By Maria Saporta
Friday, February 5, 2010

A groundbreaking bill to support the arts, economic development and quality-of-life initiatives was introduced Feb. 1 in the state House of Representatives.

House Bill 1049, introduced by Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, and Stacey Abrams, D-DeKalb, would transform the local option sales tax by allowing counties to pass a fraction of a penny sales tax.

It would be the first time that Georgia would permit the splitting up of a penny sales tax — a tool that has been successfully applied in states across the country.

The proposed enabling legislation would allow each county the flexibility to pass a sales tax (be it a full penny or a fraction of a penny) to go toward supporting arts and cultural organizations, economic development incentives and quality-of-life initiatives.

Each county would be able to design how to split its penny sales tax, and then voters in that county would vote on whether to approve that sales tax. At least 55 percent of a tenth of a penny would be required to go toward supporting arts and cultural organizations and initiatives.

That means that more than nine-tenths of a penny could go toward other initiatives, such as green space acquisition, convention centers, etc.

“We are getting positive traction because it is a fractional sales tax with a local option that voters can approve,” said Flora Maria Garcia, CEO of the Metro Atlanta Arts & Culture Coalition. “It provides counties with an economic development toolbox. It is considered to be a better solution that a SPLOST (special purpose local option sales tax) because there’s such great flexibility.”

Cobb County Commissioner Tim Lee, who has announced that he’s running for commission chairman, is sold on the idea.

He says it would be “an extraordinary way” to support the economic side of arts and cultural organizations while giving counties the opportunity to spend the rest of the penny on other needed initiatives.

“I believe I’m going to have a much better chance of working with folks who live in Cobb County by being able to sell a fractional penny,” Lee said. “It’s an excellent tool that we can add to our toolbox.”

Dennis Kelly, the recently departed president and CEO of Zoo Atlanta, said such a tax is critical to metro Atlanta’s and Georgia’s competitive stance.

“We don’t want to repeat the mistake of starving our economic engines of growth. A strong arts and cultural community helps support economic development,” Kelly said. “It’s critically important for us to have this. When you look at the investment that cities like Denver, Salt Lake City, Miami, Houston, Dallas are making in their arts and cultural community — both with public and private money — it’s going to be important for us maintaining our competitive position.”

For Zoo Atlanta, not having public support means that it’s the third-highest-priced zoo in the country. Out of the top 20 zoos in the country, it is only one of a couple that receives no government support.

It’s become an even more critical issue during this tough economy.

Last year, the state of Georgia ranked 47th in per-capita support of the arts. In his most recent budget proposal, Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed cutting funding for the Georgia Council for the Arts by 79 percent from its 2008 level.

Allowing counties to develop their own dedicated funding for arts and cultural organizations is viewed as a way to fill that void. Because all 159 counties could decide whether to present such a tax to voters, supporters of the bill say it has statewide appeal.

“We are lucky in Macon to have such a rich inventory of cultural assets with a symphony, two active theaters and multiple museums, that identifying new opportunities to sustain our arts community is of great interest to all our organizations,” said Lisa Love, director of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon.

Currently, supporters are working with several possible Senate sponsors for the legislation. Under the proposed legislation, there would be three tiers of arts organizations.

The largest institutions could receive up to 15 percent of their annual operating budget from the tax; midsized organizations could receive up to 17 percent; and the smallest arts groups could receive up to 19 percent. Once passed, each county’s tax would sunset in 15 years, which means that the sales tax would need to be reapproved by voters.

Lena Carstens, managing director of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Inman Park, made sure to “look out for the little guy” while helping draft the legislation.

“The arts are so important to a vibrant community,” Carstens said. “They help create the heart and soul for the city and the state. This is an opportunity for us to be more competitive.”

The legislation also puts Fulton County, which accounts for more than 80 percent of budgets of all the arts and cultural organizations in the state, in a separate category.

Because there are so many groups eligible for such funding in Fulton, the legislation proposes requiring that three-tenths of the penny sales tax go toward art and cultural support.

The group that has been promoting this legislation — the Friends of Arts and Culture — have been working on the idea for more than a year to make sure it’s as fair and flexible as possible.

It has met with the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia as well as other state and local leaders.

“The advice we got was that each county has different issues, so it probably was not politically practical to have a regional tax,” said Virginia Hepner, who chairs Friends of Arts and Culture. “We decided to go county by county. We did statewide polling on the appeal of a fractional tax vote, and it was overwhelmingly positive — 65 percent were in favor of a fractionalized penny.”

That is consistent with what the group has seen in other communities.

