Updated at 5:15 p.m. to included comments from Calvin Moss, the Woodstock police chief.
Original: This embarrassing item just appeared on The Caucus, a New York Times blog:
In Woodstock, Ga., about 30 miles north of Atlanta, the president of a homeowners’ association sent an e-mail on Sunday informing residents that the entrance gates would be closed 24 hours a day beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, out of concern over possible civil unrest after the election.
“I feel it is better to take a position of caution to enhance controlled access to the community until we see what (if any) negative repercussions may occur because of the results of the election,” wrote Bill Stanley, the president of the homeowners’ association at the Cottages of Woodstock, a residential community for people 55 and over.
Here you thought zombies weren’t real. On the other hand, it does send an interesting message to the grandkids: “You’re on your own.”
The NYT quotes Stanley as saying that he was ordering enhanced controlled access to the community on the recommendation of the Woodstock police department.
Added: But we just fielded a call from Calvin Moss, the Woodstock police chief, who said that he has had a conversation with Stanley this afternoon — and Stanley denied getting any such information from the Woodstock police force.
“We have no reason to believe that the election and its aftermath will be anything but peaceful,” Moss said. “Certainly we would give no one that kind of information.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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349 comments Add your comment
cc
November 5th, 2012
7:28 pm
“So glad I moved out of Woodstock 16 years ago. ”
Probably not nearly as happy as the residents of Woodstock were to see you go!
Whirled Peas
November 5th, 2012
7:29 pm
In 1990 I had just moved here from Minnesota and had a 9th floor corner office downtown Atlanta. I watched the crowd roll out of the 5 points MARTA station like a hive of bees angered by the Rodney King decision. I watched the savage crowd descend on a poor white guy walking down the street and beat him within an inch of his life. My view of the world changed in an instant and I realized what a bunch of animal low-lifes lived here.
Then I turned on the radio and listened to the radio station reporter in the helicopter above describe these vicious animals as “demonstrators”. In an instant I realized that the people were not being informed by the press what was going on. My view of the press was changed in an instant. I called my wife and told her to pull the kids out of school, lock the doors and stay inside.
22 years later I remember those images like they were yesterday. If I see them again, I’ll be ready.
MITT NEEDED A TELEPROMPTER
November 5th, 2012
7:30 pm
@whirled peas
dude eat some peas…lol
Jedripit
November 5th, 2012
7:31 pm
From Anti Racist Rules for Whites (Woodstock breaks the rules):
“No matter how dangerous blacks are, being scared of them is worse”.
Gunluvr
November 5th, 2012
7:31 pm
If there is a problem the limit of advance won’t go any farther than the MARTA lines mainly on the south side of town. There’s not gonna be a replay of the riots in downtown like in 92. People are ready this time.
hermancain
November 5th, 2012
7:34 pm
you woodstock folks like a good negro like me dontcha…i’m not like them uppity negros from up north
ERMAHGERD GERGER BERDERGS
November 5th, 2012
7:37 pm
Let’s be honest, there aren’t enough Democratic voters in Woodstock to ever conjure up something that could be called a riot.
hermancain
November 5th, 2012
7:38 pm
WILL THEY LET a good boy like me in?
ReaderRick
November 5th, 2012
7:38 pm
Remember it is a HOA, they have always done silly things that the home owners disagree with.
Pippi LongSausage
November 5th, 2012
7:40 pm
You mean there will be hoards of angry old, white men looting and burning when Obama wins?
cc
November 5th, 2012
7:40 pm
Whirled Peas:
I was there . . .
We found that pepper spray dropped from the helicopters was dispersed well by the wind from the props, although physical contact was required in making arrests.
No one has adequately explained to me why something that happened in LA was of such consequence to people in Atlanta, other than the fact they just wanted to riot.
hermancain
November 5th, 2012
7:42 pm
@long sausage
ahh the food ole days! damn liberals done messed this country up
hermancain
November 5th, 2012
7:42 pm
@long sausage
ahh the good ole days!
SS88
November 5th, 2012
7:47 pm
Woodstock has 23,896 residents. 79.3% of the residents are white. This is a residential community for folks 55+. Who exactly are they expecting to riot? The local bridge club?
MITT NEEDED A TELEPROMPTER
November 5th, 2012
7:48 pm
will they have a sundown laws to keep blacks out of woodstock too?
hasher
November 5th, 2012
7:52 pm
I was present at a Veteran’s Day ceremony in a small town in Georgia after Obama’s first year in office. A top official from a small local college spoke to the crowd of veterans and patriots. He quoted from the declaration of independence and exhorted the crowd that we have a right and a duty to revolt. The right wing and their claim to be the only Christians and the only patriots threatens this country in a very real way. This election will prove to them they are not speaking for country but only for their own paranoia. We elected Obama. We will elect him again tomorrow.
