Sometimes the political theater at Atlanta City Hall is pure spectacle. Thursday was one of those days.

The first-ever team of lobbyists for Atlanta’s police, firefighters and 911 operators present their request for a pay hike for public safety workers to the Atlanta City Council. Credit: David Pendered

A union leader won applause for her speech, including from councilmembers Michael Julian Bond and C.T. Martin. Bond, who chaired the meeting, quickly regained order and seemed to smile as he said such outbursts were not in order.

The wife of a policeman also was applauded after her brief comments about low pay for cops and helping to buy a billboard to highlight the police pay issue. She wrote a blog in December titled, “City council is a joke,” in which she discussed the size and dialect of a councilmember.

Nothing was resolved. It really was just theater.

But it is important theater. This drama has played out for at least 20 years, since Maynard Jackson’s final year in office. Thursday, though, marked a shift in the script.

For one, the spotlight was literally on a handful of labor leaders. They sat on a dais to represent the police, firefighters, and 911 call responders. Someone on the council if anyone represented the corrections officers, and the rep for the 911 workers said she’d represent their concerns because they’re all city employees.

This is the type of dangerous work that Atlanta firefighters cite in their calls for a significant pay raise. Here, a firefigher uses a chainsaw to cut a vent hole in the roof of a structure fire this week along Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Credit: AFR Report

In past years, the reps have come forward individually. Some state that they are risking their job status to come forward to say that public safety is at risk because veterans are quitting over low pay and heading to greener pastures. Some councilmembers recall their own day in the movement and promise to do what they can to wring concessions out of the mayor and administration to aid public safety workers – though it may mean pinching other workers.

The tone shifted seismically this year.

It may have been when Gina Pagnotta-Murphy, the president PACE/NAGE Local 500, made a presentation that ended with an elegantly simple statement.

“It’s time for us to get a raise,” Pagnotta said. “Five percent is what I’m fighting for … I’m not even coming to the table for 1 percent … Stop pitting police and fire and general employees against one another – it needs to stop.”

Several dozen police officers, firefighters and other city employees attended a budget hearing where their colleagues requested a pay hike greater than offered by Mayor Kasim Reed. Credit: David Pendered

That’s when the room, half-filled with first responders, filled with a rousing applause. Bond joined in, and Martin said later that he had, too.

Bond said something to the effect of: “Even though I participated, there will be no outbursts.”

Soon after, Kelly Uhlis, the wife of an Atlanta police sergeant, took the podium to call for higher police pay. She said she contributed to a fund that purchased a billboard that compares the city council’s pending pay hike of about 50 percent to that of city employees.

“I want you to recognize these people are voiceless when it comes to listening to you guys,” Uhlis said. “You have a sounding piece and they don’t.”

In addition to the billboard, Uhlis has posted her thoughts on the issue of police pay and council pay on a personal website. She relates her impressions of a councilmember speaking last summer about the issue of pay raise for council members. She mentions his size and suggests he needs a “Rosetta Stone intro to English” before observing:

This billboard that calls for pay hikes for public safety employees has been raised over Atlanta. Credit: AFR Report

“It’s really not funny when you really break down the numbers and see police officers and their families on government assistance because the city council and the mayor would rather discuss more important business like, The Busted Ass Belt line. And how one day it will be like the BIG APPLE!”

Councilmember Joyce Sheperd spoke after the applause for Uhlis had faded. She mentioned her career in the telecom industry and 31 years in the Communications Workers of America. Sheperd echoed Pagnotta-Murphy’s comments.

“We didn’t bargain for one group over another,” Sheperd said of her days with the CWA. “The media pits us against you … It’s mindblowing to me that that’s how you all bargain, or the city, or how we all bargain. It’s sad. All of you should be one union, one group. You should be sitting down together … and that could stop the circus that happens every year.”

They say that all good things must end.

Sometimes that applies to bad things, too.

Not that the “Hangover” series is all that bad.

To their credit, these overgrown frat boy comedies deliver pretty much precisely what their intended audiences crave: a raunchy Three Stooges movie.

Think about it. Bradley Cooper is sort of the leader, like Moe. Ed Helms is the harried middleman, like Larry. And Zach Galifianakis indulges in a cherubic mayhem that’s not unlike Curly Joe (or just Joe, depending on your choice of Stooges).

The fourth guy, Justin Bartha, is pretty much superfluous. Like Zeppo Marx, to mix my comedy-team metaphors.

“The Hangover Part III” is the end of the “Hangover Trilogy” — generally Hollywood-speak for we-can’t-milk-this-cash-cow-any-longer. Or perhaps given that Cooper has been named Sexiest Man Alive and snagged an Oscar nomination since the first movie, he may have priced himself out of range. Let’s hope so.

