Fresh Loaf

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.

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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.

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At a well-attended town hall meeting on the subject of public safety Thursday night, Council President Lisa Borders put forth an interesting idea that could hold promise for oft-burgled Southside residents: a community improvement district to help fund extra security.

Borders, who hosted the gathering at Cascade United Methodist Church, suggested that money for surveillance cameras, community patrols and other security measures could be generated by creating a self-taxing district to which commercial property owners would contribute.

It’s an intriguing idea. There are a number of very successful CIDs around metro Atlanta — the Galleria and Perimeter areas and central Buckhead, perhaps most prominently — that fund everything from landscaped medians to shuttle buses to fancy lamp posts.

But I believe I heard Borders say there are no CIDs south of I-20. If that’s the case, it’s surely because there’s simply not the concentration of commercial property to support such an effort. It’s one thing to talk Perimeter Mall, Cousins Properties and Barry Real Estate into ponying up to spruce up the neighborhood. But when you’re dealing with a bunch of mom-and-pop businesses, as well as a hefty number of vacant storefronts — well, that’s a tougher sell.

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