landing the facility.
OK, maybe I’m being too negative there.
Officials maintain, stressed in private and in public often at last week’s Homeland Security meeting, no final decisions have been made. In a radio interview last week, Isakson reassured the community the decision will be based on sound science, not politics. And in related news, Santa will announce his position on the facility early next week.
You cannot take politics out of a political decision. That’s the game.
And we don’t play it as well as others.
It would have been nice to see some star power at last week’s Homeland Security meetings. No Sonny. No Johnny. No Saxby. Oh, we got staffers reading letters of support, but we’ve had plenty of words already. A little face time in front of the community and the feds would be nice as we come down to the wire.
Maybe we should have scheduled the hearing during a home game. At least we know they'd be in town.
You can feel the local disappointment. Local supporters are still fighting, but they cannot help shake the feeling they’ve been jobbed, conned, played for the fool yet again against the better-connected. We make a habit of rounding out short lists in this community. Again, we’ve been betrayed by the system.
What we lack in political horsepower, we make up for in good behavior. Agree or disagree, local supporters are a sincere and honest bunch who went about every step of his process the right way. But this is a far dirtier game.
And I’m not sure we have the folks in place at the state and national levels to play it. If this facility lands elsewhere, local delegations can hold their heads up high. They did everything they could. Don’t blame them. Heck, don’t blame environmental concerns, lack of public support, AthensFAQ or site specs.
No blame or credit should go to anyone for this site landing elsewhere. It’s our complete lack of political punch that keeps falling short time and time again. And until we learn to play the game, we might as well enjoy the short list.
Because that’s where we will always stay.
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Insiders must have blown the whistle!
Insiders must have blown the whistle re site selection. How else would we know? NBAF is part of a national response to the 911 attack. If we are out to "save our nation," shouldn't the facility be set up at the best possible site -- the one most likely to ensure its success? The national wake-up call may evolve to a more sustainable and less hysterical long-term commitment to doing what science has done best: Improving and safe-guarding the safety of the nation. U.GA., Merial, and other local outfits have a track record, here. It is hard to imagine another location that is as prepared, ready and eager to fulfill a mandate that just coincidently happens to be very similar to the one at the center of the NBAF facility. This one may get away too, but it's hard to argue that it should. In this narrow case, the failure of political resolve is indeed suspect, both locally, and nationally.
Au (demi) contraire
"In this narrow case, the failure of political resolve is indeed suspect, both locally, and nationally"
Au (demi) contraire -- the local folks have shown resolve, courage in the face of tremendous pressure bordering on harrassment from the FAQ loons who try to say everybody else has an economic interest except them (check out where Grady Thrasher and Kathy Prescott own land, btw -- you'll find that interesting; yep, no economic vested interests there!), and vision -- NBAF could be the wedge that drives open the ACC door to attracting life science industry to here, which is what the community has been saying it wants for the past 30 years (unlike chicken plants, life sciences are high economic impact and low environmental impact industries).
The folks who have really fallen down are those who "represent" us in Atlanta and washington.
New Home Page
Earth to Jason, and the faceless electronic masters that control his destiny:
The new look of the Home Page is great. Love all the additional content, but----
1. First and foremost there's no direct link to the blogs. Whassup with that? Only link is to go to the opinions page, and link through one of the latest blogs. I don't give a flip about what other people say, I want to come straight here, and set you straight. Which brings me to my next issue, which is,
2. Unless you close the stupid ad in the upper right corner (which right now is for the Wildlife Festival), you can't activate the links to the news stories. Nothing tells you this, and the casual reader isn't going to putz around trying to figure it out. May be browser specific, but all the really smart people are using Firefox. Which brings me to my next issue, which is,
3. Every other site in the world has a "contact us" link, which is conspicuously missing from the YOUR front page. There is an "e-mail" link, but when you go there, you have to know the e-mail address, so if you don't you have to backtrack, find the e-mail, which is at least two pages away, get back to the e-mail page, and so on. Very Very clumsy. Which is why I'm using this slightly less clumsy method of sharing this vital technical information with you. Too much trouble to e-mail.
I know there are media consultants to whom you would normally pay serious bucks for this kind of advice, but I'll settle for a burger plate at The Grill.
Quick feedback
Man, Ghost, you are fast. What do you do for a living?
1. When you click on the Opinion tab, at the bottom of the latest blog posts is a link to "All Blogs."
2. That sucks. I'll see what we can do, but my guess is not much. It does affect about 13 percent of our users.
3. The Contact Us page is the second item under the Customer Service menu, AND there is a Contact Us link at the very bottom of the home page.
Thanks for playing.
Fast, you just don't know how fast
Man, Ghost, you are fast. What do you do for a living?
1. When you click on the Opinion tab, at the bottom of the latest blog posts is a link to "All Blogs."
yes, it's there . But looking at it from the average ABH reader (and that's as far as I'm going with that) perspective, I'm suggesting that they equate "opinion" with the official editorial page, and the "blogs" with "blogs". Just saying that traffic on the blogs has always suffered, and making access to them more obscure isn't going to address the problem. Analysis the process --open home page, open opinion page, scan newest blogs about which you don't give a rat's ass, finally find link at bottom of page. Just saying
2. That sucks. I'll see what we can do, but my guess is not much. It does affect about 13 percent of our users. Yeah, and it's a bummer that it apparently is the 13% smart enough to use Firefox. Maybe you could just do away with the ad in recognition of their superior intellect, and the fact they still are willing to visit the ABH site
At least there should be some notice so people don't assume the page is not working and go read the Godless AJC
3. The Contact Us page is the second item under the Customer Service menu, AND there is a Contact Us link at the very bottom of the home page. There is no "link" in your link on the home page. Again, may be a browser specific problem, but all there is there that is useful is a telephone number, and that's so 20th century. Again, suggesting that is an obscure placement anyway-- must sites have the "contact us" tab at the top of the page with a menu of e-mails hot linked. The links in the Customer Service menu do work, but again suggesting that most ABH readers equate customer service with missing their newspaper, and not with bitching about content. How many of them are going to make the two step search to comment on a story. Seems to me that at least every news story could have a link to that page, with something like "want to contact the author of this story" Again, just saying.