At least “Part III” doesn’t repeat the same plot as the second movie did the first. Really. If you’ve never seen these movies, that’s what they did, only they moved the action from Vegas to Thailand.

But this plot isn’t much of an improvement. The “boys” become involved in a drug lord’s (John Goodman) hunt to recover a stash of gold that’s been stolen from him by another series regular, Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong).

So first they go to Tijuana, but ultimately everyone ends up back in Vegas (for old times sake?) There’s some random animal violence (if you’ve seen the previews, you already know about the hilariously beheaded giraffe) and broad physical humor, a bit of it tinged with an unfashionable uneasiness about homosexuality.

That’s not to say the movie is in any way homophobic; it’s too mild for that. In fact, what mostly sets “Part III” apart from its predecessors is that the raunch factor has been ratcheted down. Considerably.

When Heather Graham appears, she’s married and pregnant — with a toddler nearby with whom Galifianakis bonds. And here’s where the Wolfpack, as they are apparently called, veer off from the Stooges.

The Stooges were never sentimental. “Hangover” get sentimental about Galifianakis’s passage from child-man to man-child to, finally, just plain man. Incredibly odd as this sounds, filmmaker Todd Phillips apparently has an emotional investment in these characters. Or at least he thinks the audience does.

And maybe they do. I’m not really the demographic and, if anything, the thought of anyone feeling anything remotely emotional about these guys brought up a chilling thought: how many more “Animal House” movies would there have been if John Belushi hadn’t O.D’d?

Cooper’s a cute boy and Galifianakis does have a pleasingly uncensored air about him and Helms is a hometown boy (Westminster, class of….something). So they’re not difficult to spend time with. Still, you wonder why they — having all established themselves as personas larger than this movie series, unlike, say, the “American Pie” cast — are wasting their time on this pimply hogwash.

At least I know why I was wasting mine…

After Home Depot’s annual meeting at the Cobb Galleria Thursday morning, Chairman and CEO Frank Blake was asked how he felt it went.

“It felt different,” Blake said. “This was fun.”

Then he attributed the mood among shareholders to the fact that Home Depot’s stock “is up,” hovering around $80 a share compared to $17 a share not so long ago when the company was facing a leadership transition and a devastating decline in the U.S. economy, especially in the housing market.

But perhaps the real reason the annual meeting felt different was because the rediscovery of the company’s core values and culture was now complete, and that realignment of its roots had been translated to Home Depot’s associates and shareholders.

In so many ways, Thursday’s annual meeting was reminiscent of the meetings that were held during the leadership of co-founders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.

The co-founders would welcome all shareholders and employees (often one and the same) to share comments, complaints, ideas, impressions and constructive suggestions on how to improve the company. Those meetings, often lasting more than two hours, displayed one sentiment — they were all part of the Home Depot family.

Bonnie Hill, Home Depot’s longest serving board member (1999) and lead director, described Thursday’s meeting this way: “I love it when the shareholders are so comfortable.”

In all, 17 shareholders and/or Home Depot associates asked questions or made comments — several more than once.

Questions ranged from a conservative think tank representative questioning Home Depot’s policies toward sustainability; to shareowners asking about Home Depot’s unsuccessful operations in China; the impact of the Affordable Care Act; giving preference to American-made products; whether the company was going to split the stock; and to what Home Depot was doing to discourage union activity.

Blake patiently responded to each question, often referring back to the company’s core values — the inverted pyramid where customers come first, followed by the associates with the CEO at the bottom.

“If we take care of our associates and if we take care of our customers, everything else will take care of itself,” Blake said when asked about what changes employees could expect in their health care plans. Although Blake said there would be changes because of the new law, the company would continue to make sure its associates would be covered.

Later, Gary Patton, the employee with a 21-year career with Home Depot who had asked the health care question, felt compelled to observe that there were “many more positive comments than negative ones” at the meeting.

“You are doing the job,” Blake said. “I’m just up here at the mike.”

And Patton was comfortable enough to say that there still were not enough sales associates on the floor to serve customers in the stores. Blake said that as sales improved, it would permit stores to add more hours to the floor.

About union activity, Blake said the company’s goal was that “there never be a need to contact a union because a union would not do anything for them.”

Of course there were the individual issues about the high cost of installing a water heater or a former employee who felt she had been discriminated against because of a medical condition. Both of them were directed to meet with Home Depot executives who could deal with their issues.

There were several upbeat testimonials of shareholders who had bought Home Depot stock years ago, and how it had changed their lives.

Robert Chandler said that in 1984, he started giving his grandchildren (he now has seven) $100 of Home Depot stock on their birthdays and as holiday presents. He later increased that to $200. One grandson used Home Depot stock to put a down-payment on a home, and one grand-daughter used her stock to buy a new car.

