By Maria Saporta Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell Wednesday afternoon issued a sharply-worded statement on the corruption case at City Hall in light of Tuesday’s indictment of Adam Smith, the city’s former chief procurement officer. Mitchell, who is running for mayor, has been spotlighting this issue of city contracts for the past several weeks, […]
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Atlanta bribery probe evidently continues, after former official pleads guilty
The federal investigation into public corruption at Atlanta City Hall evidently continues, following a guilty plea entered Tuesday. Atlanta’s former chief procurement officer admitted accepting more than $30,000 from a vendor who won millions of dollars in city contracts.
Atlanta mayoral candidates sketch plans for arts spending
Atlantans packed a room at the Woodruff Arts Center on Monday night for a performance that can only happen every four years — Atlanta mayoral candidates bidding for the votes of art lovers.
Committee for a Better Atlanta scores city candidates
A group of Atlanta’s and Georgia’s business and civic heavyweights have given out their scores on the dozens of folks running for city leadership this year. Five mayoral candidates got a rating of “excellent” from the Committee for a Better Atlanta.
Atlanta City Council candidate Q and A: District 5
Voters in parts of Atlanta from Downtown to East Lake have a choice for their District 5 City Council seat this year: a veteran of City Hall or a first-time candidate. City services and the cost of housing top are top issues, the candidates say.
Atlanta’s lack of affordable housing prompts call to revive Housing Commission
In 1993, the need for affordable housing was so great that the Atlanta City Council created a Housing Commission to recommend solutions; the commission evaporated. Now, a pending proposal would revive the commission and charge it with meeting the challenges of this era.
‘MAYNARD’ documentary trailer brings friends, family together
A trailer of the “MAYNARD” movie was unveiled Saturday in the visitor’s center of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
The documentary depicts the life of Atlanta’s first African-American mayor – Maynard Jackson Jr. – a leader who was larger than life in Atlanta and the nation.
The movie is undergoing final edits, according to filmmakers Maynard Jackson III and his wife, Wendy Eley Jackson of Auburn Avenue Films.
Huffington Post brings its ‘Listen to America’ tour to Atlanta
The Huffington Post brought its “Listen to America” tour to Atlanta Friday – anchoring its bus and recording studios at Ponce City Market.
The tour is taking “HuffPost” to 25 cities across the country – especially communities that are “undercovered” by the online publication that was founded by Arianna Huffington.
“We are doing this tour so we can find stories that are not often told,” said Marc Janks, HuffPost’s director of multimedia. “We just want to listen to people in those cities across America.”
Most political candidates bypass Atlanta Streets Alive on Sunday
The crowd at this Sunday’s Atlanta Streets Alive won’t get to meet many political candidates. Just 21 of more than 100 candidates for Atlanta City Hall and Atlanta Board of Education have applied to participate, including just three of 13 mayoral candidates, according to the event’s website on Friday afternoon.
Arthur Blank and Tony Ressler privately present their visions for downtown revitalization
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Atlanta Hawks owner Tony Ressler both made presentations to the high-powered Atlanta Committee for Progress Friday morning.
The two team owners revealed their vision on how development and community revitalization around their sports facilities could transform downtown Atlanta.
The closed meeting, held in Cox Enterprises offices in Ponce City Market, included many of top business leaders in the Atlanta region as well as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
Atlanta City Council candidate profiles: District 2
Parts of Atlanta from Downtown to Little Five Points are going to get a new City Council member in an election this year that’s attracted more than $200,000 in donations, and talk about affordability, homelessness, taxes and planning.
Trees Atlanta hosts tree protection event as city embarks on redo of tree ordinance
As Atlanta city officials look to revamp the city’s tree ordinance, Trees Atlanta is hosting more than 100 folks at a conference where they are slated to hear practical advice on how to become effective advocates for the city’s tree canopy.
Atlanta ethics board: not changing mind on tickets for development agency
Atlanta’s Board of Ethics has voted not to reconsider a 2013 opinion that says the city’s development agency can’t get free premium tickets to Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Invest Atlanta board signals approval for bonds, breaks for Turner Field builds
The first phase of Turner Field redevelopment looks to be on track for city bonds and tax abatements after votes by the board of Atlanta’s development authority.
At large Atlanta City Council race attracts high-profile support
The race for Atlanta City Council between incumbent Michael Julian Bond and challenger Courtney English has attracted thousands of dollars in donations and now some well-known supporters.
Atlanta’s GM for road, transit projects appointed to board of newly retooled GRTA
Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed Atlanta’s chief of road and transportation construction projects to the board that oversees GRTA, which advises on Xpress bus service in metro Atlanta and authorizes state and federal spending on transportation in metro Atlanta.
Atlanta mayoral hopefuls talk traffic, transit fixes
Last year, Atlanta voters approved new sales taxes to pay for transportation and transit builds. This year, mayoral candidates are talking about what they would do in a city that’s raising cash, is predicting a lot of new residents and that aims to attract big employers.
Atlanta City Council candidate profiles: District 1
In one of the more crowded races for Atlanta City Council this year, five folks including the incumbent are looking for votes in parts of southeast Atlanta from Downtown to Lakewood.
Atlanta City Council candidate profiles: Post 2 at large
The race for a vacant at large City Council seat has attracted three men who are talking about ideas like free pre-K, decriminalizing marijuana and building a more equitable Atlanta.
Perdue tours Irma-damaged farms as his policy focus remains funding to fight fires
As U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue tours storm-damaged farms in Georgia today, his broader focus is on changing fiscal policy that seems to have contributed to the record-breaking wildfires out west – more than 2.2 million acres of national forest lands have burned as of Thursday.