“We have looked at other areas across the country, and it’s been very well-received,” Lee said. “It really helps being able to support many different venues. And at the same time we would be able to emphasize other economic development and quality-of-life initiatives. It’s an excellent tool to use short-term and long-term.”

When it comes to political muscle in Washington, D.C., Georgia has almost no pull.

The days of the late Sen. Richard B. Russell or the now-retired Sen. Sam Nunn are a distant memory. The days of a President Jimmy Carter and a Georgia mafia running Washington, D.C. is for the history books.

Today, we are the state that didn’t get invited to the national dance. With a Republican governor, a Republican-dominated legislature, two Republican United States senators, we have little pull with a Democratically-controlled White House and a Democratically-controlled Congress.

So we sit back and watch our neighboring states receive hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, from the federal government to finance their grand plans for high-speed rail and an upgraded infrastructure.

Oddly enough, we were in a similar spot back in late 2000 (just reverse the political parties).

Georgia had a Democratic governor — Roy Barnes; a Democratic Lt. Gov. — Mark Taylor; and two Democratic U.S. senators — Max Cleland and Zell Miller. Yet the nation had just elected (by the slimmest of margins), a Republican president — George W. Bush.

Theoretically, that should have put Georgia on the sidelines.

But an interesting thing happened.

Barnes had selected former Gov. Zell Miller to fill the unexpired term of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell, a Republican. Miller went to Washington as the most junior of all 100 senators and as a member of the minority party.

Yet overnight, Miller became the most powerful senator in Washington At the time, the Senate was evenly split along party lines. Miller realized that if he became the swing senator (a Democrat willing to work with a Republican administration), he would emerge as a power player.

That’s how Miller became the U.S. senator who quickly became an insider at the Republican White House (much to the consternation of Georgia Democrats who felt Miller had betrayed them).

So what is the lesson from a decade ago that can apply to Georgia today?

It provides a strategic road map of how Georgia can regain its historic positioning of one of the most politically important states in the country.

It all comes down to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a man who has been a bi-partisan player for most of his political career. Granted, Isakson has been leaning further and further right, distancing himself from his traditionally more moderate stances on issues.

And yet I believe that at his core, Isakson is an independent Republican who could comfortably become a rational bridge between the Republican senators and the Democratically-controlled Senate and White House.

After the recent election in Massachusetts to fill the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat went to a Republican, the Democrats lost their super, filibuster-proof 60-seat majority.

That means that if one Republican senator emerges as a man or woman of “maybe” rather than just being part of the “Party of No,” he or she will become one of the most important leaders in Washington, D.C.

Isakson is a perfect candidate to play that role. He can reach across the aisle and say, let’s come up with a plan for health care, for jobs, for clean energy, for debt reduction; plans that can garner bi-partisan support and move our country forward.

Since the Massachusetts vote, President Barack Obama has spent time reaching out to the minority party. The president knows that if he is going to get key legislation passed, he will need at least one, if not several, Republicans who are willing to join in a constructive conversation for the good of the country.

Isakson can be that Republican. Consider his political track record.

Back in 1990, Isakson was the Republican nominee for governor, but he lost to Zell Miller. But that didn’t stop Miller and Isakson from forging a partnership to help improve Georgia. Miller convinced Isakson to chair the state school board and bring order to what had been a chaotic and politically divisive board.

Just as a historical reminder, as governor, Miller gained national stature when he endorsed Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton for president in 1991. Georgia also gave Clinton a key victor during the 1992 primaries, helping the Arkansas governor become Democratic nominee.

At the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Miller delivered the keynote address. And when Clinton won the presidency, Miller had a special entré to the White House. That was another high watermark for when Georgia had real political clout in Washington.

But the bi-partisan relationship between Miller and Isakson showed the real power of political party elasticity. Yes, they had run against each other; and yes, one was a Democrat and the other was a Republican. Yet they respected each other while sharing a common love for Georgia.

When Miller decided not to run for re-election in 2004, it was Isakson who successfully won Miller’s seat and became one of a 100 senators, first as part of the majority party and later in the minority party.

As the 2010 elections began heating up, Isakson decided against running for governor and chose instead to run for re-election.

Arguably, given the highly partisan tone these days, it could be politically risky for Isakson to emerge as a consensus builder in Washington — especially among rabid Republicans.

But for those of us who want to see Georgia regain its national prominence and for those of us who long for bi-partisan cooperation on issues critical to our nation’s future, Isakson could become a real hero.

All Isakson needs to do is to walk back down the path that Miller paved a decade ago. And given his genuine sense of fairness, Isakson could outshine Miller by showing how successful true bi-partisanship can be.

It’s our one best hope to get Georgia back in the game.