Blake was especially proud that a 10-year-old shareholder, Everett, was present, and even asked a question about new models in the stores.

“Thank you for investing your money in Home Depot,” Blake told one of his youngest shareowners. “I hope you will be at the mike two decades from now saying it was a good decision to invest in Home Depot.”

The mood of the meeting was quite a departure of most annual meetings that are held in Atlanta and likely all over the country. There are meetings where few shareholders show up and never ask questions, and executives brag about the brevity of a meeting. There are meetings that have become spectacles — platforms for showmen with their own causes who take advantage of major brands to get their day in the sun (think the Coca-Cola Co.).

But the thoughtful, constructive, comfortable annual meeting where a CEO allows shareholders to vent (with no time limit) and where there is a spirit of “we’re all in this together” is all too rare.

It all goes back to the tone set by the CEO — a tone that Blake borrowed from the “Bernie and Arthur” playbook.

Not surprisingly, Blake keeps the co-founders close to his side.

At the board of directors dinner Wednesday evening at the St. Regis Hotel with the company’s executive team (about 20 of the top officers), the special guests were Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank.

The co-founders shared a message of inspiration and humility — saying the company had never been under better management.

But they were quick to add: “Never forget the reason we are here. It is the 300,000 associates in our stores. They are far more important than you. Never let them down.”

As Thursday’s annual meeting demonstrated, Home Depot has come full circle.

It has found its way back home.

Beleaguered neighborhoods near the future Atlanta Falcons stadium have received a tremendous promise of help from the federal government.

The Falcons stadium neighborhoods will benefit from the inclusion of the Proctor Creek basin, in green, in the federal Urban Waters Partnership Program. Credit: City of Atlanta

The same program that was recently expanded to these neighborhoods is credited in cities across the country with helping create amenities including a river walk, a new waterfront greenway, fast-track studies for slow-moving projects, and job-training programs for construction trades.

These are just a few examples of the benefits that have developed since 2011 in areas that are in the federal Urban Waters Federal Partnership. Atlanta’s Proctor Creek basin, which includes the stadium neighborhoods, was added May 17 to the water partnership.

The program promises to bring the power of 13 federal agencies to fight the evidence of urban decay that have helped deteriorate the environment in the Proctor Creek basin – a 16-square-mile region that stretches from downtown Atlanta to the Chattahoochee River.

The future federal assistance is in addition to the $30 million promised by the stadium deal to redevelop the Vine City, English Avenues and Castleberry Hill neighborhoods. This sum includes $15 million each from the Blank Foundation and Invest Atlanta, the city’s development arm.

The federal partnership received all the kudos to be expected when it was announced at an event at Maddox Park.

“This is an unprecedented partnership,” Nancy Stoner, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for water said in a statement.. “Thirteen federal agencies supporting local efforts—in both the public and private sectors—to transform degraded, forgotten waterways into neighborhood centerpieces that revitalize the surrounding communities.

The Anacostia Riverwalk, in Washington, was built with assistance from the same program that now will be working with the stadium neighborhoods and others in Atlanta’s Proctor Creek basin. Credit: jdland.com

“Communities in and around the Proctor Creek Watershed have long suffered from pollution caused by Atlanta’s aging sewer infrastructure, disinvestment in the urban core, illegal dumping and other environmental and public health hazards,” Na’Taki Osborne Jelks, chair of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, said in a statement. “The strength of the partnership will be realized through collaboration with residents who have assets, local knowledge and a history of action focused on restoring the watershed.”

The Urban Waters program aims to bring swift help from the federal government to promote the ideas that arise from local communities to clean up their waterways and reconnect to them.

The theory behind the Urban Waters program is that the quality of life in these blighted urban neighborhoods will be improved by a better natural environment, leading to less crime and greater prosperity of all sorts, according to details contained in a recent status report on the program.

As the program gets established in Atlanta, the federal partners will be able to draw upon a myriad of existing ideas to clean up and improve the Proctor Creek basin. Plans includes a greenway from near the stadium into the neighborhoods, a new park, and numerous efforts to clean up the illegal tire dumps and other eye sores that detract from the quality of life in the stadium neighborhoods and elsewhere in the Proctor Creek basin.

The Harlem River Park is an example of the type of recreational amenity the Urban Waters Partnership Program intends to provide along the Harlem River in New York City. Credit: harlemcdc.org

Here are a few examples from some of the 18 communities that were the pilot program launched in 2011. In even the best examples, nothing happened overnight. But in all cases the challenges are enormous:

1. Anacostia River Watershed, District of Columbia, Md.

• The challenge: The watershed is one of the country’s most urbanized watersheds and has lost 70 percent of forestland and 6,500 acres of wetlands in an area that covers 176 square miles.
• The results: The Anascostia Riverwalk was unveiled as a 59-mile trail network. The first 1.5 miles are open. A river cleanup is being implemented by five agencies and it designed to prevent 1,500 tons of erosion from entering the river and Chesapeake Bay. Two agencies and a local partner have created a green jobs training program.

