Maria Saporta, executive editor, is a longtime Atlanta business, civic and urban affairs journalist with a deep knowledge of our city, our region and state. From 2008 to 2020, she wrote weekly columns and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Prior to that, she spent 27 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, becoming its business columnist in 1991. Maria received her Master’s degree in urban studies from Georgia State and her Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. Maria was born in Atlanta to European parents and has two young adult children. She launched SaportaReport in February 2009.
By Maria Saporta
It’s time to move on.
That message is directed to state Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Dunwoody), who chairs the legislature’s MARTA Oversight Committee (MARTOC).
Chambers has turned beating up on MARTA an intramural sport, calling on a host of investigations of the agency and accusing MARTA of mismanagement and fiscal irresponsibility.
Chambers had asked the state auditors to do a thorough investigation into MARTA’s finances, hoping to find evidence to back her accusations.
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 30, 2009
A new venture has been born out of a business friendship between two key people involved in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
A.D. Frazier, who served as chief operating officer for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, has teamed up with Erik Vonk, who was president and CEO of Randstad North America, a major sponsor of the
By Maria Saporta
There’s something about roof-tops that I find irresistible.
Maybe it goes back to when my father, an architect who taught site inspection courses at Georgia Tech, would take me and my sister to construction sites.
Or maybe it’s because my mother would take me and my sister to Europe every other summer, and we always sought special vistas where we could get a view of the cities around us.
In Paris, it would be on the top of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. In Salonica, Greece, we would go to the top of the mountain overlooking the city reaching out to the Mediterranean Sea. We would also walk up the stair to the top of the historic White Tower that defines the pedestrian walkway
By Maria Saporta
As we enter the closing stretch of Atlanta’s mayoral campaign, it’s as good a time as any to reflect on how unique this election has been.
Its uniqueness goes way beyond the fact that there’s a white woman who is the odds-on favorite to win the election — either on Tuesday without a run-off, or on Dec. 1.
It goes way beyond the demographic changes underway in our city. And it goes way beyond whether the candidates pass the test of being Democrats, Republicans or Independents. (In fact, pollster Matt Towery said this has been
By Maria Saporta
For those of you who don’t mind watching movies on TV, two films that shouldn’t be missed will air early this week.
The first is: “The People v. Leo Frank,” which will air at 9 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2 on PBS — Georgia Public Broadcasting — which is also Channel 8.
And the second movie is: “By the People, the Election of Barack Obama.” Fittingly, it will air on Election night — Tuesday, Nov. 3 — from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. on HBO. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the historic election.
I’ve had the good fortune to see both
By Maria Saporta
Three men made their case this week to be the next chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission — which brings together leaders in the 10-county region — to work on regional issues, such as transportation, water, land-use and the needs of our aging population.
The three declared candidates are Charles Bannister, chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission; Tad Leithead, a citizen member who was an executive at Cousins Properties who now has his own public affairs consulting firm; and Jack Smith, chairman of the Fayette County Commission.
By Maria Saporta
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Atlanta Dream will soon be under new ownership.
Kathy Betty — a prominent Atlanta businesswoman, sports advocate and widow of former EarthLink CEO Garry Betty — will become managing partner of the Dream, pending league approval. She is first woman in Atlanta history to own a professional sports team.
The team will be owned by Dream Too LLC, an
By Jeff Cochran
Note to readers: Jeff Cochran, a regular contributor to Like the Dew’s website, also sells ads for SaportaReport. Here is a tribute he has written for a dear friend.
The Hot Stove League will be much colder this winter. Bob Woodland, a devoted Braves fan and great friend, passed away Sunday, October 25.
Bob earned a living as an attorney but lived for the joys in his life: his family and friends, his church and the Atlanta Braves. Over 32 years, the Braves were usually the first topic in our thousands of conversations. E-mail allowed even more such banter. Last winter we chatted
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 23, 2009
It was back in November 2002 when recently retired King & Spalding LLP attorney Horace Sibley got a call from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. Would Sibley be willing to chair a 90-day study commission on homelessness, the mayor asked.
That led to a 16-member commission of university presidents, business and civic leaders coming up in July 2003 with a “Blueprint to End Homelessness in Atlanta
By Maria Saporta
Confusion reigned at a hastily-called work session Monday afternoon to discuss the proposed master lease agreement between the city of Atlanta and Delta Air Lines.
