City Proposes Limiting Allowed Paint Colors on Private Homes

From NextDoor

The City of Doraville has on its February 21 Council agenda a discussion of setting limits on allowed paint colors on private homes.

From the discussion via NextDoor (emphases added)
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Hello Doraville residents. I noticed in the agendas from the Work Session Meeting from 2/16/17 and for the upcoming Council meeting on 2/21/17, that there are proposals made by Sharon Spangler and Shannon Hillard for restricting the external colors that can be used for single home dwellings as well as restrictions for front yard gardens and the type of materials that can be used. There are no specifics listed in the agenda as to what these restrictions could be. I strongly urge anyone who does not like the idea of adding more ordinances that restrict what we can or cannot do with our private properties, our homes, please attend this meeting and let your voice be heard. I will be there since I most certainly do object to this kind of nonsense.

I do not want to see such restrictions become a part of the city's ordinance code. I made a point of not moving into an HOA and certainly do not want the entire city to become one. There are enough ordinances regarding how we maintain our homes in Doraville as it is. I find these proposed types of restrictions a violation of my property rights and freedom of expression. If I want to paint my home purple (and I almost did), then it is no one's business if I do. Don't like it? Then don't look at it. There are far more important things to consider than what color someone's house is.

If I want to use old metal drums for planters or reuse/recycle other types of containers for a front yard garden then I don't see the issue. As long as it is clean and safe, who cares? Once again, how one decorates their home via house colors and gardening styles should not be restricted with very few exceptions in regards to public safety.

The words that are the city's motto, that are on the city's website, their newsletter are the following:

Diversity, Vitality, Community

Diversity:a range of different things; variety. How much variety will exist if everyone's home has to be a neutral color? Or can only be blue, green, or yellow? How different will one home look from another if all planters must be made of a certain material and can only be a certain size?? If all the flower beds are rectangles?

Vitality: the state of being strong and active; energy. And now opinions will vary on this one, but I find nothing so dull and lifeless as a bunch of identical homes with identical lawns. Do we not gain strength and life from diversity?

Community: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Now this one is even trickier. Does Doraville want a community of diversity and vitality where people of different cultures, with different opinions and ideas are able to come together to live in relative harmony? Or does Doraville want a different kind of community?

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This person's post is not hyperbole.  Here is the Doraville city council agenda packet for 2/21 with all of the data on this question included.

This is what happens when a city council  has the latitude to edit property rights piecemeal according to the whims of small niche groups.

DeKalb Commission Meets in Dunwoody in February

DeKalb County commissioners are trying to make themselves more accessible to the public by holding their first evening meeting.
The DeKalb Board of Commissioners will convene at Dunwoody City Hall at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, one of three evening meetings scheduled this year.

Full Article at AJC.com

30 minutes are available for public comment starting at 6:30 pm, presumably at the end of the meeting.

We're Still Proud

Thank you for a great season, Falcons!  We'll be back in the fall.

(Patrick, listen up - I want a #11 jersey for Valentine's Day)

Dunwoody Homeowners Association Annual Meeting 2017 - Video Recap

Introductory remarks by Rob Wittenstein.
Rob welcomed all of the elected officials in the audience, including our city council members.  I'm glad they didn't feel a "conflict of interest" over attending and asking questions.  Let's hope that stupidity is permanently put to bed.

   

Introduction and remarks by Chris Carr, Georgia's Attorney General.

Comments by County Commissioner Nancy Jester

GA House Representative Tom Taylor on legislation this session, including HB58 - a proposal to allow the formation of independent school districts

Business of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award



Georgians for Local Area School Systems

The Dunwoody Home Business Map

Welcome, Dunwoody Crier readers!

The map you saw in the newspaper on January 10 is available online here:

https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1012300#

It includes a filterable legend to the different types of operations and where confirmed complaints were noted.

Visit the original project description and current statistics.  

Some caveats:

• This map and the research going into it are not a full time job although I was a full-time database administrator at one time and that's where the skills came from.  
• The data is as accurate as I could get it but I am not making any guarantees.  Information is changing and becoming available day by day.
• Each marker has some additional information.  Commentary is my personal opinion.
• This map still only represents a fraction of the home business community.  Everything here was verified via a public record.  There are many more out there (like MLMs, self-employed neighborhood professionals, etc) who operate by word of mouth and utilize the municipal code's many loopholes to work as part and parcel of our residential community.
• Actual extent of customer contact is unknown.  Many business operators do so with the tacit blessing of each and every one of our seven city council members.  That fact was not brought out last night.  You're welcome.
• Dunwoody is not now and has never been a "bedroom community".  That vision is a fiction and is therefore - unsustainable.  Home businesses, including those with customers and employees, are a significant, organic, and vibrant part of our livable community and make significant contributions to our tax base at both municipal and county levels.