By Guest Columnist MIKE “STINGER” GLENN, former Atlanta Hawks basketball player, broadcaster, book collector and lover of history.

My love of books began with my mother, Annye Wilkes Glenn, my first and best teacher. Mom first taught me literacy by reading countless bedtime and daytime stories and feeding my inquisitive and developing mind with intrigue and fascinations.

Mom, who taught elementary school her entire career, was my teacher in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. Mrs. Glenn, as I was instructed to call her at school, mandated reading periods—even in the summertime for her children- and discussions of lessons learned. She would always ask me, “Michael, what lesson did you learn from the book that you read?”

I loved sports books, but I was not allowed to limit my selections to that one area. I read about inventors, explorers, presidents, national heroes, care givers, freedom fighters, educators, and others. My thoughts and aspirations expanded far beyond the boundaries of my small community in Cave Spring, Ga.

Mom’s favorite historical figure, who has also become mine, was Frederick Douglass. She would sometimes quote Douglass’ enslaver Hugh Auld, who shouted odious instructions concerning the educational protocol for Douglass and other enslaved Americans.

Auld shouted at his wife Sophia, who had taught a young Frederick Douglass some fundamentals of reading, “Learning will do him no good but a great deal of harm, making him disconsolate and unhappy…He should know nothing but the will of his master and learn to obey it…If you teach that n____r how to read, it will forever unfit him to be a slave.”

Mom would condense and clean up the language; she would say,” If you teach him how to read, it will forever unfit him to be a slave.”

Frederick Douglass considered Auld’s tirade as his first anti-slavery lecture. It flamed the fires of his curious mind and led him toward a life of freedom and literacy. Mom made sure that we understood how created a remarkable and historical life through knowledge and inspiration provided by reading.

My celebration of Black History Month this February centers on book collecting, a passion that I enjoy all year long. Each month of the past 13 years, I have commemorated Black history through collecting rare, first edition books and sharing the information and inspiration with others.

Black history is and should be an inseparable part of American and world history. I use my passion to break down walls, integrate, promote, and share.

While I collect books that concentrate on various areas of Black life and culture, history dominates my shelves. I view history as a teacher and a healer. All the effects of today are rooted in historical causes of yesterday. By over- emphasizing effects without connecting the causes, we embrace a historical amnesia that impedes our progress and greater humanity.

The first edition books, newspapers, and other documents of my collection contain the spirit of the time in which they were published with all of the customs, laws, and beliefs that may seem foreign today.

It was in 1997 when I was introduced to the world of rare and first edition books. It followed my passion for mathematics and basketball, having earned a B.A. degree in Mathematics from Southern Illinois University and having played 10 years of professional basketball in the NBA.

I then wrote and published my first book, Lessons in Success from the NBA’s Top Players. It included quotes from famous men and women throughout history.

While researching the quotes, I searched for the books that contained those quotes, and that led me to the world of rare and first edition books and I enthusiastically started collecting books.

I found myself a custodian of a people’s memory. I was connected in a new and spiritual way to the authors and subjects of these precious time period documents of American history. I could not escape the feeling that my new interest was more than a passion; it contained a purpose.

Through book collecting, I saw a great connection between the past and the present. I was digging deeper to uncover yesterday’s causes which led to effects of today. I understood William Faulkner’s words:

“The past is never dead, it isn’t even past.”

James Baldwin summarized my thoughts even better:

“History is not something merely to be read and it does not refer merely or even principally to the past. On the contrary the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us and are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.“

I developed great affection for Zora Neale Hurston and consider her my favorite author, other than Frederick Douglass. I feel like a student of W.E.B. Dubois — his genius, research, creative analysis, eloquence, and boldness helped to more accurately define Sociology and the Reconstruction period after the Civil War.

John Hope Franklin, Lerone Bennett, Carter G. Woodson became just a few of my new historical friends.

I am blessed to have one of the world’s great collectors of African American books, Charles Blockson, as a mentor and friend. He has revealed perspectives, dynamics, and directives of Black book collectors, past and present.

Blockson for more than 60 years sought out books, pamphlets, broadsides, engravings, and everything and anything relating to Black people of African descent. In 1984 he donated his collection of 20,000 items to Temple University and served as curator until his recent retirement of the collection that bears his name, The Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection.

As I was learning how and what to collect, he would advise and counsel me via the phone or in person from his Temple University office. At the end of each conversation, he would always say,” Keep collecting.” Blockson would advise me never to pay an exorbitant price for books.

“The books, at the right price, will find you,” Blockson said. He taught me that my quest was spiritual, and that I had been chosen to follow this particular path.

I discovered that early book collectors played a significant role in forming American foundations of education. Libraries and reading societies were formed or aided by the early American bibliophiles — lovers of books.

