17 APR 09: Watch This Space

As of Thursday night, Columbus was number 810,132. And no, that is NOT on the list of U.S. cities most likely to get a minor league baseball franchise.

That high number reflects where the Columbus city web site ranks in terms of Internet traffic. We checked the commonly-used site Alexa to learn this. Google and Yahoo usually rank 1-2. Maybe if the city posted YouTube videos of employees singing Broadway show tunes....

The city web site may not have a huge number of visitors -- but one person who stopped there recently was stunned by what she saw, and let us know it. We're admittedly editing out part of her lengthy e-mail, because it repeats points she's made before:

Is CB&T predating upon Columbus? It targeted and predated upon Hispanics- in a place where they thought Columbus would not find out what they were doing.

Have you noticed that the Columbus Consolidated Government is now accepting advertisements for the home page of the city's website?

Wonder how much they charge? Jim Blanchard has an advertisement for his Leadership Forum on the front and center of the Columbus city website with a revolving flash presentation of Colin Powell.

Has anyone told Colin Powell that the leadership at CB&T lead to a NY state removal of all business by CB&T in the state of NY because of their predatory lending practices to minorities?.... [3 Feb]

A company that commits predatory acts upon minorities, many of whom were said to have been taken advantage of by CB&T because they did not speak English well, Is this the right company, with its moral authority, to present Leadership training?

Since CB&T owns our local government is their former chair exempt from advertising costs? Does Blanchard even pay for use of our city website, or does he just have entitlement to free use of the city website at will?

Can you please ask the mayor why he is doing FREE ads for them- or if the mayor is securing proper payment from Jim Blanchard for his Leadership Seminar ads on our city website- just how much is Jim Blanchard paying for all of the ads that are done at taxpayer expense?....

Has anyone ever gotten the percentage CB&T is supposed to pay tax payers for holding those many millions of Columbus Consolidated Government Reserves, RANGING FROM $30-50 Millions at different times? Maybe the Columbus city website is a little like the tax reserves interest supposedly paid by CB&T- it is a secret- not subject to Open Records Requests? Only the mayor knows and he ain't talking?

In fact, we noticed the message promoting the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum on the city web site last weekend. We didn't realize until then that retired General Colin Powell was speaking there this August - even though he was booked to appear months ago. Any earlier announcements were as quiet as Navy Seals, but apparently didn't work as well.

But let's get to the questions mentioned here. Is the city government web site "accepting advertisements?" Instead of calling Mayor Jim Wetherington, we e-mailed the site's Webmaster. This response reached us first:

It was an exciting event, with Colin Powell, coming to our Convention and Trade Center. The Convention and Trade Center and Civic Center are associated with the city.

If it offends you in any way, I will remove the link.

Don't worry, I'm not the one who's offended - I'm merely passing on the objection of someone else. But doesn't this reasoning open the door for outside promotions to "advertise" on the city web site? For instance, Disney on Ice appears at the Civic Center next week - and Tinkerbell could tap a wand right on City Manager Isaiah Hugley's head.

A more detailed response reached us a few hours later, from a different city employee:

Hey Richard, we are not selling advertisements on our Web site; however, we do display events that are hosted by CCG agencies and take place at CCG venues, such as events at the Civic Center, South Commons, A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium and Golden Park. The Trade Center is just another CCG venue site. If this had been booked at the Cunningham Center or any privately owned conference center we would not have displayed it on our site.

I've passed your concerns on to the City Manager, the Mayor and City Attorney for their comments and guidance, in case they have a different opinion. If they feel it is not appropriate to have it on our site, then we'll take it off.

I hope I've answered your question, but if you would like to discuss it further, please feel free to give me a call...thanks

Charles Tate

Director of Information Technology

Some of the "public meetings/events" are listed near the bottom of the city's home page. They include tonight's Civic Center concert by country music legend George Jones -- where he'll probably be hounded by angry Phenix City residents, wondering when his investment group plans to start building The Phenixian.

You may recall last year's Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum was held at Columbus State's Cunningham Center - and that's a point our e-mailer seems to be overlooking. Blanchard's name is on the forum, but it's really the Cunningham Center's event. After all, no one blames John B. Amos's family when someone dies of cancer.

In fact, my original thought was NOT that the city was doing a favor to Jim Blanchard or Synovus. I recalled the C.S.U. Cunningham Center is directed by former city manager Carmen Cavezza. Since he's also a retired general, he could "pull rank" in three different directions.

