Dunwoody Residents Rick Callihan and Al Tiede are named to community panel to select next DeKalb School Superintendent.

Congrats to Dunwoody High School parents, Al Tiede and Rick Callihan.

Mr. Stan Jester	District 1	Rick Callihan	Al Tiede
Mr. Marshall Orson	District 2	Carolyn Finnerty	Betty Willis
Dr. Michael Erwin	District 3	Urcel Ray Fields	Katherine Kelbaugh
Mr. James McMahan	District 4	Michelle Penkava	Al Edwards
Mrs. Vickie Turner	District 5	William Boone	Eliezer Velez
Dr. Melvin Johnson	District 6	Lance L. Hammonds	John Evans
Dr. Joyce Morley	District 7	Gwen Johnson	Kerwin Lee, Senior Pastor

As per the AJC: The DeKalb County school board has named the members of a community panel that will help select the district’s next leader.

Superintendent Michael Thurmond’s contract expires in June, and the board has hired the firm PROACT Search to lead the hunt for a successor. Responding to pressure from residents, the 7-member school board is also empanelling a 16-member community liaison group.

PROACT will find 20-25 candidates, and the community group will recommend anywhere from nine to a dozen of them to the board, according to the plan to be presented at the board’s work session Monday afternoon. The board will then whittle the list to two to four candidates to be put through an extended interview process.

Dunwoody Interim City Manager, Two Hotels, Corner Cafe, Construction Update, Starbucks in Brook Run Park, Perimeter Zoning and other tidbits.

Special Called Meeting on April 1st - Resolution to Appoint an Interim City Manager.

I was invited to this special called meeting of the Dunwoody City Council but there is little or no other documentation available therefore I expect that we will be called into Executive Session to discuss a "personnel matter" and if there is an official nomination by Mayor Davis that we will come out to discuss and approve the action publicly. I have no inside information on this though there are a number of City Department Heads who could easily hold the acting position for several months and/or the position could be filled by a "Loaned Executive" or even a person from the community. 

The initial decision is the choice of the Mayor and he may or may not be waiting until the Dunwoody Talk - March City Manager Madness Tournament is complete.

Biznow.com Atlanta reports - Hotel Equities plans to break ground this year on a 132-key Hampton Inn and a 124-key Residence Inn. The Hampton Inn will be next to Sterling Point office park off Ashford-Dunwoody Road; the Residence Inn will connect to the current home of the Spruill Center for the Arts. We had a sprawling interview with Hotel Equities' COO Brad Rahinsky yesterday during the Hunter Hotel Conference at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Atlanta.  Brad says Central Perimeter is justifying the additional rooms in large part thanks to State Farm, which has tightened the office market and helped supply not only occupancy increases during the week, but on the weekends as well. Hotel Equities owns the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Sandy Springs, where nightly rates have climbed past $200. Plus, to offset development costs, Brad says it's selling four outparcels at its Hampton site, one already slated for a Corner Cafe. “The revenue that would be thrown off on those outparcels will pay for the debt service,” he says. “[The Hampton] starts cash flowing the day we open the doors.

Dunwoody Construction Update
Brook Run Trail
Dunwoody Village Main Street Project
New Perimeter Park at Dunwoody Marta Station
Chamblee Dunwoody Rd. and Spalding Dr. Intersection Improvement
Sidewalk Projects

Kingsley Safe Routes to School Improvement Project

Proposals needed for new concession operator for the Brook Run Skate Park.   Does anyone know if Starbucks, Bruster's or Rita's Italian Ice would like to expand into subcontracting a Skate Rental desk? I don't know about you but I would like to see more than just a skate shop serving the park.

City of Dunwoody starts process to create a new Perimeter Center Zoning District.

Design and plan development for Chamblee‐Dunwoody Road Multimodal Improvements from Cotillion to Peeler Road and improvements to the Intersection of Chamblee‐Dunwoody Road, North Shallowford Road, and Peeler Road

PCID Crosswalk repairs around Mall and Ashford Dunwoody or Textured Option?

Homeschool Expo Saturday in Marietta

The Southeast Homeschool Expo is town this weekend at the Cobb Galleria.  It's a 10-15 minute drive from Dunwoody.  Lots of resources for homeschooling.  Even if you do not homeschool you can go and look at books and curriculum to enhance your child's education.  Perhaps your child acquires knowledge in a way not taught at the public school.  Maybe you want more religious and conservative resources at home.  It's all there.

