Fresh Loaf

Atlanta City Council District 6 candidate Alex Wan has resigned from the Atlanta Development Authority Board to clear up any perception of a conflict of interest and focus his energy on the crowded race to represent the Midtown, Candler Park and Virginia-Highland neighborhoods.

From a Wan campaign press release:

“Before officially qualifying, I wanted to further demonstrate my absolute commitment to the people of District 6 and ensure there was no perception of a conflict between my ADA service and my City Council campaign,” he says. “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve ADA and the city of Atlanta since my appointment by City Council in 2006, working for the economic improvement of the city of Atlanta. I have learned so much from my fellow Board members and the incredible ADA staff, and I intend to put that experience to work for our great city’s future.”

…

Wan’s decision to resign from the ADA’s board was clarified by legislation passed by City Council on August 17, stating that candidates for citywide office cannot serve on the boards of entities such as ADA.

In July, some district residents voiced concerns that Wan and Liz Coyle, one of his opponents in the Nov. 3 election, served on the ADA and Atlanta Beltline Inc. boards while also running for office. Coyle resigned from her post last week.

Wan faces Bahareh Azizi, Steve Brodie, Tad Christian, Liz Coyle and Miguel Gallegos.

(Courtesy Alex Wan For Atlanta)

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Walker: Without war chest

This is big, folks.

Before now, if you wanted to see who gave money to a mayoral candidate, you had to schlep down to City Hall, find your way to the municipal clerk’s office, park yourself in front of a computer — there’s only the one — that looks like it still runs Windows 95 and click on a PDF file. If you wanted the information printed out, it cost 25 cents a page, as I recall. If you wanted it put on a disc so you could view it using an operating system from this century, it cost $30 a pop.

I recently described this set-up to someone as what you’d put in place in order to meet the absolute minimum requirements of state open-records laws if you didn’t actually want anyone to have easy access to these documents.

Well, lo and behold, the clerk’s office has just launched a new page that allows online access to city disclosure filings — just as if they were county or state filings! And it works!

Now it only takes a moment to confirm that perennial City Hall hanger-on Dave Walker hasn’t raised one red cent for his “campaign” for Council president.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Steve Brodie, one of six contenders in the crowded race for the Atlanta City Council District 6 open seat, has received the endorsement of the city’s 1,100-member police union.

In a statement (PDF) released yesterday by Brodie’s campaign, Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, said the wooer of water ballerinas is unique because  he’s  “providing specific ideas for improving public safety in Atlanta and the action steps needed to fund improvements….The other District 6 Candidates are working to develop slogans and [Brodie is] seriously proposing plans.”

”I am honored and proud to be endorsed by the police,” Brodie said. “The Police Union’s endorsement
of my candidacy illustrates their confidence in me as a City Council member and their belief that I will
initiate real changes to make Atlanta safer.”

Here’s the public-safety plan to which Kreher referred. (Ben at Terminal Station has a good anecdotal post on why candidates should be giddy when they get such nods of support.)

Brodie’s opponents in the race to represent the district that includes the Midtown, Candler Park, Virginia-Highland neighborhoods are Bahareh Azizi, Tad Christian, Liz Coyle, Miguel Gallegos (who recently earned the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council’s endorsement) and Alex Wan.

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Steve Brodie, one of six candidates in the Atlanta City Council District 6 race to represent the Midtown, Virginia-Highland and Candler Park neighborhoods, is first out of the gate with nontraditional campaign commercials.

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There’s one beef I’ve got with political campaign season — and I fully expect to receive little if any reader sympathy. Elected officials who would normally be reachable with a quick telephone call are now insulated by a phalanx of handlers, public-relations folks and campaign staffers.

When I came in yesterday, for instance, I had a message from a communication director for the campaign for a certain city councilperson who’d been carjacked over the weekend asking if I would like some press availability with said official. Under normal circumstances, I would simply call this person’s cell phone to see if he was OK. But instead I scheduled an interview and, at the appointed time, the PR flak called me back and put the candidate on the line. It wasn’t a big problem, but it was weird.

The process gets especially tiresome when one has to deal with PR folks who are attempting to manage the flow of information between their candidate and the press. In another case, I’d had trouble getting anyone with a particular campaign to call me back, so I called the candidate directly by cell phone to arrange a sit-down interview. The candidate graciously scheduled a time on the spot and we hung up.

Within minutes, however, I got a follow-up from a desperate PR flak who wanted to know: What type of article did I plan to write, what questions was I planning to ask, was I going to talk to all candidates, did I have a certain slant in mind, and so on.

