Many citizens voted for nancy Denson to serve as a counterbalance to the tax and spend commissioners who have no respect for businesses or taxpayers.

I encourage all property owners to remember Mayor Denson's budget when she runs for reelection next year.

Funny, the ABH employs one of the leading advocates for designating Buena Vista as a historic district.

This piece of artwork and the recently concluded Stiles Apartments Trial perfectly illustrate the dysfunction and aloofness of The Unified Government.

Time to replace the progressive establishment. They've become more corrupt and self-serving than the "good old boy" network they replaced.

Congratulations on the unemployment fair. I thought Occupy's 15 minutes elapsed months ago.

Have they done a traffic study yet?

Mercy Health is one of the best charities in Northeast Georgia. I encourage all readers to learn more about Mercy Health.

Keep covering the story, its not the ABH's fault that Jamie Hood acts like a clown and he will continue to act like a clown because he has nothing to lose. It should also be pointed out that regardless of whether the ABH covers Jamie Hood, the Atlanta Media will still show up and splash his mug on television.

Keep covering the story, but also recognize that there are many stories going on in Athens, too. I'm curious why the ABH doesn't do more muckraking stories about our local government. Instead of holding our local government accountable, the ABH seems to just parrot press releases and talking points from the Unified Government, the Mayor and Commission, and the School District. Probably a Pulitzer prize awaiting an enterprising reporter in Athens-Clarke County.

Great. Now I feel much better about leisure services wasting taxpayer money.

How about the Clarke County School District's finances? Why hasn't anything happened after the grand jury report this July?

I, for one, applaud the Mayor and Commission for pushing more jobs, investment and young professionals and families to Oconee County.

@zyzygy: The contract doesn't give the city an easement, nor was the contract recorded in the property records. In fact, the city didn't reserve any property rights in the contract. Plus, it could be argued that the city broke the contract and not the property owner. In any event, the taxpayers are paying top dollar for this boondoggle.

Property owner exercises dominion and control over his property and violates no covenants, ordinances or laws yet he is demonized and personally attacked. It's amazing to think that anyone would want to build a home in Athens-Clarke County.

Suppose only the media prefer hearing more from a moderator than the candidates themselves. This voter prefers to hear more from the candidates without some media member getting in the way.

Fortunately, the Economist can do that for me: http://www.economist.com/node/21559657.

In a nutshell, Dodd-Frank threatens to put small community banks out of business at the expense of the Big Banks that were a lead contributor to the financial crisis. Oh, and the Durbin Amendment which has pushed costs onto consumers and pushed many out of the banking system. There's two quick examples.

Needless to say, only the most politicized Obamafan could believe that Dodd-Frank is a perfect piece of legislation.

Mr. Kemp did explain how Dodd-Frank and Consumer Protections directly affect his office's budget. This article did not.

The GA Secretary of State's Office is in charge of state wide securities regulations. Such regulation has increased under the federal mandates of Dodd-Frank. Squaring budget cuts with the federal mandates imposed upon the State of Georgia by Dodd-Frank and the DOJ's voting policies leaves less money available for other departments such as the state archives.

Believe it or not, there are frequently unintended consequences to Federal Legislation.

@armamentalist: Many people would find it repulsive that a member of the bar would compare a sitting Superior Court Judge to an admitted cop-killer. Others would suggest that you need to learn a thing or two about professionalism.

@user2005uc: Although the Grand Jury found no criminal conduct at this point, it concluded that "the present conditions of the school board's finances warrants a genuine concern that in fact 'theft, fraud, and misuse' may indeed have occurred and we don't know it yet."

Amazing that it took a Commission race to bring these misdeeds of the School Board to light. Every concerned citizen should review the Grand Jury presentment. http://athensclarke.allclerks.us/calfiles/index.php?dir=Grand%20Jury/&fi...

Where is a link to the Grand Jury's Presentment?

Underwhelming choice. Should have gone to a nominee who has some experience as a trial judge rather than some guy trapped in an Ivory Tower.

I want to support TSPLOST simply because our community needs more investment in the infrastructure. However, these projects look like someone's Christmas list and are so petty that they solve few of the long term transportation needs of our community. Our elected leadership squandered an opportunity with TSPLOST, and I hope the voters reject it so that we aren't locked in on this boondoggle for the next decade.

@1sanctimoniousplaya: What does this post have to do with anything?

@armamentalist: How can you reconcile your outrageous position that McKillip is the real Republican in this race when Regina Quick has been one of the leading Republicans in our community for two decades and McKillup recently flipped from being one of the most liberal members of the Democratic Party to being the House Speaker's footstool.

Vote for Ethics and Accountability in Government. Vote for Regina Quick.

Do the esteemed commentators not understand that, in order to obtain a conviction, a Prosecutor must prove charges beyond a reasonable doubt. This steep burden to convict is much higher than mere probable cause to charge with a crime. Perhaps in this case, there was evidence to support a charge of attempted rape but not enough to convict beyond a reasonable doubt. Perhaps a child, traumatized once already, did not want to rehash her trauma on the witness stand in a room full of strangers. Perhaps some key evidence was suppressed due to an illegal search or a confession obtained in an unlawful manner.

This commentator knows as much about Deonta Ballard's case as the next one, which is close to nothing. Still, my suggestions are much more plausible than the notion that the prosecutor and judge in this case were limp-wristed pinkos with a natural affinity for pedophiles.

The headline of this article should read: "Obama to raise Taxes on Small Businesses Across America"