22 MAR 06: THE ULTIMATE JOB FAIR
Well, isn't this nice to see! Leaders of cities across the Chattahoochee Valley soon will gather together, for a little friendly competition against each other. You'd think they'd do this at the Columbus Civic Center - but in 2006, they're going all the way to South Korea....
We learned the dates Tuesday for a major meeting of area leaders and South Korean auto suppliers. They'll come together April 4-7, to discuss where parts plants will be placed for the Kia factory in West Point. Maybe the Columbus Catfish should join them - since the Koreans made the World Baseball Classic semifinals.
More details were revealed Tuesday about what Phenix City will offer Kia. It has 35 acres of land along U.S. 280, north of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter - and Home Depot will be happy to hold weekend clinics, to teach people how to do the work themselves.
Phenix City Economic Development Director Victor Cross says the 35-acre plot is perfect for a plant. Parts could be driven up U.S. 280 to Opelika, then northeast on Interstate 85 to West Point -- as long as drivers don't stop at the Lee County Flea Market and swap the parts for Confederate flags.
Victor Cross brings up a good point about access to the Kia.plant. Locations in north Phenix City are a four-lane drive all the way to West Point. Industrial areas of Columbus might not be that easy - especially with Mayor Poydasheff still trying to figure out how to synchronize all the traffic lights.
Can't you hear the critics now, saying south Phenix City could be slighted again in all this? But Victor Cross says locations on State Docks Road will be offered to Kia suppliers as well. Hey, there's an idea - barge traffic up the Chattahoochee River, and through West Point Lake.
If all goes well with Phenix City's plans, Mayor Jeff Hardin could get two items for the price of one. If a parts supplier decides to locate a plant in his city, it might throw in that movie theater he promised 18 months ago - even if the theater only shows kung fu movies.
Some people in Columbus say the mass media is making too big a deal of the $1.2 billion Kia plant. They should see the Valley Times-News, which has had articles with pictures about Kia and South Korea almost every day since the contract was signed. Maybe Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church plan to buy it?!
BLOG UPDATE: Columbus Council surrendered Tuesday on the disputed land at 13th and Cedar in midtown. It will be sold to the developer which bought the corner lot at an auction. All that remains now is for the Historic Columbus Foundation to declare the fountain there untouchable and off-limits.
The Columbus Council voted 9-1 to let Ted Pierce of C&A Family Partnerships have the land at 13th and Cedar. You'll recall the City Manager tried to stop the sale, saying the land was promised to someone else [15 Feb]. Can't Isaiah Hugley offer some nice empty storefronts on Victory Drive instead?
A spokesman for C&A Family Partnerships suggested the city still might be sued, for promising the 13th and Cedar lot to someone else after the auction. If every politician who ever engaged in double-talk was sued, the backlog of cases would last at least five years.
Now for other quick steps from "National Dance Day" (that's what Tuesday was, on a calendar I saw):
+ Captain Brian McGarr was named Phenix City's new police chief. He currently is in charge of police training - and I'm told he even trained HIMSELF for the new job as chief. I suppose that beats a correspondence course, at one of those online colleges which sends out spam.
+ Harris County voters overwhelmingly approved a five-year extension of a one-percent sales tax. This proves once again the cranky anti-tax bloggers and serial letter writers are outnumbered....
(Some of the sales tax renewal money will build a new intermediate school in Harris County. The way this county's growing, it might as well buy the construction trailers and keep them there as permanent overflow classrooms.)
+ Former Georgia Congresswoman Denise Majette announced she'll challenge Kathy Cox for state school superintendent. So Majette will NOT run against Rep. Cynthia McKinney again - which I suspect saddens members of both parties.
+ Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore toured the state, to announce he'll stay in the Republican Governor's race. He will NOT pull a switch, and run as an independent - even though everyone who served with Moore on Alabama's Supreme Court would say that's exactly what he is.
+ Craig Stahl of the Columbus Cottonmouths helped several teammates get ready for the playoffs - by giving them "Mohawk" haircuts! [True/WRBL] Let's all be thankful hockey players are required to wear helmets on the ice these days....
(Craig Stahl openly admitted the special playoff haircutting is "one of the silliest things I've ever done." But hold on - after the playoffs end, he can be an instructor at Rivertown School of Beauty.)
+ Instant Message to anyone who heard about a welcome-home ceremony this week for the Third Brigade: I'm told Friday's event is NOT open to the general public - only soldiers and their families. If you're spotted with binoculars watching fireworks pop above Fort Benning, you could be in big trouble.
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