By Maria Saporta and Dave Williams
Published in the ABC on Friday, August 3, 2012
Political and business leaders throughout metro Atlanta worked together as never before to put a transportation sales tax on the July 31 ballot.
From choosing the projects to be funded by the penny tax to waging the campaign to approve it, they acted regionally, despite diverse backgrounds and interests.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, August 3, 2012
The effort to pass the regional transportation referendum also was a test for the Atlanta business community: Would it have the power and influence to get the region to pass the1 percent sales tax?
By Maria Saporta
During the last several months, Chris Leinberger has served as the outside conscience for metro Atlanta.
Leinberger, a national real estate developer who has spent decades observing the rise and fall of the Atlanta region, is a nonresident senior fellow for the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.
It was Leinberger who declared that “Hot-lanta” was no longer hot. It also was Leinberger who in the 1990s confidently stated that the Atlanta region was the fastest-growing settlement in the history of the world — in terms of land consumption.
Maria Saporta
Atlanta-based Jackson Securities, a company founded by the late former Mayor Maynard Jackson in 1987, is merging with M.R. Beal & Co., a New York-based leading investment banking firm.
The combination of the two well-established minority-owned enterprises will establish a template for the future expansion and integration of similar firms into an expanded investment banking platform. The merger is subject to regulatory approval.
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta’s own Beverly Scott was honored Tuesday by President Barack Obama and the U.S. Department of Transportation as a “Transportation Innovator Champion of Change.”
Scott, the general manager of MARTA, attended a White House-sponsored event on the very day that metro Atlanta voters were deciding whether to approve a one-percent regional transportation sales tax.
The award recognized Scott’s “long record of exemplary leadership and service in the transit industry,” according to a release issued after the event, which was held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. She was among a dozen or so transportation “champions” who were honored for their contributions. Scott was accompanied on the trip by Barbara Kaufman, vice chair of MARTA’s board.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, July 27, 2012
Publix Super Markets continues to reign supreme when it comes to the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.
United Way, which closed out its 2011 campaign of $80.4 million (led by Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson), reconfirmed that Publix Super Markets is in a league of its own.
By Maria Saporta
It’s a disturbing trend.
For the past two Sundays, the Atlanta Press Club has been holding political primary debates at Georgia Public Broadcasting —featuring some of the most contested Congressional races.
For the record, I chair the Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young debate series, a role I’ve enjoyed for the past two decades. And it has been a rewarding partnership between the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Pubic Broadcasting, particularly because we give voters an opportunity to get to know the candidates seeking public office.
Maria Saporta
The campaign for the transportation sales tax is going into high gear with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed in the driver’s seat.
After several radio interviews, Reed went to the Eco-Office at Southface to stand with representatives of more than 20 environmental organizations in solid support for the regional transportation sales tax. (See below for complete list).
But the elephant in the room was the Sierra Club, the high profile environmental organization that has come out against the tax — arguing that the roads on the project list will continue to encourage sprawl. The Sierra Club is opposing the tax because it believes there should be a new project list with more transit.
By Maria Saporta
Sara Fountain graduated her 11th class of Leadership DeKalb, and then decided to retire as the organization’s executive director.
Fountain has been head of Leadership DeKalb for more than a decade — and over that time more than 800 adults and young people have graduated and been involved with the organization.
“Serving in a community leadership training capacity has been both exciting and fulfilling,” Fountain said in a statement Wednesday. “I have met some of the greatest people, and it has been a privilege to serve this outstanding organization. Connecting our members to issues facing our region for the past 11 years has been a wonderful experience.”
By Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, July 20, 2012
Agnes Scott College has received a $6 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation to bring new life to Campbell Hall, which has been vacant since 2003.
“We are very excited,” said Elizabeth Kiss, president of Agnes Scott College. “We have these beautiful historic buildings, and some of them have been in need of tender love and care. Campbell Hall was the biggest target of opportunity. We wanted to create spaces that are 21st Century living and learning spaces.”
By Maria Saporta
Long-time environmental leader Jerry McCollum will be retiring as CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation on Dec. 31. McCollumn has worked for the Federation for 25 years.
“Jerry’s leadership is responsible for bringing the Georgia Wildlife Federation to the pinnacle of effective wildlife conservation in Georgia and across the nation,” said Matt Nichols, chair of the Georgia Wildlife Federation’s board. “His are big shoes to fill but we will do our best and that process will begin right away.”
By Maria Saporta
The Atlanta BeltLine has selected dozens of artists and innovative works to be part of its fall season of public art — 70 innovative works of performance and visual art.
The annual, two-month-long exhibition has become is not only the largest temporary public art project in the city; it also is one of the most popular attractions of people who enjoy traveling the BeltLine.
By Maria Saporta
Atlanta’s proposed transit projects now are taking center stage in the 11th hour effort to pass the regional transportation sales tax.
From July 21 to July 24, transit leaders from around the country are meeting in Atlanta just a week before the region will decide whether to invest in rail and bus transit in the 10-county area.
And the campaign proponents for the tax now are showcasing transit on youtube, on cable television, at transit stations and with new brochures that outline how transit will be expanded if the regional transportation sales tax passes on July 31.
By Dave Williams and Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, July 20, 2012
The Obama administration may put a rush job on a proposed transit hub in downtown Atlanta.
The Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal is being considered for a national list of infrastructure projects to be expedited through streamlined federal environmental review and permitting, Derrick Cameron, MMPT project manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation, said July 18.
By Maria Saporta
Former Atlanta journalist and communications professional Ann Wead Kimbrough is the new dean for the Florida A&M University School of Journalism and Graphic Communication.
The appointment, which goes into effect on Aug. 13, was made by FAMU’s interim president, Larry Robinson.
By Maria Saporta
Gov. Nathan Deal began his day Thursday morning stopping by the Metro Atlanta Chamber board meeting to thank the business organization for its efforts to get the regional transportation sales tax passed on July 31.
“My meeting with the board this morning was simply to thank them,” Deal said later Thursday morning. “Their efforts and support should be recognized and appreciated.”
By Maria Saporta
Transit is now taking center stage in the effort to pass the regional transportation sales tax.
Advocates for the July 31 referendum unveiled the beginning of “Mass Transit Week” from July 18 to July 27 (which is actually 10 days).
The campaign has organized teams that will be at the various transit stations throughout metro Atlanta to appeal to regular riders of MARTA, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s Xpress buses as well as Cobb County Transit.
By Maria Saporta
If voters approve the one-percent regional transportation sales tax on July 31, the amount families will pay will vary based on income and age.
An analysis of who would pay how much was done by Georgia State University’s Fiscal Research Center at the Andrew Young School of Public Policy. The analysis was done for the Atlanta Regional Commission.
By Maria Saporta
Published in the ABC on Friday, July 13, 2012
After eight years running the Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Greater Atlanta Affiliate, Kelly Dolan has joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as executive director of its Georgia chapter.
Dolan said the move is unrelated to the controversy that the national Komen organization went through earlier this year when it had adopted a policy to no longer support breast cancer services provided by Planned Parenthood.
By Maria Saporta
It’s the small touches that make a city special.
And on Tuesday morning, downtown Atlanta unveiled two special places — a restored Margaret Mitchell Square and a new ATL playscape at Woodruff Park.
Thanks to a host of community partners and two major corporate donors — Norfolk-Southern and Bank of America — downtown Atlanta’s beautification continues.
