YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP (PART II): Mayor Bill Dunaway has spent much of his eight-year-tenure feuding with powerful Councilman Philip Goldstein. But now, with the mayor's final term ticking down, have he and Goldstein kissed and made up? It kind of looks that way. They both favored the highly controversial scheme uncorked by the mayor this month to add up to $5.5 million in bond debt to the Marietta Conference Center. And now it has come to light that Dunaway has deferred to Goldstein as a lead negotiator in the city's talks with the county about the parking deck planned on Lawrence Street across from the new courthouse.

Those talks are now at an impasse, although the two sides are expected to meet again at least once more, perhaps later this week.

The deck would be on the site of the old Fulton Federal building - known for its scalloped fa ade - and would feature 500 spaces if the city takes part and 400 if it does not. It would be paid for with revenue bonds, with construction to start in February.

"We own and control the site, but the city is acting like it wants to call the shots on it," complained county director of support services Virgil Moon.

That may be because Goldstein is in the driver's seat on the city side of the negotiating table. It's a role he's familiar with, having negotiated the city's one-sided lease favoring Sentry Hospitality, the original operator of the conference center, that cost the city several million dollars to get out of. He also played a lead role in the negotiations surrounding the creation of the city's FiberNet fiber optics utility in the 1990s. The city ultimately took a $23 million hit when it sold off the money-losing utility, although the actual loss was probably higher.

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SO WHY HAS DUNAWAY let Goldstein take the wheel? Especially after loudly complaining for years that Goldstein - whose family is one of the two major owners of private property downtown, has an ongoing conflict of interest in his joint role as councilman/Square landlord.

"I see no conflict," Dunaway said Monday afternoon.

What the mayor overlooks is that most Mariettans who keep up with things are well aware of Goldstein's reputed conflicts and don't want him negotiating on their behalf or the city's for anything - especially behind closed doors. Even under the best of circumstances, it's often difficult to tell when he's representing the city and when he's representing his family's interests, they say.

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DUNAWAY SAID HIS GOAL is to help the merchants and if some of them are Goldstein tenants, "If it benefits Philip, fine."

Goldstein is not an official part of the city's negotiating team, which also includes City Attorney Doug Haynie, but just shows up, the mayor said. But that's OK, he added.

"Philip is a very good negotiator," he said.

Asked why he doesn't bring other council members, Dunaway said, "(Goldstein)'s negotiating from an attorney's standpoint. (Councilman) Van (Pearlberg) is not this type of lawyer."

Pearlberg is senior assistant Cobb district attorney.

The parking lease is "highly technical," Dunaway added.

In the mayor's defense, there's no question that Goldstein is the most detail-oriented member of the council. The mayor added that apparent mayor-in-waiting Steve "Thunder" Tumlin, the presumed front-runner in the Nov. 3 city elections, has not been part of the negotiations.

"I don't think Thunder wants to be involved," he said. Dunaway - who reportedly has left Tumlin out of the loop, even unofficially, on the negotiations - apparently forgets that Tumlin is both a lawyer and CPA.

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THE CITY-COUNTY IMPASSE over the deck also is set against the backdrop of the mayor's public and private feuding with County Commission Chairman Sam Olens. You'll recall that in July 2008 they argued about which deserved credit for being the first government in Georgia to verify the immigration status of every applicant for business licenses, and that Olens eventually told the mayor to "stop whining."

The mayor said on Monday, however, that he and the chairman are on good terms and that he even donated to his campaign for state attorney general.

Yet most of those who keep up with these kinds of things want good relations with the chairman, who also represents the city and who is more trusted and respected than Dunaway and Goldstein put together.

Many city hall-watchers think that rather than feuding with the chairman, the city would do better to work with the county on the parking deck to get the best deal it can.

After all, if there's anything that downtown needs, it's more parking.

IT WAS ONLY LAST MONTH the Cobb school board claimed it was taking a step toward the sunshine by adopting procedures that would allow for greater transparency. The steps were taken after the MDJ revealed that the board had voted in executive session for years in blatant violation of Georgia's Open Meetings Act, a revelation that made headlines across the state.

In full damage control mode, school board attorney Glenn Brock attempted to reduce the embarrassing black eye his legal advice brought the school system by offering, among other things, to present legal reports at board meetings to inform the public about various legal matters the district was engaged in. The board adopted this so-called reform in a vote of 7-0 last month.

Residents therefore rightly expected Brock to give an update at Thursday's board meeting about how Senior Cobb Superior Court Judge Michael Stoddard just days prior to the meeting slapped the school district with a temporary restraining order for violating Georgia's Open Meetings Act in connection with a controversial cell tower.

Stoddard issued the order after board member the Rev. Dr. John Crooks, a minister at Roswell Street Baptist Church, sneakily convinced the board to approve on July 23 in a 7-0 vote a request from T-Mobile to erect a 150-foot cell tower at Eastvalley Elementary School off Lower Roswell Road without giving proper advance notice to the public.

Despite the brand new policy to give legal updates at board meetings, Brock didn't utter a word about the adverse ruling against the school board Thursday night. And, of course, not one of the board members asked him for his report. But then, it's only human nature to trumpet your wins and hide your losses, isn't it?

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SEEING HOW BROCK remained as quiet as a church mouse about the embarrassing legal defeat, the MDJ asked at last week's so-called press conference for a show of hands from the board as to who among them had read the short - just 115-words - passage in the Open Meetings Act related to posting items in advance on the agenda before voting on the cell tower.

Before members could answer, Chairman Dr. John Abraham interjected they should keep quiet because it was a "legal matter."

The MDJ then turned to board member Alison Bartlett to ask if she would reconsider her vote in light of Judge Stoddard's ruling, but Bartlett parroted Abraham's no-comment answer.

AT e-mailed Abraham Friday, asking him to cite the code section or any court ruling that bars him from speaking on a legal matter, but - you guessed it - he didn't respond.

This is the same Abraham who last fall pledged to bid out the legal services after the board was seated in January of this year. The job has been a legal bonanza for Brock for two decades. He is working under a $2 million-a-year contract given him secretly by the board.

But Abraham, who entered office as a reformer, now is reportedly not about to take up the legal service issue until after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is visiting in November, decides whether to renew Cobb's five-year accreditation status.

Excuses, excuses.

MARIETTA NATIVE Henry Schuster, a producer for TV news show "60 Minutes" won an Emmy Award this month for his story "The Bailout." Schuster is the brother of Cobb Superior Court Judge J. Stephen Schuster.

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EVENTS: More than $20,000 in scholarship funds was raised from the rain-shortened Alexis Grubbs Golf Tournament of the Cobb Bar Association at Brookstone Country Club last week after six holes. ... Marietta School Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck will host "Community Connections" at Park Street Elementary School Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Community Connections is designed to provide Marietta parents and community members with an overview of the Marietta City Schools district.

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MORE EVENTS: The Cobb Executive Women Corporate Fashion Show is Oct. 9 at 11:30 a.m. at The Georgian Club. Tiffannie Cozzens of Belk at Town Center is emcee. ... The 2009 Pink Ribbon Golf Classic, a women's tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society, is Oct. 5. The group is looking for "a few good men" to caddy for one of the women's teams. Caddies are asked to help find lost balls and putt twice for their teams. To register, visit www.pinkribbongolf.org or call the American Cancer Society at (770) 429-0089.