Fresh Loaf

Tom Houck, state Rep. Ralph Long, and Aaron Turpeau discuss race at Uptown Lounge

Over the past few months, the leading candidates for Atlanta mayor have dutifully taken part in dozens of public forums across the city, giving the impression that no interest group is too obscure or any issue too unimportant to be addressed.

Last week, however, a politically oriented event was held downtown without a single office-seeker in sight. But this was hardly surprising. Most candidates would prefer being waterboarded than to go on the record discussing the evening’s chosen subject: race.

It didn’t help that one of the participants in last Wednesday’s panel discussion at Uptown Lounge was Aaron Turpeau, the longtime political operative associated with a controversial memo calling for coordination among black leaders to elect a black mayor.

When the memo surfaced in August, City Council President Lisa Borders quickly denounced it. State Sen. Kasim Reed labeled it “racist.” Even Mayor Shirley Franklin weighed in, dismissing it as “bigoted.”

But like it or not, where the mayor’s race is concerned, race remains the mastodon in the room. Although few have discussed it openly, it’s quite possible that no single factor will have as much impact in determining Atlanta’s next mayor — although not necessarily in ways that seem obvious.

Continue reading “Race looms large in Atlanta’s upcoming mayoral election”

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Kasim Reed is not happy with memo

The Atlanta mayor’s race has just blown up with a controversy whose fallout could well linger over the rest of the election season. Sometime yesterday, an incendiary bomb in the form of an e-mail went out calling on African American leaders across town to throw their support behind a single black candidate for mayor  in order to head off a victory by Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who is painfully white.

The e-mail cites WSB polls showing Council President Lisa Borders gaining support to trail closely behind Norwood while state Sen. Kasim Reed remains trailing in the single digits. On the strength of the numbers, the e-mail author invites the recipients to join him in supporting Borders for mayor.

Reed is taking the missive seriously enough that he quickly retaliated with a statement calling the e-mail’s message “divisive,” “vitriolic” and “racist.”

And who is author? None other than Aaron Turpeau, a longtime political operative who could be considered the most prominent remaining gear in the old “Maynard Machine.” Turpeau worked on Jackson’s first two campaigns for mayor, then for both of Andrew Young’s successful bids, and then for Jackson’s third go-around.

But Turpeau, wasn’t simply Jackson’s appendage. Despite his longtime boss’ endorsement of Bill Campbell, Turpeau worked for both of Campbell’s opponents, Michael Lomax and Marvin Arrington. He later jumped on board Shirley Franklin’s campaign, which gave fuel to critics who dismissed Franklin as the “machine candidate.”

Turpeau hadn’t signed on to work with any mayoral hopefuls this time, a fact which stirred the curiosity of many political observers.

Obviously, however, Turpeau isn’t content to sit on the sidelines. In a follow-up memo (view PDF here), he elaborates on his position, which he calls, in a striking display of candor, the “Black Mayor first” approach:

1.    There is a chance for the first time in 25 years that African Americans could lose the Mayoral seat in Atlanta, Georgia, especially if there is a run-off;
2.    Time is of the essence because in order to defeat a Norwood (white) mayoral candidacy we have to get out now and work in a manner to defeat her without a runoff, and the key is a significant Black turnout in the general election;
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Alright, that’s not exactly true. OK, OK, so it’s not even remotely true. But it is true that Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts sent out a press release announcing that on July 3 he would announce to the world his decision on whether to run for Atlanta mayor. He says he’s been urged to run “by a cross-section of citizens”:

“I am flattered by the encouragement and must agree that the city needs an experienced hand. It’s not the time for on-the-job training. The city needs a mayor who can hit the ground running and build on Mayor Franklin’s positive initiatives.”

Actually, Pitts released that nugget on May 26 — nearly a week ago and while I was on vacation — yet I haven’t been able to Google up any evidence that his missive has been reported by so much as a neighborhood e-newsletter. I take this as confirmation that nobody, with the possible exception of Pitts’ immediate family, gives a cold shit whether or not he runs for mayor.

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Rumors have been building since last fall that Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders was contemplating her re-entry into the mayor’s race. Well, the rumors are more or less true. She confirms she is “reconsidering” a run for mayor.

In other words, it’s a definite maybe.

You’ll recall that when Borders withdrew from the race last August, she said she needed to care for her elderly, ailing parents. Since then, the circumstances have changed somewhat. Another family member is helping care for her father and Borders discovered a previously unknown health insurance policy that will ensure professional care for her mother.

