Fresh Loaf

Not good news for bonds, the go-to financing tool for many municipal projects.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Representatives of Standard & Poor’s notified city officials March 6 that they were downgrading Atlanta from a rating of AA- to A “with a stable outlook.”

Word of the move was delivered to Mayor Shirley Franklin and members of the city council by Jim Glass, Atlanta’s chief financial officer, at the end of a two-day council retreat devoted largely to discussing the city’s finances.

The downgrade, Williams writes, doesn’t affect the city Department of Watershed Management, which is overseeing a costly upgrade to Atlanta’s antiquated sewer system, or Jackson-Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.

Bookmark It

Current amount, in dollars, of President Obama’s stimulus plan aimed to create jobs and spur the economy: 827 billion

Amount, in dollars, Mayor Shirley Franklin recently requested for Atlanta projects: 1.88 billion

Estimated number of city jobs Franklin says the federal stimulus plan could create: 40,000

Number of police officers Franklin wants to add with stimulus money: 200

Dollar value of sewer projects the city wants to build using stimulus funds: 801 million

Amount, in dollars, the city requested to build the International Terminal at Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport: 500 million

Number of federal dollars Franklin says would go to offset the city’s budget deficit: 0

Amount, in dollars, the Georgia Department of Transportation has requested for state projects: 3.4 billion

Estimated number of jobs Georgia could gain because of the stimulus package: 143,000

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. Conference of Mayors

Bookmark It

The hardball negotiations between Delta and Atlanta over airport fees appear to be getting, er, hardballier.

It’s a word. I swear.

In November, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported a $600 million bond issuance for new construction at Hartsfield-Jackson had stalled because of the nation’s frozen financial markets. Without new bonds, construction at the airport’s new international terminal will slow or even stop.

On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal quoted an anonymous source contradicting the city’s explanation:

People familiar with the planned transaction, however, say the debt wasn’t issued because Delta opposed the project’s budget, believing it would raise its airport costs long-term. Delta “stopped them from moving ahead,” said a person familiar with the transaction. Because of the airport’s prominent role in the country’s aviation infrastructure and good credit history, the person added, “the bonds would have been very sellable, even in this market.”

Mayor Franklin, who was interviewed for the WSJ story, denied the anonymous source’s claim and stuck by the original explanation. The bonds were not issued, she said, because of the condition of the financial markets.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Construction of the new international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson might have to stop soon because nobody’s buying municipal bonds.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

The problem isn’t with the airport or the City of Atlanta, which have a solid A+ bond rating, Kennedy said.

Investors are fleeing the market and keeping their money on the sidelines out of fear, analysts say. Municipal bonds, typically, are low interest earning, but safe investments. Even in the current economic crisis, investors aren’t buying up municipal debt.

No bonds. No money. No terminal.

Bookmark It

Thanks to the efficient and helpful staff employed by the Mexican airline Aeroméxico, I had an 18 hour layover in Mexico City over the weekend. (more…)

Bookmark It

In April, I interviewed a Clayton County assistant solicitor about the ins and outs of sex-crime enforcement at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

How does the law distinguish between “lewd exposure” of sexual organs and the utilitarian exposure of sexual organs required for successful use of a toilet?

She wouldn’t say.

Read more.

Or don’t.

Bookmark It

The Associated Press and USA Today just picked up the AJC’s April 2 story about the Atlanta Police Department’s War On Bathroom Sex. I blogged a little bit about it on April 3. In case you missed it, Atlanta cops are peering into toilets at the airport to catch people engaged in sexual activity.

Seeing the story again reminded me of a conversation I had two weeks ago with a Clayton County assistant solicitor whose office prosecutes public indecency offenses at the airport.

I got in touch with her after I tried and failed to get an Atlanta police officer to talk to me about the crackdown. Strange. You’d think that someone who’s been peering into bathroom stalls at the airport would have some stories they’d want to tell.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Yesterday’s edition of Atlanta’s alternative daily newspaper featured a story about an Atlanta Police Department crackdown on men having sex with other men in restrooms at Hartsfield-Jackson.

Maj. Darryl Tolleson, commander of the airport precinct, credits a recent increase in “public indecency” arrests at the airport to new and better crime-fighting tactics by the police.

Among the tactics:

discreet peeks through the crack in closed restroom stall doors if an officer hears anything unusual.

What’s supposed to bother me more — men having sex with other men in public bathroom stalls, or police officers “discreetly peeking” in bathroom stalls because they hear an “unusual” noise?

I can easily imagine cops peeking in at people on the toilet because they happen to be “suspiciously” talking on their phones or singing along to their iPods.

Bookmark It