A mayoral mega-forum featuring 13 of the 14 candidates on Oct. 5 spotlighted some of the lesser-known contenders and let them all weigh in on such issues as a new MARTA rail line to Emory University.
Author Archives: John Ruch
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How Occupy Atlanta changed city politics 10 years later
By John Ruch Oct. 6 marks the 10th anniversary of tent-dwellers staking out turf in Woodruff Park as the Occupy protest movement came to Atlanta. Derided by conservatives and many progressives alike, and forcibly evicted less than three weeks later by cops with helicopters and horses, Occupy Atlanta has evaporated as a brand name like […]
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Lost graveyard of zoo animals at Prison Farm may get a memorial
A lost graveyard for zoo animals may be memorialized in perhaps the strangest outcome of the debate over the future of the former Atlanta Prison Farm.
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Councilmember asks top mayoral candidates to sign ‘Buckhead Pledge’ amid cityhood movement
Buckhead-area Atlanta City Councilmember J.P. Matzigkeit is asking the top-polling mayoral candidates to sign a pledge to carry out 10 policy proposals that he says would address the controversial movement for the neighborhood to become its own city.
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Emory may remake Peachtree-Pine shelter and nearby buildings into sustainability center
Emory University is considering a plan to remake the former Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter and most of its Midtown block into a new academic center for sustainability and resilience.
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How Buckhead cityhood’s politics play into the Red-vs.-Blue battle of 2022
By John Ruch Amid all the controversy about the political question of Buckhead cityhood, it’s easy to overlook the significance of the date voters would be asked to answer it: Nov. 8, 2022. The debate so far has swirled around hot-button issues of crime and race and the nit-picking details of dueling pro-and-con financial studies. […]
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City Council president candidates pitch ways to help small businesses
By John Ruch Big business may pull the political strings in Atlanta, but small business drives much of the economy and culture. Four of the candidates for City Council president were grilled on ways to help the sector at a Sept. 25 forum, one of a small-business series hosted by the Old Fourth Ward Business […]
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East Point mayoral candidates debate city’s growth, government reputation
By John Ruch East Point’s opportunity to join the metro development boom was a major topic at a Sept. 21 mayoral candidate forum, where the incumbent touted her “rebranding” of the city against challengers who say they can run things more efficiently. The reputation of government itself is also an issue for East Point, whose […]
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From R.E.M. to GPB, a student documents the bittersweet history of college radio powerhouse WRAS
By John Ruch College radio is one of the cultural icons that made me fall in love with Atlanta bad enough to move here. The student-run broadcasts of Georgia State’s WRAS (aka “Album 88”) and Georgia Tech’s WREK were among the ways Atlanta, unlike most every other major city, had not yet been corporatized, homogenized […]
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Nonprofit urges 10 reforms of Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Unit public input system
Ten recommendations for reforming Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Unit system were announced by a civic-focused nonprofit Sept. 16 after three years of study. The Center for Civic Innovation’s effort was the first comprehensive review of the nearly half-century-old NPU system, which provides input to City government on virtually any topic, since 1979. The recommendations center on […]
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In forum on housing affordability, council president candidates reveal how they think and lead
The leading City Council president candidates gave some revelatory answers at a Sept. 11 forum focused on housing affordability. Revelatory not because they or Atlanta are likely to magically solve the nationally intractable affordability problem, but exactly because they’re not. Granted, the next council prez — whose powers are mostly procedural — might collaborate with […]
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Public safety training center wins City Council approval; opponents suggest fight to continue
The Atlanta City Council has approved a controversial plan to build a public safety training center at the Prison Farm site. Proponents are cheering what they say is a crime-fighting landmark, while opponents are indicating the political battle may have just begun. The 10-4 vote in a Sept. 8 virtual meeting was preceded by 17 […]
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City Council delays public safety training center action to hear 17 hours of public comment
The Atlanta City Council has delayed a possible vote on the controversial public safety training center until Sept. 8 to hear out an estimated 17 hours of public comments. The council’s Sept. 7 agenda included the lease agreement allowing the training center’s construction on the former Atlanta Prison Farm site. At the 1 p.m. start […]
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Public safety training center opposition group calls for delaying vote until election, creating mitigation agreement
In advance of a possible Atlanta City Council vote Sept. 7 on the controversial public safety training center, the main opposition group is demanding the issue be tabled until after the election. And if the project can’t be stopped altogether, the group says, it wants a detailed community benefits agreement. In a Sept. 6 letter […]
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Four years after a bitter mayoral loss, Mary Norwood is returning to City Hall
Atlanta’s political future is a mystery that will be solved by major leadership shake-ups in this fall’s elections, none bigger than the replacement of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, maybe even with her former mentor, Kasim Reed. But one thing’s already a virtual certainty: Mary Norwood is back. The former at-large City Council member who lost […]
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‘Atlanta City Design’ book goes on sale in handsome, hefty print form; author discussion coming
Update: The Sept. 16 discussion has been postponed due to weather, with a new date to be announced. Four years after the City’s digital release of a book laying out a long-term vision for Atlanta’s urban planning, a handsome hard-copy version is now available at a bookstore and a discussion with its authors is coming […]
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Three write-in candidates officially join Atlanta mayoral, City Council races
By John Ruch Three write-in candidates — two for mayor and one for City Council District 4 — have officially joined the Nov. 2 races after certification this week by the municipal clerk. Brandon Adkins of Southwest Atlanta and Henry Anderson of Sweet Auburn are write-ins for the mayoral race. Another 14 candidates qualified appear […]
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Smaller public safety training center site plan is pitched; transparency criticism continues
By John Ruch As Atlanta’s controversial public safety training center heads toward a possible City Council vote just after Labor Day, its backers pitched a new, smaller site plan and an intent to form a community advisory committee at a Sept. 2 virtual meeting. Officials emphasized community-inspired changes to the concept and answered many public […]
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In debate on saving a historic West End house, everyone can agree there’s gotta be a better way
By John Ruch Last month, I told you about 731 Lawton St., a 120-year-old house in the West End Historic District that’s on the verge of collapse after years of neglect. I wondered if a preservation process with more collaboration and fewer crackdowns might be a better way of saving the many such buildings around […]
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Fulton Development Authority may have new interim chief, rejects tax break
By John Ruch The Development Authority of Fulton County has made a rare rejection of a tax break and is poised to hire an affordable housing developer as its interim executive director, as the authority tries to steer away from a financial scandal and toward a future of helping needier communities. But scrutiny may continue […]
