Category: Sections

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Gas Light has new president — Bryan Batson — who has been serving as AGL Resource’s senior vice president of commercial operations.

Batson is succeeding Steve Lindsey, who is leaving the company to join the St. Louis-based Laclede Group. Interestingly enough, Lindsey became president of Atlanta Gas Light last December after his predecessor, Suzanne Sitherwood, left to become Laclede’s president. She was named Laclede’s CEO earlier this year.

In addition to serving as president of Atlanta Gas Light, Batson also will serve as president of Chattanooga Gas and Florida City Gas as well as vice president of Southern Operations for AGL Resources.

By Maria Saporta

The fourth annual Neighborhood Summit will have representatives from all 23 counties when about 400 metro residents will convene Saturday morning, Sept. 22 at the Loudermilk Center in downtown Atlanta.

The summit, which is being put on by the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, is themed: “Information: the Power to Transform Communities.” Participants will attend workshops on how to harness the power of information, including data, stories, maps and knowledge to better understand and transform their communities.

By Maria Saporta

Update: MARTA’s board of directors announced its two finalists this afternoon. The press release is at the bottom of this story.

Any day now, MARTA is expected to publicly announce its two finalists for general manager. Beverly Scott, who has been general manager for the past five years, is leaving at the end of the year.

The two finalists are thought to be: Keith Parker, president and CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio; and Stephen Bland, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh.

By Maria Saporta

Athens — The third annual GeorgiaForward forum provided a spotlight on what victory looks like.

Three of the 12 regions in Georgia voted to pass a regional transportation sales tax during the primary vote on July 31.

One of those regions was the River Valley District — also known as the Greater Columbus region. In fact, voters in the Columbus region passed the tax with the highest margin of the three — 54.3 percent in favor versus 45.7 percent against.

By Maria Saporta

Conversations between Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, can be civil.

That was demonstrated at Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Atlanta when right-leaning Ralph Reed had a political conversation with left-leaning Cynthia Tucker with Alec Fraser serving as moderator.

This was the third time the two have appeared together in a similar Rotary forum.

Fraser’s first question about the recent Republican and Democratic conventions.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed unveiled a preliminary plan of how to start paying for the city’s infrastructure backlog,

He met Monday morning with members of the Atlanta Committee for Progress — a blue ribbon business panel that helps advise the mayor on key issues facing the city.

The plan likely includes the city putting together a bond package for about $250 million to start paying for a $900 million to $1 billion infrastructure backlog — in the fixing of roads, bridges, sidewalks, parks, bike paths, traffic signals and other quality of life amenities.

By Maria Saporta

The search for a new MARTA general manager has been narrowed to four candidates — an internal one and three from outside the state.

MARTA’s current general manager, Beverly Scott, will be leaving by the end of the year when her five-year term runs out.

Scott has been heading the state’s largest transit system through a tumultuous period of declining revenues, polarizing political forces and diminishing prospects of a reinvestment in an improved and expanded regional transit system.

By Maria Saporta

Despite the failed regional transportation referendum, the region can not give up when it comes to improving metro Atlanta’s transportation system.

That was the bottom line message that Doug Hooker, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, shared at the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum Wednesday morning.

Hooker acknowledged that the referendum failed because of a general distrust of government and the struggling economy.

By Maria Saporta

What a boneheaded decision.

Atlanta-based Cumulus Media has killed what little was left of 99X — one of the best known brands broadcast on the city’s radio waves for the past two decades.

On Saturday at noon, in the dead of day, Cumulus changed the 99X (which it had placed on the weak 98.9 signal) to 98.9/The Bone — a hard rock format that will try to grab listeners of the former Project 9-6-1 (which switched to a top 40 format last Wednesday).

In what has become a disorienting musical chairs among Atlanta’s radio stations, the losers will be those who love alternative rock sounds.

By Maria Saporta

After more than 20 years of developing multi-use trails, Ed McBrayer is being honored by the Atlanta chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

McBrayer, co-founder and executive director of the PATH Foundation, will be honored with the Dan & Tally Sweat Community Leadership Award at ULI Atlanta’s 18th annual Awards for Excellence Dinner, which will be held on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 20 at the Atlanta History Center.

After nearly 21 years in existence, the PATH Foundation now has 3,500 members, and it has raised more than $420 million from public and private sources.

By Maria Saporta

Update: The memorial service for L. Neil Williams Jr. will be held on Thursday, Aug. 30 at Trinity Presbyterian Church located at 3003 Howell Mill Road at 11 a.m. The service will be followed by a Williams family reception at the church.

L. Neil Williams Jr., a leading Atlanta attorney and civic leader, passed away Sunday evening from a massive heart attack.

Williams, 76, was in Winston-Salem, N.C. attending a Duke University function, according to bulletin that was sent out Monday morning by Trinity Presbyterian Church.

By Maria Saporta

After years of having an all-male board, Aaron’s Inc. has added a second woman to its board of directors — Kathy Betty, an Atlanta business woman who is the former owner of the WNBA Atlanta Dream.

She joins Cynthia Day, the CEO of Citizens Trust Bank, on the Aaron’s board. Day joined the board in 2011.

“Kathy’s deep knowledge of business management and entrepreneurism will be a tremendous asset to our board,” said Ronald W. Allen, CEO and president of Aaron’s Inc.

By Maria Saporta

Contrary to public perception, Atlanta really is a robust sports town.

That’s the message that Rich McCay, president and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons, gave to luncheon attendees at the Commerce Club Thursday.

“Atlanta as a sports market is just fantastic,” McKay said. “This is an incredible market.”