See HERE.  Lots of corporate and independent vendors on site.

h/t to Dunwoody Talk

Dunwoody Code Red Warning System and the future of Sirens

Thursday night I was at Food Truck Thursday enjoying the evening with my wife and a couple of my boys and we were entertaining former neighbors who had returned to Atlanta to vacation.  At 7:27 pm while sitting in the big grassy field where the music was playing, I received the first of three severe weather warnings on my phone from the Code Red Mobile Alert App as shown below.  The warning had a map of the warning area reaching from Canton to Sandy Springs, but Dunwoody was not listed, so why worry?  Just as the second notice came in at 7:40 pm, a Dunwoody policeman was walking around to notify everyone of the impending storm and the band was asked at that time to start packing up.

We packed up the chairs, the boys and the food that was yet to be eaten and headed off to the car.  Unfortunately the 18 year old former neighbor wasn't found at the vehicle as we were loading up, so I ran around to look for him.  I checked the field we were at, the rest rooms and he was nowhere to be found.  As the rain started to pour, I received the third warning at 7:48 and finally found him waiting for his second cheeseburger of the evening and he was without a doubt the last person served on Thursday as the truck owner was upset at his employees that he was still open with the impending weather.

The storm came in very heavy at that time and I saw the tall pine trees bend toward North Peachtree Rd.  At 7:50 as shown below, I attempted to call my wife to tell her that I found the neighbor, then she quickly called me back to say that she had moved the vehicle closer to where I was.

Finally at 8:05, well after the wall of straight line winds had done much of the damage, I received a phone call from the Code Red Weather Service informing me of the possibility of severe weather. It was too little - too late.

Did the Dunwoody Severe Weather warning system work for those at Brook Run on Thursday; to a certain level yes as the park had many people streaming out before the storm hit, but to a larger level the system either didn't work or didn't imply the seriousness of the situation.  Sirens would have done that and they would have cleared out the park much faster.

I will admit that I have been a member of council who has questioned the cost / benefit of a city wide sirens system even though the subject has been broached several times in the past couple of years by Councilman Denny Shortal.  With smart phones that buzz, beep and ping on command as well as the technology in most of our homes, I wasn't sure of the implementation of a city wide system was needed or be effective where double pane glass would muffle the sounds.   That being said, Council explored grant opportunities to see if we could supplement the funding but in the end no grants are available.  After the experience of Thursday, I believe that if the sirens were in place we would have taken the warnings as a serious warning an not just another ping on our phone and that second cheeseburger would have never been ordered.

On June 25th, the Dunwoody City Council will be amending the budget and if allowed (not sure that it is) I would happily vote to expend the $250,000 - $300,000 on a city wide siren system.   Trust me, that this item will once again be discussed by council in the very near future.

Rick Callihan over at Dunwoody Talk discussed this same topic and the aspect of possible zip codes affecting the triggering of the warning.  As an FYI, we have been attempting to unify the Dunwoody Zip Codes but have not made much progress in changing this Federal system.   

Pattie Baker also has been asking about a City Emergency Shelter but the City does not have any manned governmental buildings built to the public building code able to withstand possible disasters, as our City Hall & Police Station are just a typical commercial building and the library is leased DeKalb and we don't operate our schools therefore this is a hard question to answer until which time (8 - 10 years down the road) we start discussions on whether or not we should build our own city hall.

 

Siren Memos

Dunwoody blogger Rick Callihan documents the audio which was used to sue 180 Georgia School Districts.

Kudos to Rick Callihan who posted ten audio files he obtained from a recent Georgia School Board Association conference now documented on his Dunwoody Talk blog which substantiates the basis of the law suit mentioned.  Mr. Callihan states that the goal of the Georgia School Board Association is to limit choice, maintain their monopoly, and not to allow local parents and business owners to organize their own local board and charter school. This conference was paid for by taxpayer money and the association is now alleged to be using those public funds to train educators to illegally influence an election.

Georgia School Boards Association Using Public Funds to Sway Votes? 

