State Senate

District 46:
Haines
Kemp

District 1:
Carter
Garland

District 3:
Maxwell
Robinson

District 5:
Logan
Lynn

District 7:
Bushnell
Hoard
Vaughan

District 9:
Chasteen

Mayor:
Davison

Heidi Davison (Democrat) - Mayor

Candidate Questionnaire

Please note that the opinions expressed in this section are not those of Athens Grow Green Coalition, Inc., but are those of the candidate to whom they are attributed.

1. In 1999, the Commission unanimously approved our anti-sprawl Comprehensive Land Use Plan, a document created with widespread community support. This plan calls for preservation of the environment, responsible development, alternatives to automobile transportation, and the prevention of sprawl. It designates the outer fringe of the county as a greenbelt, with only low-density residential development allowed there. In 2000, however, the Commission passed a zoning ordinance that allowed suburban development at one unit per acre in the greenbelt, despite public outcry for an ordinance that more closely followed the Land Use Plan. Many agree that it is now even more important to address the impacts of sprawl development, such as declining air quality, rapid loss of forested land, and poor water quality, all of which have figured prominently in ACC news reports in recent months.

1. Do you believe the current zoning ordinance adequately protects Athens-Clarke County from sprawl? NO
   "Current zoning does not reflect the voice of the people as expressed in the guiding principles of the land-use plan. Nor does it protect us from sprawl -- residential and commercial developments have been slowed only by the economy rather than any effect of our zoning ordinance. Returning to traditional patterns of development, which can be seen from as far back as the 1920's, would greatly reduce (expunge) continued sprawl."
   
2. Would you support implementation of a Transferable Development Rights program to protect open space and direct growth? YES
   "Transferable Development Rights may well represent the best method of preserving green space and reducing automobile dependency while maintaining solid economic growth in our building industry and providing for affordable housing. We don't know enough about the overall impact of TDRs because our current Mayor and Commission have not shown any interest in conducting the studies."
3. Do you think trees need stronger protection in ACC? Would you support a tree canopy protection ordinance to prevent clear-cutting of lots for development? YES
   "Clear-cutting might seem to represent an easy way for developers to increase profits by making it faster and easier for construction crews. The environmental benefits of protecting tree canopies are indisputable. The point that many developers seem to miss is the desirability and increased property values afforded by saving and incorporating existing and well-established trees."
   
4. Do you think ACC needs to do more to enhance alternative transportation options - such as more and improved sidewalks, bike lanes, public transit - to reduce traffic congestion? YES
   "Alternative transportation must be a part of any new planning. Traffic congestion is merely inconvenient but the threat to our air quality is a matter of public health. Additionally, increasing reliance on personal automobiles increases the burden on the taxpayers who must not only fund the building of roads but parking, as well. Parking lots, of the ordinary paved or concrete models, threaten our waterways with dangerous run-off pollutants AND increase the amount of tax dollars that must be spent on storm-water and drainage systems."
5. Do you think that protecting greenspace helps or harms our local economy? HELPS
   "Preserving green space helps virtually every economy. People choose where they live and they overwhelmingly choose locations (such as Athens-Clarke County) with a desirable mix of green space and developed areas. Many people think of preserving green space as merely choosing not to have buildings and parking lots - idle land. I strongly encourage the use of both idle and production-oriented green space such as specialty farms and brown fields."

What else might local government do to combat sprawl?

"Government can take a more comprehensive, whole systems look at how we want our community to grow; and define the kind of growth we want, i.e. create an aggregate of neighborhoods that are human in scale and encourage interaction amongst a diverse group of people, thereby creating a sense of community. Some ways to accomplish that are:

• ACC can begin to reach out to our neighboring counties for the purpose of regionally coordinated planning opportunities. Through dialogue with these counties, the possibility exists for the identification of places that could eventually become new neighborhoods that exemplify mixed-use developments.
• Government should look at the issues of growth as inter-related. This larger context thinking suggests that planning for orderly growth should include all parties who affect or are affected by it: ACC, Clarke County School Board, UGA and others, to ensure coordinated planning rather than the kind of scattershot planning we have experienced.
• ACC can encourage broad participation in planning. Incorporating a neighborhood planning unit concept, bringing the developers and professional planners together with the citizen's more generalist point of view, can bring balance to the solution-finding and decision making that affects growth.
• Zoning codes could be adjusted so that they communicate what we DO want to do rather than prescribing what we don't want to do. It allows for the vision of growth -- where do we want to go -- to be embedded in our laws.

