Shirley Franklin passed over for Obama HUD position
December 13, 2008 at 12:39 pm by Thomas Wheatley in NewsThe Associated Press reports:
CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday named New York City housing commissioner Shaun Donovan to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, turning to a former Clinton administration aide with a national reputation for developing affordable housing.
Donovan’s appointment was something of a surprise. Most speculation has centered around Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz or Bronx borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr.
Atlanta Housing Authority CEO Renee Glover was rumored to be on a shortlist for the cabinet position.
December 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
The nation’s gain is Atlanta’s loss. Franklin’s second-term has been a failure.
There’s still hope. Obama could still appoint her Ambassador to somewhere far away.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
welcome to the gang of commenters
yes, there will be violent initiation rites.
December 13th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Oh well. Shirley will have her chance eventually, however she has been a failure to Atlanta, in my opinion. Especially her second term
December 13th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Wait a minute! Shirley Franklin is serving a second term as mayor? I would have never known…
December 15th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I suspect Obama didn’t want to bring someone with as much baggage as Shirley has into his administration. It’s not just the problems with her second term, but also the family drama with her daughter and former son-in-law. Why pick someone who raises those kinds of questions when you can avoid it?
December 15th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
“Passed Over”?? That makes it seem like she wanted the position, which she has denied all along…
Only time will tell about Franklin’s second term and legacy in general. However, failure is a strong word to use. One could use that term with CL reporting and newspaper operation, but that would be unfair too. Be careful what you wish for when you wish Franklin away. The new cast of characters running for Mayor looks pretty pitiful. Meanwhile, the pollsters will tell you Franklin is still the most popular Democrat in the state.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Anyone who thinks SF has been a failure must have voted for George Bush(2x) and Sonny Purdue(2x). I would call you idiots, but that would make me like you.
December 20th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I think you’re all right. Shirley’s second term has been terrible but the characters currently running to succeed her will be worse. We’re in for some rough waters.
December 20th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
truth seeker-
i voted neither for bush nor perdue.
i voted for franklin in 2001, but not in 2005 (not because i disliked her, but in general i don’t vote for people who effectively run unopposed).
her second-term has been dismal by any objective measure. chronic issues with city government were not addressed.
the budget office is a disaster
crime has soared.
police retention has fallen while morale has dipped.
transportation projects such as the beltline haven’t made significant progress.
the school system is troubled.
most recently, the revelation that the city is owed $30 million in unpaid water bills. how many cops, fireman, rec centers, and pot holes would $30 million have paid for?
December 20th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Andy, clearly you are intelligent enough to know watershed revenue cannot pay for general fund expenses (police, fire, etc). If not, it says a lot about hiring practices of CL. Furthermore, the mayor has no authority of schools…shouldn’t you know this? Isn’t the economy partially to blame for crime and the budget? Sounds like you just have a personal grudge against Franklin like you do with Stephanie from SP.
December 20th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
S. Dekalb Voter:
I’m aware the water budget resides in a different City of Atlanta Excel file (assuming the city has PCs capable of running Excel).
I’m also aware the city’s inability to efficiently collect money inevitably leads to rate hikes (i.e. tax increases) on the people who actually pay their bills.
The city may run water out of a separate account, but ultimately the money’s coming from the same place: taxpayer’s wallets.
As for schools: I am aware that the Mayor’s office does not run city schools.
I’m also aware that mayors in other cities with similar school set-ups have taken a much more active role in school reform than Mayor Franklin has.
In some cases (DC and NY come to mind) the city government has taken over for the school board.
I’m not saying the mayor should mimic Fenty or Bloomberg.
I am saying she hasn’t treated improving schools as any sort of priority.
Accepting the status quo without a peep = lousy leading.
Since when is criticizing a politician’s job performance a personal grudge?
December 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
So let me get this straight – Franklin has accepted the status quo since taking office? Again, clearly there is a personal grudge.
In your previous post, you said “objective view”. Obviously, your definition of objective is the same as the majority of the staff at CL. BTW, didn’t you quit your gig there. What in the world are you still doing posting on their site? You must be bored…
December 20th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
yeah, the only reason for a non-employee to post here is boredom…
so how bored are you?
December 20th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Okay Franklin fan from south DeKalb (I grew up there incidentially)…tell us what Shirley has done during her second term to improve this city?
