Fresh Loaf

President Barack Obama today named state Sen. David Adelman, D-Atlanta, as his pick to become the next U.S. ambassador to Singapore.

Adelman’s served four terms under the Gold Dome and has a well-earned reputation as one of the more progressive — and politically savvy — politicos. He wasn’t able to talk about the nomination on the record, instead referring us to the White House press release, which reads thusly:

David Adelman, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore
David Adelman has been a member of the State of Georgia Senate since being elected in 2002.  He serves as Minority Whip and Chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee.

Senator Adelman is an equity partner in the firm Sutherland Asbill and Brennan LLP where he has practiced law since 1993 representing energy and communications companies.  Prior to entering private practice, Senator Adelman was an Assistant Attorney General in Georgia for three years.  In addition to his commercial practice, for many years Senator Adelman has represented veterans pro bono before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.

He has been active in his community on domestic violence issues and served on the Board of the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority.  Senator Adelman graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. and received an M.P.A. from Georgia State University and a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law.

We assume this means Adelman’s on his way to the Malay Peninsula. After all, one simply doesn’t turn down ambassadorships and this one’s a plum. Singapore, the world’s largest city-state (the other ones are Monaco and the Vatican) is also the business hub of Southeast Asia and a strategically important U.S. ally.

Singapore is also home to the world-famous Raffles Hotel, a luxurious holdover from British colonial days and also the place where the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented, appropriately enough. Enjoy one for us, David.

(H/T to the AJC’s Aaron Gould Sheinin)

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Last night, mayoral candidate Mary Norwood threw a well-attended wing-ding at Amsterdam Atlanta, a popular gay bar in Morningside. I missed her speech, but caught up with former City Council President Cathy Woolard, who’d stopped by to check out the festivities.

Woolard isn’t publicly backing either Norwood or opponent Kasim Reed, but she believes Reed’s stance on gay marriage — he favors civil unions — has hurt his appeal among gay voters. This could be a significant factor in the election because, as we noted in a news article this week, the contentious race for Council District 6 is likely to turn out a large number of gay votes.

It seems a bit odd that a candidate’s position on a non-local issue such as gay marriage — or Jewish settlements, global warming, immigration policy, etc. — would have much bearing on a municipal election. Frankly, if you’re looking for a litmus-test to help determine whether a candidate is supportive of your interests, there are many others that would be more relevant.

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Errin Vuley, a longtime activist for women’s causes, was killed Tuesday morning in a multi-car crash in DeKalb County.

Vuley, 35, had been a familiar face at the State Capitol for several years, working for the Feminist Women’s Health Center and GARAL, the pre-cursor to Georgia NARAL Pro-Choice America, before serving as executive director for Georgians for Choice from 2001-2006.

Most recently, Vuley had been interim CEO for GOAL — A Girl’s Journey of Growth, a Decatur-based non-profit that helps adolescent girls build self-esteem.

According to the AJC, Vuley was killed when her mini-van was struck by a Ford Explorer on Memorial Drive. Police were looking for another vehicle they believe caused the crash.

“Errin was one of the most passionate, dedicated people I know, deeply committed to social justice,” said Sara Totonchi, a lobbyist with the Southern Center for Human Rights who was close friends with Vuley.

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The AJC is reporting that the state Legislature’s “Special Equine Study Committee” voted this morning to propose a public referendum to legalize horse racing in Georgia — and, it goes without saying, gambling on horse racing.

Thirty-two states now have at least one horse track and many of those also have off-track betting parlors. Even our nearest neighbor, Alabama, has three dog tracks. Stay classy, ‘Bama.

I can’t say I’m an advocate of horse racing, but my hometown in Indiana boasted its own second-tier track, Ellis Park, so I grew up listening to the day’s race results on the local sportscast. It never seemed to me that the Daily Racing Form was the Devil’s own newsletter.