   

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2. Over a year ago, Enron Corp. proposed building a natural gas-fired power plant in Athens. While it is highly unlikely that Enron will be able to undertake such a project, other energy companies may be interested in the location because of its confluence of natural gas and electric transmission lines. Many citizens have raised concerns about the potential environmental impacts of such a project, including degraded air and water quality, and a projected doubling of ACC's consumptive water use. Proponents of the proposal touted a positive impact on our tax base (an increase of about 1.5%)

1. Do you think a natural gas-fired power plant would be good for Athens? Would the benefits outweigh the costs? YES/NO
   "Certainly, I oppose the type of plant that Enron was proposing! Yet, I cannot answer with a simple 'yes' or 'no' to parts 'a' and 'b' of this question because the question sseems to target the kind of natural gas-fired plant that was proposed by Enron while ingnoring alternative designs of natural gas-fired plants that are decidedly more efficient and environmentally friendly. The laws of physics dictate that smaller electricity generating plants located closer to the end-users of the electricity are inherently more efficient due to the fact that electrical power is lost (as heat) over each foot of transmission lines. There are designs for natural gas-fired power plants that capture and recycle the water used for cooling. Natural gas produces less harmful emissions than other types of fossil fuels. However, electricity generation can be both profitable and environmentally friendly using alternatives such as solar, wind, or water power. (This kind of question smacks at the heart of my campaign -- examinging all the alternatives before rushing to embrace or dismiss any plans.) "
   
2. Would you support such a proposal? see comment above
   
3. Do you believe that protecting environmental quality is incompatible with protecting jobs and tax revenue? NO
   
4. Would you support development of a long-term water management plan for Athens-Clarke County? YES

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3. The eviction of nearly 500 Garden Springs residents focused attention on the issue of affordable housing in Athens. Athens-Clarke County has large low-income and student populations, presenting very different housing challenges to our community.

1. Do you think that current planning and development in the county adequately address the housing needs of these two populations? NO
   
2. Do you believe that Athens has plenty of low-income housing? NO
3. Is preserving low-income residents' access to affordable housing a priority of yours? YES
4. Is growth management a priority of yours? YES
5. Do you think that preserving affordable housing and growth management are incompatible goals? NO

What might local government do to increase affordable housing options?

"Affordable housing is a difficult issue that must be tackled immediately. As with all issues, it does not stand alone but should be considered in the context of economic development, including work-force development and orderly growth planning. Ideas that government could study and pursue are:

• Keep a well-maintained housing stock that is in good order, safe, decent, and sanitary.
• Require new housing developments to provide for mixed housing and moderately priced units within neighborhoods such as small apartment buildings and townhouses among small to large homes. A wide range of housing types within each neighbrohood should provide for all ages and incomes. Zoning can and should prescribe what we prefer.
• Re-zone in areas where we already have mixed or lower-income housing to ensure they stay that way so as to avoid another debacle such as Garden Springs.
• Award density bonuses for affordable housing through a TDR program.
• Seek out available untapped sources of state and federal funding to boost affordable housing.
• View affordable housing and economic development as a single issue rather than separately. Folks need to earn more to be able to afford available housing. Investments in job training and business recruitment should be part of the picture. In Athens, to afford a mid-range two bedroom apartment one must earn at minimum $10.46 per hour. Those earning less, minimum wage workers, must work 81 hours to afford the same apartment, 63 hours to afford a mid-range one bedroom.
• Continue to provide low-interest loans, through the government's economic development department, to businesses that agree to provide one job for every $10,000 borrowed and that currently meet an earnings threshold of $26,000 to help boost their wages. Big City Bread and At the Hub are examples.
• Continue educational efforts about home buying. This is currently a key component of our governmental economic development departments through the hiring of housing counselors."

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4. Sembler Corp. recently sued the Georgia EPD to be allowed to pipe a stream on a piece of property it plans to develop for a new Target store, in direct conflict with Athens-Clarke County's 75-foot stream buffer ordinance. Those who supported Sembler's lawsuit argued that Athens-Clarke County cannot afford to lose a business that might choose to locate elsewhere if required to conform to our environmental regulations. Others contend that many communities have held developers to strict standards without losing businesses, and that these standards ultimately protect the economy as well as the environment of our community.

1. Are you willing to risk losing a business or development in order to protect the health of our local streams, rivers and drinking water supply? YES
   
2. Do you believe that Athens-Clarke County's environmental regulations are at odds with business development? NO
   "Environmental protection and business development should not be seen as enemies -- working at cross-purposes. A long-range view of what's in the best interest of this commuity and our impact on our neighboring communities suggests that the two can be cooperative rather than adversarial. A robust local economy requires that we have desirable factors for existing here -- clean water and air among them. Survival of business requires consumers. People want to live in communities that have high quality of life, which includes a healthy environment for daily living, leisure activities, etc. People need places to shop. Businesses need people. One cannot be thought of in context without the other! This not either/or but both as they go hand-in-hand.
   
   All of these issues are inter-related, none stand alone. When solutions are explored that take a whole community aproach, while never losing sight of the individual pieces, better solutions and planning are the result. This has been what's missing in the decision-making over the last 4 years; we have failed to take a wide-angle approach, to consider the ripples after the stone hits the water."

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Biographical Sketch

Civic: Leadership Athens, graduate and later program director; Senior Leadership program, Athens Community Council on Aging; League of Women Voters national long-range planning facilitator; National Issues Forum moderator; Alec Little Environmental Award Advisory Committee; Clute Barrow Nelson Life Foundation, member, Jeannette Rankin Foundation and League of Women Voters of Athens; SPLOST Citizen's Overview Committee, Solid Waste Advisory Committee, current President, Lyndon House Arts Foundation, Inc.

Professional: Teacher, Language Arts, Oconee County and Social Circle Schools: teaching, curriculum development, school programs evaluation; Leadership Development Associate and now adjunct faculty, J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership, UGA.

Government: No prior governmental experience

Education: B.S. Ed, Elementary Education, UGA; M. Ed, Middle School Education, UGA