Fresh Loaf

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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A new 11 Alive/Survey USA poll of the Atlanta’s mayor’s race shows State Sen. Kasim Reed with 49 percent, and City Council Member Mary Norwood with 46 percent. Reed’s three-percent advantage falls within the poll’s 4.5 percent margin of error.

In other words, according to this poll, it’s a dead-heat.

Norwood and Reed finished first and second in November 3’s mayoral election. They will face one another in a run-off election December 1.

Assuming it’s an accurate snapshot, of course, this poll suggests Reed has been far more successful than Norwood at winning over the 9,829 Atlantans who voted for third-place finisher Lisa Borders.

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Following up on Andisheh’s post from this morning about Lisa Borders endorsing Kasim Reed, an e-mail was sent to Reed’s volunteer list with details about the press conference:

Kasim Reed for Mayor Volunteers,

We invite you to join us on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 1:45 p. m., for Lisa Borders’ formal endorsement of Senator Kasim Reed.  We will assemble at Park Tavern, located at 500 10^th Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 (at the corner of 10^th and Monroe).

Please wear your campaign t-shirt as a representation of your continued support of Senator Reed’s mayoral campaign.

We hope to see you there!

Are any of you planning on attending?

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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).
• (more…)

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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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Borders with sinister City Hall puppet-master Tom Bell!

Folks, there are scarcely two weeks left before the Nov. 3 city elections. Two damn weeks! It would seem the mayoral candidates are mindful of this because they’ve shifted into attack mode.

Last Friday, City Council President Lisa Borders challenged opponent Kasim Reed to pledge to “end nepotism” in City Hall, while pointing out that his brother works as a contract compliance officer for the city.

Now, the Borders folks told me about this months ago, hinting at some vague conflict of interest. But it isn’t nepotism because, while  candidate Reed is close to Mayor Franklin, he’s never worked for the city. And if he used his influence to help his brother get the job, that’s not illegal or even, I would argue, necessarily unethical.

(more…)

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Have you been wondering which city candidates were most likely to be anointed by powerful northside CEOs? Well, wonder no more, because the Buckhead Coalition has spoken — by putting a not-inconsiderable sum of money where its mouth is.

Like the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Coalition doesn’t do direct endorsements. Unlike the Chamber’s questionnaire process, the Coalition makes its picks known with sizable campaign contributions through a PAC.

So here’s who got the cash:

• In Council races where an incumbent faces opposition, the Coalition gave the incumbent the $2,400 maximum contribution.
• In contested races without an incumbent, the $2,400 max went to Yolanda Adrean for District 8, Michael Bond for at-large Post 1 and Ceasar Mitchell for President. For reasons not made clear, the Coalition made no contributions in the races for District 6, District 11 and at-large Post 2.
• The Coalition split its donations in the mayor’s race, giving Mary Norwood $1,344 (56%), Kasim Reed $528 (22%), and Lisa Borders $528 (22%).

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Georgia Equality, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, has announced their support for Lisa Borders for mayor and Ceasar Mitchell for city council President.

If you need the latest on either the mayoral or city council race, Scott Henry abides.

Here’s Georgia Equality press release:

At a time when public safety and the need for strong leadership are on the minds of all Atlantans, the Georgia Equality Board of Directors has voted to endorse Lisa Borders in the 2009 election for Atlanta Mayor, as well as Ceasar Mitchell for the position of Atlanta City Council President.

Borders, the current City Council President, stands out among a group of highly-qualified mayoral candidates running this year. The Georgia Equality Board of Directors found Borders to be the candidate with the best fluency and understanding of the issues important to LGBT Atlantans, as well as the candidate best-equipped to govern a city in need of a decisive leader with keen insight into public safety and municipal management.

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Jim Maddozzzzzzzzzzz

Sleepy Jim is stepping aside. The Dean is done.

Yes, the aged alderman, whose dozing antics can be viewed on the city’s own public-access Channel 26, is finally retiring after 32 years spent warming an Atlanta Council seat.

Maddox, who in recent years had taken to referring to himself as the “Dean of Council,” will turn 75 in October. During his eight four-year terms, he’d transformed his office into a veritable travel agency, crisscrossing the globe as a self-appointed economic development ambassador for Atlanta.

