Author Archives: David Pendered

By David Pendered

The complete breadth of the campaign finance reform Common Cause is seeking from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed became clear at the group’s media conference this morning.

If enacted, all companies that do business with Atlanta would be limited to a contribution limit of $250 over the course of four years for each candidate and office holder, according to Common Cause of Georgia.

The push for campaign finance reform by Common Cause is timed to coincide with the city’s pending award of contracts for all the food and beverage concessionaires at Atlanta’s airport. The amount of space up for grabs in contracts that will last at least a decade is about 191,000 square feet, which is equal in size to almost two average Wal-Mart stores.

By David Pendered

Common Cause of Georgia plans to stand before Atlanta City Hall Wednesday to call upon Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta City Council to reform campaign finance rules as the city prepares to issue lucrative concessions contracts at the airport.

“Our purpose is to publicly call for action to enact campaign finance reform as outlined in the report,” said Kirwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University who wrote the white paper on the topic for Common Cause.

The white paper contends that campaign contributors have a history of winning airport contracts. That practice should stop, according to the good government group.

By David Pendered

Common Cause of Georgia has called upon Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to reform campaign finance rules as the city prepares to issue lucrative concessions contracts at the airport.

Common Cause contends that campaign contributors have a history of winning airport contracts. That practice should stop, according to a white paper by the good government group.

Reed issued a lengthy response that concludes: “It’s time to stop resurrecting ghosts from the past and focus on the present and the future.”

Read the mayor’s full response at the end of this story.

By David Pendered

A group formed to educate voters about the 2012 transportation sales tax referendum met Friday to review its progress and to meet the three consultants who will coordinate a campaign fund raising effort.

The First Friday Transportation Forum includes representatives of interests ranging from banks to developers, paving contractors to apartment owners, the Georgia Conservancy to the AARP. Their common interests include improving transportation mobility and raising public awareness of the penny sales tax referendum next summer.

The fund raising consultants are Kristin Oblander, Candice Franklin and Rebecca Cummiskey. The three are veterans of political campaigns including:

By David Pendered

Local governments across the nation have yet to fall off the cliff and plunge into default, as predicted in September by superstar analyst Meredith Whitney.

That said, the near- and long-term fiscal future for local governments in metro Atlanta is grim, according to a panel of finance and fiscal experts who met Thursday at Georgia State University.

“Overall, we had these real-world people make presentations and their general conclusion is that it’s not going to get any easier,” said Dr. Michael Bell, a former CFO for DeKalb County and Atlanta who’s now a GSU professor of practice in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

By David Pendered

Metro Atlanta voters today can see the full list of transportation projects that their local elected officials will consider for inclusion on the sales tax referendum in 2012.

The list of projects was released this morning to the Atlanta Region Transportation Roundtable from the state Department of Transportation. The roundtable is comprised of elected officials from the 10 metro counties that are to vote on the penny sales tax in July 2012.

The roundtable is to cull the list of $29.8 billion worth of projects to an amount of about $8 billion, which is the amount the penny sales tax for transportation is expected to generate over the course of a decade in a 10-county metro area.

By David Pendered

The first delay has been recorded in Atlanta’s process of selecting companies for the multi-billion-dollar food and beverage concessions at Atlanta’s airport.

The three-week delay is the first in an aggressive schedule designed to have contracts signed in September by the Atlanta City Council. The council’s vote likely will authorize Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to sign the contracts.

Airport General Manager Louis Miller said the delay stems from the city’s decision to amend the package of “requests for proposals” that were released in March.

“Not surprisingly, both large and small proponents have requested additional time to fully assess the changes to the RFPs,” Miller said. “We are happy to accommodate our proponents in a way that still allows us to meet our project deadlines.”

By David Pendered

A delegation from the Buckhead Coalition left Atlanta for Bermuda Thursday on a three-day trip to cement relations with the coalition’s new sister community.

The “sister community” relationship may be a first for Atlanta, which does have a rich history – dating to 1974 – of establishing relations with sister cities around the globe.

This is hardly the first time the Buckhead Coalition has struck out on its own. In 2004, the coalition commissioned its own neighborhood flag and sent one to the town of Buckhead, the Morgan County town of just over 200 residents that won’t relinquish its mailing address to its upscale cousin.

By David Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed predicted Wednesday that metro Atlanta voters will reject the sales tax referendum for transportation in 2012 if the campaign is run by the current team of consultants.

The team consists of four white men – one from Alabama, two from Virginia and one from Marietta.

“The notion that this is the team … is stunning to me,” Reed said. “This is a huge problem, and if they want to go down this road and assemble a team that’s not inclusive and resembles this region, we’re going to lose.”

Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, responded that the team eventually will hire local vendors who will reflect the region’s diversity.

By David Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued two strong challenges today to the group of elected officials overseeing the 2012 referendum for a penny sales tax to pay for transportation improvements.

Reed questioned the decision to hire a team to run the voter education and sales tax campaign that includes no women or persons of color. Reed also called for polls of voters to be scientific rather, than the informal polls conducted in recent months.

