Griffin Wasdin
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heflinhollis.bsky.social
Griffin Wasdin
@heflinhollis.bsky.social
1% haterade // 39% property taxes are too low // 40% about infrastructure lifecycle budgeting // 15% anti-Stitch & other megaprojects // 5% trying to make the term “BeltLine St” happen.
Nobody was more misled by a film title than civil engineers excitedly buying tickets to see 28 Days Later not realizing it was about zombies.
December 5, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Regardless of how you feel about the plan itself, we should be able to agree that too many elected officials are too cowardly to take a stance of vote on controversial issues in need of resolution.

The local politics surrounding school closure and redistricting is absolutely vicious.
December 4, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
The “Keep Atlanta 1996“ coalition.

Focused on global sporting events style over resident substance ✅
Keep the contract and backroom gravytrains going ✅
Keep any new development or density in the defined corridors they belong ✅
December 3, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
If you know Georgia, Roswell flipping blue is a big deal.
JUST IN: Democrats have flipped the mayor's office in Roswell, Georgia, in tonight's runoff.

GOP Mayor Kurt Wilson conceded earlier tonight to Mary Robichaux, the Dem challenging him.

(This is a city in the Atlanta suburbs, the 9th most populous city in Georgia.)
December 3, 2025 at 2:35 AM
The anti-transit argument in summary:
December 2, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
I'm more concerned about school board runoffs, because Andre Dickens' and Courtney English's TAD scheme depends on APS signing off on their own death warrant
December 2, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Important to note the Mayor and his goons tout Atlantic Station as best case example of a TAD, which I find dubious. It missed its economic development goals by 50%, BARELY paid back its bonds, and now we see that $250 million in subsidies couldn’t even keep one grocery store open permanently.
[ALERT] Atlantic Station Publix to Close After Two Decades in Business
Publix is closing its store at Atlantic Station After 20 years in business
www.tonetoatl.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Publix is closing this location to focus on their core business mission: constructing extremely shoddy parking garages.
December 2, 2025 at 1:02 PM
November 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Congratulations to the red truck / red hat crowd. You needed a win after the double PSC loss.
November 28, 2025 at 11:58 PM
It’s crazy that Qdoba is advertising the GT - UGA game because there are no Qdoba’s inside the Perimeter.
November 28, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
November 28, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Happy Thanksgiving, especially the Real Ones who remember the true reason for the season:
November 27, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
That's an over arching problem that City of Atlanta clearly thinks most of us too slow to know was a TAD is so they just running around Twitter saying it grows chocolate cake and sunshine 🤦🏻‍♀️
November 26, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Leaf blowers are especially troublesome for people who travel by bicycle because:
1. They are used to move debris into bike lanes/portions of streets used by people on bikes.
2. It's no fun to get blasted in the face with dirt/dust. This happened to me yesterday and I had to stop to wipe my eyes.
November 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Oh, my oped against extending 25+ year old TIFs/TADs in Atlanta ran in print today. Nothing like irritating the powers-that-be be twice with the same piece.
November 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Baltimore’s zoning bill would allow up to 4 units on SFH lots.

This op-ed is really good…she counters the “every neighborhood is different” justification well: if zoning’s purpose is to protect health and wellbeing, why would different neighborhood histories justify different laws today
November 25, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Shockingly, Council is about to rubber-stamp this pile of empty promises with no public vote.
Fiscal responsibility - or minimal critical thinking - too much to ask?
If APS and County OK this $5B boondoggle, it's 30 years of budget crises, tax hikes, & lousy schools & services.
Shameful.
#GApol
This TAD extension will allegedly protect legacy residents, build affordable housing, put rail on the Beltline, build a new hospital, and support small businesses. That's quite a project list.

It makes me wonder...what's Mayor Dickens' track record with following through on project lists?
November 25, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Atlanta's Housing Justice League is calling on folks to "STOP THE TADS" (TADs=TIFs for folks not in Georgia) and this is about Mayor Dickens' proposal to extend 25+ year-old TIFs (many parts of which are in gentrifying nabes) until 2055.

Email councilmembers here:
actionnetwork.org/letters/stop...
November 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
If you were wondering, yes, civil engineers tests a bag of concrete by stabbing it with a knife and taking a lil bump of the cement powder the same way DEA agents test the white bricks they find during a bust.
November 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM
My toxic trait is telling friends they should do that home repair / home renovation / build that shed / add that room without a permit.
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Crossing the street in the suburbs f#cking sucks.
November 21, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
Heck, this Corporate Welfare Promotion Committee makes a mockery of City Council itself. They've delegated their responsibility - or at least their platform - to representatives of Big Money special interests.
It is immensely disappointing that @rohitforatlanta.bsky.social lost his election, as I was hoping he would be the check on these unaccountable power structures that make a mockery of our entire NPU/neighborhood governance system.
Committee for Corporate Welfare - no oversight at all.
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
I feel like you could write an entire book on urban infrastructure policy and liberal governance failures just using the example of Atlanta's Juniper Street complete street project.

All of this for a single mile of streetscaping.
November 20, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Griffin Wasdin
It was good talking with Rose Scott @wabe.org and her panelists about TAD extension. Rose ensures we air the issue thoroughly. Atlanta needs these debates #GApol. Do listen.
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
Coffee Conversations: Is Mayor Dickens’ $5B community investment plan what Atlanta needs for affordable housing?
For the November installment of "Closer Look" Coffee Conversations held at Grant Park Coffeehouse, program host Rose Scott talked with a panel of guests about Tax Allocation Districts, pros and cons, ...
www.wabe.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:12 AM