Just Because I Represent You In Congress Doesn't Mean I Have To Live There

Well, ain't this special? I just found out via an article about a community garden that my U.S. Representative doesn't even live in the district he represents. Isn't that sort of illegal?

Perhaps David Scott is so fed up with getting pushed around by Republicans in Washington that he decided to take his frustrations out on his own neighbors.

Otherwise, it’s difficult to fathom why the veteran congressman is fighting a proposed community garden on public parkland across the street from his Inman Park home with a fervor usually reserved for battling toxic waste dumps.

“Why should this be ram-rodded through?” Scott asked neighbors during a rancorous community meeting last week in a church basement. “Don’t we deserve a voice?”

Now, to be fair, Scott and his outspoken wife aren’t the only ones who oppose the garden. At least 16 of his fellow Hurt Street residents have signed a petition affirming that they don’t want the view from their porches ruined by the sight of organic produce.

But clearly it’s Scott’s clout as a Congressman that has put the brakes on a garden that’s been several months in the planning and had enjoyed strong support from much of the neighborhood. According to one bemused observer, Scott’s been seen so much at City Hall in recent weeks you’d think he worked there.

It’s worth noting that Scott doesn’t even represent Inman Park. His 13th Congressional District lies predominantly to the south and west of Fulton County.

That would be David Scott (D-GA). A self-proclaimed Blue Dog who has yet to vote against a single spending bill, and is often referred to around here as San Francisco's second representative. Nancy Pelosi is their main go-to person.

This is the same David Scott who derided a doctor at one of his townhall meetings for daring to question him about the healthcare legislation and who had a swastika painted on a sign outside his office, which is in the district he represents. An incident which has strangely disappeared off the radar screen. It might have something to do with the fact that there was a surveillance camera across the parking lot that may have caught the offender on tape and the suspicion is that it was one of his own staffers.

Video of the townhall meeting that Rep. Scott got ugly with a constituent. Actually accused people in attendance of not living in his district and just being outside agitators.