Borders: Rival campaign handed out fake fliers promising free beer
August 22, 2009 at 3:53 pm by Thomas Wheatley in News
Atlanta mayoral candidate Lisa Borders says a rival campaign distributed fake fliers promising free beer and food at a block party she hosted this morning at her downtown headquarters.
From the Borders web site:
[Borders campaign manager Stacey Abrams] said the campaign made a donation to the Gateway facility, a downtown Atlanta homeless service center, when people began coming to block party with a fake flyer that promised free food and beer. “We are deeply saddened that another campaign would use the most vulnerable members of our community in an attempt to disrupt our event to say thank you. By misusing our logo and handing out these flyers, they misled men and women who have faced more than enough difficulty. We were glad to work with the Gateway Center to feed and shelter those in need.”
Sounds like an awkward moment, no? The press release doesn’t name the campaign that allegedly distributed the fliers. If you were handed one, send us a line.
Responses from Borders’ opponents are after the jump.
Glenn Thomas via email says “No…the free beer incident is not something my campaign would be involved in.”
From Letetia Daniels Jackson, chief strategist of Jesse Spikes’ campaign:
For the record, the Jesse Spikes for Mayor campaign had absolutely nothing to do with this type of negative campaigning. I have instructed everyone involved with our campaign that this nor any other tactics of this nature will be tolerated in our campaign. Anyone caught doing anything other than promoting our message for change in a positive way will be released immediately.
Jesse Spikes for Mayor yardsigns are being taken out of the yards of our supporters on a daily basis. It is apparent that someone in this race has become so desperate to win they will stoop to any level to gain advantage.
We continue to believe our campaign will be successful on the merits of our message and the response we receive from voters confirms this.
We do hope, however, those responsible for these reprehensible actions are caught.
(File photo by Joeff Davis)
August 22nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Whoever thought up this flyer lark should claim credit. We need such creative thinking in a mayor. This trick diverted some of Lisa’s campaign slush fund from smartypants pollsters and spinners to the Gateway Center. What’s next, offering free needles at Mary’s meet and greets? A bolt-cutter giveaway at Kasim’s?
August 22nd, 2009 at 4:52 pm
It made her look like the victim again, which she quickly took advantage of… again.
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
What a travesty – a candidate for mayor who 1. understands what it means to make ends meet (single mom who worked two jobs when her child was young), 2. who put herself through school and got a good job (working in healthcare), 3. lives in the real city of atlanta and not the northern edge in a cloistered neighborhood (downtown), and 4. who doesn’t just talk about crime but experienced the real impact and risked her political career to put officers back on the streets(rather than just shrilling about it and voting against our police). i’d take a mayor who actually cares about people and puts her money where her mouth is than two pretenders who talk a big game but have nothing to show for it but a robo call machine in the basement and fliers to trick the homeless. i’m for borders.
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Borders’ Campaign Manager, Stacy Abrams, formerly worked in the legal department of the City of Atlanta under Shirley Franklin. She was the Franklin administration’s legal point person on and author/co-author of the City’s incredibly disastrous, ill-advised, ill-conceived, unenforceable “homeless law” that garnered so much attention and endless news coverage. The law that was ultimately never enforced because the ACLU told the City, “Are you fucking kidding?This lawn is a train-wreck. You ake ONE arrest under this law, we’ll sue the pants offa you. See you in court.” The law was never enforced by the APD, on the instruction of Mayor Franklin.
Abrams left the administration shortly thereafter.
A huge measure of a Mayor is… “Who do you hire?” “Who are your “Go-to” people?” While Shirley’s got her heart in the right place, means well, she shit the bed in this arena (Pennington?!”) (Finance directors?!)
Borders has shit the bed by choosing Stacy Abrahams as her “Karl Rove/David Axelrod.” Doesn’t bode well for her future personnel choices. Sad,
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Rico should get his facts straight. Abrams was the one who ended the barbaric practice of jailing the homeless and put the new law on the books. She also helped start gateway. Franklin just didn’t pay for eitehr one and that’s why it didn’t get enforced. Since she went to the Capital, abrmas has been on the front of stoppign stupid legislation. Having Rep. Abrams on her team makes me like Boarders more not less.
August 22nd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
So, DeKalb in the City, you’re a Borders shill?
Fortunately, Mayor Franklin seems to get stuff right after several tries; Once she hired Debi Starnes to be her “Homeless Czar,” sanity began to prevail. Professionals in the room. Nice “legacy” Abrams left. LOL!
To bad Shirley didn’t take a couple o’ whacks at getting the Police Chief thing right. I hope Borders, should she get elected, would consult someone who has a clue. Not feeling confident enough about that to vote for her, at this point. Her campaign staff ain’t exactly the 1927 Yankees.
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Rico, if I disagree with you or dare to have an opinion, I’m a shill? Interesting logic. I’m just a voter who actually pays attention
And I’m someone who actually attended all the sessions over the panhandling legislation and read it. Didn’t rely on propagoanda or the AJC to tell me the whats. Mercy Care and Unite Way and others signed off on teh promise of funds that never materialized. Haven’t made up my mind on Boarders, but I live in Abrams district and have respect for what she’s done as a state legislator. Stopped english only and fake tax help and is pretty good at her job.
btw, even CL likes her.
Whether she helps Boarders remains to be seen. Polls seem to show Abrams is doing something right, but i’m holding off judgment. But if you’re gonna talk tell the whole story.
August 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Concerned, you’re not serious with this single mom making a career in health care tale, are you? Lisa was until recently Ms Fixit for Cousins, the biggest developer in town. (The fact that neither she nor voters could see the ugliness of that conflict of interest makes one despair for good government.) Her family is part of Atlanta’s black elite, so she is not self-made. Did she not attend Westminster School? Nothing she has done as council president suggests she gives a damn about ordinary residents and taxpayers: she’s Atlanta business as usual. And she hardly led the charge for the 3 mill tax increase – just went along with it quietly.
The other two candidates are not pretty either. But spare us the beatification of a developer’s fixer whose vision is to maintain the status quo that has plunged Atlanta into a permanent budget crisis.
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 pm
And Reed has done exactly what for homelessness?
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Kasim reed and lia Borders are political snobs. They are of the same mold. If you get one, you get the other. We need a change. YOu get KAsim you get the same snobbish, click administration as was during Shirley’s tenure; Arrogant, nasty, and unapproachable. With Lisa Borders, you get a lady who did not want to put MAynard Jackson’s name on the current Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Where is her head coming from?
Out of all of them, for change, I would consider Mary Norwood.
August 23rd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
has anyone checked out the candidates’ platforms for mentions of meeting the homeless population’s needs? if i remember, kasim thinks that locking them up will generate tourism and mary needs to be elected before she can think about it. at least lisa gave them food when they showed up.
August 23rd, 2009 at 3:26 pm
and if we’re talking about who the candidates would hire, lets not forget that reed got franklin elected TWICE and handpicked pennington for police chief.
now he’s throwing them under the bus to get elected depite what the real numbers say about crime. with a friend like kasim, who needs enemies?
August 23rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I just got back to atl and admittedly haven’t paid much attention to the race but a stunt like this looks like borders is the lady to beat. imma check her site out.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
These comments are nice and all, but could someone please tell my where I can redeem my Lisa Borders free beer coupon?
August 25th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Is this another example of Lisa Borders shooting from the hip? If she knows which campaign did it, tell us. If she does not know, why does she think it was a rival versus just a prank? The flyer was dumb, but Lisa Borders’ whiny reaction is not very “mayoral-like.”