What I wanted to say is, You’re too late — the interview is already scheduled and you can read the article when it comes out like everybody else. But instead I rattled off a few potential questions and got off the phone as quick as I could (I had a legitimate excuse since I was then driving).

This is really just to let readers know that whenever they read anything especially revealing, insightful or enlightening about a political candidate, it will have been despite the best efforts of a PR flak who’s trying to justify his or her paycheck.

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Morningside resident Tad Christian says he’s joined the increasingly crowded race to represent District 6 on the Atlanta City Council.

Christian, who just completed a one-year term as President of the Morningside Lenox Park Civic Association, is now the sixth candidate to join the race to fill departing Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s seat.

From a press release announcing Christian’s candidacy:

Christian is an active member of the Morningside neighborhood, sits on the City of Atlanta’s Board of Zoning Adjustments, is a volunteer on the operations committee at Morningside Elementary School, and a maintenance volunteer at Morningside Presbyterian Preschool. “I am always working to resolve problems that plague our city neighborhoods, and this volunteer action led to me being elected as President of our neighborhood association,” said Christian. “I really want to take the knowledge and experience I have gained thorough volunteer service and participation on various zoning boards, to the City Council, where I can have a greater impact on improving a full range of issues facing our City.”

Before becoming a stay-at-home father, Christian worked 12 years in business development and industrial engineering.

Christian’s opponents in the race to represent the Morningside, Virginia-Highland, Midtown, Druid Hills and Candler Park neighborhoods are: Georgia Tech scientist Bahareh Azizi, Midtown business consultant Steve Brodie, community activist Liz Coyle, political newcomer Miguel Gallegos and Midtown businessman Alex Wan. And we’ll go ahead and say God and Jane Fonda, because it feel like just about everyone is gonna jump in this contest.

(Courtesy Tad Christian campaign)

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Leading up to Liz Coyle’s jump into the District 6 race for Atlanta City Council, there were questions as to whether the Atkins Park resident would have to resign from her position as community representative on the Beltline board of directors.

Candidate Liz Coyle

At first Coyle planned to step down from the post, a nonpaying, citywide gig to which the Council appoints a community member. Then, at a monthly meeting of an advisory board tasked with overseeing how taxpayer dollars are spent on the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit, Coyle told members she was advised by the Atlanta Development Authority’s counsel that she didn’t have to.

Neither does Alex Wan, one of Coyle’s many opponents in the District 6 race. He serves on the ADA’s TAD and finance committees. (Here’s a list of ADA board members.)

Some residents, however, are raising questions in the politically active district (and in the comments of Fresh Loaf posts). Some of them deal with confusion over the candidates’ status on the boards, others involve concerns that candidate still serving on boards could pose a potential conflict of interest.

Can Coyle and Wan run for office and serve on the boards? Yes, they can. To understand why, you’ve gotta examine ADA’s organizational structure.

(more…)

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Remember that mystery candidate for Atlanta City Council District 6 that we hinted at a few days ago? Well, there’ll be no more waiting, fine commenters! She’s in!

Bahareh Azizi, a Georgia Tech scientist, announced her candidacy on Saturday for the increasingly crowded race to represent the Midtown, Morningside, Druid Hills and Virginia-Highland neighborhoods at City Hall.

According to an emailed press release, Azizi launched her campaign during Saturday’s 40th annual Peachtree Road Race. She says the announcement dovetails with her campaign’s “commitment, endurance and a willingness to join the people of our city on the streets of Atlanta.”

In 2007, she was the co-host of Science Investigators, a PBS pilot show. According to a press release about the show’s first episode, Azizi investigated the disappearance of a certain species of frogs in New York and drove an electric car that went from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds. Wheee!

(more…)

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The race to represent Morningside, Druid Hills, Virginia-Highland and Midtown residents at City Hall gets bigger by the week.

The Southern Voice reports that Miguel Gallegos has officially entered the contest, joining Liz Coyle, Alex Wan and Steve Brodie. Councilwoman Anne Fauver has said she would not seek a third term in office.

We’re hearing another potential candidate has been seen handing out campaign information in Piedmont Park. That mystery person hasn’t officially filed their papers yet. When she does, however, be prepared for this race — which is already spinning with political dynamics — to get even more interesting.

Gallegos, who the Voice reports is openly gay, doesn’t have a website just yet. Hey, Miguel! Send us a line sometime!