Questions are welcome.  Vitriol and denial are not.

Just Another Night at Dunwoody City Council

Communities evolve, like it or not.  Real life is not black and white. The more anyone tries to force that simplicity, the more it crumbles.  Accept the reality that enhances life.

2017 State of the Home Business Community - The Commentary

Note:  here are the maps of known home business activity in Dunwoody, broken out by type.  This is what the article below refers to.

Updated 1/8/2017 at 9 PM - 1 additional complaint found, violation NOT confirmed.  Statistics are updated below.

The home business map I created is the only compiled and graphical representation of all residential commercial activity in Dunwoody.  It is also the only entity that uses data to correlate code enforcement complaints with documented home business locations.

I find it disturbing that with all of the erratic hand-wringing and protests and petitions, as well as official judgments from our city government, no one in any official capacity has tried to document this data before.

So how are they making their decisions?  The Force?
Not exactly transparent.  Or fair.  Is it even legal?

I began this map in 2014 after the second home business SLUP applicant was dragged through a knothole in exchange for approval of a daycare for infants and toddlers.  Everyone had a judgement to make about how our "bedroom community" (sic) shouldn't be changed and everyone had a "belief" about the alleged future impact on home values.

But no one who spoke had two facts to rub together, including and especially the city council.  A legal decision was made and an honest citizen's fate decided based on - The Force.

So I made it an intensive hobby to officially request this data from the City of Dunwoody to create that correlation myself.  I had gone along with the stories that benign home business owners with customers were the exception rather than the rule and there was probably a pattern of serious problems with disturbing the neighbors.

Here are some of the processes I had to work though in the data:

The Open Records Request process is easy.  But the amount of data I got was huge.  The number of licensed businesses surpassed 500 just at a glance.  I never expected that many and definitely did not expect that it was such a large part of the overall business community.  Numbers vary from 1/5 to 1/4 depending on the year.

I was told by the person delivering my first ORR on business licenses that they are only maintained on a current, rolling list.  There was no archives of past licensed enterprises that closed or moved.  So the first map generated in June 2014 only contained licenses active for the first six months of 2014.  Any businesses that were open before that and closed or moved were not available via city records.

City licenses were only the first step.  There were also business directories (like the chamber of commerce and The AHA Connection) and the State of Georgia that registers corporations (incorporated enteprises, LLCs, LLPs, etc).  There were many registered to home addresses as the primary business location.  But without a city license.  Again, the number is huge - over 100 at any given time.  So I had to differentiate those on the map.  I used different shades of green for those without complaints.

Even with all of this research, we're still dealing with a gross underestimation of actual home business activity.  There are tutors - who will NEVER apply for the appropriate permit to see their customers after seeing the first two applicants treated so shabbily by their own representatives.  There are MLM and direct marketing reps who host parties and receive merchandise shipments.  I remember how those were excluded by city council as "not really businesses" because they didn't want to appear like they were banning Tupperware parties. (Multi-million dollar industries were declared "not really businesses".  Visualize that one!)  Then you have just hobbies-turned-cottage-industry that have no online record at all and are only known via word-of-mouth.  At the end of the day all of the data is an under-representation of reality.

The SLUPs got their own color marker as well to show they had a permit to see customers.  Those were easy.  Two.  And their addresses were in all of the application documents so they were easy to find.

So when all of the known business locations are entered in and mapped, what do we find?

Dunwoody is saturated with commercial activity in residential neighborhoods.  Single family homes, townhomes, apartments, and condos, it's everywhere.   There are no "bedroom communities" that have a wall separating "residential" and "commercial". 

Dunwoody Home Businesses are now and have always been an integral part of residential life.  Even with customer and/or employee contact.

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What happens when we match code enforcement complaints with home businesses?  Are home business locations more likely to receive complaints?

Answer:  NO.

