Fresh Loaf

Atlanta officials have requested a clarification of city ethics policies regarding Mayor Shirley Franklin’s frequent traveling. The clarification request follows this week’s disclosure in my Metropolis column that Franklin frequently takes free travel and lodging from groups other than the city without filing disclosures apparently mandated by the city ethics code.

The city’s ethics board discussed the issue Sept. 27, but made no determination. Then, Franklin sent a blistering letter to us accusing me of being “a bully.”

As CL reported, city officials and employees are banned from taking trips and lodging from groups deemed “prohibited” under the ethics code. The mayor has claimed that the code is ambiguous, and has failed to file a single disclosure of gifts involving trips she has taken in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The code, however, doesn’t appear to be ambiguous on key points. Among the items that qualify a group as “prohibited” is employing “registered lobbyists.” The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, which has five registered lobbyists for local matters, has paid for Franklin trips, including one earlier this year to several Asian nations. There are no exceptions in the city code that would have allowed Franklin to avoid disclosing the gifts from the chamber — indeed, the city’s ethics board has declared another business association, Central Atlanta Progress, “prohibited.” In an e-mail, Franklin stated that “no” prohibited source has ever paid for a trip. Franklin now claims “ambiguity” clouds the issue of what groups are “prohibited.”

Franklin ripped off an e-mail responding to CL’s report on her travel records.

Here’s the mayor’s return salvo:

I have been open with you about my travel and more importantly the people of Atlanta who elected me. As you well know you requested and received travel documents under the Open Records law by requesting them from the Department of Finance without any interference from me or my staff. You are well aware that I have requested a ruling from the Ethics Officer and await her ruling and possibly the Board’s opinion and recommendations for modifications to the City’s current Ethics Code. Your recent accusations are typical of the biased, half truths Creative Loafing publishes these days. Too bad the Creative Loafing of the 1960’s and 1970’s has yielded to the sensationalism we as Americans witness every day in the media. Pick a real fight… By that I mean one based on principle and worth fighting like first class education for all Georgians, Americans and immigrants or reasonably priced and accessible healthcare for all Americans and all Georgia children or better yet a justice system that doesn’t discriminate against people of color and poor people. Another choice might be a sensible and integrated transportation system funded by the state leveraged by a MARTA tax we’ve been paying for 30 plus years and a plan that promotes good paying jobs, mobility and clean air. As much as you might not appreciate or approve of my leadership, honesty and audacious independent style, there is nothing you can do about my success as mayor.

I follow the rules; I strengthen them when they are weak; I seek clarification when there is ambiguity; and I stand my ground when attacked. Back off, you are acting like a bully. The Ethics Officer recommended I request clarification; I did so three weeks ago and I await her answer. The free press affords you the right to your biased opinion and coverage but you do Creative Loafing and the media a disservice with your attacks.

Just a few points on the mayor’s missive. First, CL asked for the mayor’s travel records on July 9 — 10 weeks ago — and waited during all of the intervening time to give Franklin and her staff every opportunity to respond. They did, and the exchanges totaled thousands of words. Within those responses, one of her aides did say they’d seek clarification, but provided no responses to follow-up questions.

The mayor never states what is “biased” or a “half truth.” The issues she says I ignore are the very ones I write most frequently on: Education, immigration, health care (I routinely advocate a single-payer system), racial disparities in the justice system, good jobs, transportation and (in the column just before the one on Franklin’s travel) clean air.

But that shouldn’t be a distraction. The column was about the mayor’s incomplete travel records. We’re glad that she’s seeking a clarification now from the ethics board, which may be a first step toward getting those records in order.

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