In 1815 former President Thomas Jefferson sold his entire collection, 6487, of books to the Library of Congress to help re-stock the shelves which had been destroyed during the War of 1812.

During much of the antebellum period, Philadelphia contained the largest free African American community in the United States. These individuals created institutions for the purpose of collectively challenging slavery and racism. They established churches, schools, literary societies, fraternal organizations, and businesses.

An early society for promoting education and literacy was founded by a group of free men of color in Philadelphia in 1828. The” Reading Room Society” had books donated by collectors/owners to be loaned to members of their group. In 1833 the Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons was established for similar reasons.

Black women, although excluded from many opportunities on the basis of race and gender, participated in the movement to empower the race through literacy. They organized a Female Literary Society in 1831.

I feel that I am in good company and traveling on an ordained path. Thanks for allowing me to share some of my passion with you. If you would like more, please visit my web site: www.mikeglenn.com.

By Eleanor Ringel Cater
Special to SaportaReport

There’s nothing here but lots of nothing, done to a turn by John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (“Match Point”) as his clueless partner/straight man.

That’s meant to be a compliment.

This pleasantly overloaded hokum casts Rhys Meyers as a diplomatic aide in Paris with 007 dreams. They are fulfilled — and then some— when he’s assigned to drive a cue-headed, playful-mode-full-on Travolta (there’s even a hamburger joke meant to evoke his Great Comeback in “Pulp Fiction.”)

The pair race around Paris (or some clever facsimile) tracking down…well, that’s for me and Travolta to know and you to find out. I actually guessed the final twist rather early (unusual for me), but I found myself having such guilty-pleasure fun watching Travolta showboat like there is no tomorrow, I stayed ’till the end.

“From Paris With Love” has been put together by much the same team as last year’s “Taken,” — a more serious spin on the vengeance/chase movie, with a decidedly more morose Liam Neeson, and blood bags that didn’t look like they’ve been sitting around since Chuck Norris’s last movie.

This thing is fun. Dumb fun. Overdone fun. But, unlike Travolta’s insulting “Wild Hogs,” fun that doesn’t make you feel cheated or angry or even mildly insulted. Travolta and Rhys Meyers make a a perfectly-odd odd couple and both seem to having some sort of good time. Hopefully, if you lower your expectations to comic-book level, you will, too.

By Maria Saporta

At the monthly Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable this morning, four state legislators were relatively upbeat on how the 2010 General Assembly will address environmental issues.

The biggest cause for optimism was the water conservation bill that was introduced by Gov. Sonny Perdue and his leadership team earlier this week.

Jill Johnson, program director of Georgia Conservation Voters, said such a water bill had been one of the top priorities of the different environmental groups in the state.

State Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), who chairs the Senate’s Natural Resources and Environment Committee, said the state had laid the groundwork when it supported having a statewide water plan that addressed the needs of metro Atlanta as well as the rest of the state.

Tolleson also said he was hopeful that Georgia, Alabama and Florida soon would be able to reach an agreement on the use of water between the three states.

“I believe that during the year, we will get a compact (between Georgia, Alabama and Florida on water usage),” Tolleson said. “It’s the most important thing right now. It’s a very sensitive time, and people need to be very careful about what they say.”

State Sen. Steve Henson (D-DeKalb) agreed that a water compact was crucial.

“The most environmentally friendly way we can do this is through conservation,” Henson said. “We need a compact with other states. But it will not provide Atlanta the water it needs without conservation.

State Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Columbus) said she was pleased with the governor’s proposal. But she also believes more could be done. She has introduced a bill that would have an outdoor watering schedule to prevent people from watering their lawns during the middle of the day when there is the greatest amount of evaporation.

Securing funding for transit also is another top priority of the Georgia Conservation Voters, but the prognosis on that front is much cloudier.

State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-DeKalb) said he is seeing growing consensus between the House and Senate, largely because Gov. Perdue has proposed a regional approach to a possible new penny sales tax.

But it was unclear whether such a new penny would be transit-focused.

“The governor’s proposal is a lot more road oriented than transit,” Jacobs said. “That’s open for discussion.”

Jacobs, who serves on the House oversight committee for MARTA, said removing the 50/50 restriction for the MARTA penny could be a difficult issue. By state law, MARTA has to spend 50 percent of its sales tax revenue on capital improvements and the remaining on operations.

MARTA is the only transit agency in the country with such a restriction, and it would like the flexibility to spend its own money where it’s needed. Remember MARTA does not receive annual operating support form the state, the only agency among the nation’s top 10 to receive no state support.

