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John Oxendine

GOP gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine sent an e-mail blast to supporters last week targeted at African-American voters that hit on every fear they could imagine, starting with his opening line: “The family is under attack, and in Washington D.C. this weekend, so is the President.”

Who is attacking our families?  And who attacked the President?!  Ah yes, those pesky gays.

Oxendine used the occasion of last weekend’s National Equality March to take to task the LGBT community for daring to hold their President accountable for his campaign promises.  The march was about many issues, including job discrimination and serving in the military, issues of which the African-American community surely knows nothing about.  But another of those issues was marriage equality, and that’s the one Oxendine wanted to home in on:

One of the most important issues to conservative voters is the institution of marriage.  But not just white voters.  Many minority voters are very traditional in this area and they tell me they resent the gay lobby ‘hijacking’ the civil rights movement for something besides skin color or gender.

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Southern Voice posted a story today breaking down how Georgia’s representatives in the U.S. House and Senate stand on LGBT legislation, as well as their scores from the Human Rights Campaign.

Not surprisingly, it usually comes down to geography, with the strongest support by those representing the Atlanta area and the least support by those representing rural areas. Here’s the full chart.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, continues to take the lead on pro-equality issues but Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Decatur, has quickly joined alongside Lewis. The pair have become two of Georgia’s — and the nation’s — largest voices in Congress in moving pro-equality legislation forward. They were the only two members of the Georgia delegation to vote no on both the Protection of Marriage Act and the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. They were also co-sponsors on six pro-equality bills, including the hate crimes bill, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

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Interesting item on Wonkette today involving Congressman John Lewis, D-Atlanta:

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Mississippi) was next to me on my flight from National to New Orleans last night. Heard him say that John Lewis stopped him at National last night and said hes still on some TSA no-fly lists due to his arrest a few weeks ago so Thompson wants to file a bill to remove him from all the lists. Seemed like a nice guy though, and spent most of his time reading a huge stack of newspapers.

A Lewis spokeswoman tells CL that Lewis’ appearance on the list isn’t because of his recent arrest at the Sudanese embassy. The frustrating security snafu dates back years to when the controversial — some say ineffective — method of screening passengers was beefed up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Google “John Lewis no-fly list” and you’ll see what we mean.)

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Earlier today, ABC News’ Jake Tapper reported U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, would join protesters at a Save Darfur Coalition rally in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Well, the civil rights leader and longtime statesman was there, alright. And he got arrested.

From the AJC‘s Bob Keefe in D.C.:

Georgia Rep. John Lewis and five other members of Congress were arrested for civil disobedience as part of a protest against the humanitarian policies of the Sudanese government in Darfur.

Lewis, a civil rights leader, and others were arrested after crossing a police line and refusing to leave the steps of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during the protest. The Democrat from Atlanta was expected to be released from a Washington police precinct within a few hours, said Ann Brown, a spokeswoman for the Save Darfur coalition.

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“We cannot stand by, watch and wait,” he said. “Almost 10 years ago, my hometown of Atlanta welcomed some of the Lost Boys, refugees of the civil war in the Sudan. These young men stole our hearts. … how many more have to pay this heavy price?

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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One of President Barack Obama’s campaign promises was to promote a “green economy” — essentially, helping create jobs in such professions as energy-efficiency and clean energy. Not only could these jobs put people to work, but they’d also help the environment. (This week’s cover story will touch more on the topic and what we’re seeing in Georgia, a state that’s traditionally been all-coal, all-the-time. Many men and women are making strides and trying to capitalize on the momentum. But as you probably know, there are challenges.)

On Thursday, April 16, the City of Atlanta, Morehouse College and several national and local community organizations will host a town hall to discuss Atlanta’s potential for green jobs and sustainability.

The event will feature a diverse representation of community leaders in a panel discussion designed to educate the community about impending environmental issues and inform the audience about existing and developing career opportunities within Atlanta’s green economy. Panelists include City of Atlanta’s Director of Sustainability, Mandy Schmitt; Julian McQueen of Green for All; and Nia Robinson of Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiatives.