Even in the press release announcing his retirement, Maddox can’t resist boasting about squeezing a few more international destinations out of his gig before he leaves office:

In fact, Maddox will be leaving for Argentina this week, where he will meet with mayors and city council members from South American countries, in an effort to promote Atlanta in economic exchange opportunities. He then heads to St. Petersburg, Russia and Moscow on a diplomatic mission on behalf of Mayor Franklin and the Council.

Why am I being so hard on this poor, tired guy?

Because when I try to think of Maddox’s legacy, I draw a blank. Then the image appears of a bump on a log  —  a log being sawed in half. His Southwest Atlanta district includes the Cascade Road area, long a seat of African American wealth and political power. His constituents include Shirley Franklin, Lisa Borders and, before that, Michael Lomax and countless other movers and shakers.

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Kasim Reed

Earlier this week, a memo by African-American political operative Aaron Turpeau calling on black leaders to join forces to ensure the election of a black mayor injected controversy into, well, the mayor’s race.

“The view that the times are too serious to stand on the sidelines is absolutely correct from the perspective of a black mayor at all cost. In fact, if a white candidate were to win the 2009 mayoral race, it would be just as significant in political terms as Maynard Jackson’s victory in 1973.”
— Turpeau, from his memo

“These tactics divide the very community that has made Atlanta emerge as a leading city in the South and dishonors the legacies of Mayors Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Ivan Allen, Sam Massell, and William Hartsfield.”
— Mayoral candidate Kasim Reed, in an Aug. 27 press statement

“I reject the analysis offered by Aaron Turpeau. He is absolutely wrong. I oppose anyone, of any race, who would distract us from what is important today.”
— Candidate Lisa Borders, in an Aug. 27 press statement

“Mary’s take on all of this is that she is who she is and people are going to judge her on her ideas, value and ability.”
— Roman Levit, campaign manager for candidate Mary Norwood, as quoted Aug. 27 by the AJC

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Judging from many Fresh Loaf commenters, the answer to that is, “Duh!”

But that wasn’t my first reaction when I read the instantly notorious memo by longtime political operative Aaron Turpeau, which calls for black leaders in Atlanta to rally behind a single black mayoral candidate in order to avoid seeing the election of Mary Norwood.

To me, the memo wasn’t racist so much as it was a plea for naked self-interest — although arguably wrong-headed, outdated and certainly politically incorrect.

Let me explain. I’ve always defined racism as the belief that there are inherent differences — character, intellect, ability, etc. — between people that directly result from race. Racism can be in the form of conscious prejudice — Jews are greedy, blacks are lazy, white men can’t jump, etc. — or the vague sense that one person is in some way inferior to another simply because of the color of his skin.

But I don’t think Turpeau was motivated by the kind of racism defined above. In fact, he was quite clear in explaining his goal:

There is an unstated assumption that having a black mayor in Atlanta is equal to having a black social, economic and political agenda or at least someone in office who would be sensitive to that agenda if not a full promoter of that agenda

In other words, having an African American mayor is a benefit to black Atlantans and their “agenda”; therefore, blacks should take steps to ensure that City Hall stays black.

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Maria Saporta got Mayor Franklin’s take on the flap over a memo by Aaron Turpeau, in which the longtime political operative calls for black Atlantans to throw their support behind Lisa Borders for mayor in order to prevent a victory by the very white Mary Norwood.

Here’s what Shirley told Saporta:

As the current mayor of Atlanta and someone who has sought to represent the best interests of the entire city and all the constitutents in my performance, policies and management style, I believe Turpeau has it all wrong and has missed the mark.

Franklin challenges Turpeau’s implication that the late Maynard Jackson’s legacy lies in having won City Hall for black residents and it’s up to African Americans now to band together to make sure thay don’t have to give it back:

Jackson opened doors and kept the doors open for all Atlantans and people of good will to particpate regardless of race, social status or other political party. His consensus building success are legendary.

Turpeau tells a lopsided version of the history of Atlanta politics of the last 40 years and the civic history of Atlanta for decades.