Members of the Atlanta City Council’s Transportation Committee seemed overwhelmed with the complexity of the issues, and they were frustrated that officials from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport had not prepared a clear presentation of the thorny issues in the agreement.
Instead of clearly describing the differences of opinion that exist on
If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny.
Georgia is being ridiculed in Washington for failing to move forward with transit and rail. In fact, Georgia is moving in reverse.
How else can one interpret the reorganization of the Georgia Department of Transportation, being proposed by Commissioner Vance Smith, that will downgrade its “Intermodal” Division (which includes transit) into a program under the Engineering Division.
It was only a year ago when GDOT created the Intermodal Division as a way to demonstrate its commitment to transit. But that commitment appears to have been short-lived.
Next, we’ve got State Rep. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody) proposing a state takeover of MARTA, the largest transit agency in the Southeast, and putting it under the control of GDOT.
By Maria Saporta
For decades, Delta Air Lines and the city of Atlanta have played a delicate dance.
Both have proclaimed their eternal love for each other — crediting each other for their own growth.
That partnership has led to Delta becoming the world’s largest airline and Hartsfield-Jackson becoming the largest and busiest airport in the world.
And yet both have had to balance that love with their own self-interests.
For Delta, that self-interest is to limit the amount of airline competition that comes
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 23, 2009
Imagine going back in time to the 1930s when Martin Luther King Jr. was growing up on Auburn Avenue.
Thanks to a partnership between the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the National Park Service, people from across the world will no longer need to use their imagination. Nearly the entire block that contains the birth home of the civil rights leader now is in public hands.
The Trust for Public Land will transfer ownership
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 23, 2009
Women have made little to no progress on the boards or in the executive suites of Georgia’s public companies.
The Board of Directors Network (BDN) has been tracking the status of women in corporate boardrooms and executives suites for 17 years. Although there have been significant changes among Georgia’s publicly held companies over the years, as some companies have gone private and others have been acquired, the
By Maria Saporta
There’s a new look on Peachtree Street downtown.
The Hard Rock Café Atlanta has just put up a 30-foot neon guitar on the side of its restaurant at the corner of Peachtree and Andrew Young International Boulevard.
It replaces what had been the Cadillac icons that had hung precariously off the side of the building since November, 1992.
A bit of Atlanta history — which was reported earlier this year by my friend
By Maria Saporta
When Leonard Cohen came out on stage at the Fox Theatre Tuesday night, he told the audience: “I don’t know when we’ll pass this way again, but I promise you that tonight, we will give you everything we’ve got.”
And Cohen, accompanied by an incredible collection of musicians and singers, did just that.
For nearly three-and-a-half hours Cohen, defied his age of 75, singing songs from all phases of his musical career — one spans more than four decades. Few
By Maria Saporta
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Atlanta-based organization Men Stopping Violence has just received a major vote of confidence.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson is announcing that Men Stopping Violence has been awarded $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice to organize and manage the first national initiative to engage men and youth in the work of addressing violence against women.
“It’s very exciting,” said Shelley Serdahely, executive
The Atlanta elections of 2009 will go down in history as turning point for our city.
This is our generation’s version of the 1969 election when for voters broke rank and defeated the candidate of the business community in favor of Sam Massell, a Jewish businessman.
Up until Massell’s election, it had been customary for the mayor of the city of Atlanta to become an honorary member of the Piedmont Driving Club. But that offer was not extended to Massell.
And by 1973, when Atlanta’s first black mayor — Maynard Jackson — was elected, the transition was complete. The predominantly white business community no longer had a hold
By Maria Saporta
One of my very favorite bands is Travis, a secret treasure of our time.
I was introduced to the Scottish band through 99X during its prime, and I have caught the band just about every time they’ve come to town. The last time was at the Tabernacle a couple of years ago.
Because I’m a true fan, when I heard that lead singer, songwriter Fran Healy was coming to town to do an acoustic set with guitarist Andy Dunlop, I knew I had to be there.
They did not disappoint. On Saturday
By Maria Saporta
Leave it to Georgia to put the train in reverse while the rest of the country is moving forward.
Vance Smith, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, distributed a memo on Thursday, Oct. 15 announcing proposed “organizational changes” in his department.
“Over the last few months, we have worked diligently to strategically reorganize the Department to achieve greater efficiency in both functional alignment and program delivery,” Smith
