It was just past 8 p.m., and the air in the Rialto Center for the Arts was so thick with anticipation that you could have whipped it into culinary foam. Onstage, the evening’s hosts paused dramatically, waiting to announce which Atlanta restaurants had been awarded a coveted Michelin star — one of the highest honors […]
Author Archives: Rachel Garbus
Posted inDemocracy
From Sandy Springs to Mableton: New majority-Black cities are changing the Atlanta cityhood story
Buckhead’s tumultuous bid to break away from Atlanta has been scuppered for now, but its demise in the Georgia legislature made way for four new proposed cities, all in Cobb County. Three of those proposed cities continue the established Atlanta story about who tries to incorporate and why. East Cobb, Vinings, and Lost Mountain are majority-white […]
Posted inDemocracy
City council term limits are a popular idea. But would they result in better representation?
In December 1783, George Washington announced he would not seek a third term as president of the fledging United States. “Having now finished the work assigned me,” he told Congress, “I retire from the great theatre of Action.” Washington’s resignation set an unofficial two-term precedent for the presidency (later enshrined as the 22nd Amendment), and sparked […]
Posted inAtlanta Civic Circle, Democracy
Safety first: Georgia’s new congressional map eliminates competition
In anticipation of the gerrymandering lawsuits that are sure to follow, political strategists, voting rights groups, and scholars alike are assessing the consequences of Georgia’s newly drawn legislative districts for the state’s political landscape. They say it’s already apparent that, in a state where Republicans and Democrats consistently poll neck-and-neck, the number of truly competitive […]
Posted inDemocracy
Is Andre Dickens the Progressive in This Mayoral Runoff Election?
With the Nov. 30 runoff just days away, mayoral candidates Felicia Moore and Andre Dickens are busy trying to distinguish themselves—largely from each other. Both Democrats with widely overlapping policy platforms, Moore and Dickens have tacked toward whatever strengths they hope will appeal to the most voters. Moore, the current Atlanta City Council president, has […]