My only reservation is the same one I have for casino gambling: Let’s do it upscale or not at all. Georgia already has serious image problems. We don’t need truckstop Keno parlors and we don’t need a tawdry, fly-by-night racetrack in Riverdale.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I joined some friends at the Keeneland race track in Lexington, KY, the epicenter of horse-breeding in America. We dressed up, sipped mint julips, lunched on hot browns, placed a few small bets and had a perfectly genteel day.

If Georgia can’t manage do horse-racing in a tasteful manner, then all bets are off.

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Matthew Cardinale, editor of Atlanta Progressive News, took issue with a blog post I wrote that criticized articles on his website concerning candidates in the mayor’s race. I admit I was somewhat harsh, but I feel my points were valid. Still, in the spirit of journalistic goodwill, we’re giving Cardinale the opportunity to respond. (For the record, we’ve trimmed his letter for the sake of space and relevance — and I added my own annotations.) Enjoy:

In a post entitled, “Where’s Mary, indeed?,” writer Scott Henry makes a number of false, unsubstantiated, defamatory, unprofessional and vicious statements regarding me and my publication, the Atlanta Progressive News.

The relevant text is as follows:

“The latest negative tidbit to surface is a weird piece of innuendo proffered by the Atlanta Progressive News, which is something of a far-left blog masquerading as a media outlet. Acting as an apparent proxy for the Norwood campaign, APN has cluttered e-mail inboxes with a piece insinuating that (Kasim) Reed, in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

The ‘article,’ like much of APN’s output — including several attack pieces previously written about Lisa Borders — falls so far short of basic journalistic standards that it scarcely bears notice. Still, another local blogger who also works as an attorney was so offended by the lousy legal analysis she found in the APN piece that she felt compelled to post a point-by-point rebuttal.”

Let me go through and respond to his statements individually.

1. First of all, APN’s article was not innuendo, it was factual. If anything, it’s Henry’s post (and previous posts he’s written on other topics) that are characterized by innuendo. It is a fact that Reed, in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel restaurants.

According to the federal database, PACER, Reed absolutely was an attorney, did represent Cracker Barrel, and on the other side was the NAACP, which both filed amicus briefs on behalf of a class of workers and helped organize this and a series of legal cases pursued against Cracker Barrel at the same time.

Now, some could argue that Cracker Barrel is entitled to a legal defense, or that Reed was just doing his job, etc., but that does not change the fact that he “in his capacity as an attorney, once battled the NAACP on behalf of Cracker Barrel.” Henry’s failure to back up his statement also means that his comment is the one that is innuendo, but it is also false.

[From Scott: I described the article as “innuendo” because, in referencing a 1999 case in which Reed was one of many attorneys working on behalf of Cracker Barrel, Cardinale points out that the restaurant chain “historically would neither serve Black customers nor employ homosexuals.” But the case in question had nothing to do with alleged civil rights violations; it was a worker’s comp case dealing with employee overtime.]

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What's got her so excited?

Speaking only for myself, the events of the past two weeks — at least those relating to the mayoral runoff — have certainly confounded expectations.

In the fortnight leading up to the Nov. 3 general election, Kasim Reed’s campaign pulled something of a rope-a-dope, implying that his opponents weren’t true Democrats. Both Mary Norwood and Lisa Borders took the bait, spending time and energy trying to establish their own Democratic credentials — an effort that likely lost them both some votes.

It was a masterfully divisive maneuver on Reed’s part, but I’ve talked to some voters who were disgusted by it for that very reason, folks who didn’t like seeing a wedge driven between political parties in a non-partisan race.

I assumed the runoff campaigning would get dirtier still. How could it not, given that Norwood seemed to have a lock on white Northside votes? It appeared the only way Reed could hope to win was by undermining Norwood’s curious popularity among black voters — and the only way to do that was to make race an issue in the race.

But I was mistaken. That’s not what has happened — at least, not yet. In fact, it’s been quite the reverse.

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From the AJC minutes ago:

Richardson, in a statement to the media, said he has been suffering from depression for the past two-and-a-half years since separating and subsequently divorcing his wife.

