Fresh Loaf

On Dec. 1, an abysmally small percentage of Atlanta voters will return to the polls for the city runoffs:

Reed celebrates on election night

MAYOR

As the city saw on Nov. 3, Kasim Reed’s an expert finisher who passed Lisa Borders heading into the home stretch and now carries that momentum into the runoff.

But it won’t be easy to beat Mary Norwood, whose supporters hail from all corners of the city and arguably are more enthusiastic than Reed’s, and thus more likely to flock to the polls on Dec. 1. Last week’s results also confirmed previous polls that suggest Norwood seems to have a lock on north Atlanta’s white vote, which may convince the Reed campaign to try to peel away her strong support among black voters. If Reed decides to employ racial politics, the race could turn ugly and divisive.

“Reed has to increase his black voters, but it would be to his detriment to make an overt racial appeal,” says Emory political science professor Michael Owens. ” I suspect you’ll see his surrogates and supporters do that for him.”

(more…)

Bookmark It

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…)

Bookmark It

Let’s say that, after voting, you want to go out tomorrow evening to support your favorite candidate for mayor — and score some free food. Here’s where you’ll find ‘em on election night:

• Lisa Borders — Her party’s in the new W Hotel Downtown at 45 Ivan Allen Blvd. She’s booked a 4th floor ballroom.
• Kyle Keyser — Yes, the longshot activist is throwing a party, too. It’s at Noni’s restaurant at 357 Edgewood Ave.
  
• Mary Norwood — Breaking with the tradition of using a hotel or event facility, Norwood is holding her party at the Varsity. Slaw dogs for everybody!
• Kasim Reed — He’ll be somewhere in the Hyatt Regency downtown. Check with the concierge for directions.

And, let’s not forget the candidates for council president:

• Ceasar Mitchell — He’ll be raising the roof at Park Tavern at the corner of 10th and Monroe.
• Clair Muller — Not too surprisingly, Clair isn’t a big party gal. We’re told she’ll be hanging out at home tomorrow night.

Be sure to vote, folks!

Bookmark It

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%).

(more…)

Bookmark It

It shouldn’t be shocking news to anybody, including her opponents, that Council President Lisa Borders has received the highest candidate evaluation score from the Committee for a Better Atlanta.

As a protege of uber-developer Tom Cousins, Borders is certainly the favorite of Atlanta business community. But the Metro Atlanta Chamber decided a while back to keep its favoritism at arm’s length by creating the CBA to rate candidates by how they score on a questionnaire and in a face-to-face interview.

Today those scores were released (PDF) and, no surprise, Borders came out on top, with a 95 percent. Frankly, the only real surprise was that state Sen. Kasim Reed scored so closely behind her, with a 93.

For the Council president’s race, Council members Ceasar Mitchell and Clair Muller tied with 92.

(more…)

Bookmark It

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.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Das Boot — coming soon to a street near you

Are you sitting on a bunch of unpaid parking tickets? Do you hate being a meter-feeder? Have you gotten used to being able to park illegally with virtual impunity?

Well, soon it’s gonna suck to be you.

For more than a year now, there’s been almost no parking enforcement in Atlanta. There were only three meter maids patrolling the entire city.

How did that happen? As has become typical with Atlanta, it seems to have been a case of bad timing, poor planning and bureaucratic fumbling.

Last spring, when city officials realized thay were looking at a serious budget shortfall, they decided to privatize parking enforcement as a way to trim payroll. So, in May, during the first round of city layoffs, Mayor Franklin sacked the staff of meter-readers.

Soon after, however, new Public Works Commissioner Joe Basista broke it to the administration that the city couldn’t afford to replace its existing coin-operated meters with new-fangled multi-space meters that accept credit cards, as had been planned. Next, someone realized that the request for proposals that had been drawn up to solicit bids from contractors was flawed and needed to be rewritten. Apparently, each of these setbacks took months to iron out.

(more…)

Bookmark It

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.

(more…)

Bookmark It

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…)

Bookmark It

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.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Four weeks ago, Borders told us she was “reconsidering” a run for mayor. Well, sometime between then and now, she quit reconsidering and decided to jump back in. Maria Saporta reports on Borders’ turnabout in today’s Atlanta Business Chronicle and our own sources confirm that the Council president is indeed back in. A formal announcement is expected sometime next week.

Borders’ re-entry could up-end the mayor’s race – or maybe not. Before she pulled out last August for family reasons, Borders was routinely described as a front-runner, yet she’d raised a mere $300,000 during more than a year as a declared candidate. She’s now a good six months behind the current front-runners, Councilwoman Mary Norwood and state Sen. Kasim Reed, in terms of fund-raising and campaign events. Still, I’m told that a certain former top executive (of a company whose initials are GP) canceled a Norwood fund-raiser last week when he heard Borders was getting back in.

But the news will certainly affect the down-ticket city races. I’m waiting to hear back, but I understand Councilman Ceasar Mitchell has already dropped his bid for mayor and is shooting instead for the president’s seat. (He’s taken down his campaign website for retooling.) [UPDATE – Mitchell called back to say he isn't ready to reveal his plans just yet, but will make an announcement soon.] Councilwoman Clair Muller, who was aiming to retire from her Buckhead post after 20 years, has also expressed interest in the job. And we’ve heard that state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, is likewise eyeing the position.

(more…)

Bookmark It