Category: Sections

Note to Readers: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and his administration wanted an opportunity to respond to my Maria’s Metro column this week. In the interest of fairness, I am running the city’s response in full.

By Tom Weyandt, senior policy advisor for transportation for Mayor Kasim Reed

With two critical weeks until the July 31 transportation referendum, Maria Saporta has decided to lead the pack among her journalism cohorts and pen a column that already assigns blame for the initiative’s defeat. As senior policy advisor for Transportation for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, I disagree with Ms. Saporta’s assertion that he is at fault because the project list didn’t include enough money for rail, particularly in South DeKalb County.

By Maria Saporta

If the Atlanta region wants to get federal transportation funds, it needs to pass the regional referendum on July 31.

That was the bottom line delivered by U.S. Rep. John Mica, chairman of the U.S. House Transportation Committee, on Friday at a program co-sponsored by the Council for Quality Growth and the Urban Land Institute – Atlanta at the Cobb Galleria.

By Maria Saporta

On of metro Atlanta’s most popular leaders — Bucky Johnson — is taking on a new role.

Johnson, who is mayor of the City of Norcross, is now the new chairman of the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association (MAMA).

He is succeeding Mike Bodker, the mayor of Johns Creek, in that role. At the annual conference of the Georgia Municipal Association in June in Savannah, Bodker became the third vice president of GMA.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta-based Art Papers has tapped Saskia Benjamin as its new executive director.

Benjamin is leaving her post as director of institutional advancement at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center to join Art Papers, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the “examination, development and definition of art and culture in the world today,” according to the organization’s website.

By Maria Saporta

No matter who wins, the 2012 presidential election will be historic.

That’s what national pollster Peter Hart told the Rotary Club of Atlanta at its luncheon meeting on Monday.

Ordinarily, given the sluggish economy and the fact that a majority of Americans believe the country is going in the wrong direction, an incumbent president would be in trouble. At least that has been true in just about every incumbent presidential election for decades.

By Maria Saporta

At its First Monday breakfast meeting, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce put together a like-minded panel to discuss the merits of voting for the regional transportation referendum on July 31.

Unlike a host of other panels that have included diverse views on whether the referendum is a good or bad idea, the Cobb Chamber panel, by design, was unanimous in its support for the one-percent sales tax.

By Maria Saporta

When Tech High, an Atlanta charter school, opened its doors in 2004, the business, academic and technology leaders were thrilled.

The Tech High partnership’s goal was to help train and graduate students attending the Atlanta public high school — preparing them preparing them for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta leaders are not giving up on the possibility of becoming a regional location for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

But there was widespread disappointment that Atlanta was not among the four cities that already have been designated to become regional patent offices.

By Maria Saporta

A new transportation center for downtown Atlanta is moving from the idea stage to the design stage.

On July 11, the Georgia MultiModal Passenger Terminal team will provide the “first look” at the three alternative sites under consideration for the location of the proposed multimodal station.

The team will present different design sketches for the station, including elevations and street crossings at the public meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. at the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management at 72 Marietta St. NW (the former home of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), which is adjacent to where the station would be located.

By Maria Saporta

After seven years in the making, ground was broken Wednesday on the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta.

The ground also was broken in more ways than one.

The law firm of Jones Day announced that it was making a $350,000 gift, joining only a handful of other local law firms that have contributed to the Center, which will showcase the history, present and future of civil and human rights issues across the globe.

By Maria Saporta

The Metro Atlanta Chamber’s new strategic plan acknowledges that what has stimulated growth in the past no longer works in today’s regional economy.

Leaders from the Metro Atlanta Chamber unveiled the business organization’s Forward Atlanta plan Monday at the Rotary Club of Atlanta hoping that its new approach to economic development will restart the region’s economy.

The new strategic plan — which sets a plan through 2025 — was formulated with the help of the Boston Consulting Group and has been in the works for a year.

By Maria Saporta

The Georgia Tech Foundation won a major victory this week in its quest to demolish most of the historic Crum & Forster building at 771 Spring St. in Midtown.

A report from a three-person Economic Review Panel for the Atlanta Urban Design Commission submitted June 21 agreed with just about every point made by the attorneys of the Georgia Tech Foundation.

By Maria Saporta

Sixteen years ago, Atlanta was busy getting ready for the biggest event in its history — the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

This year, it’s the City of London’s turn to enjoy its time in the international spotlight. Next month, it will host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.