Mayor goes all Philly on protestors
July 14, 2008 at 6:05 pm by Andisheh Nouraee in NewsLong-time readers of Fresh Loaf are already aware that Mayor Shirley Franklin does not always handle criticism or opposition with, um, grace (Two examples: 1, 2).
Tonight the rest of Atlanta will get a look at Franklin’s temper, thanks to TV footage of Her Excellency speaking at the ceremony to mark the closing of West End’s Fire Station 7.
In response to jeers from city residents protesting the station’s closure, the Mayor halted her speech and announced to protestors:
“Now you know what’s gonna happen, these gentlemen and ladies have never seen this Philadelphia side of me, but I’m gonna come over there, okay.”
She didn’t explain what she meant by “this Philadelphia side of me” but her tone of voice and body language suggested she didn’t have brotherly love in mind.
Franklin then stepped away from the podium and into the audience.
“Let’s have the conversation. Let’s have it,” she yelled.
What’s with Franklin’s defiant attitude?
It was her administration’s mismanagement of the budget that precipitated the city’s budget crisis and the fire station’s closing. A little contrition would go a long way, but Franklin seems incapable of it at the moment.
The Franklin on TV tonight is smug and bratty; nothing like the earnest public servant twice elected by Atlantans to fix their city’s government.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Fuck Philly and fuck the mayor. That’s a big problem in Atlanta, we need someone in the mayor’s office who is actually from Atlanta, cares about the city and didn’t just move here when they went to school at Morehouse, Spelman, or wherever. Yes, I’m talking about you Bill Campbell and Andy Young.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:27 am
[...] “Philly”: “I was in an airport and a man was talking about the Philadelphia comment. And he said, ‘We in Philadelphia loved it. You were holding your [...]