1. Bronx and Harlem rivers watershed, New York City

• The challenge: The two rivers are intensely urbanized. The Bronx is adjacent to communities where 39 percent of residents are below the poverty line. Roads separate the Harlem from residents, who live in a food desert with dilapidated housing.
• The results: Studies that had languished have been fast-tracked, resulting in a partnership that aims to create greenways along the rivers. The Department of Interior has reconvened talks between the state and Amtrak, which had been stalled since 2009, and win their commitment to building a pedestrian bridge that will provide poor Bronx residents with access to two new parks.

1. South Platt River in Denver

• The challenge: The river is a source of drinking water, but in the city it is mainly an industrial corridor flanked by pockets of blight. Only three neighborhoods have direct access to the river, and one of them is an affordable housing complex.
• The results: The USDA Forest Service provided $114,000 through a matching grant program to start a green jobs training program that planted native trees, removed invasive species along waterways and provided educational programs about watershed issues. Westerly Creek is being cleaned up and a new park opened to provide recreational space to neighborhoods where recent immigrants reside in affordable housing that’s located between two sustainable communities – Lowry and Stapleton.

Here’s the list of the federal agencies that are participating:

• Army Corps of Engineers
• Department of Energy
• Department of Education
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Economic Development Administration
• Forest Service
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Interior
• Department of Transportation
• Corporation for National and Community Service
• National Center for Environmental Health/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Former Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO Neville Isdell and his wife Pamela Isdell have donated $3 million to the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy to support conservation in Zambia and Namibia.

“We were brought up in Zambia, and we have lived more of our lives in Africa than anywhere else,” Neville Isdell said in a telephone interview late Tuesday evening. “We really wanted to give back to Zambia.”

Isdell also said his family wanted to support the efforts of the Fund and the Nature Conservancy to “bring about reform” in the areas of conservation and game management in Africa.

The Isdells have supported conservation work in Africa for more than 30 years. They announced their gift during an event, hosted by Zambia Vice President Guy Scott, that marked the launch of the Zambian Parliamentary Conservation Caucus in Lusaka.

Neville Isdell

During a speech on behalf of his family, Isdell talked about his family’s emotional attachment to Zambia.

“For us, though, this is not just about the money. It is a very emotional statement of what Zambia means to us,” he said. “This gift reflects our determination to help the people and wildlife together to live in harmony for the benefit of all of Zambia.”

Pamela Isdell echoed her husband’s sentiments.

“We are pleased that our involvement can be part of this transformational time in Zambia,” she said. “I hope our giving will inspire others to support a country that has meant so much to us.”

Isdell, a native of Ireland, moved to Zambia as a child.

“We both arrived in Lusaka with our parents in 1954, aged 10 and 8 respectively,” Isdell said. “We were educated in Zambia, married in Zambia. I played rugby for Zambia. Not only did we start businesses here but this is where I started my long career with the Coca Cola Co. Zambia molded us. This gift reflects that, plus our determination to help the people and wildlife live together in harmony for the benefit of all of Zambia.”

The gift includes $2 million to the World Wildlife Fund with $1 million going to support conservation and tourism initiatives throughout the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), an area that encompasses 109 million acres of five southern Africa countries — Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is home to nearly 50 percent of Africa’s total elephant population as well as a diverse array of other species.

The greatest emphasis of the Isdells gift is in Zambia where their contributions will empower communities to manage their wildlife and to engage in tourism and other wildlife-based activities aimed at improving local economies.

Isdell is also lending his voice to push for wildlife policy reform in Zambia.

Neville Isdell visited the capital Lusaka last week to attend the launch of the Zambian Conservation Caucus—a group of parliamentarians who aim to increase awareness about the benefits of conservation, including its links to economic development, and promote improved and more innovative conservation policies in the country. The Caucus marks a promising step forward for wildlife in this southern African nation.

Previous support for Zambia from the Isdell family has advanced the government’s anti-malaria efforts through the Isdell Flowers Initiative, and conservation of the Wattled Cranes through the International Crane Foundation.

The Isdell family has also supported the Chimfunishi Reserve Project, Luangwa Game Reserve activities through Bird Life International, and more recently through Peace Parks Foundation, the provision of a microlite and hanger for anti-poaching activities in Sioma Ngwezi National Park.

Neville Isdell also co-chairs the Investment Climate Facility for Africa together with former President Ben Mkapa of Tanzania that is currently implementing 57 government reform projects with 17 partner governments.