December 20th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Dale C, I am pretty bored tonight to be honest, which is why I’m on here :-) I was really just picking at Andy…I find most journalists don’t like having the pen pointed back at them.
I think Franklin has had her ups and downs. Second terms are always hard, but I think she has made progress. The beltline has moved forward (albeit slowly). The APD was on its way to having 2000 officers by 2010 before the economy tanked and the council got scared (see Cynthia’s Tucker’s column last summer). Painfully, the city’s finance dept has made progress (see Scott Henry’s article last summer). The Civil Rights museum is a big deal that will shine brightly on Franklin’s legacy. The same can be said with her engineering the purchase of MLK paper’s with private money. The college fund she set up for APD high school seniors is a huge success that has gone unreported. Although it happened in her first term, fixing the city sewers is probably one of the biggest accomplishments of any ATL mayor in the last 50 years. That one accomplishment cannot be overlooked.
She has had her share of problems too. The budget shortfall this year was a big hit on her. Also, her fights with the ENTIRE city council probably could have been avoided. However, I believe most Atlantans would rate her admin a success. Moreover, her popularity can be seen by the fact that none of the candidates for mayor dare attack her record.
I think her record will match any ATL mayor of the last 50 years.
December 21st, 2008 at 6:18 pm
You seem fairly well informed, voter, but your rosy view of Franklin seems to inform all of your judgments. The sewer work was mandated – whether it was Shirley, Robb Pitts or even Gloria Tinubu, the mayor who won in 2001 would have to tackle sewers. In any case, the sewer projects that are underway or complete continue to exceed the budget and this will be a $5 billion project (originally budgeted closer to $3 billion) when all is said and done.
APD – yes, a down economy inevitably leads to more crime but the documented morale problems at APD and the consistent loss of officers to other local departments because of pay and morale issues all stem from Shirley’s unexplainable loyalty to Pennington. He should’ve been fired after Kathryn Johnston’s murder investigation uncovered a culture of corruption in narcotics. Also, nice try pinning part of the APD staffing problem on the council. The problem was the budget shortfall (which was not all based on a slowing economy, as you seem to assert), combined with the problems I mentioned above.
You are totally right on her program for HS seniors. Great work that I hope she continues after 2009.
But I promise you will see the candidates next year ravage her record. Voters will be in the throes of a monumentally shitty economy and looking for a candidate that expresses displeasure with how the city as been run over the past four years. A smart politician will tap that.
I think you’d get some arguments as to whether she’s matched Andy Young or Ivan Allen but I agree she’s been as good or better than Campbell or Jackson.
December 21st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
We could definitely go back and forth on this issue, but I’ll agree to disagree. Having worked in atl politics for the last 30 years, I agree my view may be jaded.
However, in next year’s election I doubt any of the credible candidates will attack her record; rather they will talk about city govt in general. Most of the credible candidates will have poll data showing how popular she is, but how upset voters are at govt (I’ve seen it, trust me…). Therefore, her endorsement, or lack there of, will be the single biggest issue in the next election. The business community (i.e. money) will follow her lead. The black community, sadly, can almost be bought by using the money from the business community wisely. The midtown swing vote (that would be you CL readers) will likely go to whichever candidate seems to be the most trustworthily. Again, that’s a Shirley issue, because nobody intelligent thinks she’s a crook. You see, all of these factors ultimately lead to Shirley – love her or hate, she’s the most popular pol in the state.
December 21st, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I’ve seen the data as well and I’ve seen the slight but noticeable downward trend in her approval #s. But i can’t argue against her status as the most popular politician around these parts. I guess I’m not drawing the same distinction you are between running against the gov’t and running against her record. Seems like the same approach to me minus only using her name.
In any case, I appreciate the agreeable disagreement. I will make this prediction…Shirley won’t endorse Kasim Reed. What the hell, I’ll make another…we will see a “business” candidate enter the race before June.
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:50 am
You must have inside info on the Reed endorsement, because all signs point that way. I hope you’re right. That would be her worst judgment call since allowing Pennington to stick around so long :-) Reed reminds me of Kwame Kilpatrick in Detroit.
I predict your “business” candidate will win the race if they have their own money to catch up in the fundraising and appeal to the south side.