So it appears the city Webmaster posted the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum message because it's in a city-operated building, and he did it at no charge for an arm of Columbus State University. He could have followed the lead of Columbus Water Works, and imposed a series of higher fees.

But then I started thinking about this. What would be wrong with the Columbus city web site selling ad space, anyway? Some city-operated METRA buses have ads outside them, selling Circle K "Thirstbuster" drinks -- drinks I doubt riders are allowed to bring aboard a bus.

Think about this some more. The Columbus Civic Center has all sorts of advertising inside its walls. And the outfield fence of Golden Park has several signs, which hardly anyone has seen for the last eight months.

So if various city-operated items already have advertising on them, why not the Columbus city web site? Imagine if someone had thought of this a year ago. We might have paid for new police officers through "Google ads" for weight loss plans.

But let's be honest here: if the city web site ranks below number 800,000 in Internet traffic, it might be hard to sell advertising for it. In fact, Alexa ranks the Synovus web site among the top 150,000 for visitors. If Synovus isn't promoting the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum, the staff may be turning to the city in desperation.

While we were at Alexa, we checked the rankings of various other Columbus web sites....

+ Aflac seems to have the most visits, with a ranking around number 37,000. I guess those commercials with the duck really still are popular.

+ WLTZ ranks around 391,000 - but for some odd reason, it's connected to a web site showing tennis scores. Plenty of single guys probably love Stefanie Tiso, but not THAT way.

+ In a stunning surprise, Intown Columbus ranks around 660,000. Yes, the social blog about Columbus gets more visits than the city web site - so maybe it truly is the Republican alternative.

+ This blog ranks far below Intown Columbus, at around 2,666,000. But we score above Richard Hyatt and WDAK Radio - so we'd like to invite all those advertisers seeking a "well-informed audience" to e-mail us this weekend.

-> Our other blog starts with poker, then goes in directions you might not expect. Visit "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: Will the next accuser of Columbus city government please come forward....

Little ole Columbus, Georgia ranks number 22 out of 25...right up there with Miami and Los Angeles with the most vehicle thefts. It's just wonderful to see we are on the map for something. Is our city safe Chief Boren?

No. 22: Columbus, Ga.

2008 Rank: 22

2007 Rank: 22

# Thefts in 2008: 1,598

Rate of Thefts: 555.53

Notes: A vehicle theft rank of 1 is the worst. The rate of thefts is determined by the number of vehicle theft offenses per 100,000 inhabitants using the most current U.S. Census Population Estimates available. A higher rate means more thefts per capita

This ranking from the National Insurance Crime Bureau made the evening TV news Thursday, and actually includes the entire metropolitan area. By comparison, the New York City area was far down the list at number 206 -- but then again, New York probably scores higher in the number of subway pickpockets.

A Columbus police spokesman said local car theft is in decline. The "Hot Spot" report actually backs that up, as the area's rate last year was down 15 percent from 2006. See what happens when a more realistic version of "Grand Theft Auto" comes out?

As it happened, the Columbus Commission on Crime Prevention had a public forum at the central library Thursday night. The commission has developed five areas of emphasis -- one of them recreation. If you can stop young people from stealing the basketball during games, a good habit will begin.

We have one more e-mail, which we'll save for this weekend. Now let's sort through Thursday's facts and fiction:

+ The parent company of Peachtree Mall filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Yet the mall reportedly was a busy place Thursday night - as shoppers with income tax refunds simply can't wait for the "quitting business" sales to begin.

+ The chief executive of WD-40 spoke at Columbus State University. He probably taught a very simple rule of success -- oily to bed, oily to rise.

+ The owner of the fire-scarred Bibb Mill property announced plans for the future. Part of the grounds will be turned into "greenspace" to hold weddings and other outdoor events. Now we know the real reason why Josh McKoon is moving to that area of Columbus....

+ WRBL revealed Columbus Lions head coach Jason Gibson left the team during last weekend's road trip to Harrisburg, because his wife had a baby. Now you know why kicker Carlos Martinez was allowed to leave for an N.F.L. tryout THIS weekend - the precedent already was set.

+ The University of Alabama confirmed Ken Stabler will NOT return to radio broadcasts next season, even though he was cleared of drunk driving charges. Stabler probably has other plans -- such as a reserved seat on the "Madden Cruiser," to party with his old coach once a month.

The number of unique visitors to our blog is up more than 18 percent so far this year! To advertise to them, offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 654 (+ 25, 4.0%)

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.

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