So far, the only interested party yet to be heard from is Norwood. If I were her, I’d take the phone off the hook and lay low. Ironic as it may seem, she is likely the main beneficiary from all this fuss.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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1. AJC moving to metro Atlanta’s real downtown (The daily will be abandoning its intown digs for a new, OTP office. Yep.)

2. Lisa Borders up in latest mayoral poll (Though Councilwoman Mary Norwood still holds the lead, Council Prez Borders appears to be making progress. Someone’s pissed.)

3. Creative Loafing Inc. and its largest creditor will duke it out next week (The fate of the six-newspaper chain will be determined at an equity auction TOMORROW. Stay tuned.)

4. Threesome assault defense, ‘Ah jest wanted to watch’ (Total weirdness.)

5. Troy Davis deserves hearing, says Supremes (Somebody — the U.S. Supreme Court, no less! — is finally granting the longtime death row inmate a hearing on his innocence claims.)

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Atlanta mayoral candidate Lisa Borders says a rival campaign distributed fake fliers promising free beer and food at a block party she hosted this morning at her downtown headquarters.

From the Borders web site:

[Borders campaign manager Stacey Abrams] said the campaign made a donation to the Gateway facility, a downtown Atlanta homeless service center, when people began coming to block party with a fake flyer that promised free food and beer. “We are deeply saddened that another campaign would use the most vulnerable members of our community in an attempt to disrupt our event to say thank you. By misusing our logo and handing out these flyers, they misled men and women who have faced more than enough difficulty. We were glad to work with the Gateway Center to feed and shelter those in need.”

Sounds like an awkward moment, no? The press release doesn’t name the campaign that allegedly distributed the fliers. If you were handed one, send us a line.

Responses from Borders’ opponents are after the jump.

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Machinists, take note.

That is, those who still believe in the existence and relevance of the “machine politics” of Atlanta’s past will find their theories bolstered by the fact that former Mayor Andy Young just cut a radio spot endorsing state Sen. Kasim Reed for his old job.

You can listen to the spot here. Here’s a transcript of the lead-in:

About 20 years ago I met a young man who impressed me a great deal. He was in the process of putting together a student run foundation that would help college students to help themselves and help those who were less fortunate stay in school.
I took the liberty then of saying I hope you finish your education and come on back to Atlanta where you grew up ’cause in about 20 years we’re going to need a mayor like you.

That young man, as you may have guessed, was Kasim Reed — who, at 39 40, is still a young man.

According to my former co-worker Kevin “Professor Griff” Griffis, the “machine” created by the late Maynard Jackson hasn’t existed for years. With Jackson’s passing, the fabled machine no longer even has its mainspring.

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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.

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In unveiling his new “Blueprint for Restoring Public Safety in Atlanta,” state Sen. Kasim Reed brought out the big guns — in the form of Evander Holyfield’s right and left arms. While bringing a well-known heavyweight boxing champ to a campaign press conference might initially sound like a publicity stunt, there was actually a relevant connection: Holyfield was a friend and mentor to Vernon Forrest, the welterweight boxing champion who was murdered at a Castleberry Hill gas station this past Saturday night after he confronted a mugger.

Reed’s plan, which will now go toe-to-toe with the patented Mary Norwood 12-Point Public Safety Program, is titled “Securing Atlanta.” Here’s the campaign blurb:

Securing Atlanta is a comprehensive plan to tackle the growing problem of crime in the city. The plan includes increasing the existing size of our police force with 750 additional police officers, establishing a dedicated revenue stream for public safety, updating our technology such as adding more surveillance cameras, improving officer retention by restoring step increments and making salaries more competitive. Securing Atlanta also takes a holistic approach to reducing crime by addressing other contributing factors such as the importance of revitalizing our neighborhoods, giving our young people greater opportunities and addressing the escalation in gang activity.

Unlike Norwood’s plan, Reed’s proposal includes a funding method, the above-mentioned “dedicated revenue stream for public safety,” which he has said would be in the form of a special tax district whose residents (that’s us) would foot the additional cost.