“While depression often seems to be resolved on occasion, when personal trials or tribulations arise, it flares back up,” Richardson said in the statement. “That is what occurred with me. My depression became so severe that I took substantial steps to do harm to myself and to take my own life. I am thankful that because of medical intervention that because of medical intervention I have instead been able to now receive help and support.”

And the reactions are already forthcoming. From the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

“We are encouraged by Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson’s willingness to speak out about his battle with depression.  We hope his courage will bring much needed awareness to this public health crisis,” said Christina Owens, area director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Metro Atlanta.
“Unfortunately, suicide and mental disorders such as depression are surrounded by stigma and misconceptions which prevent many people from seeking the help they  desperately need.”

And from Richardson himself, via the AJC’s Galloway:

“As you know, in an effort to protect my family, I have and will continue to have a practice that I do not discuss my personal and private life. However, in this situation, I feel compelled to speak out in order to possibly help others. For the past two and a half years, ever since my separation and divorce, I have struggled with the disease of depression. Depression is a disease which affects millions of people everyday in this country. Like most people who suffer from depression, I regularly see a physician and take prescription medications.”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Scheduled to go on the auction block Dec. 1

Last time it was the water bill. This time it’s the mortgage.

The city’s largest homeless shelter is again in danger of being ousted from its longtime home just in time for the holidays.

The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless faces foreclosure actions brought by two separate lenders against the enormous old building it occupies at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets. Barring some intervention, the former automotive parts warehouse is scheduled to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps Dec. 1.

The two delinquent mortgage loans are held by private charities that specialize in low-income housing: the Mercy Loan Fund, the lending arm of Denver-based Mercy Housing; and the Institute for Community Economics, which is affiliated with the National Housing Trust of Washington, D.C.

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Reed, flanked by Barnes and Borders

So, as we know, ol’ Roy came out for Kasim Reed today on the steps of the Capitol.

Barnes lavished praise on Reed as a legislator for helping advance the then-governor’s progressive agenda, which included hate-crime laws and changing the state flag.

But the two words he used most often to tout Reed were noteworthy: “competent” and “qualified.”

Nobody — not with the campaign or with the press corps — mentioned Mary Norwood’s name, but it seemed fairly clear those two words were chosen to imply a distinction between the two candidates for mayor. (It’s a distinction we raised ourselves in endorsing Reed.)

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How much does momentum help when you’re running for elected office? Just ask Hillary Clinton and the many other candidates who’ve stalled out after an early surge.

Look, Kasim Reed has a lot of ground to make up in his effort to win the Dec. 1 runoff for mayor against front-runner Mary Norwood, but right now, he’s got the momentum. On Monday, he picked up an endorsement from former state legislator Jim Martin. Yes, Martin has been twice defeated running for higher office, but he was a longtime House member who still enjoys respect as an honorable public servant. I know I’m often dragging race into these matters, but it doesn’t hurt Reed’s image that Martin is white.

But that boost was a lead-up to today’s announcement that former candidate Lisa Borders is endorsing Reed at an event going on at this moment. From the pre-release:

“After many months of campaigning, it is critical for us to come together as a demonstration of strength and unity. Atlanta lies at a critical crossroads and her very future depends on leadership that can unite us and move us forward,” Borders said. “Now is the time to lay aside our differences and work in the best interest of all citizens to ensure each has the opportunity to rise to their full potential. Senator Reed’s ideas for afterschool recreation centers, his focus on public safety and his willingness to work toward increasing revenue opportunities for Atlanta are in line with my policy objectives.”

Having talked to Borders’ campaign folks over recent weeks, it was pretty clear that she wasn’t going to support Norwood. I know this will irk many Norwood followers for me to point this out, but almost no one on the City Council believes Norwood has the competence to be a decent mayor. She simply doesn’t command much respect down at City Hall. I don’t want to put words in Borders’ mouth, but it’s my strong impression that she considers Norwood a lightweight.

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Not gay-friendly?

And here we thought the mayor’s race was likely to become divisive.

There’s an impassioned open letter making the cyber-rounds in which Charlie Stadtlander, a just-deafeated candidate for Atlanta school board, accuses Council District 6 candidate Liz Coyle as being “not pro-LGBT equality.”

