Fresh Loaf

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).
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Vote early, vote often!

As you may have noticed, we at CL offered our City Hall endorsements this week — but only for four races: mayor, Council prez and two of the three at-large seats. Frankly, the reasons for being so selective were more practical than anything else. I mean, have you seen how many people are running for some of these seats? It wasn’t feasible to bring in 20 or 30 candidates for individual interviews. As it was, we ended up meeting face-to-face with a dozen candidates.

Does this mean we’re blowing off the rest of the Council races? We’re glad you asked, because the answer is no! In each of the contested district races, we asked the candidates to answer a questionnaire that we’d then post online to help educate voters. (Links to candidate responses are below the jump.)

You may recall that the Metro Atlanta Chamber (dba Committee for a Better Atlanta) does the same thing; we’d encourage you to read both sets of questionnaires — and visit the candidates’ websites, and watch forums, and attend meet-and-greets, etc. — in order to get a more complete idea of the choices facing you in the Nov. 3 election.

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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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District 6 candidate Steve Brodie

The question in the recent ethics complaint filed against City Council candidate Steve Brodie is this: Did he knowingly try to sidestep state ethics laws that limit the amount companies can contribute to a candidate?

The other question: Did Brodie — one of six candidates running to represent the uber-political District 6 that includes Midtown, Morningside and Candler Park — even know he could have been violating the $2,400 cap placed on contributions from companies?

And might it have been the ethics commission, and not Brodie, who denies the allegations, that erred when it said the contributions were kosher?

A complaint filed Wednesday with the state Ethics Commission focuses on four separate campaign contributions Brodie received from four different real estate and development companies during the months of May and June that totaled $2,875.

What’s the problem, then? Well, according to the complaint, all four companies have the same address and corporate officers. And state ethics law limits campaign contributions by a company and its affiliated companies to $2,400.

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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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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!

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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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Picking up from where this morning’s post left off, Project Q Atlanta says Liz Coyle has filed her paperwork to run for Atlanta City Council’s District 6 seat.

According to Project Q Atlanta, Beltline attorneys informed Coyle she would not be required to resign. The longtime community activist is now the third candidate vying to represent the Midtown, Druid Hills and Morningside neighborhoods at City Hall when Councilwoman Anne Fauver ends her term.

The news site also has some background on the district’s hot-button issues among its large gay community. (Think bar-closing hours and access to Piedmont Park for Atlanta Pride.) There’s also the issue of demographics: Since 1998, District 6 has been represented by openly gay women. Coyle, who’s heterosexual and married, will face off against Steve Brodie and Alex Wan, who are both openly gay.

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Liz Coyle

Loyal AJC “unpluggers” might have noticed a little morsel of newsy-ness in Sunday’s conversation between the paper’s Deborah Solomon Rosalind Bentley and Terri Montague, the Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO who recently announced her plans to leave the $2.8 billion project come September.

[Montague]:…So I started looking at near-term changes that were going to occur: a turnover in my board that’s about to happen, the mayor leaving. I’ve got one member who hasn’t declared yet but they’re planning to run for public office.

[Bentley]: Who? You’re not being coy are you, and it’s really you?

[Montague]: (Laughs) No, I said a member of the board.

Montague was referring to Liz Coyle, a politically active Midtown resident who’s the Atlanta City Council appointment to the Beltline board. Maria Saporta recently reported Coyle’s hinted at her plans to run for the District 6 Council seat.

Councilwoman Anne Fauver, who’s represented the diverse intown district that includes the Morningside, Midtown and Druid Hills neighborhoods for two terms, won’t seek re-election. Before Coyle can jump into the race, she has to resign from her board position, which she is expected to do at its meeting this morning.

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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.

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“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.”

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Atlanta City Councilmember Anne Fauver says she won’t seek a third term.

Fauver represents the Morningside, Midtown, Virginia-Highland and Druid Hills neighborhoods, among others.

In an unexpected email blast to constituents and supporters she says:

After eight years you begin to be part of the system, and you find yourself with less energy to pursue better ideas and, frankly, with less faith in the ability of the system to be responsive to them. It’s time for me to pass the baton to a successor; to someone with the energy and vision I had eight years ago.

As of this writing, Midtown business consultant Steve Brodie is the only candidate running for her seat. In 2005, he narrowly lost to Fauver by five votes.

Fauver’s full letter, in which she outlines her proudest accomplishments on council, is after the jump. We placed a call to Fauver’s office and will update when we hear back.

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Steve Brodie’s in the race to represent Midtown on the Atlanta City Council.

According to press release from his campaign, the Midtown business consultant this morning filed his paperwork to run for the District 6 seat currently held by Councilmember Anne Fauver.

“Over the past eight years, City Council has not shown the skills, or delivered the measurable results, that we so desperately need,” Brodie said in the press release. “I intend to introduce progressive ideas and build coalitions to give serious consideration to all the change that needs to come.”

The race will be the second time Brodie’s faced off against Fauver. In 2005, she won a hotly contested race against Brodie by five votes. As it looks right now, it’s just the two of them again — the Southern Voice reports Charlie Stadtlander, who announced his candidacy late last year, has dropped out of the race and endorsed Brodie.

Brodie, who is openly gay, is a decorated Vietnam veteran and business consultant. He’s served on numerous public organizations including NPU E, the Midtown Neighbors’ Association and the Beltline Subarea 6 Steering Committee. His full bio is available here. His campaign website is here.

(Courtesy Steve Brodie Campaign)

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