I'm assuming that one of the purposes of having a web-page is more reader interaction, and the more steps you put in that happening, the less likely it is to occur
Also, looks like "comments" to the news stories may not be working. I guess the new system makes Melissa happy, but it really sucks anyway, so it's not working is no big loss.
BTW, as long as we are discussing matters electronic, and I have your attention, it's really irritating that when a blog goes over one page, "clicking" on the last comment does not take you to it, if it is off the first page
Blogs on the front
I agree with Ghost.
Also, I don't want my blog on the opinion page, because it's not.
Prayer Vigil at 6:00
I agree with Ghost.
Holy Crap!
And there's a sort of hurricane on the way.
Surely these are the signs of the end times.
No "NO BIO TERROR" sticker for me just yet.
I still think the lab could be good for Athens. But how much soul must one sell to get these juicy favors from the goverment. Hardly makes it worth it.
Perhaps, in this situation, the bottom of the short list is an endorsement of our qualifications and also an indicator of our reluctance to play a dirty game. If so, it's not such a bad place to be.
"If so, it's not such a bad
"If so, it's not such a bad place to be"
Except it leaves us always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
At least we're not going to
At least we're not going to lose to our bete noir, North Carolina, again. I swear it's only a matter of time before they recruit our football team (it's the only thing we're better at than them).
Although, somehow, losing to Mississippi doesn't make me feel much better.
always a bridesmaid, never a bride
I agree and I'm not saying that does not suck. But this is not the end of all life sciences economic development. I would like NBAF to come here, but the fact that it'll go somewhere else due to dirty politics is better than somebody coming here and saying " yeah.........this place sucks."
Whatever happens with NBAF aside, the the biggest payoff we could have for economic development will come from having an actual plan. Don't be deluded when you hear local leadership talk about regionalism. They have no actual plans to recruit jobs other than sitting and waiting for call centers, condo towers and, perhaps, the next NBAF to show up.
"the fact that it'll go
"the fact that it'll go somewhere else due to dirty politics is better than somebody coming here and saying " yeah.........this place sucks." "
Agreed about that; even if we lose it, it's important how we lost it and, more importantly, how we played the game, IMO. The thing that worries me about the FAQ wackos is that any other potential company will take one look at Athens and decide we're all a bunch of loons; this is bigger, in other words, than just NBAF. I think the FAQers really embarrassed themselves and the community with all the booing and hissing at the last scoping meeting. What children, throwing a temper tantrum because they couldn't get their way.
As to regionalism, that is something that ACC is, in fact, working on with neighboring counties. Obviously, it's early days yet but it is in the works, from what I hear.
For what it's worth,
For what it's worth, straightgunslinger, I meant that the state and federal delegations support is suspect if not absent; they've played it politically correct, not getting involved, and kind of doing some scoping of their own. I didn't mean the Mayor and Commission. NBAF is kind of reactionary in its preliminary mission and design. Now this is kind of a long-shot idea, but, imo, basically, it will settle down to a long-term commitment to protect the food supply, and guess what, many of UGA's programs -- from the Vet School to the biocontainment lab uh, to the BSE lab, etc. etc. ... -- are all about doing this very thing. Heck, it's a land-grant Ag School just on the cusp of the big time (uh, maybe)! NBAF and Athens/UGA are a close match when it comes to a suitable bride and groom; as for manufacturing, say, automobiles, or some foray into the physical science realm (Silicon Valley), well, that'd be your typical shotgun wedding! The fact is, NBAF and UGA are uniquely suited for one another and would complement each others missions. It doesn't get better than that!
Every town has FAQ idiots. We just seem to have alot more.
But I would not worry too much about their impact on economic development. Unless they can mount some sort of real legal challenge, they are often swatted away from projects and they eventually go back to growing pot in their basements. Even with all the noise they have made about NBAF, they can be sure it has nothing to do with the decision where to put it.
The spector of regional economic development has been haunting these parts for sometime and most people have the same report you do. They suspect something is going on but don't really know what it is or what it is supposed to do. What is actually going on is meetings. And meetings. And meetings about meetings. And what no one wants to say out loud is that regionalism basicly means everyone shares the cost but only one county gets the primary tax benefit. Sure, what benefits one county here in N.E. Georgia benefits us all, but lets be honest, while many workers drive here from Jackson County to work, they don't get to take the factories taxes back with them. Oh sure, their residents take their pay home but remember, residences often cost more in the services they require versus the services they pay for. It take businesses to underwrite the rest. And the businesses will be in single locations, not spread out equally. This is, of course, before all the fights over who's in charge, who will pay what and who to blame if something does not work.
Truthfully, we don't have a plan. You'll here some talk about building music studios which will make a great place to hangout for all the guys who work at the existing music studios since they already have a tough time filling their schedules and have plenty of free time to hang out and talk about the 80s.
Our plan is to wait. Wait for the next NBAF or Solvay or Novartis. Just keep waiting. Also, there is one other key to this plan. When the big one does come knocking, let's make sure we are completely unprepared to do anything about it.
My captcha word is "rid" which could be used to get lice out of the dreads of some FAQers.