Can we now expect Lisa Borders to roll out her own splashy public-safety initiative, perhaps called, “Kicking Butt and Taking Names: Fighting Crime in the ATL?” Apparently not, judging from her most recent campaign release, headlined: Borders Calls For End To Public Safety Rhetoric.

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City Council President Lisa Borders came back strong this past quarter — fundraisingly speaking — after taking seven months off the campaign trail, besting Councilwoman Mary Norwood by a fair margin. But state Sen. Kasim Reed managed to out-raise them both since the beginning of April, according to the candidates’ campaign disclosure reports, which were due today at 5 p.m.

It’s the first time it’s been possible to make an apples-to-apples comparison of all three top candidates’ fundraising efforts because of Borders’ temporary withdrawal from the race and Reed’s inability to raise money during the General Assembly.

So, here we go. In the last quarter, according to their disclosures:

Borders raised $403,528 and spent $270,866

Norwood raised $307,251 and spent $131,623

Reed raised $507,206 and spent $334,878

Those numbers are only for cash, not in-kind contributions, such as free catering, printing or foot massages for canvassers.

Now, interestingly, all three candidates have spent roughly the same amount — between $525,000 and $550,000 — over the entire campaign.

(more…)

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Who is Jesse Spikes, you ask? Well, here’s your chance to find out.

Spikes is a former Rhodes Scholar and a senior partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge, one of the city’s largest law firms. He’s also running for mayor, having announced his candidacy a little more than a year ago, just before City Council President Lisa Borders — temporarily — dropped out.

Over the past year, I can’t say that Spikes has made many waves in the mayor’s race, but I’d comfortably rank him first among second-tier candidates. At the end of the last disclosure period, he had about $125,000 in his campaign war chest — far short of the amounts being raised and spent by the three first-tier candidates: Borders, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and state Sen. Kasim Reed. In fact, in the first quarter of 2009, Reed raised more in a week than Spikes raised in three months. The next round of disclosures should be out in early July.

Anyway, if you like underdogs or are simply not satisfied with the folks leading the field, you can check out Spikes this Saturday at his official campaign kick-off. The event begins at 11 a.m. in front of the large pavilion on the west side of Grant Park near the entrance on Boulevard. The speechifying is scheduled to begin around noon. You can study up on Spikes beforehand at his campaign website.

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Did you know Atlanta has the third-highest LGBT (lesbian, gay and both teams) population per capita of any major U.S. city? San Francisco ranks first, of course. But then, apparently, we’re right behind Seattle (not to imply that Seattle’s a bottom or anything). Excuse me, Seattle? I could see Miami or San Diego, but why would Seattle be a gay destination? There can’t be that many jobs at Starbucks. If you’re a straight woman living in Seattle, does that make you a fog hag?

Sorry, it appears I’ve allowed myself to become distracted by a piece of trivia included on a flier for a bipartisan political forum this Thursday. The local chapters of the Stonewall Democrats and Log Cabin Republicans are teaming up to host a meet-and-greet for the Atlanta mayor candidates.

The three leading candidates — City Council President Lisa Borders, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and State Sen. Kasim Reed — have all confirmed, and you’re more than welcome to play a version of road trip bingo using any other declared candidates who show up.

The two-hour event begins at 6 p.m. at the Amsterdam Atlanta restaurant and bar at 502 Amsterdam Ave. There will be light hors d’oeuvres and drink specials. (I recommend the Zima and Red Bull — it’s delish.)

BTW, has anyone else noticed the weird construction theme going on with the Stonewall Democrats and Log Cabin Republicans? What’s next, the Stucco Libertarians?

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Mayoral front-runners: Borders (left), Norwood (middle) and Reed (right)

As reported by the AJC, Atlanta’s mayoral candidates have taken to social networking sites such as Twitter, utilizing the art of mass-updating to keep in constant touch with supporters and potential voters. And where there’s a seemingly innovative new political outreach tool, there’s almost always a predictable new catchphrase for it:

“This will be the Facebook election,” said Emory University associate professor Michael Leo Owens.