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A Georgia Department of Natural Resources meeting

1. Atlanta city infrastructure best in country? (The list-generating business consultants at Mercer say Atlanta has the best city infrastructure in the United States. Um, what?)

2. Blog: Rep. Bearden, R-Glock, paid by Carrollton — but for what? (Carrollton city manager told CL that the lawmaker often leads programs and initiatives and assists with some matters “you can’t talk about.” Well, that settles it.)

3. TEAM COVERAGE: Piedmont Park pool poo spill lead story on AJC.com (Atlanta’s daily newspaper: No. 1 for No. 2 news!)

4. Parking scofflaws, your free ride will soon be over (Illegally parked cars with unpaid parking tickets will soon be booted. Oh crap.)

5. Coyle makes Atlanta City Council bid official (Neighborhood activist who fought to preserve the integrity of the Beltline makes a go at politics.)

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Picking up from where this morning’s post left off, Project Q Atlanta says Liz Coyle has filed her paperwork to run for Atlanta City Council’s District 6 seat.

According to Project Q Atlanta, Beltline attorneys informed Coyle she would not be required to resign. The longtime community activist is now the third candidate vying to represent the Midtown, Druid Hills and Morningside neighborhoods at City Hall when Councilwoman Anne Fauver ends her term.

The news site also has some background on the district’s hot-button issues among its large gay community. (Think bar-closing hours and access to Piedmont Park for Atlanta Pride.) There’s also the issue of demographics: Since 1998, District 6 has been represented by openly gay women. Coyle, who’s heterosexual and married, will face off against Steve Brodie and Alex Wan, who are both openly gay.

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Liz Coyle

Loyal AJC “unpluggers” might have noticed a little morsel of newsy-ness in Sunday’s conversation between the paper’s Deborah Solomon Rosalind Bentley and Terri Montague, the Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO who recently announced her plans to leave the $2.8 billion project come September.

[Montague]:…So I started looking at near-term changes that were going to occur: a turnover in my board that’s about to happen, the mayor leaving. I’ve got one member who hasn’t declared yet but they’re planning to run for public office.

[Bentley]: Who? You’re not being coy are you, and it’s really you?

[Montague]: (Laughs) No, I said a member of the board.

Montague was referring to Liz Coyle, a politically active Midtown resident who’s the Atlanta City Council appointment to the Beltline board. Maria Saporta recently reported Coyle’s hinted at her plans to run for the District 6 Council seat.

Councilwoman Anne Fauver, who’s represented the diverse intown district that includes the Morningside, Midtown and Druid Hills neighborhoods for two terms, won’t seek re-election. Before Coyle can jump into the race, she has to resign from her board position, which she is expected to do at its meeting this morning.

(more…)

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Southern Voice reports local businessman Steve Brodie now has an opponent in the race for the Atlanta City Council seat serving the Midtown, Morningside and Druid Hills neighborhoods:

The race to see who will be the Atlanta City Council’s next District 6 representative is a gay vs. gay contest once again.

On Wednesday morning, gay business owner and community volunteer Alex Wan met with Southern Voice to announce his bid for the seat, which is currently held by Anne Fauver, the Atlanta City Council’s only openly gay member.

…

“I think an openly gay person or Asian-American person being elected to City Council sends a huge signal about how open the city is,” Wan said. “If there is representation on the governing council of the city, I think that alone sends a huge message about openness and diversity.”

This will be Wan’s second bid for elected office. In 2004, he ran for the District 57 seat in the Georgia House held by gay-friendly incumbent Pat Gardner. Wan, who lost to Gardner in the Democratic primary, would have been the first openly gay man and first Asian American in the state legislature.

More details at Southern Voice.

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Adam Brackman

Southeast Atlanta resident Adam Brackman announced his candidacy for Atlanta City Council Post 1 At Large today, joining what might be the most crowded municipal race — next to the mayor’s contest — that we’ve seen yet.

Brackman, a Boston native, has lived in Atlanta for 16 years. The IBM executive served as vice-president of South Atlantans for Neighborhood Development, or SAND, the board of Neighborhood Planning Unit W, the Benteen Park Neighborhood Association and the East Village Park Homeowners Association.

He’s openly gay and has worked with multiple diversity groups. Brackman’s also been involved with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Citizens’ CourtWatch program in which residents attend court cases involving neighborhood-related crimes.

