Tag Archives: Mayor Kasim Reed

Metro Atlanta’s planned export strategy could sharpen strong existing trade programs

Date: March 25th, 2013, 7:46 pm

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s decision to have the city lead the creation of a regional export strategy by this summer aims to maintain metro Atlanta’s standing among the world’s competitive alpha trade centers.

The end result is to be a stronger regional economy. Ancillary benefits would include cultural and other aspects of metro life.

Georgia already has achieved measurable gains in its international status, according to an intriguing 2012 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that hasn’t received much local attention.
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Feds receive evidence of possible fraud in Atlanta’s jobs program; spending nears $10 million a year

Date: February 4th, 2013, 7:33 pm

Indications of fraud and/or abuse in Atlanta’s federally funded workforce training program, revealed by a city audit made public Monday, have been turned over to the federal Department of Labor.

In addition, the audit recommends that Atlanta’s mayor and city council consider discontinuing the program because of performance and compliance risks. The agency’s budget approaches $10 million a year.

Atlanta Chief Operating Office Duriya Farooqui received the audit in October 2012 and issued her response Monday. Farooqui wrote that the audit is not what she expected, and she refuted some of its findings.
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Despite lower bonding limits, new Atlanta Falcons stadium would receive same amount of hotel-motel taxes

Date: , 7:51 am

It’s time to set the record straight.

Reducing the bonding capacity on the proposed $1 billion Atlanta Falcons stadium from $300 million to $200 million will not impact the amount of taxes that will be invested in the project.

The amount of hotel-motel taxes that would be invested in the project was determined nearly three years ago when the General Assembly agreed to extend the hotel-motel tax collected in the City of Atlanta and in unincorporated Fulton County.
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Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed: Too bad transportation secretary Ray LaHood is leaving Obama administration

Date: January 30th, 2013, 3:07 pm

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is disappointed that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is stepping down.

Reed and LaHood had developed a strong relationship over the past four years — a relationship that has been beneficial for both Atlanta and Georgia.

“I really wanted Secretary LaHood to continue because he could not have been a more active transportation secretary,” Reed said after the Buckhead Coalition’s annual meeting on Wednesday.
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Atlanta Housing Authority meeting canceled; Renee Glover to stay on

Date: , 11:34 am

By Maria Saporta

Never mind.

The board of the Atlanta Housing Authority, which was to have met Wednesday to vote on a separation agreement with CEO Renee Glover, has cancelled that meeting due to the lack of a quorum.

An earlier story on SaportaReport said that the board was going to be acting on that separation agreement at the meeting.
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Atlanta Housing Authority board may vote Wednesday on a separation agreement with CEO Renee Glover

Date: January 29th, 2013, 11:39 pm

By Maria Saporta

The board of the Atlanta Housing Authority is scheduled to meet Wednesday Jan. 30 afternoon— one that could be Renee Glover’s last as the organization’s president and CEO.

It is thought that Glover and the AHA board will say that they’re parting ways, and the board is expected to vote on her separation agreement.
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Gov. Nathan Deal: ‘incumbent on us’ to not lose the Falcons to Los Angeles

Date: , 3:04 pm

By Maria Saporta

Gov. Nathan Deal said Tuesday it would be a big loss for the state if the Atlanta Falcons were to move to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, one of the top media markets in the country, has been seeking a football team for years. Reportedly, Arthur Blank has told Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and other officials that he has been approached by Los Angeles leaders who are interested in him moving the Falcons to the Southern California city.

“It’s incumbent on us to make sure we don’t lose the franchise,” Deal said after being recognized as the 2013 Georgian of the Year by Georgia Trend magazine at its annual 100 Most Influential Georgians luncheon.
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CSchroder

Atlanta audit: Lax records of $128,000 gift card program likely means no c

Date: January 20th, 2013, 8:57 pm

Atlanta city departments have spent at least $128,000 on gift cards for city employees to boost their morale, and record keeping was so lax that there’s no way to tell if there were any wrongdoing, according to a new audit by the city auditor.

The audit – to be presented formally on Tuesday to the Atlanta City Council – makes two recommendations to get a handle on the situation. The responsible parties agree with the recommendations: The COO and commissioner of human resources in one instance; and the COO and chief procurement officer in the other.

The gift card program was intended to raise morale among city employees during an era when they had gone for years without raises, according to comments by city COO Duriya Farooqui that were posted on myfoxatlanta.com in October.
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Atlanta Mayor Reed enters reelection year with $1.2 million in coffer

Date: January 9th, 2013, 9:37 pm

Entertainment entrepreneur Tyler Perry contributed to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s campaign war chest that now contains just over $1.2 million, according to a campaign finance disclosure dated Tuesday.

Perry’s contribution of $2,500 on Dec. 17 was part of the $363,690.13 listed in itemized cash contributions Reed raised during the final reporting period of 2012, the report shows. The report shows an addition $20,233.44 in in-kind contributions, plus $2,020 in cash contributions of amounts of less than $100 each.

Kevin Rathbun Steak, on Krog Street, was one of the places Reed’s campaign spent a portion of the $176,459.22 in itemized expenditures, the report shows. Rathbun was paid $273.20 for two events listed as “official business meeting(s)” in September and October, the report shows.
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