GSBA Georgia School Boards Association Interested in Control, Not Parents and Children

Sis Henry GSBA Against Charter School Competition

 Parents file suit against 180 school districts on charter amendment

A group of Georgia taxpayers announced they have sued the Fulton County School System and the Gwinnett School District.  The group wants to immediately stop Georgia from using taxpayer funds to campaign against Amendment One, the charter school amendment of the Nov. 6 ballot.  The parents and taxpayers are represented by Attorney Glenn Delk.

Delk said his clients have evidence that in June, the GSBA held a training meeting attended by board members funded by taxpayers on how to defeat the Amendment.  Delk claims to have an audio copy of the meeting.

Delk also said in August, State Supt. John Barage issued a press release with anti-Amendment material. He used state resources to disseminate the material to all the school districts and posted the materials on the official DOE website.

"My clients have reluctantly sued to stop the school districts from using some of the $18.5B taxpayers spend annually on K-12 education, not to educate children, but to conduct an illegal political campaign to return their monopoly control over the money," said Delk.

Andrea indicted, park partnership idea, DHA Meeting, DeKalb School starts soon, Hate, Love, Situational Awareness and Marlow's

Family

My wife and boys enjoyed a few weeks away visiting extended family before our lives will get busy with various Fall routines.  If you sent me an email, I am a little behind so please be patient.   Here's a few stories that have crossed my inbox in the last 24 hours.

Andrea Sneiderman arrested, charged with 8 counts by DeKalb County grand jury.

Could a partnership with Brookhaven on park uses be beneficial to both cities? Several people pointed me to Rick's blog and figured I would share.  What about other partnership possibilities or implications?

Dunwoody Homeowners Association
Monthly Meeting
Sunday, August 5, 2012 @ 7:30 P.M.
Room 4 Cultural Arts Center - (Dunwoody Library)

Recap of 4th of July Parade and Pro/Con TSPLOST debate
Discussion of feasible Dunwoody fire and rescue / EMS service
Update on DHS Ball field Restrooms campaign
Update and discussion on Zoning Rewrite Module 1: Zoning District Framework

Every Dunwoody parent with children in the DeKalb County School System must read the Dunwoody School Daze Blog for Principal updates, school registration dates, bus routes and supply lists.  School starts Monday August 13th.

Political games - a sad commentary on hate that is spread even at City Council meetings.

FoodStock 2012: Hundreds of volunteers from the Dunwoody and Sandy Springs communities will work together to assemble 150,000 dehydrated meals for children in need across the globe.

Situational Awareness Class presented Dunwoody Police, Tue Aug 7th

Marlow's Tavern Opens in Heart of Dunwoody

A little light reading - Dunwoody related.

June 21st - Brook Run Skate Park

Johnathan Clark of Dunwoody Elementary is moving on.  Link - Dunwoody School Daze

Sen. Fran Millar Criticizes DeKalb Schools Link - DeKalb School Watch

DeKalb School System and AdvancED and Texas Education Agency  Link - Dunwoody Talk

Dunwoody Restaurant Week, June 23 to 30 offers some great deals.  Link - CVB

Dunwoody Swim Teams - Week 3    Link - Dunwoody Talk

Tax Assessments Still To Be Sorted Out   Link - Dunwoody Patch

So, you want to appeal your DeKalb Co. Property Appraisal?    Link - I'm Just Saying

Bike lanes spark dissent in Dunwoody Link - AJC

Dog parks (Brook Run) require a dose of caution  Link - AJC

Fran Millar is part of the Ethics Pledge discussion whereby I also know that he has no problem with the $100 gift limitation but states that a lot more than this one item will be in the final bill and it will need to be reviewed in its entirety before saying yes or no.    I enjoyed this presentation on the subject.

Big Night for Dunwoody - Local Swim Meets

As I sat though a Dunwoody City Council Meeting on a rare Tuesday night, my friend Rick Callihan and a large contingent of the Dunwoody community attended one of the many local swim meets in the area.  The Callihan's are a big swimming family who take the subject very seriously, while besides cheering on my three run of the mill swimmers, my biggest joy of the season will probably be seeing my 6 year old Declan graduate from the "pre-team" by completely swimming across the pool during a competition where the goal is to not drown.  My son's main motivation in completing this feat is that he knows that once this happens, he will have earned the right to sport a mohawk like he has seen his brother's sporting earlier in life.

Rick wrote a nice article highlighting all of the Tuesday night swim meet results and if he gets enough positive feedback maybe he will cover the entire season.  Below is a taste of the full article, so please read the rest on his Dunwoody Talk Blog.