Jacobs said he had proposed waving that restriction for two years, but now MARTA has to invest in major technology improvements so it will need capital funding over the next two years.

The question Jacobs didn’t answer was why not remove that sales tax restriction entirely and permanently.

But he is accurate in saying that a flexible MARTA sales tax will not solve the transit agency’s immediate and dire need for operating funds. Unless it can secure new funding, MARTA likely will be facing a drastic decline in service this July.

Jacobs mentioned that one option could be using some of the $300 million transportation bond program that has been proposed by Perdue for MARTA and other transit agencies.

That also is a long shot. The governor has identified all the projects in that $300 million bond program, and there is no money for transit. It is mostly dedicated to freight and road improvements.

Someone asked whether it’s time to change the state Constitution to allow its motor fuel tax to fund transit and alternative modes of transportation rather than just roads and bridges.

Jacobs said a change in the Constitution would require a two thirds vote in the House and Senate. “That is a real tall order,” he said.

But Tolleson was not so pessimistic, saying there’s an evolution underway.

Georgia has watched hundreds of millions of dollars flow to its competitor states for rail projects, and it likely will not get its share of federal dollars until it begins investing in transit and trains.

“I don’t know if it would be that hard to change the Constitutional amendment,” Tolleson said “It is a matter of talking through the process of where we stand today.”

By Maria Saporta

It’s baaaack.

The super, mega, wrap-around sign on the historic Medical Arts building on Peachtree Street downtown is all the evidence we need to show that our city is not working.

Complaint after complaint has been filed against the owners of the 384 Peachtree building — which is highly visible going north or south on the Downtown Connector — for violating the city’s sign ordinance.

We are not supposed to be a city of billboards. We certainly are not supposed to be a city where advertisers can wrap an unsightly canvas pimping their products on an historic high-rise building.

This is not the first time this issue has come up. Last year, the building got taken over by ads, and eventually the city or the community put enough pressure on the building owners to take it down.

So why is it back?

That’s a question that Kyle Kessler, a downtown resident an engaged citizen, wants answered.

He sent an email wondering why “MetroPCS would want to advertise illegally on a vacant building in downtown Atlanta that has quite a history of code compliance violations?”

But more importantly, Kessler wants to know why the sign is being tolerated by our city government.

Kessler sent an email to city leaders demanding action to get the sign removed.

“I appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and would encourage the City to take appropriate action regarding enforcement — understanding the City’s authorization to remove the illegal sign and place a lien on the property per Sec.16-28A.015,” Kessler wrote the city.

At the PEDs membership meeting last night, Kessler said the city still has not taken action against the building owners.

Why not?

Wrapping around an historic building with a MetroPCS sign cheapens our city and diminishes our desire to become an attractive cosmopolitan community.

Ideally, the building owners would spend their energies trying to bring new life to the old building rather than creating a blight on our city’s skyline in order to make a quick buck.

No matter what, the city should not tolerate the sign being there for another day. And it needs to make sure that the building owners won’t flaunt the city’s sign ordinance and put up another mega billboard whenever it wants to.

Meanwhile, customers of MetroPCS should let their service provider know that paying money for such a gaudy and garish advertisement is doing the company more harm than good.

And the city should punish the building owners with every weapon in its legal limits.

It’s a matter of being a good corporate citizen. It’s a matter of good taste (or the lack thereof).

So enough already.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 29, 2010

The opportunity to make money has brought two friendly adversaries together.

David Ratcliffe, CEO of Southern Co., has teamed up with environmentalist Ted Turner to form a strategic alliance on the development of renewable energy projects in the United States.

“At his core, Ted is a businessman, so we have a common thread,” Ratcliffe said in a lengthy interview. “He wants to do a deal and he wants to make money. I want to do a deal and I want to make money. I find nothing offensive about that.”

The strategic alliance likely will lead to a joint venture or a Southern Co. subsidiary that initially will focus on the production of solar energy.

The company, First Solar Inc., will provide the technology. Turner will provide the land and his expertise. And Southern will bring its energy production and sales experience.

Ratcliffe said he expects to be able to announce the details of the business deal in the next couple of months.

“I wouldn’t be taking a first step if I didn’t think we would do a deal,” he said.

Ratcliffe remembered first meeting Turner back in the mid-1990s at a Climate Conference in Washington, D.C.

“His perception of Southern was as one of the bad guys and one of the big coal-burning facilities messing up things,” Ratcliffe said of Turner.

From his perspective, Ratcliffe saw Turner as “bright, enthusiastic and passionate, and not always as thoroughly informed as I would like for him to be.”