OK, there are worse things to be accused of. It’s not as if people said she runs a meth lab (although that could result in valuable management experience), but being tagged as anti-gay is kind of a deal in District 6, which boasts the city highest percentage of gay voters.

Among Stadtlander’s beefs against Coyle, who is straight: she has favored shutting down gay bars; she pandered to gays by hiring “semi-nude” dancers to accompany her Pride parade float; and she’s used the word “transvestitute” to describe men she believes to be soliciting sex in Midtown. His entire letter can be found on the SoVo website.

Clearly Stadtlander has issues with Coyle. But could any of this hurt Coyle in the runoff against gay opponent Alex Wan? It depends, I’m guessing, on how seriously the community takes Stadtlander. I don’t know the guy. He already endorsed Wan, so I don’t know that his Coyle-trashing is going to sway additional voters.

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On Dec. 1, an abysmally small percentage of Atlanta voters will return to the polls for the city runoffs:

Reed celebrates on election night

MAYOR

As the city saw on Nov. 3, Kasim Reed’s an expert finisher who passed Lisa Borders heading into the home stretch and now carries that momentum into the runoff.

But it won’t be easy to beat Mary Norwood, whose supporters hail from all corners of the city and arguably are more enthusiastic than Reed’s, and thus more likely to flock to the polls on Dec. 1. Last week’s results also confirmed previous polls that suggest Norwood seems to have a lock on north Atlanta’s white vote, which may convince the Reed campaign to try to peel away her strong support among black voters. If Reed decides to employ racial politics, the race could turn ugly and divisive.

“Reed has to increase his black voters, but it would be to his detriment to make an overt racial appeal,” says Emory political science professor Michael Owens. ” I suspect you’ll see his surrogates and supporters do that for him.”

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How kooky is today’s GOP? It’s off the deep end — and swimming for open sea.

What other conclusion are we to draw from U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal’s decision last week to solidify his Republican bona fides by casting his lot with the birthers?

Deal has long been the most level-headed of Georgia’s GOP congressmen. But these days, rational behavior and reasonable positions don’t win Republican primaries — just ask Dierdre Scozzafava of New York’s House District 23. If you want to compete with the likes of John Oxendine — Deal’s opponent for governor — you best be prepared to board the crazy train.

As the Tea Parties prove, this is a national phenomenon, but it’s doubly disturbing in a red state like Georgia, where most of the top elected officials are Republicans who now feel pressure to act like loons. (And then there’s Rep. Paul Broun, who really is a loon.)

In other words the GOP’s “big tent” is being reduced to a padded cell.

Lest you think this is more liberal whining, the purpose of this post is to draw your attention to an interesting blog item on the increasingly conservative Peach Pundit:

The real news here is that Deal has done what no other candidate in this race has been able to do thus far: He has taken a position so “out there” that Ox has been able to take a stance that makes him seem sensible and sane.

However, the comments suggest that not everyone on the right sees sanity the same way.

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Welcome to CL’s annual catalog of impotence: the 11 Least Influential. You’ll meet folks who tried to achieve an ambitious goal, but fell short; people who’ve devoted themselves to a personal mission in near-total obscurity; and ordinary Joes who can’t get anyone to pay attention to them. Every day until the full issue hits the streets on Nov. 11, we’ll bring you a new story of failure — some noble and heroic, others abject and pathetic.

We begin with one of the latter. Enjoy.

Subject: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Failing: Can’t nut up enough to endorse candidates

One of the perks of being the sole daily newspaper for a major metropolitan city is that you can tell folks what to do. Where to eat. What movies to see. What books to read. And who to vote for. That goes double for a paper with a storied history of taking strong editorial stands on the issues of the day, such as Ralph McGill’s impassioned columns blasting segregation.

But what if, in giving an opinion — even a modulated, rational, well-argued one — you happen to say something some people don’t wish to hear. Horrors! We can’t have that. What if readers stopped subscribing to the paper? Oh, yeah, they’re already doing that… Perhaps it’s best to remove any opinion, insight, conclusions or point of view from the paper altogether.