There are events during the year that stick with us, and last night was one of them. Thousands of people, all bonding behind a single issue, come together. Lots of time and money involved. Tough decisions to be made. People going on the record, people struggling to finish a job started. Parents and kids involved. And it's a race against not only the clock, but against friends and neighbors:

Welcome to Swim Season 2012. Who swims the IM? What kid will be in lane 3 of the first relay? How many hamburgers do we cook? Do we have fresh batteries in the stop watches? Where is the bullpen parent? Why did your kid go to the playground and miss his relay? Why is my swimmer in race 19 then not in the pool again until race 79?

Yes, it's time to dedicate the next few Tuesdays to the swim meet. Last night some local teams had their swim caps pulled over their eyes then received a royal dunking.

Continue to http://dunwoodytalk.blogspot.com/2012/05/big-night-for-dunwoody.html

Meet the Candidates: Rick Callihan, Post 4, District 1 Challenger by Dunwoody Patch

Dunwoody Patch published a Meet the Candidates profile on Rick Callihan, one of two challengers in the District One, City Council election. I have again copied the text verbatim below.
Reminder - everyone in the City will have the opportunity to vote in this election.

Rick Callihan
Age: 43

Neighborhood: Weldstone Manor

Position Sought: District 1, Post 4 (at-large)

Current Job/Company:  Director of Operations, AmeriGlo

Education: BA in Business Administration, Thiel College.  GA teacher certification, Kennesaw State

How long have you lived in Dunwoody: 13 years

Community organizations: Dunwoody Homeowners Association, Dunwoody Community Garden

Other than the people, what is the best part of Dunwoody?  Dunwoody has an excellent location, here at the heart of the Perimeter business district.  In just minutes you can transition from quiet residential neighborhoods to the Perimeter CID, home to over 4000 businesses and 29 million square feet of office space.  The key to the success and livelihood of Dunwoody is a working relationship between our city and the PCID that promotes job growth.

What are the two biggest issues facing Dunwoody? The city’s biggest expense going forward will not be paving and sidewalks, but stormwater repair.  This used to be under control of DeKalb County, but now is Dunwoody’s responsibility.  I question the city’s motive for taking on this enormous liability from DeKalb County as it was not required.  At the last council work session we were made aware of over $100,000 in repairs needed in just two (of thousands) city locations.

Another issue we constantly need to monitor in Dunwoody is public schools.  Of course the city itself does not control the schools, as the DeKalb County school system provides that service.  Schools are an important factor in business relocation and for home buyers.   We need to develop and maintain a working relationship with the school board and the central office staff.  I’ve worked with members of our school board in previous years and can bring that experience to city council.

What is something people may not know about you? I was a 6^th grade teacher for a few years in Cobb County

Recent Dunwoody items that crossed my desk.

Dunwoody's First Bike Route

Real Forward Progress on Becoming Bike-Friendly -Bike ride around Dunwoody recap

House committee to consider Dunwoody parks bill - Anything could happen with the legislature in session?

A Newspaper Leaves Behind Its City Roots - NYT notes that the AJC has moved to Dunwoody

Dear AJC: Welcome to Dunwoody by Dick Williams of the Crier

Thank you Lynn & Mellie for serving - Tough job - you represented us well.

Thank you Stacey & Tom - Stepping into big shoes.

Planning Commission to vote Tuesday on Comprehensive Plan.

Schools to be More Crowded Next School Year, 293 Kids in Trailers Next Year at Vanderlyn.

Thinking of running for DeKalb County School Board?  Read this and join group

Latest from Councilman Shortal - Dunwoody HS Construction News and much more

Comprehensive Transportation Plan - has been rebid.

An ode to our fine City of Dunwoody - new blogger giving his opinions of Dunwoody Council.

Dunwoody Celebrates Georgia Cities Week with tours & blood drive.

Dunwoody Earth Day 2010 Shredding Event - April 24

Holocaust Memorial Garden a teaching tool for future generations at the MJCC

Farmer gets support from local Dunwoody residents - Join the CSA today

2010 Dunwoody High School Baseball Highlights

Dunwoody Beer Fest - May 15th at Perimeter Mall (Hey Rick, Hoegaarden is on tap.)