Most code enforcement complaints filed are related to erosion, high grass, or unpermitted construction.  There are hundreds filed every year related to residential areas.

Out of all of these complaints only 12 13 are related to home business activity.  Of these 12, 5 were "operating a business without a license" without a specific "nuisance" noted - that is, beyond the license itself, there was no mention of activity that is specifically prohibited in the municipal code.  3 4 complaints could not be verified.  Not verified = not sure if there really is a legal problem or a misunderstanding, or a a complainer with too much time on their hands.  It could be anything.

I had to broaden the range of dates for code complaints just to generate any numbers at all.
One of the "red marks" - a noise nuisance that resulted in a homeowner selling their home and relocating - was submitted before 2008's cityhood referendum.  (It's the one on Laurelwood drive, on the east end of the city)  The complaint was submitted to DeKalb County who sat on it until Dunwoody incorporated, then the county didnt' have to respond at all.

In the interest of fairness, I made sure to include that complaint because it does represent a negative impact.

But ever since, there have been no complaints filed against a home business in the SE end of Dunwoody.  Not just not confirmed, - not filed.

There is an ORR into code enforcement to get more details on the confirmed nuisance reports.  Until then, enjoy the data.  More interesting stories are in the works.

2016 Updates to Dunwoody's Home Business Dynamics

Commentary will follow soon, espcially on the four documented "nuisances".  These maps were generated with ORR's from Dunwoody city hall and analysis of state incorporation records and publicly available business directories.  Hit the "minus sign" button in the bottom right of each map to zoom out.  Click on a marker for more information and my personal commentary

The comprehensive map with all markers can be found at
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1012300#



ABOVE:  All home businesses with licenses issued by the City of Dunwoody AND have no record of code enforcement complaints.  Total = 570



ABOVE:  All home businesses with active business websites and/or some kind of incorporation WITHOUT a city license AND have no record of code enforcement complaints.  Total = 128

ABOVE:  All known FORMER home businesses that existed at one time in Dunwoody, but are not currently present.  Meaning, they may have closed, the homeowner moved or died, relocated out of town, or migrated to a traditional commercial space.  These also had NO record of code enforcement complaints.   Total = 268

Total number of recorded Dunwoody home businesses with NO code enforcement complaints:  969


ABOVE:  All home businesses that have had a complaint filed against them via code enforcement (licensed or not) since 2009  Yellow = complaint filed, not confirmed.  Orange = cited for operating a business without a license and no other nuisance activity noted.  Red = nuisance activity confirmed.

Total code enforcement complaints filed against a home business since Dunwoody incorporated = 13

Perspective:  the first article published documenting the first version of this map project

Welcome 2017

The new constant is change.
How we embrace it will define the future.

--Queen Elizabeth II

Atlanta Panhellenic Opens Scholarship Competition Online

The Atlanta Alumnae Panhellenic Association has opened its annual scholarship competition to women in high school, college, or graduate programs.  For the first time, applications will be accepted online.

The following scholarships will be awarded at the Scholarship Luncheon on May 13, 2017:

Six (6) High School Senior Scholarships at $1,500 each

Three (3) Collegiate Member Scholarships at $2,000 each

One (1) Alumnae Scholarship at $2,000

Learn more and access the secured applications at http://www.atlantapanhellenic.org/scholarships/

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That's the official announcement from AAPA, a 10-year client of SDOC.

Now here's the rest of the story....

For years the Scholarship Committee requested that the application forms in the competition be formatted as fillable PDFs - the kind you can download, fill in on your computer, print and then mail.  The members at the time thought it would be easier.  For them it probably was.  This year the Scholarship chair wanted AAPA to organize a procedure that mirrored other online applications.  The PDFs were put out to pasture and yours truly was tasked with creating a system of online applications.

There is no "plugin" or "extension" for scholarship applications for your CMS and you don't need one.  I created the system for AAPA using Contact Form 7 for WordPress.  (You can do the same thing with other content management systems - the original Dunwoody Chamber online application was made with the Webform plugin.)

The key is in the details.  First, make a very clear list of what information you need to collect from your visitors.  Then you decide how you want to collect that info - entering text into a box, selecting from a drop-down menu, uploading a file, etc.  Finally you divide up the info into forms for each group you want to reach and sequence them so that your visitor has a logical workflow that leads them from one step to the next.

Complex information collection doesn't require fancy add-ons.  But it does require close attention to detail and a visitor-centered POV.