Over the years, Turner and Ratcliffe began talking and debating their various points of view on energy production. Taylor Glover, president of Turner Enterprises, helped arrange meetings for them to explore possible ventures in renewable energy.

In the meantime, Turner had invested in a solar panel company called DT Solar. That company was acquired by First Solar, which meant that Turner became an investor in one of the leading solar panel manufacturers in the world.

Turner also owns more than 2 million acres of land, most of it in the West and Southwest, which is more favorable for solar and wind energy production than land in Southern Co.’s territory of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and northern Florida.

“This gives us an opportunity to learn more about the technology in a real business deal, and obviously our desire is to make money,” Ratcliffe said. “Our traditional core business is as a regulated utility. I don’t see us becoming a renewable energy company.”

Meanwhile, Ratcliffe said he has enjoyed his association with Turner.

“It’s always exciting to be with Ted because he’s got so much energy and always going 100 miles an hour,” Ratcliffe said. “I have a great deal of respect for him, his energy and creativity. He puts his money where his mouth is.”

Chamber streamlining

The Metro Atlanta Chamber is reorganizing its committee and management structure to reflect recommendations made in the New Economy Task Force.

In a streamlining move, it will no longer have a separate committee focused on the Atlanta Public Schools. Instead, that committee has merged with the regional education committee to become the Education Policy Committee. It is being chaired by Helene Lollis, president of Pathbuilders.

Also, there now will be one vice president of education rather than two. Rene Pennington, who was vice president of the Atlanta Public Schools initiatives, has resigned to join her husband, former Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington, in forming a consulting company. Joy Hawkins is now the sole vice president of education.

Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said the move does not reflect any less of a dedication by the business group to support the reforms at the Atlanta Public Schools, and that the various initiatives will continue.

Other major committee changes: The chamber has created a new Bioscience Leadership Council that will be chaired by Donna Hyland, president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

The Technology Leadership Council will be chaired by Paul Garcia, chairman and CEO of Global Payments Inc. Georgia Power Co.’s Kevin Fletcher will chair the Economic Development Committee; Chris Gaffney, president of Coca-Cola Supply, will chair the Supply Chain Leadership Council.

In the public policy arena, in addition to Lollis heading education, James R. Abrahamson, president of the Americas InterContinental Hotels Group Plc, will chair the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Committee; Post Properties Inc.’s Dave Stockert will continue to chair the Transportation Policy Committee; and John Yates, chair of the technology group of Morris Manning & Martin LLP, will chair the Metro Atlanta Chamber Political Action Committee (MACPAC).

Another new development is that Mary Moore, president and founder of the Cook’s Warehouse, will chair the Small Business Growth Council.

“As usual, the Metro Atlanta Chamber has put together a tremendous group of leaders to take us through 2010 and beyond,” said 2010 Chairman Bill Linginfelter, who is Regions Bank’s area president for Georgia and South Carolina. “We just don’t ever stop. We just keep the momentum going.”

Volunteer Council president

The Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta recently elected Katy Elder, senior manager of community affairs for the Home Depot Foundation, as its new president. She succeeds Jodie Huiet of AGL Resources Inc.

The volunteer council also has named Deloitte’s Brevard Fraser as its president-elect.

The council promotes volunteerism in the corporate sector and helps provide advice to companies interested in developing their own programs.

Lea Rolfes is the organization’s executive director.

She succeeds Linda Woodworth, who retired last year after 10 years with the organization.

By Maria Saporta
Friday, January 29, 2010

Longtime Atlanta developer Tom Cousins is selling his prized Nonami Plantation near Albany, Ga., to legendary media mogul and environmentalist Ted Turner.

The Nonami Plantation, which is about 8,800 acres, is considered one of the best quail hunting spots in Georgia.

“Tom and Ted have been very good friends for many years,” said Phillip Evans, a spokesman for Turner Enterprises Inc. “It’s my understanding there was a mutual agreement between the two that if Tom ever decided to sell the property, Ted would have the first option.”

Evans said the purchase of the plantation was still “in process.” But the deal is supposed to close in the near future.

“As with all of Turner’s land, Nonami will be managed in an environmentally and ecologically friendly manner,” Evans said of Turner’s plans for the property. Most of the land already is protected under a conservation easement.

This will be the largest purchase of property for Turner in the state where he grew up and built his media empire.

Turner is the largest individual owner of land in the United States, owning more than 2 million acres.

He purchased most of his property to preserve and conserve the land as well as to provide places where buffalo could roam. Those landholdings are located in Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and North Carolina, as well as in South America. Turner owns some land in North Georgia, but nothing as large as the Nonami Plantation.

Cousins did not want to comment on the sale of the Nonami Plantation because it is a personal transaction between friends, according to Billy Wren, CEO of Nonami Enterprises Inc.