He’s running on a public-safety and fiscal responsibility platform. He says in a press release:

“Crime has escalated significantly, but police officers are being furloughed. Fire stations are being shut, our 911 center is understaffed, and the city is still not able to reconcile its finances,” he observes. “How has our existing city leadership reacted to this? Higher taxes and increased fees. That’s not my vision for how difficult challenges are met.”

Brackman’s opponents include: first-time candidate Clarence Turner; former GOP Congressional candidate turned Democrat state senate candidate (?) Erik Underwood; marketing professional Chistopher Vaughn, Atlanta Black Panther (?) Neetta Black-Heart and former Atlanta Councilman Michael Julian Bond. They are running to fill Councilman Ceasar Mitchell’s seat. Mitchell is running for City Council President.

Brackman’s full announcement is after the jump.

(more…)

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Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s unexpected exit from the District 6 race yesterday took nearly everyone in the politically active and tight-knit neighborhoods she serves by surprise.

In a Tuesday interview with CL, Fauver said the decision, which she’s wrestled with for the last two months, largely came down to two things: frustration with city politics and the desire to try something new.

“[Atlanta] once had a strong council and a weak mayor,” Fauver said. “That’s been reversed. That can be very frustrating because council is supposed to determine policy…As of now, we don’t.”

Fauver added that it’s difficult to juggle a career and serve in City Hall. The job of a councilmember, which pays $39,000 a year and is supposed to be a part-time gig, is more like a round-the-clock position.

“It’s four years,” she said, referring to another term. “Four years on top of eight years is a little bit longer than I want to do it. I’m frankly looking forward to a new challenge and I don’t know what that will be.”

(more…)

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Atlanta City Councilmember Anne Fauver says she won’t seek a third term.

Fauver represents the Morningside, Midtown, Virginia-Highland and Druid Hills neighborhoods, among others.

In an unexpected email blast to constituents and supporters she says:

After eight years you begin to be part of the system, and you find yourself with less energy to pursue better ideas and, frankly, with less faith in the ability of the system to be responsive to them. It’s time for me to pass the baton to a successor; to someone with the energy and vision I had eight years ago.

As of this writing, Midtown business consultant Steve Brodie is the only candidate running for her seat. In 2005, he narrowly lost to Fauver by five votes.

Fauver’s full letter, in which she outlines her proudest accomplishments on council, is after the jump. We placed a call to Fauver’s office and will update when we hear back.

(more…)

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Amir Farokhi kicked off his campaign for Atlanta City Council’s Post 2 At-large seat on Tuesday with a daylong tour of six neighborhoods. From sunrise to sunset, the Atlanta attorney traveled by MARTA to meet with residents from West End to Buckhead and Candler Park to Midtown.

The tour culminated at 7 p.m. in Grant Park at the Standard, the Memorial Drive restaurant where bartender John Henderson was killed during a botched early-morning robbery on January 7.

Standing in a room surrounded by such supporters as political gadfly Tom Houck and state Rep. Margaret Kaiser, D-Atlanta, the 31-year-old Farokhi outlined a platform of public safety, transparency and transportation.

“I believe you’re here because you care about this city,” he told the crowd. “That it could be a remarkable, global city, 24 hours a day. You want it run responsibly. You want a safe city. And this November we have the opportunity to really change.”

Well wishers were pining to shake Farokhi’s hand, so time to chat with him was limited. After the jump, a quick rundown on parts of his platform, many of which are explained in-depth on his website’s “issues” page. Yes, we asked him about gambling at Underground Atlanta.

(more…)

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Steve Brodie’s in the race to represent Midtown on the Atlanta City Council.

According to press release from his campaign, the Midtown business consultant this morning filed his paperwork to run for the District 6 seat currently held by Councilmember Anne Fauver.

“Over the past eight years, City Council has not shown the skills, or delivered the measurable results, that we so desperately need,” Brodie said in the press release. “I intend to introduce progressive ideas and build coalitions to give serious consideration to all the change that needs to come.”

The race will be the second time Brodie’s faced off against Fauver. In 2005, she won a hotly contested race against Brodie by five votes. As it looks right now, it’s just the two of them again — the Southern Voice reports Charlie Stadtlander, who announced his candidacy late last year, has dropped out of the race and endorsed Brodie.

Brodie, who is openly gay, is a decorated Vietnam veteran and business consultant. He’s served on numerous public organizations including NPU E, the Midtown Neighbors’ Association and the Beltline Subarea 6 Steering Committee. His full bio is available here. His campaign website is here.

(Courtesy Steve Brodie Campaign)

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