Fresh Loaf

Even though polls will stay open in Atlanta for another five-and-a-half hours, Fox 5 is already reporting Lisa Borders and Kyle Keyser finished first and second in today’s Atlanta mayoral election, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

Here’s the screenshot:

Either Ken Cook’s Doppler Radar doubles as a time machine, or someone at Fox 5 posted the wrong information online. I’m guessing the latter.

Just to be clear, the polls are still open and no results are available. The chart you see above actually appears on Fox 5’s web site, but the numbers are ARE NOT the actual results.

UPDATE: Fox 5 has fixed the chart on its web site. No votes have been counted. Keyser and Borders haven’t won. Ken Cook does not have a time machine.

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In the third installment in our series of videos chronicling the bizarre trials and unusual tribulations of political candidates you’ve probably never heard of, we bring you … someone you probably HAVE heard of: Atlanta mayoral candidate and grassroots activist Kyle Keyser.

After being robbed at gunpoint outside an Poncey-Highland Old Fourth Ward Pizza Hut, Keyser started Atlantans Together Against Crime, a community anti-crime group. In September, he qualified as a candidate for Atlanta mayor.

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Kyle Keyser, in front of City Hall

Kyle Keyser’s surprising announcement that he was running for mayor of Atlanta invigorated an already dramatic campaign race — but it came with a catch.  In order to officially enter the race, Keyser had to raise the $4,425 filing fee to get on the ballot.

And he had to do it in 48 hours.

The following is an account of the emotional days leading up to the announcement and the critical hours that followed in which the unlikely upstart candidate used Facebook, Twitter, Freedom Rock and an iPhone app to rally a community and help him get in the game.

Friday, Aug. 28

6:30 p.m: Keyser speaks at a rally at Bessie Branham Park in Kirkwood, held in response to the shooting of a 55-year-old man who was mowing his lawn.

This is when things really started to kick in. There were probably 200 people and I got up to speak at the end, and I just looked out and saw all these eyes looking at me and I just felt this sadness in the community, like they’d been broken by this incident, and a little hurt more so than angry. I thought to myself, “This is eight months from the time I started [Atlantans Together Against Crime (ATAC)].  How many more rallies do there have to be?  How many more people are going to be affected by this?”  That’s when I started to strongly consider running.

Monday, Aug. 31

3:21 p.m.: Facebook update: “ain’t gonna do it.”

I was not going to run at this point. But I was still flirting with the idea; maybe I should do it.

6 p.m.: Keyser speaks at another Kirkwood rally, this one organized by ATAC, in front of Vinocity.

The Monday rally was what put me over. I sat on my pile of signs, cleaning up, and talked to people who attended the rally and lived in the neighborhood. I just felt compelled to do something. I examined the situation and looked at myself and was like, “What can I do to affect the most change?” It was really like a compulsion. I’m like, “I have to do something.”

Then I decided, “I’m gonna do it.”

(more…)

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In mid-July, the citizen coalition Campaign for Atlanta held a two-day series of forums with Atlanta mayoral candidates Lisa Borders, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes at the Carter Center.

Topics covered during the events included Department of Watershed Management issues, creating and maintaining a competent city bureaucracy, and police and fire issues. Candidates were grilled by civil engineer Bob Bunker, Georgia Tech Professor Jim Martin, former Fulton County Manager Sam Brownlee, former Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Lou Arcangeli and former Atlanta Fire Chief David Chamberlin.

All 32 videos of the event, grouped by candidate remarks and responses, were made available today on Campaign for Atlanta’s website. We’ve uploaded each candidate’s opening remarks after the jump.

(more…)

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Being a Superior Court judge is a pretty sweet gig. You set your own hours. Everyone calls you “Your Honor.” And when you hold people in contempt, they go to jail. It’s not just the job of a lifetime – it’s the job for a lifetime.

So what would induce someone to voluntarily leave these perks behind and jump back into the job market? Well, in one case we can think of, the goal would be to trade a seat on the bench for the throne in City Hall.

Yes, it seems that Marvin Arrington, former City Council president and current Fulton Superior Court judge, is planning to make his second bid for the city’s top office.

(more…)

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Long-time readers of Fresh Loaf are already aware that Mayor Shirley Franklin does not always handle criticism or opposition with, um, grace (Two examples: 1, 2).

Tonight the rest of Atlanta will get a look at Franklin’s temper, thanks to TV footage of Her Excellency speaking at the ceremony to mark the closing of West End’s Fire Station 7.

In response to jeers from city residents protesting the station’s closure, the Mayor halted her speech and announced to protestors:

“Now you know what’s gonna happen, these gentlemen and ladies have never seen this Philadelphia side of me, but I’m gonna come over there, okay.”

She didn’t explain what she meant by “this Philadelphia side of me” but her tone of voice and body language suggested she didn’t have brotherly love in mind.

Franklin then stepped away from the podium and into the audience.

“Let’s have the conversation. Let’s have it,” she yelled.

What’s with Franklin’s defiant attitude?

It was her administration’s mismanagement of the budget that precipitated the city’s budget crisis and the fire station’s closing. A little contrition would go a long way, but Franklin seems incapable of it at the moment.

The Franklin on TV tonight is smug and bratty; nothing like the earnest public servant twice elected by Atlantans to fix their city’s government.