Dunwoody Butterfly Festival - Save the Date of June 12th

Branding conversation - a statewide perspective

New York Butcher Shoppe in Dunwoody is open - nice looking lunch menu

Review of Dunwoody Lemonade Days by Rick Callihan of Dunwoody Talk Blog

This blog post was written and photos were taken by Rick Callihan and I will admit that I shamelessly copied it in order to plug a major community event. If you don't follow Rick, I encourage you do so since he puts a nice spin on events happening in the community.

http://dunwoodytalk.blogspot.com

Had a great family night tonight over at DeKalb County's Brook Run Park, site host of the annual Lemonade Days festival.  If you have kids from age 5-15, I'd say the $15 ride bracelet (after using the $5 off coupon) is a real deal. I suggest you buy the bracelet instead of individual tickets. There's no way you can take a kid there, ride only four or five rides, then leave.  The bracelet (with coupon) is the way to go.  If you kid is six or older then the parents really don't need to go on the rides.

With tonight being the opening night, and most kids required to go to school tomorrow, attendance was the lowest of the four day event.  A perfect night for no lines.  I'm sure the wait for rides will be tolerable all weekend, and the weather seems to be cooperating, so I recommend you head over.

Lots of good food selections as well.  Hard to pass on a funnel cake.  I opted for a Varsity chili dog, while some in my group ate some chicken fingers from Guthries.  The food vendors are both local and part of the amusement company.

The whole carnival scene takes me back to my years growing up in PA.  I left home for a while (from age 9 until 11) and traveled up and down the east coast as a Carny.  It was quite enlightening. Eventually I escaped returned home to lead a normal life, ending up here in Dunwoody years later.

A favorite thing of mine is the old-time style art work on the sides of the carnival rides.

The event organizers thought ahead and had special areas for dropping off plastic bottles.

There was also PLENTY of WATER available for the carnival booths and their RVs. 

Not sure who was in charge of printing and hanging the Sponsor signs, but they did a nice job as well.

While watching the kids on a ride I glanced down on the ride's motor housing and saw a few well-worn inspection stickers.  After a closer look, I see Dunwoody now has an Inspector for our Parks and Recreation division.  I did not even know we had such a thing.  (see images below)

The fastest ride on site is the Himalaya.  The Spyder was quick as well.  Bumper cars and the Ferris Wheel are classics.  As the sun went down, so did the temperature.  The bright lights of the Carny booths filled the night with excitement.

Plenty of portable toilets

Being a former Carny (I worked the dart throwing booth, awarding skilled throwers their choice of a Styx mirror or a Coke bottle filled with colored sand or a dark-light poster with a mushroom on it) I avoid the games of chance.  Although I was tempted to win my wife a Teddy Bear at the basketball game, I resisted.  The kids will nag you to play the games (and the game operators will try to lure you in) but stay strong and stick to the rides and food.

Here a couple of photos, one with a FarmHouser doing last-minute sign work.  The park was very clean and all in attendance were well behaved. 

UPDATE - DUNK TANK
I was told the dunk tank will be open on Saturday this year, instead of Sunday.  See the list below for the folks scheduled to be in the tank. Expect long waits to throw when some of these folks are in there.

(NOTE: schedule may vary and subject to change or be canceled)

Saturday:
12:00 - 12:30  Farmer Bob
12:30 - 1:00    Councilman Ross
1:00 - 1:30      Warren Hutmacher
1:30 - 2:00     Sustainable Pattie
2:00 - 2:30      Rick Callihan
2:30 - 3:00      Fran Millar
3:00 - 3:30      Mayor Wright
3:30 - 4:00      TBD
4:00 - 4:30      Police Chief Grogan
4:30 - 4:35     Dick Williams
4:35 - 5:00      Councilman Shortal

Could Dunwoody support a true Charter School?

Rick Callihan raises a question over on the Dunwoody Talk blog that I have heard others ask before; Could Dunwoody start and sustain a viable corporate run charter school? Is in excess of $10,000 per student enough money to properly educate the students who attend?

The DeKalb County School Watch Blog discusses "Private Charters" from time to time and it just so happens that they are discussing it again this week. Check out this blog, read the comments then check out Rick's Blog to see if you want to comment yourself.

Please do me a favor, Rick gets jealous if people comment here and not on his site; so please do let the world know your opinions but post them over at the Dunwoody Talk blog. Thanks.