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When I lived in Atlanta, there was a large line item on my annual property tax for street sweeping, which didn't seem to make much of a difference at keeping th
by Mountain_Skies 3y ago
When I lived in Atlanta, there was a large line item on my annual property tax for street sweeping, which didn't seem to make much of a difference at keeping the roads clear of debris. There were many streets near me that obviously had not been swept in years, and while I did see them come up my street a few times, given the traffic volume, it has hardly frequent enough. They also didn't seem to have any kind of communication process between the police, who respond to traffic accidents, and the street sweepers, who never came by after an accident spread debris all over the road. Sometimes the police would have a stiff push broom in their trunk to do a quick sweep of the large stuff into the gutter but for the most part accident sites would remain a hazard until it had rained enough to carry the debris down to the storm drains to be clogged up by it.
People complain all the time about underfunded cities but if every property in the city was getting charged as much as I was per year, the street sweeping service should have been worldclass. It's things like this that make people distrust city government and not inclined to give them more money for little return.
- datadrivenangel 3y agoAtlanta, in addition to the traffic, is also known for their corruption.
- easyas124 3y agoEvery single American city has this to one degree or another, even if it's just "hey, my brother owns a landscaping business and can mow city hall...". But a Byzantine government structure and a "fuck you, got mine" attitude baked into the national ethos will do that.
- datadrivenangel 3y agoOh yeah. Atlanta is not unique in that regard. Great city.
- ethbr1 3y agoIs it? The Kasim Reed years produced a few federal prosecutions [e.g. 0], but generally it's been pretty quiet? And it's not like the US Attorney isn't looking. So either Atlanta politicians are better at hiding their crimes, or they aren't committing them at the average rate [1]. Subjectively, I'd say that Atlanta has a fair amount of low-level corruption (see the Park amounts), but generally avoids the major-level corruption that other cities get caught in. [0] https://www.ajc.com/news/local/torpy-large-when-the-cost-your-own-corruption-knocks-you-out/ImwYdHnS8OzOBpKqsehtSK/ https://www.ajc.com/news/local/torpy-large-when-the-cost-you... [1] https://pols.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/273/2023/11/Corruption-Rpt-15-Final.11.2.23.pdf https://pols.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/273/2023/11/Co...
- bigbillheck 3y agoThe whole "Cop City" stuff seems pretty corrupt.
- ethbr1 3y agoWhich part? The city wants to use some land for a public purpose. They steamrolled local opposition to do so. It'd arguably be more corrupt if they turned around and sold it to developers. (I haven't looked at the details of how City Hall East was sold into Ponce City Market) To me, corruption is individual enrichment at injury to the public or subverting legal processes in place.
- ethbr1 3y agoLooked up the City Hall East sale, because I was curious. Sold through the Atlanta Development Authority, in 2011, for $27M, with a portion of the paid as the development achieves milestones. And gets a $600,000/yr expense off the city's books. I walked through the entire empty building during the sale... and could definitely say there needed to be a LOT of renovation (including structural) before it was usable. Also, apparently holes between 12' ceiling floors were acceptable safety practices when it was built. No OSHA! https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2011/08/01/city-hall-east-to-become-ponce-city-market/ https://roughdraftatlanta.com/2011/08/01/city-hall-east-to-b...
- vkou 3y agoLocal politics is at the perfect junction where it's rarely held under an inquisitor's microscope, and a few developers/small businesses stand to benefit massively from any corruption. For bonus points, their elections are often staggered separately from state and federal elections, which suppresses voter interest and turnout. You get what the system is designed to produce.
- bombcar 3y agoI've noticed that things are lot better when it's actual city officials who are not overworked vs contractors; our little city owns the street sweepers and the road repair equipment and the tree equipment and the snowplows, and it's basically the same group of guys doing all that at different times, and it works pretty well.