On a final note, the Atlanta Panhellenic has called Dunwoody home for at least 15 years.   From the meeting room near the Library, they have been reaching out to Atlanta-area counties with information about modern NPC sorority life and educational opportunities.  AAPA has been providing scholarships to area young women since 1932 and the total granted to date is approximately $100,000.  The total planned to be presented this year is $17,000.  If you hang your hat in and around Atlanta, please visit and investigate this opportunity for scholarship funds.

Everything's Great Until It's Not - Hacked Websites, What to Do About Them and How to Prevent a Hacking

Earlier this year, I was hired to repair a hacked website for a Los Angeles-based entertainment company.  Ever since then, I have been knocking the concept for this post around in my head.  With the City of Dunwoody's website hacking, the subject has come to the front burner and I decided it was time to get this one posted.

Security is Relative

There is no such thing as a 100%-hack-safe computer on the Internet.  Whenever I see RFPs requesting "100% uptime" in their website, I take that as a red flag that someone doesn't understand computer security.  Even NORAD and NASA were hacked by teenagers.    A developer or network admin can make hacking extremely difficult - so much so that a hacker decides the site isn't worth their time and moves on.  But if a hacker wants to get into a computer system, they will eventually find a way in.  Website owners and hosting admins have to be vigilant and plan for recovery from attacks before they happen.

All Hacks Are Not the Same

Hacked websites will appear and behave differently based on the intent of the hacker.  In Dunwoody's case, somebody wanted to make a point and make sure the entire planet knew who they were and what was on their mind.  My entertainment company hack was more insidious:  the site looked the same but the administrator could not log on.  The hacker had made numerous changes in the back end that not only allowed clandestine access rights but also made it difficult to track down and remove the rogue code.

You Got Hacked!  What Now?

The name of the game is to eliminate any code or other elements that were placed by hackers and make sure your actual website code is intact.  How much work is involved is going to depend on what the hacker did once they got access to your site or server account and in some cases, how much stuff you had stored there in the first place.

This may or may not be a DIY job, depending on how comfortable you are with the files and database that drive your website.  When in doubt, consult a professional.

If you have a simple website and your webhost provides a routine backup option (or "snapshot", as its called by some) you can simply restore an older version of the website to replace the hacked version.  This requires some planning ahead and I'll go into those plans further down.

But what if you didn't plan ahead and there are no backups to restore?  That's when you have to take the step-by-step approach.

The Most Complete Hack Job I've Ever Seen

My entertainment site hack client was an example of a very deliberate, stealthy, even surgical hack that left the public face of the site intact but prevented legit administrators from accessing the dashboard, allowed different admins access, and hid the hacked content inside of normal files.  Here's what I found.

1. The hacked site was in WordPress.  Which had not been updated in years.  The site also used a commercial theme purchased from a developer.  Which also had updates available and also had not been updated in years.  The host was bare-bones GoDaddy.  Without a site backup option. Problem #1 was identified.  The owner provided access to the GoDaddy account and the files could be read through a browser.
2. There were a ton of directories with obsolete code from earlier versions of the website.  Inside were recently-added PHP code files with benign names like "security.php" and "file.php".  But they weren't benign - they were part of the admin control hack.  The tip-off was the date when they were added:  when all of the files are 2,3,4 years old and you have a new file that was added last month, that's your culprit.   The delete key was my friend.
3. Similar benign-sounding-but-not files were found in directories that housed javascript files that drive the interactive and animated elements of the website.  When you have a directory full of files that end in ".js" and there's a recently added file ending in ".php", that's a file that doesn't belong there.  Delete key again.
4. Same process was repeated in the "uploads" file where images and the like are kept.  When you see a bunch of ".jpg" and ".gif" files and a new one out of nowhere ending in ".php", that's the file you delete.
5. Database edits:  the hackers created an additional table in the WP database to override the admin commands.  They also added new users with administrator roles.  Delete the extra table and delete any and all users that were not currently authorized on the site.  This is where a professional database admin comes in handy and we leave the DIY Zone.
6. The last piece of the puzzle was the worst.  The hackers had not only done ALL of the above, but they had inserted lines of code into actual WordPress files, either at the very beginning, or at the very end.  Now if you're a developer who is used to looking at the individual files that make up WordPress and reading the code, you can tell when something is added that doesn't belong there.  There is NO way a casual user would have caught this.  Even if they managed to spot and delete all of the above hacks, the result would have been the site crashing altogether.  I reviewed all of the files in the core content management system and removed code that wasn't kosher.