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Some random observations:

• Write-in candidate Dr. Tiffany Brown got in the neighborhood of 60 votes city-wide. That’s about one vote for each time the line “Vote for Tiffany Brown” was used in her catchy campaign rap song.
• At the end of September, mayoral front-runner Mary Norwood had a huge campaign warchest. But over the past month, she burned through more than $600,000, spending more than Kasim Reed ($274,000) and Lisa Borders ($300,000) put together. As of Oct. 25, Norwood and Reed each had about $166,000 in cash on hand (although Reed had loaned his campaign about $100,000 of that amount).
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Borders reacts to the shocker

Probably the biggest surprise of Tuesday’s elections was Lisa Borders’ poor showing. Granted, various polls had showed her support waning and Kasim Reed’s numbers growing. But no one I talked to had expected Borders to net only 14 percent in what was widely perceived as a three-way race. I mean, City Hall shouter Dave Walker got nearly 10 percent in the Council president’s race and he didn’t raise a dime!

So how did the former runoff hopeful become an also-ran? A few thoughts:

1. She didn’t define herself — Easy for us to say, but it’s true. Mary Norwood positioned herself as the throw-the-bums-out, anti-City Hall candidate, a spokesperson for everyone sick of business as usual. Reed cast himself as the determined outsider, criticizing those on whose watch the city had faltered and promising to restore hope to inner-city neighborhoods. Quick — what did Borders claim to represent?

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I hate to pile on the AJC with regard to their election coverage, because they’ve already taken plenty of lumps for cravenly weaseling out of endorsing candidates in the Atlanta city elections.

But, sweet Jesus, did they screw things up! As my colleague Thomas noted in an earlier post, someone over on Marietta Street just plumb forgot to add in the results from precincts in DeKalb County. (Granted, DeKalb, which is usually very facile with online data, has made it excruciatingly difficult to find said results.)

The snafu is most noticeable in the District 6 Council race, where the AJC online graphic suggests that Tad Christian made the runoff, rather than Liz Coyle:

While the DeKalb numbers didn’t alter who won or who survived in any other Council districts, they did change the percentages in all the city-wide races.

Without further ado, here’s a link to the corrected numbers (PDF).

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Let’s say that, after voting, you want to go out tomorrow evening to support your favorite candidate for mayor — and score some free food. Here’s where you’ll find ‘em on election night:

• Lisa Borders — Her party’s in the new W Hotel Downtown at 45 Ivan Allen Blvd. She’s booked a 4th floor ballroom.
• Kyle Keyser — Yes, the longshot activist is throwing a party, too. It’s at Noni’s restaurant at 357 Edgewood Ave.
  
• Mary Norwood — Breaking with the tradition of using a hotel or event facility, Norwood is holding her party at the Varsity. Slaw dogs for everybody!
• Kasim Reed — He’ll be somewhere in the Hyatt Regency downtown. Check with the concierge for directions.

And, let’s not forget the candidates for council president:

• Ceasar Mitchell — He’ll be raising the roof at Park Tavern at the corner of 10th and Monroe.
• Clair Muller — Not too surprisingly, Clair isn’t a big party gal. We’re told she’ll be hanging out at home tomorrow night.

Be sure to vote, folks!

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Mable got paid, beeyatch!

Finally I’ve got an answer to my earlier question of what Mary Norwood had to spend to earn an endorsement from “Able” Mable Thomas.

Thanks to the most recent financial disclosures, filed Friday evening, we now know that the councilwoman’s mayoral campaign paid the mercenary rabble-rouser $1,500 for “consulting services.” Here’s the PDF.

Is it too cynical to wonder if Thomas’ services consisted of consulting with Norwood on what it would cost to buy her endorsement?

Frankly, unless there was some kind of “in-kind” compensation promised, “Able” Mable comes cheaper than I thought.

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OMG! This changes everything!

Write-in candidate for mayor Tiffany Brown — that’s Dr. Brown to you — has dropped her new campaign song and it’s fresh, dawgs!

