Fresh Loaf

Last night, candidates aiming to replace outgoing Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver in District 6 gathered at Inman Middle School to win residents’ hearts and minds.

We’re sure it was a crowded house — District 6 includes such politically active neighborhoods as Virginia-Highland, Morningside, Candler Park and Midtown, among other hamlets. And since there isn’t a clear-cut frontrunner among the six candidates vying for the open seat,  voters probably wanted to hear some opinions on the issues.

We couldn’t attend the gathering, mainly because we were in Athens talking to whippersnappers about the future of journalism. (Keep your heads up, yo!)

If you were there, we’d love to hear your take. And if you don’t write anything, it means you hate America. Consider this an open thread.

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• Estimated cost of the new 14th Street Bridge in Midtown, which opened Sept. 3: $88.5 million
• Number of months that commuters lost the use of the east-west route across I-75/85: 16
• Number of months ahead of schedule work crews completed construction: 4
• Number of motorists, at most, the previous bridge served each day: 18,000
• Width, in feet, of the new bridge’s sidewalk to accommodate pedestrians: 15
• Number of bike lanes created with new bridge design: 0
• Number of Midtown bike lanes cyclists could safely use to access the new bridge: 0
• Number of east-west MARTA routes that operate in Atlanta: 1
• Estimated number of hours Atlanta motorists waste in traffic each year: 57

Sources: Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Midtown Alliance, Texas Transportation Institute

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Steve Brodie, one of six contenders in the crowded race for the Atlanta City Council District 6 open seat, has received the endorsement of the city’s 1,100-member police union.

In a statement (PDF) released yesterday by Brodie’s campaign, Sgt. Scott Kreher, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, said the wooer of water ballerinas is unique because  he’s  “providing specific ideas for improving public safety in Atlanta and the action steps needed to fund improvements….The other District 6 Candidates are working to develop slogans and [Brodie is] seriously proposing plans.”

”I am honored and proud to be endorsed by the police,” Brodie said. “The Police Union’s endorsement
of my candidacy illustrates their confidence in me as a City Council member and their belief that I will
initiate real changes to make Atlanta safer.”

Here’s the public-safety plan to which Kreher referred. (Ben at Terminal Station has a good anecdotal post on why candidates should be giddy when they get such nods of support.)

Brodie’s opponents in the race to represent the district that includes the Midtown, Candler Park, Virginia-Highland neighborhoods are Bahareh Azizi, Tad Christian, Liz Coyle, Miguel Gallegos (who recently earned the Atlanta-North Georgia Labor Council’s endorsement) and Alex Wan.

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Steve Brodie, one of six candidates in the Atlanta City Council District 6 race to represent the Midtown, Virginia-Highland and Candler Park neighborhoods, is first out of the gate with nontraditional campaign commercials.

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Tomorrow night marks the 26th annual National Night Out, which is being celebrated at several locations across metro Atlanta.

No, I’d never heard of it, either.

Apparently, it’s some kind of family-friendly community get-together that’s billed as a crime- and drug-prevention event — presumably because if you’re out at a community get-together with your family, you’re not breaking into houses or carjacking councilmen. (Frankly, I always get a chuckle when anti-crime events are sponsored by Target, but maybe that’s just me.)

Anyway, a number of communities are taking part in the festivities, including:

• Castleberry Hill, where the thrills include a tour of Fire House #1 and a flashlit walk down Peters Street.
• Midtown, where participants will be treated to snacks, children’s entertainment and a meet-and-greet with neighborhood patrol officers.
• Sandy Springs, which is pulling out all the stops with information on how to sign up for or start a Neighborhood Watch program; the Fire Safety House, which provides a hands-on learning environment; fire trucks and police cars; meeting police officers and firefighters; and information on how to be safe in an emergency.

Woowee! For added excitement, you can wear a plaid bow tie and volunteer to be a designated driver.

(more…)

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Morningside resident Tad Christian says he’s joined the increasingly crowded race to represent District 6 on the Atlanta City Council.

