INTRODUCING: Commissioner Nancy Jester | www.nancyjester.com

www.nancyjester.com

Nancy won her runoff election in December and that's when the work really began.  After building and running the campaign website, Nancy asked me to stay on build her Commissioner's site as well.

After the usual discussions, examining samples, listing content needs, I was assigned to design the interface, then hand it off to the technical staff (Hi Stan!) to make final edits and implement the content.

This is not a stereotypical open source CMS site like WordPress.  This interface was custom-built, line by line and item by item to unique specifications.  AND - as always, all of the elements have to be responsive.

I'll be around for tech support where it's needed but Nancy's staff is going to handle it from here.  Thanks so much to the campaign and to the Commissioner's staff for allowing me a place in this project.

Dunwoody Water Main and Street Rebuilding Begins TODAY

...and may God have mercy on our souls.

From the City of Dunwoody website:

These crucial infrastructure improvements present the city with an opportunity to make much needed road surface and pedestrian improvements along the Mount Vernon Road corridor. Subsequent to the installation of the new water main, the city will resurface this entire section of Mount Vernon Road and also construct new sidewalks on the south side of Mount Vernon Road between Dunwoody Village Parkway and Vernon Oaks Drive.

In an effort to streamline the sequencing of these improvements, the City of Dunwoody will coordinate with the county and the contractor to perform these tasks.

Initial project construction will begin the week of March 16, 2015 and work is expected to be complete within seven to nine months.

Sayonara, Dunwoody Green Market

Via email this afternoon:

The DunwoodyGreenMarket has officially closed and will not re open in 2015.
Over the last 10 years, we have been asked to relocate the market five times for various reasons to other locations within the city. With each move, we lost a portion of our customer base and without that weekly customer support; the market loses its viability.
We believe the Wednesday market has run its course in Dunwoody and no longer makes good business sense to continue.
For those of you that have supported us through the years, we truly appreciate your business and hope that you will continue to buy good, local food and other fine products from us at other metro markets.
Through the years, we have all forged good friendships within the community and it will be missed.
Listed below are a few vendors that asked to be listed for future contact.
Heirloom Gardens
Heirloomgardens@Windstream.netwww.Heirloom-Gardens.org
Cuisine by Lisa Rochon
rochonent@yahoo.com.
Fry Farm
Fryfarm.ga@gmail.comwww.fry-farm.com
Alta Cucina
acoppola@altacucinaitalia.com
Natural Almond
www.georgiagrinders.comwww.naturalmond.com
Indigo Bath and Body
www.indigosoaps.comIndigo on Facebook
Heritage Farms
www.heritage-farm.nethutchinsfamilyfarm@gmail.com

I never feel good about watching a local business close.  But the days of this enterprise were numbered from the start and they did not have to be.

What lessons did we learn from the Green Market?

1)  "Squatting" is not a viable strategy when location is critical to customer retention.
The Green Market never had a space to call its own and I'm not sure how hard they tried to find one.
Check out the commentary from THREE YEARS AGO.

2)  Tangled knots of contradictory regulations by your friends on Dunwoody City Council do not substitute for 1) above.  
Lynn Deutsch and John Heneghan are famous for their support of anything having to do with livestock ownership and their own vision of "farming".  In a city council meeting of October 2013, they adamantly stripped any leniency in home business licensing in the code rewrite to restrict "commercial activity".  Then, in the same meeting, only a few minutes later, Deutsch advocated for a special clause in the new code to allow for "farmers' markets" to set up without permits or any restrictions in church parking lots - which are in residential areas.  In short, she advocated for commercial activity in residential areas for her personal interests, right after condemning the very same activity for anyone else.
Here's the original blog post.  The videos referenced and linked in it have conveniently disappeared.  However my memory of the event has not and will play a big part in how the voting members of my household approach Election Day.
(The official video from City Hall is working, even if you're not using Internet Explorer)

Can Dunwoody do any better for "open fair" type markets?

Yes, and I have long believed we should.  Pick out a location that can be designated for a community market.  Or assist a landlord in providing a space.  My original idea about the Ace Hardware Sprouts Market won't work today but other spaces may be available.  Make sure that the zoning in place will support the activity without forcing any of its advocates to blatantly contradict themselves.  Depending upon who or what enterprise wants to make use of that space and the fees for doing so, we may just come up with that peaceful, eclectic community that some of our local personalities long for.