As far back as last fall, Borders was privately expressing ambivalence over her decision to get out of the mayor’s race and discussing possible routes of re-entry. One such possibility was the chance that Shirley Franklin would receive an appointment in the Obama administration and be forced to leave office early, but that didn’t happen. In recent weeks, Borders says, she has received requests from many supporters asking her to jump back into the race

“I’ll make a decision before the end of the month,” she tells CL.

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The woman approaching is stooped and sunken-eyed, with a weather-ravaged face that hints she might be much younger than she looks. She carries a frayed backpack and when she speaks, it’s in the beaten-down manner of someone accustomed to asking favors.

The Peachtree-Pine shelter houses hundreds of homeless men.

“Thank you, Miss Anita,” she says, as she follows her subject along the sidewalk and through the side door of the Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter. “You’re always good to me, even when I stray.”

Anita Beaty assures the woman she’ll be taken care of and ushers her into a small lobby where other street people occupy chairs along the walls or gaze out windows.

“We’re the first place people can come so they don’t die on the street,” explains Beaty as she sits down for an interview a few minutes later.

As executive director of the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Beaty has run the city’s largest shelter on the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets for more than a decade. White-haired and grandmotherly, her appearance belies her reputation as a relentless advocate for the homeless, and in conversation, she comes across as so soft-spoken and unhurried that you’d never guess this is someone whose world is unraveling.

Earlier this month, the city turned off the water at Peachtree-Pine, citing unpaid bills totaling more than $160,000. Beaty quickly persuaded a judge to issue a temporary injunction to restore service, but her agency must comply with a daunting payment schedule or the water goes back off.

While water is the most immediate of the problems facing the Task Force, it’s far from the only one. It may not even be the biggest.
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Amount of drug money former state Rep. Ron Sailor told an undercover FBI agent he was willing to launder: $300,000

Amount the agent, posing as a coke dealer, eventually gave Sailor: $375,000

Months after Sailor agreed to cooperate with authorities that he illegally obtained a $250,000 loan using his church as collateral: 3

Maximum years Sailor could spend in prison as a result of his June 17 guilty plea in Atlanta federal court: 80

Minimum years the Black Mafia Family’s third-in-command will serve as a result of his June 16 cocaine-conspiracy conviction in Atlanta federal court: 20

Amount in drug money that a witness in the BMF trial claimed to have counted in a single sitting: $6 million

Cost of a bottle of Cristal champagne that BMF members favored while partying in Atlanta clubs, according to another witness: $600

Months by which former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell hoped to reduce his 30-month federal tax-evasion sentence by seeking counseling for being a champagne-aholic: 4

Minimum number of witnesses — including Campbell’s witness — who told federal investigators that Campbell did not drink: 2

Number who told them Campbell did drink: 0

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice. U.S. District Court Atlanta, U.S. District Court Miami

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VACCINES AND AUTISM: Feds admit vaccines led to autismlike symptoms in Georgia girl; deny evidence of broader link between thimerosal and autism.

HOLD YOUR HORSES: Unless they’ve been quarantined for a potentially fatal viral disease. In that case, you should not steal them back and take them across state lines.

MAR Y TIERRA: Y cucarachas y bacterias.

BLITCH TAPPED: South Georgia Superior Court Judge Brooks E. Blitch III, under investigation for alleged judicial misconduct, has also been spied on by the FBI.

JANE KIDD: Backs Obama, and she’s a superdelegate.

BROWN RECLUSE: Didn’t bite you.

CUTS CONTINUE: Falcons fire Harrington, leading to more speculation Matt Ryan will be the No. 3 pick.

ANDRUW JONES: Fat.

BILL CAMPBELL: Still has never had a drug problem anymore.

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Bill Campbell ain’t no Scooter Libby.

The disgraced former mayor had tried to get his federal prison sentence for tax fraud overturned on the grounds that the court “violated Campbell’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel when it disqualified his counsel of choice” and that his 30-month sentence was just plain “unreasonable,” according to an appeals court decision issued today.

The decision did not mince words when it came to denying Campbell’s appeal and characterizing his regime:

It is difficult to overemphasize the breadth and depth of the corruption underlying the case against Campbell. At the time of Campbell’s sentencing, five high-level officials in his former administration and five businessmen were ensnared in the government’s investigation of Campbell and either pled guilty or were convicted of charges similar to those Campbell faced.

Considering that Campbell got off on his racketeering charges — which were punishable by up to 20 years — 30 months seems like a bit of a cakewalk. Of course, he never was the grateful type.

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Is that two-time mayor, three-time felon Bill Campbell triggering the July 1997 implosion that leveled the Omni Coliseum, making way for Philips Arena?

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