Category: Columns

Who will profit from Atlanta’s new programs to reduce homelessness? Will the homeless be moved to dwellings in blighted neighborhoods west of downtown Atlanta? What will happen to the homeless shelter at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets?

These central questions arose in a discussion Tuesday about Atlanta’s proposal to create a non-profit organization to take over the city’s federal and state funding that’s intended to reduce homelessness.

No solid answers were provided before the proposal to create the non-profit was approved unanimously by the Atlanta City Council’s Community Development Committee and sent to the council for a vote June 3. The mayor retains considerable influence over the planned non-profit.

Atlanta’s latest approach to reduce homelessness in the city calls for the creation of a non-profit organization under the control of the mayor.

The proposal arises from the city’s work conducted with a portion of the $3.3 million innovation grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The new non-profit is to raise money from public and private sources, hire an executive director, invite relevant partners to join the program, and comply with all federal laws.

The legislation is to be discussed Tuesday at Atlanta City Hall. Topics likely to be addressed include how the non-profit will relate to existing regional programs for the homeless including the Gateway Center, Metro Atlanta Tri-Jurisdictional Collaborative on Homelessness, United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness – not to mention the homeless shelter at the corner of Peachtree and Pine streets.

The sea turtle nesting season is off to a slow start this year along Georgia’s coast and other southern beaches.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources reports that the first loggerhead nest to be found in Georgia this year was located May 13 on Wassaw Island, off the coast of Savannah. May 5 is the average arrival of the first female to lay eggs. Last year the first nest was discovered April 25 on Cumberland Island.

North Carolina beaches evidently are a little more inviting this summer. The first loggerhead nest was spotted May 12 on Oak Island, near Wilmington, according to seaturtle.org.

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

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.

Bob Perciasepe, the acting administrator of the EPA, took about a nanosecond to recall the old Atlantic Steel mill near downtown Atlanta.

Perciasepe picked the area that now is Atlantic Station as his example of metro Atlanta’s national reputation for turning brownfields into vibrant communities: A place known to execute plans that are big, bold and game-changing.

Perciasepe’s choice is a reminder that efforts to clean up hazardous materials in metro Atlanta communities go beyond the Atlanta BeltLine. There’s a former smoldering landfill in Acworth that’s now Lakeside Marketplace; the Aerotropolis Atlanta development at the former Hapeville Ford Assembly Plant; and, just last week, the Proctor Creek watershed.

Almost overlooked in the discussion over President Obama’s commencement address Sunday at Morehouse College is a new report that breaks ground in the discussion of historically black colleges and universities.

The study, “The Changing Face of Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” reveals a disconnect between criticism and reality in terms of of graduation rates, as well as equity issues for students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Obama’s introductory joke underscored the challenges facing today’s graduates: “I know some of you are graduating summa cum laude. I know some of you are graduating magna cum laude. I know some of you are just graduating thank the Lordy.”

A crowd of 148 attended an open house Thursday night to toss their 2 cents into the conversation over the proposed widening of Ga. 20, from Canton to Cumming.

Call it what you will – Ga. 20, Northern Arc, Outer Perimeter, Outer Loop – the state intends to improve east-west access across Atlanta’s far northern suburbs. The open house was a step in that process and another open house is slated for Tuesday in Ball Ground.

Ga. 20 runs somewhat parallel to the Northern Arc’s proposed route and already has been expanded. Additional construction would enable to handle more vehicles. The state’s official position is that options range from doing nothing to doing something big.