230gr Full Metal Jacket
November 5th, 2012
7:56 pm
Good luck with that Hasher! I sincerely hope you are wrong — for the good of EVERYONE in this country!!!
MITT NEEDED A TELEPROMPTER
November 5th, 2012
7:56 pm
@hasher
the rightwingers are a bunch of angry rabid chickenhawks , nothing more. nobody fears them theyre amusing at best and nauseating at worst
MITT NEEDED A TELEPROMPTER
November 5th, 2012
7:58 pm
old rightwingers fondly remember the days when whites struck fear in the hearts of blacks. now theyre fearful of everything; gays,blacks,hispanics,liberals,muslims etc.
Serawyn
November 5th, 2012
8:02 pm
I notice the only place the word LOCKED is used is in the title. The quote says closed. There are a lot of gated communities that open the gate early in the morning and close them at a certain hour. It seems to me this community has just decided to close them early on Tuesday. I am quite sure that they will be able to get in and out by a controlled access panel, or whatever set up they have there. Seems it is the person who TITLED the article knew how to get people to react the way they wanted. A CLOSED and LOCKED access gate are two different things.
rrssc
November 5th, 2012
8:03 pm
Hope the riots don’t interfere with any pineapple parties.
rrssc
November 5th, 2012
8:05 pm
About the only thing there is fewer of than democrats in Woodstock is blacks. So, the fear of civil unrest must be associated with the angry old white gun-toters up thisaway when the muslim beats the mormon.
230gr Full Metal Jacket
November 5th, 2012
8:07 pm
Face it folks — it doesn’t matter who wins tomorrow night, because WE ALL LOSE if either of these morons gets elected. Obama is a proven bigot/racist and an utter failure as a POTUS. He even makes George Bush look smart (and i didn’t know ANYONE other than Jimmy Carter could do that!!). Romney is just another schmuck who thinks he is smarter than everyone else because his Daddy had money. Either way, WE lose.
But as a devout independent, I do find it interesting to read the posts on here. They would certainly lead any reasonable adult with an IQ above 2-digits to the conclussion that those on the left are even more racist and hypocritical than those on the right (just an independant outsiders observation, nothing more).
And remember folks: VOTING FOR SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE IS JUST AS RACIST AS VOTING AGAINST SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THEIR RACE!!! If you vote for Obama because he is supposedly “black” then you are no better than a klan supporter who votes against Obama purely due to his race. Vote for the individual based on his ideaology, not based on what the DNC/RNC talking points tell you!! I’m begining to believe that we, as a nation, are no longer capable of cognitive logic or independant thought.
Liars to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you……………………………..
Woodstock Native
November 5th, 2012
8:15 pm
I’m betting it’s the old people neighborhood that is on Trickum rd. that backs up to the new city hall. Also I like how people say we’re rednecks here, well there are a minute few, I consider myself one. However, 98% of Woodstock today is made of transplants from other states, if you go to Townelake, most of them are from New York state. If you are reading this and live in Woodstock, I bet you are one too.
MITT NEEDED A TELEPROMPTER
November 5th, 2012
8:18 pm
@full metal jacket
u sound like an ignorant rightwinger…
Truth is
November 5th, 2012
8:19 pm
Grumpy old white guys do get testy when they don’t get their own way. Probably is a good idea to lock them out until they calm down.
Alphadog
November 5th, 2012
8:19 pm
News flash, Bubba… MARTA don’t go to Wodstock
Marie
November 5th, 2012
8:21 pm
Paranoia at its best.
Dave
November 5th, 2012
8:26 pm
I think I’m in love with Aquagirl.
Georgia Peach
November 5th, 2012
8:29 pm
You people really respond to fear….
Mike
November 5th, 2012
8:29 pm
Today I went to Walmart and saw a pickup truck with three….yes, three…traitor flags (aka confederate flags) flying from the back.
What a shame. It’s only because of the UNION’s First Amendment that those traitors are allowed to fly that ugly flag at all. It’s not illegal, but it’s UNAMERICAN.
Regardless, they can keep flying it from their pickup trucks all they like, but it’s the UNION flag that their kids pledge allegiance to everyday in school, and it’s the UNION flag that dominates the flagpoles at the library, post office, and everywhere else.
The good guys’ flag flies highest.
UGA ECONOMICS MAJOR
November 5th, 2012
8:32 pm
georgia and the south ..really has anything changed???wow cant wait to move out of the south when i retire????SUBURBAN ATLANTA AND THE SOUTH DECORATED TO APPEAR PROGRESSIVE….