The Isdell family has been associated with WWF and the Nature Conservancy’s conservation work worldwide for three decades. Currently, Neville Isdell chairs the board for WWF-US, while his wife Pamela is a board member for The Nature Conservancy in Georgia, USA.

Vice President Scott paid tribute to the Isdell family for their generosity and continued support to Zambia and emphasized the government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for conservation in the country.

Speaking on behalf of the grantees, WWF Zambia Country Director Professor Patrick Matakala thanked the Isdell family for the donation. Prof. Matakala observed that the respective grants will strengthen the work of TNC and WWF in support of conservation by contributing to policy reform, on-the-ground management interventions including wildlife aerial surveys and building resilient local institutions and natural-resource-based economies.

Part of the current gift will go toward strengthening rural communities’ capacities in natural resources management, promotion of conservation enterprise development through community- public- private partnerships and joint ventures.

“This gift will have a profound, far-reaching impact in Zambia. It helps catalyze collaboration and renew focus on the benefits that preserving nature brings to local communities,” said Matt Brown, the Nature Conservancy’s director of conservation in Africa.

In the telephone conversation, Isdell said he is continuing to dedicate his life to nurture “Connected Capitalism,” except now he is doing it more from the nonprofit side rather than from the corporate side.

ULI Atlanta and the Livable Communities Coalition have agreed to join forces — creating the ULI Atlanta Livable Communities Council.

The Council will be part of the Urban Land Institute’s Atlanta district and will assume the mission of the Livable Communities Coalition (LCC), the nonprofit metro Atlanta advocacy group formed in 2005 to promote smart urban growth.

David Allman,  who has served as LCC’s board chair and is the incoming board chair of ULI Atlanta, said combining both entities makes “perfect sense going forward.” Allman, founder of developer Regent Partners, said the two entities have common goals — walkable communities and transit-oriented development (TOD).

“This is a very logical step in the evolution of LCC,” Allman said. “The coalition has a great track record of accomplishments, but considering the growth and transportation challenges our region faces in the coming years, it made more sense for ULI Atlanta to take on this important mission.”

LCC was an outgrowth of the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Quality Growth Task Force, which consisted of 50 diverse representatives from local governments, developers, universities, civic and environmental groups and was chaired by developer Tom Bell.

“We were like evangelists out there throwing our seed,” Bell said after being told about the LCC-ULI Atlanta combination.

“Now it’s like a mainstream religion. It’s perfectly natural that Livable Communities Coalition move to ULI. ULI is the perfect place for it.”

Jim Stokes, LCC’s executive director, said he is proud of the coalition’s track record, working with other organizations to include transit projects in last year’s regional transportation referendum.

But now LCC needs an organization like ULI Atlanta to take its work to the next level.

John Maximuk, LCC’s deputy director, will play an important role with the ULI Atlanta Council and continue to serve as co-convener of the recently formed Atlanta TOD Collaborative.

Jeff DuFresne, ULI Atlanta’s executive director, said the LCC board vote was “a logical step” to make the most of “scarce resources” among nonprofits. “Having the Council headquartered at ULI Atlanta will allow us to expand our regional leadership in the coming years,” he said.

Vietnam Memorial at the Atlanta History Center

Memorial Day will be extra special this year at the Atlanta History Center when its new Veteran’s Park will be dedicated at a ceremony at 5 p.m. on May 27.

The park will include a combination of stone and bronze memorials in honor of veterans who have served in Vietnam, the Korean War, World War I, World War II, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other conflicts aimed at preserving peace throughout our nation’s history.

Gov. Nathan Deal; Georgia Commissioner of Veteran Affairs Pete Wheeler; Sheffield Hale, president and CEO of the Atlanta History Center; and the Honor Guard from Dobbins Air Reserve base, as well as metro Atlanta veterans, will be part of the event.

Heroes, Saints and Legends

Just as the 2013 Heroes Saints and Legends dinner came to a close May 9, Mike Watson, president and CEO of the Foundation of Wesley Woods, broke with tradition.

Watson told the hundreds of people at the Atlanta History Center that “2014 is going to be a special year for Wesley Woods. It will mark the 60th anniversary of Wesley Woods and the 25th anniversary of this event.”

To hit that point home, Watson announced the four people who will be honored at the 2014 dinner:

Ingrid Saunders Jones, retired senior vice president of Global Community Connections for The Coca-Cola Co.;

The Rev. Donald Harp, senior pastor emeritus of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church;

Dr. Linton Hopkins, author and Emory Healthcare neurologist; and

Yolanda “Lonnie” Ali, a prominent advocate for Parkinson’s caretakers and the wife of Muhammad Ali.