BINGO!  The administrators could log in.  Software got updated, including the outdated theme and my customer was updating the website again.  No further hacks.

The above cleanup process took about 12 hours and I charge my hourly rate for that kind of work.  Can that situation be avoided?  Oh hell yes.  And I highly prefer it to fixing a site that had been entered by somebody using a server in the Czech Republic.

Six Steps To Avoid the Highway to Hacker Hell

1. This is no longer a joke, gang.  If you are one of the many millions on Planet Earth using some kind of content management system (CMS) whether open-source or commercially available, apply all of your updates when you are aware of them.  The purpose of these updates is to close those little loopholes where hackers get through.  That's the core software.  Plus the little add-ons - "plugins", "modules", "extensions", whatever they're called.  And your themes.  Or "templates", whatever they're called too.  Most of these can be done automatically through the administrator's dashboard.  Or even from a VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER!!!
   
   Contact the CMS' manufacturer's website (or tech support if you're using a proprietary software like Sitefinity).  Don't put it off.  If you can't work it into your schedule, hire a pro to review it regularly.  That's cheaper than recovery.
   
   
2. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP  If your webhost has an automatic backup function, turn it on and use it.  If they don't, back up your files manually and find a new webhost that offers this service.  Backups refer to both the files where your data is displayed, and the database where the data is stored.  Most competent web hosts have help files and/or tech support that will walk you through this.  When in doubt - hire a professional and have it done for you regularly.  Monthly, at the very least for the typical non-government small business.
   
   
3. Remove any obsolete files or directories from your web host.  If you're not using old plugins or other code, delete it from your server.  Save it to a local drive for posterity if you want but it's just a trouble magnet on the Internet.  Follow your CMS' instructions for uninstalling and removing components for your website.  Old directories with code no longer in use need to go.  If you're not sure how to do this ... wait for it....  hire a professional.
   
   WordPress users:  even if you uninstall and delete a plugin properly, the data from that plugin may still be left behind in the database.  That can still be a vulnerability, albeit a rare one.  There are plugins available that can clean out "orphan" data from a database but a database admin can manually go through and remove anything no longer in use.
   
   
4. Remove any users who are no longer working on the site.  I believe this may have been part of what led to the major hacking I cleaned up.  There were a number of users still listed on the site who edited content and plugins from time to time, but were no longer involved.  They were still there, same passwords in place.  A disgruntled former employee can do a lot of damage.  But even if there are no bad feelings, what if that former employee gets hacked and someone gets a hold of their login credentials?  The result is the same.  Just delete the user and their access.  If they return, give them a new login.
   
   
5. Rotate your passwords.  I know, passwords are a PITA to remember and use.  Changing them on a regular basis can prevent hacking and other fraud.  Don't forget to make it something that a hacker won't be able to find using a standard algorithm of searching for common words.  Many CMS and hosting providers require a minimum security level, including a mix of numbers, upper and lower case letters, and punctuation.  Anyone who still uses "password" or "123456" needs to be slapped.  As well as kept away from computers!
   
   
6. Reevaluate your hosting provider periodically.  Not all hosts are created equally.  The uber-cheapo hosts are great for hosting vacation pictures by Aunt Suzie from Syracuse.  E-commerce needs something more secure, and that will require an investment.  Do some research as your web presence expands to make sure your website's foundation is secure and has the power to run your applications without hanging or crashing.  Government agencies and municipalities - don't skimp on this, no matter what the citizenry says.  When I consult for any government office or agency, I have a very short list of providers I will work with.
   
   Amazon web hosting is the gold standard for high-volume performance and security.  To give you an idea of what they are capable of, Amazon hosts WhiteHouse.gov, Georgia.gov and a number of federal agencies, including the CDC here in Atlanta.  In the private sector, they host NetFlix.  But hosting like that costs big bucks - there is no price menu at Amazon, all contracts are negotiated especially the high visibility ones.  Most enterprises do not need this level (or cost) of power and security but the point is, this isn't a place to go cheap.

It's all about paying regular attention to the bones of your website.  Either set aside the time or hire someone who will.  The following does not have to be you, if you apply some regular due diligence.