“The purpose of this event is to get individuals interested in the environmental industry and demonstrate to the rest of the country that Atlanta is a proactive environmental leader in helping to support the nationwide development of environmental jobs,” said Mandy Schmitt, Director of the Office of Sustainability for the City of Atlanta.

Mayor Shirley Franklin and the U.S. Congressman John Lewis have been invited to participate. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel on the Morehouse campus. The event starts at 6 p.m. For more information visit the event site.

(Courtesy National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

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Back by popular demand!

• Pecanne Log’s Christa, who’s been on fire the last few weeks, documents the mysterious senior citizen daredevils who putter around the city on what seem to be Segways — with seats! What are these baffling people movers and where can I purchase one?

• The deadline for the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Design competition was last week. Ben at Terminal Station was part of a Georgia Tech team that submitted a redevelopment vision for Denver. I had the opportunity to review his group’s proposal — a multi-phase smart-growth model — and it’s awesome. He’s posted photos and info about his team’s submission.

• Grift continues his hilarious live-blogging series of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Lawmakers, the daily rundown of state Legislature news. So far we’ve seen talk of taxes, Sunday booze, Minoo! and transportation. Pretty soon, they’ll get to the boll weevil. Fingers crossed, folks.

• ATLMalcontent points us to a video about Elwin Wilson, a South Carolina man who in 1961 attacked a young Civil Rights activist — and future U.S. Representative — named John Lewis. Wilson, beset with remorse over the incident, recently visited Lewis’ office in Washington, D.C. to apologize. According to the Associated Press, Lewis “offered forgiveness without hesitation.”

• Leon’s Full Service, a new Decatur pub from the same owners who brought you the Brick Store, pours its first brew today at 5 p.m. Decatur Metro has the details, including a blow-by-blow account of the eBay auction for that first beer that’s raised more than $2,500 for employees of Trackside and 5th Earl.

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You know that whole Beltline dispute? The one in which the Georgia Department of Transportation and Amtrak basically told Beltline officials that they’d have to make room in Northeast Atlanta for a commuter rail line? Officials from the agencies and departments involved met this morning and had what I’m sure was a very interesting sitdown. They’ve requested the federal government give them 30 days so they can try and resolve the dispute as a group.

So sayeth a joint statement from the agencies:

Atlanta – A meeting of officials from key organizations including the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the City of Atlanta, Atlanta Beltline, Inc., Amtrak, the Atlanta Regional Commission, MARTA and the Transit Implementation Board along with staff from Congressman John Lewis’ office was held today to discuss the critical issue regarding plans for the Northeast Beltline Corridor (“Decatur Street Belt”) and future options for multi-modal passenger terminals (MMPT).

The overarching goal of the meeting was to share information, communicate directly, discuss alternatives and seek out viable solutions for an amicable outcome that is in the best interest of our customers. To that end, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Beltline Inc./ Atlanta Development Authority, Amtrak and Norfolk Southern have agreed to formally request that the Surface Transportation Board issue a 30 day stay of their proceedings in this matter in order to work towards a common solution that accommodates the Beltline vision, intercity and high speed rail in the region.

During this time, a technical team will work to investigate the potential alternatives. An Executive Team will also work to develop a final agreement between all of the parties.

All of the organizations involved acknowledged the importance of the Beltline project to the City of Atlanta and the region. Each recognized the common goal to provide much needed regional transportation options for the residents of and visitors to the City of Atlanta which have a profound effect on the economic future for the entire state of Georgia.

After the jump, exclusive video of Beltline officials confronting the GDOT Beast about its plans.

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RAIL RALLY Beltline supporters say Amtrak, GDOT's plans jeopardize Beltline

When it comes to the future of public transit in Atlanta, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

The good news: After decades of bowing at the throne of roadbuilders, the Georgia Department of Transportation says it’s finally taking off the kneepads and getting serious about train service that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the Southeast.