The honorees of the 2013 dinner were UGA sports legend Vince Dooley, longtime WSB-TV anchor Monica Pearson and Allan Levey, chairman of Emory University’s Department of Neurology.

One of the funniest moments of the evening was when Dooley took the stage and recounted a conversation with his wife, Barbara.

She told him: “You might be a hero to some but you ain’t no saint.”

“Some might say I’m a saint for living with you for 53 years,” Vince Dooley told her, and then added: “I’m in trouble now.”

The proceeds of the dinner go to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s research.

The Georgia Port Authority’s executive director is optimistic that federal funding to deepen the Savannah Port will be in place in the next couple of years.

Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Port Authority, spoke at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Chairman’s Club luncheon Tuesday at the Cobb Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

“We strongly believe that the federal government will step up to the plate in a big way in the Fiscal Year 2015 budget,” Foltz said in response to a question. “We believe it will bubble up to the top.”

The deepening of the Savannah Port’s channel from 42 feet to 47 feet has become a top economic development priority for the State of Georgia. The Panama Canal is expanding, which will permit mega ships to cross. Georgia officials believe that if the Savannah Port is to remain competitive in the future, it needs to be able to accommodate the larger ships.

Last October, the federal government recommended that the Savannah Port be deepened — a project that’s estimated to cost $652 million — $262 million coming from the State of Georgia and $390 million coming from the federal government.

So far, the state has allocated $231 million towards the project while waiting on the federal funds.

At the very least, Foltz said state officials had hoped President Barack Obama would have increased the spending limit for the project (the earlier budget projected a $460 million and that needs to be raised to $652 million) in his budget proposal for this year. But the decision was made have the spending cap increased be handled through Congressional legislation rather than the budget.

The U.S. Senate already has approved increasing that spending cap, and the U.S. House is expected to vote on the project by late summer or early fall, Foltz said.

When President Obama was in Atlanta on Sunday, he did reference the need to deepen the ports along the East coast to accommodate the new mega ships that can now travel the Panama Canal.

If significant federal dollars to deepen the Savannah Port were to be included in the FY2015 budget (which begins in July 2014), Foltz said the project would take about three years, meaning it could be completed by the end of 2016.

Foltz said the case to deepen the Savannah Port is strong. Currently the Savannah Port is the fastest-growing container port in the country yet it is “the shallowest major port in the world.” Also, the Savannah Port exports more goods (54 percent) than it imports (46 percent) — helping provide a better trade balance for the United States.

As Foltz said: “We can’t imagine there is a better investment in infrastructure for a port that’s export dominant and the fastest-growing port in the country.”

There is something liberating about casually strolling down the middle of Peachtree Street as out-of-towners standing on the sidewalk gesture with an air of perplexity.

Rain aside, hundreds of Atlantans joined together this past Sunday to celebrate another Atlanta Streets Alive, the first on our city’s signature street – Peachtree.

From downtown to Midtown, families and friends walked, cycled and skateboarded up and down the street sans cars. Along the nearly three-mile route were food trucks, outdoor games and plenty of familiar faces greeting each other and sharing in the communal spirit of Atlanta Streets Alive.

During the event, I met a family of five that had recently moved to the city from London and happened to stumble upon the festivities. With their three young boys in tow, the parents asked if these types of activities were the norm for our city – to which I and others replied, “Not quite but we’re getting there.”

Atlantan Chantelle Ryttter rides down Peachtree with a phoenix attached to the back of her bicycle (Photo by Cameron Adams)

And we are getting there.

Year over year, Atlanta Streets Alive gains popularity and interest from the general public and corporate sponsors. This year, for the first time, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed pledged the city’s financial support for the program. Businesses along the Peachtree route welcomed participants with open arms.

More than just a fun experience twice a year, the real value of Atlanta Streets Alive is it continues to force us all to challenge our every day access to our roads, sidewalks and transit.

While the city government is partnering with the local Community Improvement Districts (CIDs), like Midtown Community Improvement District of the Midtown Alliance, to enhance cycling as a safe, alternative mode of transportation, the public has to also embrace and respect how we all use our roadways.

Additionally, increased support for our sidewalk infrastructure is needed across the city. At last week’s public hearing on the fiscal year 2014 budget, an overwhelming amount of public comments were from green space advocates.

Only one person stood up to request the city invest more money in tackling our sidewalk infrastructure backlog – which is currently at least $100 million.

When we collectively decide that our quality of life is important to financially support, that’s when we will truly be liberated.

An initiative to convene Atlanta-based  global health organizations tackled the issue of world hunger Monday at an all-day summit at the J.W. Marriott in Buckhead.

In the second annual “Global Health Summit,” a host of government, nonprofit and business entities embraced a new approach to combat global hunger and malnutrition. Last year’s summit focused on global health and water.