Turner’s purchase of the Nonami Plantation is not the first time that he has done business with Tom Cousins.

More than 35 years ago, Turner approached Cousins for a loan so he could build a television empire by leveraging a small local station into a national cable channel through satellite technology. That became the pioneering SuperStation.

In an effort to get relatively inexpensive programming for his SuperStation, Turner then purchased the Atlanta Hawks from Cousins in 1977. (Turner also had acquired the Atlanta Braves for the same reason.)

Their business dealings didn’t stop there.

Five years after starting CNN, the first 24-hour cable news channel, Turner purchased the Omni International office, hotel and retail complex from Cousins. Turner moved CNN to the Omni, which had been developed by Cousins a decade earlier, and rebranded it as CNN Center.

During their decades-long business associations, they developed a strong personal friendship. Turner has spent time each year with Cousins at the Nonami Plantation and Cousins has been a regular guest at Turner’s ranch in Bozeman, Mont.

In fact, when Turner was married to Jane Fonda, Cousins named two of his bird-hunting dogs Ted and Jane in their honor.

The property originally was part of the 14,000-acre Blue Springs Plantation.

According to people familiar with the purchase, Cousins had a hard time coming up with a name for his new quail plantation. Finally, his wife, Ann, said that if he didn’t come up with a name by a certain time, she would call it the great “No Name” plantation, and hence, Nonami was born.

When asked why Turner wanted to buy Nonami, Evans said: “It’s a beautiful piece of land, and it’s been long admired by Ted and others.”
Tom Cousins discusses business with Ted Turner

Excerpt from Turner’s autobiography “Call Me Ted”

A Ted Story: “Captain Teddy’s Kiddy Hour” — Tom Cousins

“I remember going over to his little office on West Peachtree Street. His shirt had this frazzled collar and he sat behind a crummy, low wooden desk. I mean it looked like absolute poverty in a business office. He was asking me for a loan. He told me the banks wouldn’t lend him another dime and he was worried that he might not be able to make the next payroll coming up in ten days or something. I wasn’t much better off than he was back then, but I said, “Yeah, absolutely Ted. I’ll loan you the money.” He brightened up then and he said, “Cuz, I’ll tell you what. I’m going to be the fourth network,” and I’m thinking, “Oh this poor guy, he’s out of his mind.”

And he says, “I’m doing an earth station out in Cobb County and I’m getting on a satellite.” I barely knew about satellites at that point and I certainly didn’t know what an “earth station” was. Then he said, “I’m going to beam my signal up on this satellite and I’m going to be able to put Channel 17 all across America and I’m going to get national ad rates. And you know what I’m going to do next after I have the fourth network?”

I said “No, Ted, what’s that?”

“I’m going to run for president and be elected.”

Now I thought to myself, “This guy is absolutely nuts — and I’ve just agreed to lend him all this money!” I said to Ted, “Oh, Ted, don’t tell anybody else about that, okay?”

And he said, “Cuz, your trouble is you don’t understand the power of television. Let me show you.” He pulled a little book of matches out of his desk drawer and he said, “Okay, it’s Saturday morning at 7:30 and it’s Captain Teddy’s Kiddy Hour, and I come on television and I say, ‘Hey kids, today we’re going to play a game and it’s going to be so much fun. Now, don’t tell Mommy and Daddy, this is our secret between Captain Teddy and you. Now, everybody go get some matches. See Captain Teddy’s matches? Go get some just like this.’” Then he goes over to his window he says, “All right kids, everybody, got your match? Go to the window and strike your match and light the curtain or drape,” at which point he struck his match right near the old cheese-cloth thing he had hanging in front of his window and then he flung the window open and he said to me, “At that point, I’d look out over Atlanta and watch it burn.” It was an incredible performance.

In the first place, he made his point. Television is so powerful that could happen. But number two it absolutely confirmed my conviction that he might be nuts.”

By Maria Saporta

We now know exactly when Jim Wagner became the front-runner to be the new president of Emory University back in 2003.

At the time, Emory was touting itself as being a university “poised for greatness.”

Wagner turned the tables on the search committee and asked: “How long does Emory plan to be poised for greatness?”

That was Wagner’s way of saying it would be better if Emory had already achieved greatness.

That story was told today by Ben Johnson, chairman of the Emory University’s Board of Trustees, as he was introducing Wagner as the speaker at the Atlanta Rotary Club.

During the question-answer session after Wagner’s talk, he was asked if Emory was still poised for greatness or whether it had achieved greatness.