The bad news: Thanks to an unexpected tiff between GDOT and city of Atlanta officials, the Beltline — the transformative 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit that would one day circle the city — might be in jeopardy. That’s because the train service that GDOT is suddenly embracing would have to run on or near the proposed Beltline tracks. What’s more, Piedmont Park, the city’s most iconic greenspace, might have to be severed by a heavy-rail route in order to accommodate GDOT’s vision.

Last week, CL first reported that GDOT — working in tandem with Amtrak — threw a wrench in Beltline officials’ plans for light-rail, trails and additional green space near Piedmont Park. Just as Norfolk Southern, the current owner of the tracks in question, was about to surrender them to the city, GDOT and Amtrak stepped in and halted the proceedings. Those two agencies now say the tracks in dispute are vital to their own vision for commuter rail.

“Simply put, because of GDOT’s boorish behavior and AMTRAK’s willingness to play along, the future of the city of Atlanta is at stake,” Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote in an urgent letter to U.S. Congressman John Lewis to seek his assistance.

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U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, has requested AMTRAK President Joseph Boardman work with city and regional planners, officials and residents to resolve the “Decatur Belt” dispute between the federal agency, the Georgia Department of Transportation and Beltline officials.

Lewis says AMTRAK’s actions “have the potential to unnecessarily disrupt one of the most important public benefit projects that the City of Atlanta has undertaken in recent memory.” He adds that “these combined actions are not the model of a productive and healthy local, State and federal partnership with the shared goal of revitalizing transportation services in Metro Atlanta.”

Download a PDF of the letter here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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HIT THE BRAKES Beltline faces another obstacle — from GDOT and AMTRAK

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about the Beltline, the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit proposed to circle Atlanta, it’s that surprises are to be expected. And some interesting developments are afoot with the $2.8-billion project.

If you recall, Atlanta Beltline Inc. — the nonprofit agency in charge of planning and implementing the project — finalized its purchase of a 66-acre piece of property in October owned by Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and his son Keith, an Atlanta attorney. The Mason property included  land and transit right-of-way. The $66 million purchase riled city watchdogs not only for the ultimate payout to the Masons — more than double what father and son originally paid for the land in 2004 — but also the deal ABI cut with a private partner group it needed to buy out if it wanted to use tax-exempt bonds to finalize the purchase before a Halloween deadline. That’s background, and for all intents and purposes, irrelevant for the moment.

Beltline leaders hoped to complete planning the area, implement transit, and sell off excess land to developers. They would then re-invest the windfall from those sales back into the overall project. But before it could do anything with the property, it first had to abandon the transit right-of-way. That humdrum process is conducted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board and largely involves just some time for public comment and a shuffling of papers. It was supposed to be a walk in the park.

Looks like that’s not turning out to be the case. An eleventh-hour move by the state Department of Transportation and AMTRAK has potentially thrown a wrench in the Beltline. And why those two odd entities decided to hold hands and insert themselves into the conversation — this late in the party — is making folks scratch their heads.

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>> Washington City Paper, CL’s sister in news awesomeness, was on the front lines of yesterday’s joyful madness. Check out their twitter feed and uber blogging that captured Obamania in D.C.

>> Plus, Flickr photos of all the festivities from readers and images from the WCP staff photog.

>> Thoughts from the Chicago Reader, Obama’s old ‘hood…

>> CL Charlotte had Inauguration covered from all angles in their Obama-Rama blog…

>> Civil rights leaders share their experiences and thoughts on the historic Inauguration — Andrew Young, John Lewis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

>> And, in case you were wondering why your internet kept crashing yesterday, you can already blame something on Obama.

>> Crazy!: So many people were gathered to watch the Inauguration in D.C. that the masses could be seen from satellite (i.e. space).

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Today’s the last chance for Georgia’s U.S. Senate candidates to campaign, and they’re both playing to the base.

Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss hosted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin last night at a private fundraiser at the W Hotel in Midtown; today she’ll stump for the candidate in Augusta, Savannah and Perry before finishing the day at the Gwinnett Arena at 4 p.m.

Democratic candidate Jim Martin is scheduled to receive well wishes from rapper Ludacris and U.S. Congressman John Lewis today at a rally in front of the Capitol at 5:30 p.m.

