Last Wednesday night, UGA Student Government External Affairs committee chair Chris Hoofnagle gave about 40 people a presentation entitled "Athens-Clarke County Government: The Common Enemy." The small crowd was made up mostly of members of the local and campus press, SGA members and candidates, and three ACC commissioners. Hoofnagle's presentation centered around support for his theory that the local government is engaged in a deliberate conspiracy against the 30,000 UGA students that make up one-third of the Athens-Clarke County population.
Hoofnagle, a student in the UGA law school, bases his theory on ACC's single-family zoning ordinance which states, "No single dwelling unit located in a Single-Family Residential zoning district shall have more than two unrelated individuals residing therein."
The 8 page packet that Hoofnagle handed out to those attending his presentation is a detailed outline citing quotes from local newspaper reports as well as statements from court cases in which the ordinance was challenged that blatantly state the ordinance's anti-student intentions.
A majority of the residential neighborhoods located near campus and downtown (the places where students spend most of their time) are zoned single-family, while the ACC government frequently approves the development of multi-unit housing complexes located on the Eastside outside the perimeter. Hoofnagle calls this area of town "undesirable land" located near the airport, trailer parks, sewage treatment plants, the jail, a rock quarry and the landfill, and dotted with communications towers. Large numbers of students are forced to reside many miles from campus in inefficient, shoddily-constructed apartment complexes which Hoofnagle refers to as "stacked shacks."
He says this student containment on the east side is not only a burden to the students who are forced to commute but also to the community at large who must deal with increased traffic and the resulting pollution as well as the parking problems that ensue. Hoofnagle further supports his theory by presenting maps outlining the Athens-Clarke County Commission districts. Districts 3,4, 5, and 7 all converge to break up the downtown/campus/dormitory area that is presumably heavily student-populated. Potential student
voting power in the area is thereby dispersed among four different districts.
Part of the External Affairs Committee's campaign to increase the student voice in local issues includes a student voter registration drive. Of the 45,000 registered voters in Athens fewer than 20,000 voted in this past election. Hoofnagle sees the potential for a student impact on the outcome of local elections if UGA students register and vote in Athens-Clarke County.
Hoofnagle has faced apathy and criticism from the students themselves. After students failed to show up at an ACC commission meeting and support him in his fight against the single-family ordinance back in August, he temporarily let up. He was quoted in the student newspaper, The Red & Black as saying, "I'm not sure the students are worthy of my efforts with it," a statement that elicited harsh criticism from students and prompted an R & B editorial asking him to resign.
"I felt as if the students who had originally voiced their support had given up on me. I was by myself, and I felt like an idiot," he recalls of that appearance before the commission, "Student advocacy is difficult when the people you're advocating for fail to support it... "
"I don't think the Red & Black is hearing the message... " says Hoofnagle. "You'd think they could be above attacking me personally to convey a pro-student message. Missing this message is doing a disservice to the students."
"Obviously, I don't think that's the case," says R & B editor Doug Gillett. "I think we report on the SGA favorably, even when they take on issues like the single-family ordinance in which the deck was stacked against them from the beginning that kind of support is hard to give.".
When asked about the apathy of students when it comes to local issues, Gillett says, "I think they care, but they don't realize it. I can see how they would have a misperception of the ACC government... It is kind of selfish, but look at the obstacles to overcome and couple those with the fact that they won't even be here."
Perhaps the greatest obstacle Hoofnagle, the SGA External Affairs Committee and the SGA at large all face is this student apathy. According to Gillett, only three to six percent of the student population even bothers to vote in campus elections, although there is no method of tracing the actual number of students who vote in local elections.
The final message of Hoofnagle's "Common Enemy" presentation is "Vote. We could change the outcome of every race in the county if students would just vote."
Despite his dedication to continued efforts to encourage civic responsibility among students, Hoofnagle realizes this message still falls on many deaf ears.
Hoofnagle says his next step is to harness the support of non-students who are also affected by some of the government's anti-student policies. The 25-29 year-old age group is a large chunk of the voting demographics in Athens-Clarke County. Hoofnagle feels these "townies" are people sympathetic to many student issues issues including the open container ordinance, the 2:45 a.m. bar closing policy, poor pedestrian protection, lack of bike lanes and the single-family ordinance.
"The effects of a policy like the single-family ordinance is even more drastic on non-students. You have self-dependent, young, hard workers who can be deprived of high-quality housing," explains Hoofnagle, "Many of us students are here on Hope or on our parents. It's almost not as bad. When you're out there on your own, the single-family ordinance can exclude you from decent living. Decent housing is a human right." (Melissa Link)