MT
November 5th, 2012
8:41 pm
I say let em, Folks up their are so outta touch anyway by living in their bubbles, they forget that their isn’t a large amount of black folk that live up there. Woodstock/Cherokee isn’t the most welcoming friendly city/county anyways and this stunt just plays into the stereotype. No news shocker here. LoL
freeloaders
November 5th, 2012
8:42 pm
you can bank on the fact that these retirees have or will greatly outstrip any payments that they made to Social Security and Medicare. When they started paying in, the life expectancy that was used to calculate their payments was much lower. They’ve reelected the same group of thieves over and over, holding them to nothing and allowing them to run up deficits in the trillions. Now this generation of Baby Boomers has bankrupted the nation and they should be scared that the rest of us wake up and put a stop to it.
CIA
November 5th, 2012
8:45 pm
The US just needs to separate itself into various nations. The Northeast (from Maine to DC and S. FL). The Southeast (KY, GA, SC, NC, TN, AR, LA, MS), Greater Texas (TX, NM, OK) Midwest (MN, IL, KS, SD, ND, NE, OH, MI, IN, VA, WV), Western States of America (SoCal, UT, CO, ID, MT, WY, Southern NV) and the NorthWest (NoCal, WA, OR, Northern Nev), Alaska would be its own country as well. Hawaii could be its own country but have a military agreement with the Western States of America.
hasher
November 5th, 2012
8:45 pm
We pay way too much for health care. That is an undeniable fact. Single payer system would have been better but impossible to achieve. Obama set us on the right path.
We don’t need to be the lone ranger policing the world. Obama has us out of Iraq and exiting Afghanistan.
We have the worst distribution of income since the 1920s. This is the prime source of our economic problems. Plenty of wealth – supply. Too little demand – wages. Our companies are making record profits. Obama had identified this issue and is addressing it.
Our military is too large. I wish Obama would attack this juggernaut more directly.
I see a clear choice and I am confident that the POTUS will continue to lead us to peace and prosperity.
billy
November 5th, 2012
8:46 pm
mr. galloway, do you seriously get paid to just post other stories? where do i sign up? obviously you let someone from a ny blog to do the work for you. once again, where can we all sign up to do what you do???
CIA
November 5th, 2012
8:47 pm
Just divide the country up. Carve it up. We could even give certain parts of the country to Blacks, and Latinos only. The people in this country don’t know what they have here, don’t appreciate it and sure as hell don’t deserve it. 100 Hundred years from now Kids will be reading about a once great strong country called the United States of America.
Kris
November 5th, 2012
8:51 pm
Aha..Big Bird is safe behind locked/closed gates.
I have a idea lets put shady dEAL behind bars to keep out the political arsonists.
Mayfair tower
November 5th, 2012
8:55 pm
the mayfair tower a high rise licated in midtown has a board that steals from its members. id b happy to have a board worried about my safety, instead of trying to figure out how to keep stealing from the members.
cc
November 5th, 2012
9:05 pm
“Aha..Big Bird is safe behind locked/closed gates.”
Good!
That will make him easier to locate as Thanksgiving approaches!
Fry Big Bird . . .
Vote American! Romney/Ryan – 2012!
lol
November 5th, 2012
9:10 pm
woodstock lol
between all the brokeback yanks that couldn’t afford alpharetta and their inept police, im not in the least bit surprised.
OldTimer
November 5th, 2012
9:10 pm
The last time the South won a civil war, would be, uhh let’s think, oh here it comes, never.
Jersey Boys whupped em good and solid.
bill
November 5th, 2012
9:11 pm
Been oiling my Remimgton 870 for just such an occasion
Simon Jester
November 5th, 2012
9:12 pm
Well, let’s see. The leftist idiots have been threatening to riot and worse if Obama loses, so why is this crazy and/or racist? Most people using the term “racist” are ignorant of it’s meaning anyway.
For one, I don’t see Obama’s followers as having that much ambition, so except for a few cases, I think it will be pretty quiet if he loses. If anyone but Obama’s followers were making these threats, they’d be calling for arrests.
Kris
November 5th, 2012
9:33 pm
@ cc…Thats why Big Bird is behind locked gates in Woodstock to protect him from political arsonists,
OBAMA 2012
Thrash
November 5th, 2012
9:38 pm
If we have to endure a little violence to get rid of the brown clown then so be it.
John
November 5th, 2012
9:42 pm
Woodstock is awesome!!
RUkiddingme
November 5th, 2012
9:43 pm
Just moved from Georgia and do not miss home when I see redneck gutter trash like this. FYI- NO ONE with any brains, class, or teeth, wants your tacky Woodstock McMansion- for shame!
A.B. Normal
November 5th, 2012
9:49 pm
HOA = Horribly Onerous A$$holes