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Consumer advocate and radio host Clark Howard likely doesn’t want to you to gamble your money. He’d probably prefer you to pay down your credit card debt, invest it, or stash it in your 401K.

But if you’re the betting type, Howard would like you to know he’s leaning against the possibility of running to replace Mayor Shirley Franklin.

“If I was placing odds, I’d say there’s a one-in-three chance I’ll run [for mayor of Atlanta],” Howard told CL yesterday afternoon.

Howard, who CL reported last year was considering a mayoral bid, says his enthusiasm has been tempered by the realization that running for mayor would limit the time he could spend with his young children.

Howard says he was deeply affected by a conversation he had with ABC News correspondent Chris Cuomo. Cuomo is the youngest son of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. According to Howard, Cuomo still gets emotional when he talks about the time he missed with his dad.

“He told me how awful it was,” Howard says.

He hasn’t made a decision yet, but Howard says unless he can figure out a way to do the job without diminishing his relationship with his children, he probably won’t run.

Watch this space for ClarkWatch updates as they become available.

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Mary Norwood has announced she’s dipping her toe into the Atlanta mayoral race waters. Below is the press release:

MARY NORWOOD ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE FOR MAYOR OF ATLANTA

Mary Norwood, an Atlanta City Councilwoman serving in her second term as a representative elected citywide, announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee for a Mayor’s race today.

“It’s official. I have filed the papers to form an Exploratory Committee for Mayor,” she said. “People all over the City have asked me to run for Mayor, and I am asking for your support and for your endorsement, too. I hope I can count on you. You can count on me.”

The Exploratory Committee consists of over 120 citizens from 88 neighborhoods throughout the entire city of Atlanta, with representation from every Council District and every NPU. “I am thrilled and honored that so many people with such an impressive cumulative history of building better communities have agreed to introduce me to their neighbors. With their help, I will be everywhere in Atlanta,” says Norwood. A complete list of the Exploratory Committee is available at www.MaryNorwoodforMayor.com.

Rest of the release available after the jump.

(more…)

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Former Atlanta City Council President and ex-congressional candidate Cathy Woolard is usually mentioned any time talk turns to next year’s mayor’s race. And up until the beginning of the year, she was indeed planning to make a bid for the city’s top post. But Woolard now tells CL she’s out of the running.

Just days ago, we got a press release that Woolard — a busy lobbyist for Planned Parenthood, Georgia Equality and other groups — is taking a job with CARE after the end of the current legislative session. The job title is “executive V.P. for global advocacy and external relations,” but, being cynical, we wondered if it might be a temporary gig until her campaign kicks in.

Actually, Woolard explains, it’s a significant career change.

“If this position works out, I won’t be running for mayor,” she says. “I had to make a choice and this was just too great an opportunity to pass up.”

In her new job, Woolard will control marketing, fundraising and policy for the Atlanta-based global relief organization. She will oversee a whopping $600 million operational budget — nearly as large as the city budget. The move isn’t really an about-face for Woolard, who had previously done a tour of duty with the Peace Corps, has studied international economic development and made a career in public policy.

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Consumer advocate and political fence-sitter Clark Howard on Thursday provided a striking, if less than detailed, indictment of what he thinks is wrong with Atlanta city government. Speaking at the Buckhead Business Association’s annual luncheon, he accused City Hall of running a jobs program for the well-connected and being a cauldron of waste.

If any of the hundreds of businesspeople gathered at a ballroom in the Atlanta History Center came expecting Howard to declare his candidacy for mayor, they went home disappointed. Instead, the upbeat radio host delivered a somewhat rambling, sort-of stump speech.

“The purpose of the city government has gotten perverted,” he declared. “It’s about providing jobs to people who supported the right candidates when it should be about providing services to the public.”

Still, he added, “Shirley [Franklin] is a great woman. She’s cleaned up corruption, but the mentality that government should serve people isn’t there yet.”

For all his famous frugality, Howard didn’t dwell on cutting taxes. In fact, he said the city should devote more money to deal with homelessness to make downtown more appealing to visitors and conventioneers. Also, the city needs to find the funds to bring the police department up to full strength. And he advocated “spending what it takes” to install public transit up Peachtree Road into Buckhead; he favors a new subway line.

Most oddly, Howard hinted that if he were mayor, he’d try to gain control over the Atlanta school system, but he offered no details as to how such a takeover could occur. By the way, he’s a big fan of vouchers and charter schools.

The crowd response was surprisingly subdued, with moderate applause and a question about which big-screen TV is the best deal.

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Number of years until the next Atlanta mayoral election … 2.5

Approximate number of dollars Councilwoman Mary Norwood spent on a recent public opinion poll … 12,000

Number of potential voters polled … 400

Percentage of polled voters who knew who Norwood is … 54

Number of potential mayoral candidates Norwood says she leads in public support … 5

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Norwood mayor … 15

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Robb Pitts mayor … 14

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Lisa Borders mayor … 13

Percentage of polled voters who said they’d elect Cathy Woolard mayor … 11

Percentage of margin of error of poll … 5

Number of references to potential candidate Clark Howard in a Norwood press release about poll … 0

Percentage of polled voters who had favorable impression of Howard … NA*

Source: Lake Research Partners polling firm

* Figure not released

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