“It grieves me that you have to ask,” Wagner said with a smile. And then he said part of Emory’s problem and Atlanta’s problem is that the two haven’t done a great job in letting the world know of what they have to offer. “Atlanta arguably is a college town that really doesn’t market itself that way.”

In his talk, Wagner gave an historical overview of the role of universities in cities. Only in the last 100 or so years have universities emerged as engines of economic growth.

But now they’ve become magnets for research initiatives, business recruitment and urban revitalization.

Plus universities have a real stake in the communities where they live (as well as the legislative environment that exists in the states where they’re located).

“Unlike sports franchises and Fortune 100 companies, colleges and universities aren’t mobile,” Wagner said. “They are here to stay.”

But beyond the issues of economic impact, universities provide an environment where people can ask the most fundamental questions of life complete with all their ambiguities.

“They are places where ideas to battle so people won’t,” Wagner said.

By J. Scott Truby and Maria Saporta
Friday, January 29, 2010

The Jones family’s eight-decade sole control of the posh Sea Island resort could soon come to an end.

Sea Island Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Jones III confirmed Jan. 27 the company, founded in 1929 by his grandfather and cousin, would hire an investment banker to review its “strategic options,” which could include finding a buyer or major investor in the struggling ultra-luxury Georgia coastal resort.

“Over the past year and a half, Sea Island’s management and board of directors have taken decisive action to address the significant downturn of our industry and our near-term obligations to lenders,” Jones said in a statement. “Unfortunately, even as we took these prudent actions, the market deterioration continued.”

Sea Island officials said the company would not disclose discussions with its investment banker, which has not been named, until a deal is reached.

In a private, 30-minute meeting with 500 Sea Island members at The Cloister hotel, Jones told members the board was looking for a buyer or investor with the financial wherewithal to continue Sea Island Co.’s vision for the resort.

Jones also confirmed Jan. 27 that Sea Island Co. had reached a forbearance agreement on its defaulted debt — as much as $400 million — which was restructured into a note due in 2012. Synovus Financial Corp.’s Columbus Bank & Trust was the lead lender, holding about $220 million.

For months, rumors swirled that a sale was imminent for part or all of Sea Island Co.’s holdings, including its thousands of acres of coastal marshland, pine forests, gated communities and golf courses.

Still, it’s a stunning turn of events for a historic resort that has played host to leaders of nations, captains of industry and been a playground for elite families from across the globe.

Georgia’s most luxurious and world-renowned resort got into trouble starting in 2008 after a massive nearly decade-long redevelopment and expansion that sources say cost more than $500 million.

In summer 2008, Jones resigned as a director of the bank holding company, saying it would be easier for the bank to work through the company’s credit problems without his presence on the board. The move came after former Synovus CEO Jimmy Blanchard stepped down from Sea Island Co.’s board.

The fallout of the Great Recession has ravaged the storied coastal five-star resort, which has laid off hundreds of employees over the past 18 months. Home sales — which were to be the financial driver of the club’s enormous overhaul — plummeted, and even the ultra-wealthy clientele that Sea Island coveted as guests and members stayed at home.

In early 2009, Synovus listed the $220 million loan as non-performing, meaning the borrower was no longer complying with timely payments.

Despite its prestigious heritage, Sea Island Co. was caught in a real estate and financial maelstrom that has felled many beleaguered developers who found their projects hemorrhaging cash and deep underwater without a way to refinance.

The focus now turns to whom the potential investor, or group of investors, might be.

Sources have said the members of Ocean Forest, the gated golf community on Sea Island’s northern tip, have been negotiating with the Jones family to acquire the community and its world-renowned links for $35 million, which was also said to be the amount of an interest payment due Sea Island Co.’s lenders Dec. 31, 2009.

Residents and real estate sources familiar with the situation have speculated that prospective buyers and investors could include Kohler Co. CEO Herb Kohler.

In November, Wells Fargo & Co. took over the deeds to its 3,000-acre Frederica golf course community on the Georgia coast and to an undeveloped 400-acre parcel on St. Simons Island. In October, Sea Island announced it was selling nearly 18,000 acres, including land planned for a massive residential and mixed-use development.

Jones’ grandfather and cousin founded Sea Island Co. with the construction of The Cloister in 1928. The resort thrived despite the Great Depression and World War II.

Facing competition from luxury hotel chains, the company created a new vision for itself and launched a renovation and expansion that lasted from 1998 to 2006.

Among other projects, it developed Frederica, a 3,000-acre community limited to 400 to 500 single-family homes on the north end of St. Simons Island.

But to fulfill that dream, Sea Island Co. took on tremendous debt. That, coupled with cost overruns on the resort, the tanking housing market and then the global recession, has placed the company under enormous financial strain.