“Vote for Tiffany Brown“

Rumor is that Mary Norwood has worked up an emergency breakdance routine to counter Brown’s expected surge in the polls.

Fo’ shizzle my nizzle.

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Remember yesterday when I was praising a TV ad by Kasim Reed for its positive, upbeat, love-everybody tone?

Well, that was then. Today Reed has a new ad that smears Norwood as a Republican:

So much for civility. Now that polls indicate that Reed has pulled comfortably ahead of Borders, he’s changed tack and is trying to pull support away from Norwood in order to prevent her from winning on Nov. 3 without a runoff.

Will it work? Damned if we know, but we’ll be watching carefully to find out…

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OK, this is the fourth significant print media article I’ve seen on the subject of the impact of race in determining the city’s next mayor. It was written by Errin Haines, a young African American reporter with the Atlanta bureau of the Associated Press.

Of course, the story mentions the controversial August memo by two Clark-Atlanta professors that advocated the election of a black mayor:

The incident soured Rev. Joseph Lowery, a revered civil rights leader whose support is coveted, on endorsing either Reed or Borders. He has instead focused on increasing voter turnout.

”I don’t think there’s anything wrong with discussing black candidates for mayor,” Lowery said. ”We’d be silly not to discuss the issue. It’s a reality. I think the most qualified candidates in this race are black.”

It’s a little interesting that the AP story quotes Lowery without mentioning that he’s a member of the Black Leadership Council, the mysterious group that commissioned the memo.

Anyway, for your edification, the earlier articles on race were done by the AJC, the NYT and, of course, lil’ old CL.

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For months now, Councilwoman Mary Norwood has insisted, promised, all but swore on the baby Jesus that if she’s elected mayor, Atlanta’s next police chief would be hired from within the ranks.

Despite her denials, many observers figured she must already have someone in mind. Otherwise, it wouldn’t seem to make much sense to narrow your options like that. Sure, Pennington didn’t work out so well, but it’s considered a best practice for cities of our size to conduct a national search for such important positions.

Still, Norwood repeatedly defended her decision at one forum after another, explaining that she wanted a chief who was already familiar with the local geography. As she told the AJC: “It takes them a long time for them to figure out where Adamsville is, where Moores Mills is and Browns Mill is.” (Psst — that’s why Al Gore invented GPS.)

Well, WABE radio reports that, just yesterday, Norwood flip-flopped and signed a pledge sponsored by a local human-rights organization stating that she’d undertake a national search for the next top cop.

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Buck Man, we don't need your vote

In the final days before next Tuesday’s mayoral election, it seems both Lisa Borders and Kasim Reed have ceded Buckhead to Mary Norwood and are focusing their remaining efforts on Southside Atlanta.

What makes us say this? Consider the evidence:

Last night, both were no-shows at a candidate forum hosted by the Pine Hills Neighborhood Association, a group that includes residents who live south of Lenox Square between Lenox and Roxboro roads.

Also, both have gotten into a war of words over who makes the better choice for Democratic voters, an argument that is unlikely to resonate with a good percentage of Northsiders.

Borders is now taking every opportunity to say she’s a Democrat, from her latest TV ad to ongoing phone solicitations in which callers ask the called to “Vote for Lisa Borders, Democrat.” And those calls are going out to Buckhead.

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These are a couple days old, but I’m just catching up with them. Before I saw the Lisa Borders ad, I heard it described as a dramatization featuring a “group of women talking together in a kitchen whom you’d never see talking together in a kitchen”:

After seeing the ad, I’d have to agree it’s fairly contrived, in the same way that most political ads using actors tend to be. Of more interest is what they’re saying. After the women express their concerns about crime, they offer these choice bullet points:

• “It’s time for these things to change.”
• “We need new leadership.”
• “What we need is a Democrat.”

OK, first the obvious: This ad is clearly aimed at female voters and, judging from the cast, specifically African American women. I assume it’s mainly intended to siphon women away from Kasim Reed. Take note of the line, “My girlfriend, she was out walking her dog, and someone came up behind her.”

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