Christian, who just completed a one-year term as President of the Morningside Lenox Park Civic Association, is now the sixth candidate to join the race to fill departing Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s seat.

From a press release announcing Christian’s candidacy:

Christian is an active member of the Morningside neighborhood, sits on the City of Atlanta’s Board of Zoning Adjustments, is a volunteer on the operations committee at Morningside Elementary School, and a maintenance volunteer at Morningside Presbyterian Preschool. “I am always working to resolve problems that plague our city neighborhoods, and this volunteer action led to me being elected as President of our neighborhood association,” said Christian. “I really want to take the knowledge and experience I have gained thorough volunteer service and participation on various zoning boards, to the City Council, where I can have a greater impact on improving a full range of issues facing our City.”

Before becoming a stay-at-home father, Christian worked 12 years in business development and industrial engineering.

Christian’s opponents in the race to represent the Morningside, Virginia-Highland, Midtown, Druid Hills and Candler Park neighborhoods are: Georgia Tech scientist Bahareh Azizi, Midtown business consultant Steve Brodie, community activist Liz Coyle, political newcomer Miguel Gallegos and Midtown businessman Alex Wan. And we’ll go ahead and say God and Jane Fonda, because it feel like just about everyone is gonna jump in this contest.

(Courtesy Tad Christian campaign)

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Remember that mystery candidate for Atlanta City Council District 6 that we hinted at a few days ago? Well, there’ll be no more waiting, fine commenters! She’s in!

Bahareh Azizi, a Georgia Tech scientist, announced her candidacy on Saturday for the increasingly crowded race to represent the Midtown, Morningside, Druid Hills and Virginia-Highland neighborhoods at City Hall.

According to an emailed press release, Azizi launched her campaign during Saturday’s 40th annual Peachtree Road Race. She says the announcement dovetails with her campaign’s “commitment, endurance and a willingness to join the people of our city on the streets of Atlanta.”

In 2007, she was the co-host of Science Investigators, a PBS pilot show. According to a press release about the show’s first episode, Azizi investigated the disappearance of a certain species of frogs in New York and drove an electric car that went from 0 to 60 mph in three seconds. Wheee!

(more…)

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The race to represent Morningside, Druid Hills, Virginia-Highland and Midtown residents at City Hall gets bigger by the week.

The Southern Voice reports that Miguel Gallegos has officially entered the contest, joining Liz Coyle, Alex Wan and Steve Brodie. Councilwoman Anne Fauver has said she would not seek a third term in office.

We’re hearing another potential candidate has been seen handing out campaign information in Piedmont Park. That mystery person hasn’t officially filed their papers yet. When she does, however, be prepared for this race — which is already spinning with political dynamics — to get even more interesting.

Gallegos, who the Voice reports is openly gay, doesn’t have a website just yet. Hey, Miguel! Send us a line sometime!

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Southern Voice reports local businessman Steve Brodie now has an opponent in the race for the Atlanta City Council seat serving the Midtown, Morningside and Druid Hills neighborhoods:

The race to see who will be the Atlanta City Council’s next District 6 representative is a gay vs. gay contest once again.

On Wednesday morning, gay business owner and community volunteer Alex Wan met with Southern Voice to announce his bid for the seat, which is currently held by Anne Fauver, the Atlanta City Council’s only openly gay member.

…

“I think an openly gay person or Asian-American person being elected to City Council sends a huge signal about how open the city is,” Wan said. “If there is representation on the governing council of the city, I think that alone sends a huge message about openness and diversity.”

This will be Wan’s second bid for elected office. In 2004, he ran for the District 57 seat in the Georgia House held by gay-friendly incumbent Pat Gardner. Wan, who lost to Gardner in the Democratic primary, would have been the first openly gay man and first Asian American in the state legislature.

More details at Southern Voice.

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Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver’s unexpected exit from the District 6 race yesterday took nearly everyone in the politically active and tight-knit neighborhoods she serves by surprise.

In a Tuesday interview with CL, Fauver said the decision, which she’s wrestled with for the last two months, largely came down to two things: frustration with city politics and the desire to try something new.