“Atlanta really has something special to offer in the areas of global health and water, food and nutrition, they are global health issues,” said Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE USA. “Every five seconds a child dies fro hunger related diseases. Almost 900 million people in the world go to bed hungry. It just isn’t right when we have plentiful food around the world.”

Gayle said that sometimes the problems are so overwhelming that “we sometimes feel powerless.” But if Atlanta institutions can  collaborate and share their expertise and become a voice for the voiceless, then real progress is possible.

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said the timing of the summit was fortuitous because there is now a “new paradigm in delivery of food” that Congress will be debating in the next few weeks.

“Hunger around the world is not just an issue for the 900 million people who go to bed hungry every night but for everybody else,” Isakson said. “It’s not just an issue of compassion. A lack of water, a lack of health, a lack of food — those are national security issues. We can increase the power of democracy with the delivery of food aid around the world.”

Instead of just shipping food from the United States (aimed at supporting American farmers), the goal is to support hunger programs with cash and vouchers so food can be delivered as quickly as possible. Aid programs also can be used to help people grow their own food so humanitarian dollars can be dramatically reduced, according to Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, deputy coordinator for development for Feed the Future.

“A hungry crowd is an angry crowd,” she said, adding that it is part of a “Food for Peace” program.  “We believe that in one generation we have the ability to rid the world of extreme poverty.”

In addition to CARE, co-sponsors of the summit were the World Affairs Council of Atlanta and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Wayne Lord, president of the Atlanta’s World Affairs Council, said Coca-Cola leader Robert Woodruff actually had the vision of Atlanta’s potential decades ago. Woodruff was largely responsible for having the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent be located in Atlanta.

Tom Frieden, CDC’s director, said that in addition to hunger, “about one-third of the world has some sort of nutritional deficiency” that can contribute to stunting growth among children and to chronic diseases among adults. CDC is credited for having been the reason why Atlanta has emerged as a center for global health.

In the corporate community, there’s much greater acceptance of the need to work of societal issues.

“Our growth is dependent on the health of the communities that we serve,” said Denise Knight, director for sustainable agriculture for the Coca-Cola Co.

Eduardo Martinez, president of the UPS Foundation, agreed.

“Put aside the fact that it is right thing to do,” Martinez said. “People want to work for companies that are socially responsible.”

Stephen Morrison, senior vice president of the Global Health Policy Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said that the second year “experiment” showed that there’s a diverse base of expertise in Atlanta that can galvanize around global health issues. “We have come away feeling very good about it,” Morrison said, implying that there likely will be a third annual summit.

Gayle also understood the value of having such a summit.

“I think the coming together of organizations is good,” she said.. “Having this convening every year is one way to have something tangible to get the partners in Atlanta to come together.”

Perhaps Sen. Isakson said it best.

“It’s kind of like a puzzle with all the pieces on the table, and you put them together and you have a beautiful mosaic,” Isakson said. “We have got all the pieces here in Atlanta. We just have to put them all together.”

HOUSTON — As the delegation of 110 metro Atlanta leaders got off the AirTran charter plane in Houston on the morning of May 15, one of the flight attendants parting words were: “Everything is bigger in Houston.”

That line became a metaphor for the 17^th annual LINK trip — an opportunity for regional leaders to view how other cities address their urban challenges to see how metro Atlanta can benefit from the experiences of others. LINK stands for “Leadership, Involvement, Networking, Knowledge.”

This column will focus primarily on three areas — the Texas Medical Center, Houston’s recent advances in public transportation and its dominant role in the shipping and logistics industry.

In each of those areas, there are lessons for metro Atlanta and Georgia — valuable comparisons of how we compare, compete and contrast.

The first stop for the LINK delegation was the Texas Medical Center — a complex so impressive and massive that it really feels like its own city within a burgeoning city.

Atlanta’s Lisa Borders greets Houston Mayor Annise Parker

“It’s like a Mecca,” said Lisa Borders, former president of the Grady Health Foundation, after a bus tour of the Texas Medical Center. “I was impressed when I saw how massive it was. It is like a city. This is a business. It’s not just a hospital or a research facility.”

Robert Robbins, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center, said that nearly 100,000 employees work at the Center’s 54 institutions, including the famous M.D. Anderson medical complex.

Barbara Bush has called it: “Houston’s gift to the world.” People from Houston call it “the largest medical center in the world,” but Robbins said that is hard to quantify. “Compared to what?” he asked. Now he just says it is the world’s “largest gathering of life science and health care institutions in one geographic area.”

Robert Robbins, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center (Photo: Atlanta Regional Commission)

The vision for the Texas Medical Center came from Monroe D. Anderson, a cotton merchant with no children. He started a foundation two years before his death to create a medical center.