Four candidates — [Council President Lisa] Borders, Councilwoman Mary Norwood, state Sen. Kasim Reed (D-Atlanta) and [Glenn] Thomas, a former city employee — each have pages and videos on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Candidate Rod Mack, who works in logistics, has a MySpace page that plays the Sam Cooke classic “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

The campaigns do concede that, most often, it’s their staffs who are updating these accounts for them. Borders, for example, has three individuals from the firm Relate Media Group on staff to manage her social networking accounts.

Like everything else in politics, this is a competition — one that Reed and Borders would seem to have a head start on. Reed boasts more than 4,000 Facebook friends, while Borders has approximately 1,700. Each have more than 1,100 official supporters listed on their Facebook pages. On Twitter, Borders has more followers than any candidate: 749 as of last Sunday.

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Erick Erickson

1. Ga. governor candidate hates abortion, loved animals – Thomas Wheatley reminds us of Neal Horsley and his, uhm, passion for all of the dear Lord’s creations.

2. Atlanta mayor race is leading up to fall runoff – Scott Henry drops science on the race for Atlanta mayor, which will presumably be decided amongst three candidates: Council President Lisa Borders, Councilwoman Mary Norwood or state Sen. Kasim Reed.

3. Standard murder: One suspect in custody, three more to go – The top brass at the APD held a news conference last week to announce an arrest in conjunction with John Henderson’s murder case. Scott Henry breaks it all down for you.

4. Erick Erickson calls Souter ‘goat f**cking child molester’ – Andisheh retracts himself from calling Erick Erickson (of Peach Pundit and RedState.com fame) a “bright light in the local blogosphere” after the blogger posted some choice words about retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

5. UGA professor George Zinkhan’s body found, investigators say – Update on the UGA professor-murder case.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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You’d have to be a hopeless local politics wonk — or a reporter — to even have been aware that Borders was the subject of an ethics complaint. Now that it’s been dismissed, you can return to your state of blissful and well-earned ignorance. You’re welcome, however, to read on if you’re one of the aforementioned hopeless wonks.

Right off the bat, I should mention that Borders wasn’t accused of any of the typical charges against elected officials — missed document-filing deadlines, misappropriation of campaign funds, nepotism, coprophilia, etc. Instead, the allegation was that the Atlanta City Council President engaged in improper lobbying during the 2007 General Assembly on behalf of her then-employer, Cousins Properties.

If the complaint had been found valid, Borders could have been fined. But even worse would’ve been the embarrassment and distraction from her mayoral campaign. As it was, the accusation was dismissed because the only evidence of wrong-doing was circumstantial — although eyebrow-raising to many at the Gold Dome.

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It’s been known around City Hall for a week or so that Councilman Ceasar Mitchell would switch from the mayor’s race to that for Council president. Yesterday, he made it official by filing the necessary paperwork.

The move seemed likely as far back as the beginning of the year, if only because Mitchell hadn’t raised nearly as much money as the two mayoral front-runners, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and state Sen. Kasim Reed, or even Jesse Spikes, a well-connected attorney with little name recognition. When City Council President Lisa Borders jumped back into the race last week, Mitchell’s change-up probably became inevitable.

As of now, the president’s race is a two-way contest between Mitchell and Councilwoman Clair Muller, but it likely won’t remain that way. State Sen. Vincent Fort is an oft-rumored possibility, and there may be others as well. (more…)

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Creative Loafing CEO Ben Eason

1. CL CEO keeps company (Creative Loafing Inc.’s biggest creditor fails in its efforts to take over the six-newspaper chain, and CL’s bankruptcy saga continues.)

2. Earl Paulk, DeKalb’s frisky “bishop,” to be laid to rest (The charismatic leader of a 12,000-congregant mega-church was repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct, all but obliterating his legacy.)

3. Mayor’s race begins in earnest at witching hour Friday (Upon the official end of the ‘09 legislative session, campaign season for local pols kicked into high gear.)

4. Georgia’s Confederate History Month, the idea that will not die (Misguided lawmakers push for a 30-day holiday that much of rural Georgia already celebrates 365 days a year.)

5. It’s official: Borders is off and running (After dropping out of the mayoral race to care for her ailing parents, City Council Prez Lisa Borders is back in.)

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