“[Atlanta] once had a strong council and a weak mayor,” Fauver said. “That’s been reversed. That can be very frustrating because council is supposed to determine policy…As of now, we don’t.”

Fauver added that it’s difficult to juggle a career and serve in City Hall. The job of a councilmember, which pays $39,000 a year and is supposed to be a part-time gig, is more like a round-the-clock position.

“It’s four years,” she said, referring to another term. “Four years on top of eight years is a little bit longer than I want to do it. I’m frankly looking forward to a new challenge and I don’t know what that will be.”

(more…)

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This is wonderful, especially because your humble pixel-stained wretch does most of his banking at this very location!

Consumer advocate blog Consumerist says a “card skimmer” — a device scammers attach onto ATMs which reads and stores your personal information — was found on a ATM at the bank’s Ponce de Leon Avenue and Frederica Street location.

Here’s what Consumerist reader “Kelly” wrote to the blog:

The location was the corner of Ponce de Leon and Frederica in Atlanta. There are two ATMs at the location, one in the front and one in the back. The ATM that had the skimmer on it was the ATM in the back. When I discovered it, I was so surprised that I didn’t think to call the number on the ATM, I called the main customer support number instead (the call was around 5:12 pm saturday).

The put me on hold for a bit and when they came back on they asked me for the location and time of discovery, and they asked me to give the skimmer to the police.

When I flagged down a police officer, he gave me the distinct impression that I was to give it to the bank so that they could “conduct an internal investigation.”

I just thought it was funny that the bank didn’t seem to want the device, and neither did the cops. So here I am, left with an illegal card skimmer with a whole bunch of strangers’ card data on it. I just want to get rid of it!

We’ve sent an email to BofA’s newsroom for comment, as no phone number was listed.

(H/T to @ameliatrace from The Wren’s Nest)

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A recent email to residents from an Atlanta Police Department zone commander underscores the difficulties the department and Atlantans face when it comes to crime — but it also stresses the need to remain aware and vigilant.

In a Tuesday morning email to neighborhood groups, Major Khirus Williams says Monday night saw a rise in robberies and carjackings. Williams says that recent furloughs have reduced the number of street patrols and that criminals are “becoming more brazen.” In the email, he offers tips residents can use to stay safe and reduce the likelihood of crime.

Needless to say, some of them are pretty depressing. But “more with less” and all that.

Please read this e-mail and alert our citizens that we had robberies and multiple car jackings throughout the City of Atlanta (metro wide) last night, including your area.

Please, let us all keep our exterior lights on to illuminate the area. This makes the area unpopular for criminals!

Also, please have your family, friends, and neighbors to blow their horn when arriving. This allows us to watch for them until they arrive, inside, safely. Open the window dressings and hi-light them with a flash-light. Thus, the criminal element would be aware that someone is watching!

(more…)

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RATTLED: Little Five Points resident Kyle Keyser says his Dec. 17 mugging reflects how brazen Atlanta crime has become.

On Dec. 17, local video producer and blogger Kyle Keyser stopped at the Pizza Hut on North Avenue to pick up a late dinner for his roommate’s boss. Five men stood outside the pizza joint. One asked Keyser if he’d buy him some food. Keyser, sympathetic to the man’s hunger, said sure.

But the restaurant was closed, and as Keyser returned to his car, the five men surrounded him and pushed him against a nearby vehicle. One shoved a gun to his neck. They demanded money. Keyser said he didn’t have any but handed over his ATM card.

The men took Keyser’s cell phone and wallet and ordered him to lie on the ground. One suspect, pistol in hand, took aim.

“I’m gonna shoot him,” Keyser recalls the suspect saying. “I’m gonna shoot this motherfucker.”

“Don’t shoot him,” pleaded the guy who Keyser had offered to buy food.

“Naw,” the gunman said, “I’m gonna shoot him in the leg.”

Keyser, face down on the pavement, braced himself for a bullet. Instead, he saw five pairs of sneakers walk off. He sensed he had an exit, jumped in his car, and sped toward Midtown to call the police. He says bank receipts show the suspects purchased food with his card at a gas station a block away.

