Fresh Loaf

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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Here’s another way Atlanta wants to be like Decatur. From Georgia PIRG:

A new poll, released today by Georgia PIRG Education Fund and the Smoke-Free Atlanta Coalition, shows that 65 percent of Atlanta voters favor legislation that prohibits smoking in all indoor public places, including workplaces, restaurants, and bars.

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The poll also suggests that an overwhelming majority of Atlantans (95 percent) consider secondhand smoke to be at least a minor health hazard. Additionally, it found that thirty-four percent of Atlanta voters would view city officials or candidates for city office more favorably if they were to support a supported a city ordinance.

The nonprofit think tank, which surveyed 600 registered Atlanta voters for the poll, says Atlanta City Councilman Jim Maddox has started a task force to examine more stringent smoking policies. (My dear colleague Scott Henry just sang over my cubicle wall that Maddox has announced his retirement. We’re sure the long-serving councilman will get cracking on this issue in no time.)

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Jim Maddox, caught between naps

The Atlanta City Council voted today to raise property taxes by 3 mills, an outcome we’d been predicting for weeks. But the actual vote count — 8 to 7 — was closer than anyone expected it to be. Not because Council members believed the tax hike was a bad idea. Hell, with only one or two possible exceptions, even those who voted against it were privately praying it would pass.

No, the vote was so close because several of our Council members possess, as Teddy Roosevelt once said, “the backbone of a chocolate eclair.”

Exhibit A is Jim “40 Winks” Maddox, the self-proclaimed “Dean of the Council” because he’s warmed a chair in City Hall for more than three long decades. Today, Maddox shocked his colleagues by voting against the tax hike and the $541 million budget. This is a guy who, two months ago, said publicaly that he didn’t think Mayor Franklin’s proposed 3-mill increase was big enough!

“I’m prepared to approve a tax increase to end the furloughs for all employees,” he announced at a budget hearing at the end of April.

But that was before he picked up three challengers for his beloved Council seat. So, today, without giving anyone a heads up, the lily-livered Maddox cravenly hung his colleagues out to dry.

Here’s guessing the next Council retreat is going to be awwwkward.

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The Atlanta City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously today to send Mayor Shirley Franklin’s budget proposal — which includes a 3-mill tax hike — on to the full Council for a vote later this month. This was a formal necessity; the Council must approve an annual budget before the beginning of the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Last year, the final vote didn’t take place until late on June 27, which, because it was a Friday, represented the last possible moment the Council could act without being in violation of the city charter. This year, the vote is scheduled for June 29, a Monday, which gives them one more day to find a consensus if they reach a stalemate.

But chances are, they won’t.

As of this writing, I count at least nine likely votes in support of the mayor’s budget. Franklin only needs eight to win. The Finance Committee sent the budget forward without a recommendation, so no members would need to tip their hands in advance, but the chatter at City Hall is that the budget will pass.

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Shirley aims to raise taxes

As we blogged on Tuesday, Mayor Shirley Franklin appeared before the City Council this morning to propose a 3-mill tax increase for the city’s 2010 budget, which kicks in on July 1. If approved as proposed, the unpopular furloughs for the police and fire department would end in three months.

How much is 3 mills? Franklin told the Council it was roughly a 7-percent increase for taxpayers. According to her, the way it would work out that if you own a $200,000 house, you’ll pay an additional $200 this fall. For anyone with a $1 million home, the hit is closer to $1,200.

The mayor is actually proposing less spending than was approved in the current budget — $541 million, compared to $573 million. That’s because city revenues have been steadily falling. Unfortunately, budget projections suggest the city will only collect about $485 million next year — hence, the proposed tax hike.

Last year, the Council voted unanimously to reject a much smaller tax increase, asking Franklin to instead cut personnel and services. The result was the furloughs. It’s already quite clear that this time around, it’s a whole new ball game.

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Just yesterday, I blogged that “the Council president’s job … seems suited to someone who excells at process and mediation.” Well, one such person has just filed her paperwork.

Now in her 20th year in office, Clair Muller has served on Council longer than any current member save for Jim “40 Winks” Maddox. During that time, she’s become the Council’s reigning technocrat, with expertise in virtually every aspect of public infrastructure. It was Muller who persuaded then-incoming Mayor Shirley Franklin to put fixing the city’s sewers at the top of her agenda.

Temperament-wise, Muller would fit in well with the list of previous Council presidents, from Lisa Borders to Robb Pitts, stretching back to the days when a young Wyche Fowler presided over Atlanta’s Board of Aldermen. The Council president has typically served as the adult in the room during Council meetings: calm, steady, unruffled, non-reactionary, even a little boring. That’s not to say the Council president couldn’t be a firebrand, but for whatever reason, Atlanta has opted to elect even-keeled types over the last few decades.

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