Martin, whom many political pundits said needed a visit from Pres.-elect Barack Obama to rouse voters back to the polls against Chambliss, is trying to energize turnout among African-American voters. That demographic turned out in record numbers for the Nov. 4 General Election, but statistics for early voting in the runoff election show fewer numbers are returning to the polls. Obama did lend his voice to robocalls and a radio ad for Martin, it looks like he won’t be stopping in the Peach State to rally for the former state lawmaker.

And before I forget. Matt Zencey, the editorial page editor for the Anchorage Daily News, has some kind words for Palin as she makes her way across our gee-golly-this-place-is-neat-ya-know state.

Gov. Palin’s eldest joined the Army and has been deployed to Iraq. As a justifiably proud military mom, she might ask herself why she is using her conservative star power to support such a reprehensible Republican chicken hawk.

OK then! We’ll have info later in the day about voting tomorrow as well as the usual list of who’s partying where. If you attend any of these rallies — I’ll most likely try to get some face time with America’s sweetheart — feel free to send in photos.

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Some familiar Democratic names, such as Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., are scheduled to be on hand for the “For The People Rally” in Gainesville on Sunday, Sept. 21. The former Civil Rights activist and longtime lawmaker will be the afternoon’s keynote speaker. Billed as  a day that “celebrates the values of the Democratic Party,” the gathering will be held from 1 pm to 5 pm. All ages are invited.

Lewis will be joined by U.S. Senate Democratic Party nominee Jim Martin, Public Service Commission candidate Jim Powell and Congressional Candidates Jeff Scott, Bobby Saxon, Bill Jones and Doug Heckman.

Former State Legislator and Congressional Candidate Wyc Orr will be the evening’s host of the event.

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— Amy and Lauren are in Denver and blogging from the convention on Georgia Women Vote. They were both moved by a speech U.S. Rep. John Lewis gave this morning to the Georgia and Alabama delegations. Lewis will address the nation tonight before Obama accepts his party’s nomination.

— One person not at the convention is WXIA-TV’s political reporter Denis O’Hayer. As Live Apartment Fire notes, while the Democratic Party goes all historic on us O’Hayer was covering a tree that fell on the house. I’m personally disappointed that WGCL-TV didn’t send Dagmar Midcap to Denver. After all, they seem to have her everywhere else.

— ATLmalcontent has a complaint of a different nature. He’s also watching the convention on television and thinks the three major cable news channels have pretty much dropped all traces of objectivity — they all seem to have a horse in this race.

— Dcup at Politits isn’t in Denver either, but at least that has left her time to bake a very special cake in honor of Hillary. Yum!

— She obviously gave DriftGrift a slice because he has a sizzling Hillary-related “Morning Wooten” for our viewing pleasure.

— And finally, two very different MARTA experiences to share. Jamsmooth writes about a jamming smooth ride. But over at Arc of Time, a loud snorer and the shooting downtown almost sent their bus going the wrong way down I-20.

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Here’s a quick rundown on the July 15 Georgia primary results. The big news was generated by high-stakes runoffs:

* U.S. senator: The two experienced Democrats — Vernon Jones and Joe Martin — vanquished three first-time candidates and will face each other in an Aug. 5 runoff. With 91 percent of precincts counted, DeKalb CEO Jones won 40 percent of the vote, while Martin got 35 percent. Martin — who entered the race late and has been criticized for a lackluster campaign — may have a slight edge in the runoff: He has more money in the bank, he seems more likely to pick up support from supporters of other candidates, and his largely white base historically shows up for runoffs better than does Jones’ base of black voters. What does Jones have going for him? A runoff in the contest for who will replace him as DeKalb CEO could spur turnout in his home county. The winner takes on Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.

* DeKalb County CEO: The contest for the most powerful local government post in the state heads for a runoff as well, although DeKalb Commissioner Burrell Ellis turned out an impressive showing with 46 percent of the vote. No surprise that he’ll face well-liked state Rep. Stan Watson in the runoff. But a 20 point head start has gotta give Ellis the edge. (more…)

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