“OK, people get mugged and asked for money,” says Keyser, whose house has been broken into twice. “There’s a certain amount of crime that you associate with living in the city. It’s not forgivable, but it’s understood. You know it’s going to happen. What concerns me now is the spike in violent crime.”

Read the rest of this story.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Southern Voice:

Police are searching for a man believed to be responsible for a series of muggings in the past three weeks near the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue.

According to police, a well-dressed man has been approaching men walking alone in Midtown and threatening them for money. While described as “polite,” he has assaulted one victim and is armed with a handgun.

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Last week, Atlanta police arrested five, suspiciously dressed men as part of a crackdown on transvestite prostitutes, AJC.com reports today.

The wording in the police report that chronicled the incident is pretty hilarious.

It lists one of the suspects’ occupations as “Lady of the Night.” It then describes how the man, Randy Collins, flagged down a motorist in Midtown while wearing a black nightgown and high heels.

Another man who hailed a ride an hour later was forced out of the car after police pulled it over. According to the AJC:

Green was wearing a pink halter top and “booty shorts,” the report said.

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(UPDATE) The fundraiser has been canceled because of neighborhood response and the boycott has been lifted. See this post for details.

The Midtown Ponce Security Alliance, a vigilant homeowners group whose stance on crime teeters between neighborhood watch and Batman, has called for a boycott of Whole Foods today because the high-end grocery store is donating a share of today’s sales to the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. (Whole Foods has a nearby location across the street from City Hall East.)

In an e-mail sent to members today and forwarded along to CL, the alliance says “In all likelihood, Whole Foods will furnish several thousand dollars to this “task force” so that crime and disorder in our community can continue.”

The group says nearby Peachtree Pine homeless shelter, which last year lost state and federal funding and would benefit from the donations, does not help the city’s  homeless population and merely allows “crime and disorder” to flourish in the gentrifying area. The e-mail points to two specific events — the recent killing of a Florida resident at a Midtown gas station and a resident who was assaulted with a brick.

Quite strange when you think of all the other good Whole Foods accomplishes, as well as the larger issue of what can be done to help break the cycle in which many homeless people find themselves.

The full e-mail to alliance members is pasted after the jump.

(more…)

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Be on the lookout if you live, work or plan on going anywhere near Midtown.

From the DOT:

LANE CLOSURES ON 14th STREET BETWEEN WILLIAMS AND SPRING STREETS

WHEN: Immediately today, Tuesday April 22
WHERE: Metro Atlanta on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets.
WHAT: Georgia DOT work crews will close one lane in each direction on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets for emergency pavement repairs. This work will be conducted during afternoon rush hour and possibly into Wednesday morning rush hour. Significant congestion is expected and motorists are encouraged to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

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Plan your Monday commute accordingly, peeps. From our friends at Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management

Traffic Advisory: Sewer rehab and gas line work
to affect Midtown at Piedmont and Juniper

Effective Date: Beginning Monday, October 22

Where: Juniper and 13th streets; Juniper Street and Piedmont Road; 12th to 14th streets; 14th Street and Piedmont Road

Comments: The City of Atlanta and Atlanta Gas Light have coordinated sewer rehabilitation and gas main replacement in Midtown. Beginning Monday, Oct. 22, Atlanta Gas Light will be working on 13th Street between Piedmont Road and Juniper Street and from 12th Street to just north of 14th Street to install a new gas main and related connections. At the same time, the City will be conducting sewer rehabilitation in the area around 13th Street and Piedmont Road. Permitted work hours are from 7 am to 10 pm; however work in heavily traveled areas will be limited to the hours between 9 am and 4 pm. In approximately two weeks, Atlanta Gas Light and the City will begin work at the intersection of 14th Street and Piedmont Road. Changeable message signs will inform motorists of traffic detours and delays, and Atlanta Police officers will be on hand to direct traffic. Access to all buildings will be maintained by officers. Motorists are urged to use Monroe Drive, West Peachtree Street and Spring Street as north- and south-bound alternates.

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