Tad Leithead, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, responded to Reed’s remarks. Leithead said the team’s leadership will hire local women and minorities and that future polls will be scientific.

By David Pendered

Kevin Green took time Tuesday to talk about his views of, and vision for, Midtown on the day he was named president and CEO of Midtown Alliance.

Green sees a bright future. Midtown faces good opportunities to continue growing into a pleasant and safe community, he says.

Read excepts of a conversation with Green about seven different topics. And be sure to see his thoughts about the potential for new retail shops in Midtown.

By David Pendered

Atlanta has decided not to identify the persons who will serve on the selection team that will recommend which companies should be awarded a concesssions contract at the airport.

Paul Brown, the airport’s concessions director, said the names of “experienced airport managers” who are chosen to serve on the selection committee – and even the number who serve on the committee – will remain confidential until after their work is done.

The selection team will review proposals from companies that want a piece of the lucrative food and beverage concession business at the airport. The selection team will recommend which companies should win a contract that will last at least a decade.

By David Pendered

Hard to believe by historic standards, but a recent report by Deutsche Bank shows it’s cheaper to buy a home than rent one in metro Atlanta.

In fact, metro Atlanta now is the cheapest city in the nation to buy as opposed to rent, according to a report by Deutsche Bank. The leading causes are plummeting home prices and low interest rates, the bank says.

The effort to help potential homebuyers benefit from this new reality is being led in our area by Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc.

On Wednesday, the Piece by Piece initiative that’s ANDP is coordinating will host a seminar titled, “Understanding Rehab Mortgages.”

By David Pendered

The Colorado governor headlined an entourage that met Friday with local elected officials who are working to win passage of a 1-percent sales tax to pay for road and transit projects.

The Denver delegation advised their Atlanta-area counterparts to run a transparent process, educate voters, and campaign with persistence. They said that was their formula for success with a 2004 transportation sales tax referendum.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper predicted metro Atlanta voters will approve the proposed sales tax by a 55-45 margin.

By David Pendered

Thank you, Susan Mendheim.

That was the message delivered with a standing ovation at the retirement celebration Wednesday for the outgoing president and CEO of Midtown Alliance.

Actually, the full accolade for Susan McNeill Mendheim came from from Harald Hansen, the retired chairman and CEO of First Union National of Georgia and a director of Midtown Alliance:

“Thank you so much for the many things you’ve done for Midtown. Thank you for so many things you’ve done for us.”

By David Pendered

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced today the city’s development arm will be headed by a man who now works in President Obama’s administration.

Reed named Brian McGowan, who now is a deputy assistant secretary/COO in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, as president and CEO of the Atlanta Development Authority.

In choosing McGowan, Reed passed over longtime ADA executive Ernestine Garey, who now serves as the ADA’s interim president. The third finalist for the job was Daniel Gundersen, who formerly served as New York’s commissioner of economic development and has White House connections.

By David Pendered

In the end, the Atlanta City Council voted Monday to recognize two of Atlanta’s ambassadors to the world – civil rights leader Xernona Clayton and architect John Portman.

The debate over the public honoring of two individuals who helped raise the city’s profile has raged since January. A city that has rarely hesitated to wipe its physical slate clean balked at renaming two downtown streets for Clayton and Portman.

The solution approved Monday provides for Clayton to be recognized by having street toppers with her name applied to the signs on a portion of Baker Street. Portman will be honored with the actual renaming of a portion of Harris Street.

By David Pendered

How would you define the culinary culture of the South?

Would entrees be shrimp and grits? Neckbones? Meatloaf? Fried chicken? Fried tempeh encrusted in peppercorns? Giblets and rice? Maybe a chili cheese dog?

A section committee comprised of airport executives will make this determination this summer when it recommends the hiring of companies to reshape the multi-billion-dollar food and beverage concession business at Atlanta’s airport.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Atlanta City Council will make the final determination of what constitutes Southern food when they approve concessions contracts that will last at least a decade.

By David Pendered

The enthusiasm of some Atlanta residents to weigh in on the rezoning of Fort McPherson once the Army vacates the property on Sept. 15 is just a bit premature, the man overseeing the process said Friday.

The conversation about rezoning Fort McPherson arose this week at Atlanta City Hall, a month before the city’s rezoning process is to begin. Civic advocates used a presentation of the official redevelopment plan to deliver their alternate ideas for redeveloping the 488-acre parcel located between Downtown Atlanta and the airport.

The group included influential speakers such as Sen. Vincent Fort, a Democrat who represents the area; Michael Dobbins, the city’s former planning director who now teaches at Georgia Tech; and Deborah Scott, the executive director of Georgia Standup who led the battle to ensure that affordable housing is provided in tax-subsidized developments along the BeltLine.

By David Pendered

The concessions industry is struggling to get its head around Atlanta’s novel approach to establishing new food and beverage businesses at the airport.

Companies seeking contracts want the city to be more specific than it has been in telling companies precisely what concept Atlanta wants at each of the 100-plus food and beverage shops that will be created.

The city responded Thursday by issuing a host of amendments to its original, April 5, request for proposals for concession businesses.