Whenever I read Stumptown, GA, I'm impressed by Hannah's love for her hometown. Born here, raised here, she sees Forest Park and its sister communities from a perspective that transplants like me will never share — except through posts like Stripmall Memories and Fulton Counties.
I want to feel the same way about my hometown of Anniston, AL, but it's difficult.
There was a time when I was very proud of Anniston. When I was in college, I loved bringing friends home to see the Regar Museum of Natural History, share a tasty sandwich in the cool, dim recesses of the now defunct Cheese Deli, and to take in the tree-lined elegance of Quintard Avenue, especially at Christmas, when lights blazed in the landscaping.
Today, though, most of my old haunts and favorite stores have closed, replaced by pawn shops, tattoo parlors, and payday loan joints. Once vibrant shopping plazas, now abandoned, crumble. In the early 1980's, a college friend from Paris thought Anniston looked like a variation on a tiny Swiss mountain town; now, with Fort McClellan closed, the entire city looks worn and neglected.
There are some hidden jewels there. The Classic on Noble is a remarkable, if inconsistent, lunch spot, with an elegant and expansive Sunday buffet that's unlike anything here in Midtown Atlanta. Mata's Pizza, a family-owned joint on Quintard (you know — it's in front of what used to be the Super X Drug Store and right next to that Pizza Boy someone made into a bad Chinese restaurant), has been serving up rich, savory pies for more than two decades now.
But these places are exceptions to the rule. The closure of the Fort, the installation of the in-town nerve gas furnace, and lack of direct access by Interstate are slowly strangling what used to be a vibrant, surprising oasis nestled in the hills of North Alabama.
When we visit, I want to feel a connection with the place. I wonder what it would be like to live there, to have a house on a street I've traveled since childhood, or to be able to say, "I'm a native." But that will never happen for me, because I don't feel any connection to the Anniston That Is … and the place I grew up in doesn't seem to exist any more.
Atlanta and its population are changing so fast, i feel the need to archive these impressions just to steady myself. I bet if you found yourself living in Anniston again, you’d discover an endless parade of weird stories and beautiful blight. Because that’s the kind of compassionate observer you are, wherever you are.
Thanks for reading. What the heck is an in-town nerve gas furnace?
Not to mention the running joke known as the Mayor and City Council…Anniston is now the least desirable part of Calhoun County.
I realize this is too long to be posted, but I thought I’d pass on the latest “circus act” known as Anniston government, as posted in today’s Anniston Star.
Councilman sues mayor; Ben Little cites comments, claims Gene Robinson is a racistBy Megan NicholsStaff Writer04-01-2009Robinson
Councilman Ben Little is suing Anniston Mayor Gene Robinson, claiming the mayor is a racist.
Little’s suit cites several incidents since Robinson’s August election and says that Robinson “is a racist who claims (Little) should be killed if he continues to oppose (Robinson) in Anniston City Council meetings.”
Although he called The Star Tuesday to say the suit had been filed, Little, who is black, declined to comment further.
Robinson, who is white, said he is not a racist.
“I resent him saying that,” he said. “I think he is, he’s a reverse racist.”
The suit details a toe-to-toe City Hall screaming match between the two men. After that January argument about the council agenda, both men accused the other of looking ready to throw punches.
Robinson told The Star if the two had fought: “We’d be having (Little’s) funeral today.”
In the suit, Little claims that was a death threat.
Robinson said no way.
“He originated that by calling me a poodle, and by calling me that he was saying I had feminine ways,” Robinson said. “He started that fracas and it took me manning up to get him out of my office.”
Little’s suit claims that this so-called death threat prompted others to threaten Little’s life. Earlier this month, unknown individuals posted Star news clippings about Little at the downtown post office with threats like, “fire him or shoot him” scrawled in the margins.
Robinson said he took those threats seriously and would not encourage anyone to intimidate Little in such a manner.
“I don’t have any rabid followers that would do anything of this nature,” the mayor said. “I don’t have a gang or a posse of people out there.”
The suit also brings up Robinson’s comments to The Star following his election in August. The day after he won, the new mayor said: “I bought into the black corruption in Anniston. And it worked.”
The comments stemmed from Robinson paying two men to rally voters for him in the largely black west and south parts of Anniston. The black community was outraged by Robinson’s statements and he has since apologized.
Curtis Ray, who Robinson paid $1,700 to help get black votes, already is suing the mayor because of those comments.
Little’s suit also claims that Robinson attended a League of the South meeting last week. That group, which calls for Southern independence, is starting an Anniston chapter.
A Star reporter who attended the meeting did not see Robinson there. The mayor emphatically denied attending it, even changing his voicemail message to that effect. Robinson often changes his cell phone’s voicemail message to deal with what he calls “the latest rumor.”
“The latest rumor is that I’m grand poobah of the League of the South,” the message said late Tuesday. “All I can say is I can prove I wasn’t there Thursday night with a smile on my face and a pleasant memory.”
Little’s suit also calls friction on the Anniston City Council racially motivated.
Little and Councilman Herbert Palmore began their third council terms in November. Both are black.
Robinson, along with councilmen David Dawson and John Spain took office for the first time in November. All three are white.
The two groups have routinely disagreed on issues, the three new councilmen often overruling the two veterans.
Little’s suit claims these voting patterns are “based on race.”
Robinson, Dawson and Spain all have said that is not true.
All of these incidents have combined to “severely interfere with (Little’s) ability to serve as an effective (councilman)… he has been made sick and caused to suffer great mental anguish,” the lawsuit says.
The suit asks for monetary damages, but does not specify an amount.
Birmingham attorney Gene Rutledge is representing Little in the suit. He also sued Robinson on Ray’s behalf. Rutledge has been very involved in Little’s struggle to control development at the former Fort McClellan.
Robinson called the suit a waste of time.
“Instead of working, Little spends his time thinking on how to disrupt,” Robinson said.
The mayor said he won’t use city money to defend the suits.
“I expect Councilman Little to do the same,” he said. “If he wants to waste everybody’s time, he should have to waste his own money.”