When he died in 1939, his estate was worth $19 million, and his foundation a large swath of land and established some covenants. Any nonprofit hospital, healthcare research, educational or clinical organization would have access to free land as long as they would be willing to collaborate with other institutions.

If they broke the spirit of the agreement, the Texas Medical Center could take back the land with all the improvements. Today, the Center covers 1,300 acres of land — larger than many downtown areas. It has an annual economic impact of $14 billion.

Texas Medical Center gets most of its revenue from parking. One of the most beautiful parking garages  is the Commons building adorned by roof to ground fountains (Photo: Texas Medical Center)

Robbins said he doubts whether such a model could be replicated in Texas today even though “everybody in Texas loves its Medical Center.”

Asked how Georgia, which is trying to nurture its bioscience and healthcare industry, could best compete with Texas, Robbins mentioned the presence of health information technology companies as well as a strong group of entities interested in public health.

Houston also has a disconnect. Although it has the incredible Medical Center,  he said it is “one of the most unhealthy cities in the world.”

When it comes to public transportation, Houston is in a building mode.

On Jan. 1, 2004, the Houston METRORail opened its first 7.5 mile leg from downtown to Reliant Stadium with 16 stations including one major stop at the Texas Medical Center.  The $325 million project was paid almost entirely with local funds. During weekdays, trains run at six minute intervals.

MARTA CEO Keith Parker waits as Houston’s METRORail car pulls into station (Photo: Maria Saporta)

Now METRORail is building a 22-mile extension along three different corridors — projects that are expected to be completed in 2014 and 2015. The federal government now has approved $900 million for the expansion of Houston’s light rail system.

At the same time, most of Harris County — Houston’s home county — has a one-cent sales tax that supports METRORail. Harris County, with about four million residents, is able to generate about $600 million in revenues each year for its bus and rail transit system.

By comparison, MARTA’s sales tax generates significantly less than that, yet it has to serve almost twice as many transit riders.

That is one reason the base fare for Houston’s transit system is only $1.25 compared to MARTA’s $2.50. But the Houston system does charge higher fares for people who travel longer distances.

MARTA’s Keith Parker helps Atlanta group board rail car (Photo: Maria Saporta)

Tom Lambert, interim president and CEO of METRO, said that his system only gets $63 million a year from its fare revenues.

“The discussion the board is having (about whether to increase fares) — why were you created and what is your purpose,” Lambert told the LINK delegation. “You want to make it as cost effective and reliable as possible.”

Lambert went on to describe a concept of “fare elasticity” — that if fares go up too much “you are going to lose ridership.”

Houston have become a major investor in toll roads and managed lanes — and they have become ways to generate revenues to invest in its transportation network. It also is looking to develop bus rapid transit routes and transit oriented developments.

Colorful lights tell people along Houston’s Main Street that a train is coming – day view (Photo: Maria Saporta)

By comparison, with the exception of a 2.6 mile Atlanta Streetcar line that should open in 2014, the region has not developed any new rail transit in years. Currently, there is no funding available to invest in either the capital or operating costs for new rail projects.

The other area where Houston can claim bragging rights is with its port. The Port of Houston is often ranked No. 1 in the United States in foreign waterborne tonnage, first in U.S. imports and second in U.S. export tonnage. About 100 steamship lines offer service linking Houston with 1,053 ports in 203 countries. And it is the leading U.S. port in terms of break-bulk — cargo that is not transported in containers or in bulk, like grain and oil.

Col. Leonard Waterworth, executive director of the Port of Houston, told the Atlanta delegation that the Port of Houston and the Panama Canal are exactly the same age, but his shipping is not overly dependent on the canal.

Colorful lights tell people on Main Street that a rail car is coming – night view (Photo: Maria Saporta)

“Ten years ago, we had zero China trips. Now we have 18 percent. By my big trade lanes are the Atlantic and South America,” Waterworth said. “Our two container facilities are at 40 feet. I will spend $150 million to deepen that to 45 feet.”

Waterworth said most of the shipping out of the Port of Houston is petro chemicals, oil and other energy-related products — items not shipped in containers.

That’s not the case for the Savannah Port, one of the fastest-growing container ports in the country. The state of Georgia trying to deepen the Savannah harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet so it can handle the larger container vessels that will be able to pass through an expanded Panama Canal.

Given Houston’s extensive highway, rail, air and shipping network, it will be hard for Atlanta to compete against the largest city in Texas when it comes to being the logistics center of the United States.

But if the Atlanta region can’t beat Houston in quantity, perhaps it can try to compete on the basis of quality.

And let’s not forget, there’s no argument that with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the City of Atlanta does have the largest and busiest airport in the world.

Next week: LINK trips give metro Atlanta leaders an opportunity to “recalibrate.”