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Posted inDavid Pendered

Comedy or tragedy? Fulton legislative meeting heralds new era in county politics, government, civic theater

by David Pendered

The latest act in the civic theater that is Fulton County began Thursday in a crowded room on the fourth floor of Georgia’s Capitol.

Republican lawmakers sat quietly while an hour’s worth of speakers protested Republican proposals to change what has been the natural order of the county – at least, it was the natural order before Republicans took effective control of the county’s legislative delegation this year.

The chorus in this case could do little to relieve tension, but the 75 who gathered certainly helped establish the mood. There were few smiles among the crowd of lawyers and lobbyists, community advocates and union reps, preachers and seniors – many of whom are familiar faces at meetings of the county commission and Atlanta City Council.

Posted inTom Baxter

The ethics dilemma: How to get doing right, right

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

It seems to be a matter of widespread agreement that the best thing about this year’s legislative session is the pace at which it’s clicking along. The General Assembly is on track to adjourn on the earliest date in years, which gives citizen legislators more time to make a living and unnecessary, often bad bills less time to sprout and grow.

So how has this beneficial improvement come to pass? It’s hard not to credit it at least in part to one of the most widely deplored deals in years: the arrangement by which former Senate majority leader Chip Rogers left the legislature to take a job with Georgia Public Broadcasting at a salary of $150,000 — more than the yearly salary of the governors of 40 states, including Georgia. A pretty penny, but it was deemed to be the price of removing the logjam in the state Senate, paving the way for the speedy passage of the hospital bed tax and a short session.

Posted inSaba Long

Open U.S. Senate seat could have a domino effect on Georgia politics

by Saba Long

For a few politicians and political advisors, the past few days have been filled with rapid fire text messages and battery-draining cell phone calls about the biggest news to impact metro Atlanta in quite a while — the 2014 election to replace retiring U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss.

The first — and only to date — polls released jointly by political consulting firms H.E.G. and Apache just hours after the announcement already has Georgia Republicans and Democrats strategizing on how to ensure their party secures the open seat.

Posted inLatest News

Gov. Nathan Deal: Would be nice if legislature didn’t have to vote on Falcons stadium-GWCCA bonds

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

Gov. Nathan Deal confirmed Friday morning that the Atlanta Falcons and the state are exploring options that would not require approval from the state legislature.

But Deal said it is too early to know whether that would be possible.

“We are sort of in a waiting period right now,” Deal said after a press conference announcing a major expansion of AirWatch’s operations in the Atlanta region.

Posted inDavid Pendered

Atlanta audit: Lax records of $128,000 gift card program likely means no sanctions likely

by David Pendered

Atlanta city departments have spent at least $128,000 on gift cards for city employees to boost their morale, and record keeping was so lax that there’s no way to tell if there were any wrongdoing, according to a new audit by the city auditor.

The audit – to be presented formally on Tuesday to the Atlanta City Council – makes two recommendations to get a handle on the situation. The responsible parties agree with the recommendations: The COO and commissioner of human resources in one instance; and the COO and chief procurement officer in the other.

The gift card program was intended to raise morale among city employees during an era when they had gone for years without raises, according to comments by city COO Duriya Farooqui that were posted on myfoxatlanta.com in October.

Posted inLatest News

11th Circuit Court upholds earlier ruling against Homeless Task Force

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The Eleventh Circuit U.S. District Court has upheld a lower court ruling giving the City of Atlanta a major victory in the federal case involving the Metropolitan Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless.

The ruling was released today — Jan. 15 — nearly 16 months after U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash had ruled in favor of the city in every element of the lawsuit. Click here for earlier SaportaReport story on Judge Thrash’s ruling on Sept. 22, 2011.

It is yet one more legal decision that has been handed down against the Task Force, which continues to occupy the Peachtree-Pine building in downtown Atlanta.

Posted inTom Baxter

The wacky doo legislature comes back to town

Avatar photo by Tom Baxter

In his eulogy for Herman Talmadge, Sam Nunn told the story of a visit to the senior senator’s office not long after Nunn had been elected to the U.S. Senate. Talmadge inquired of his young colleague whether he’d answered all his constituents’ letters, and Nunn replied that he had, with the exception of a few “nuts” who had written to him about tin foil and flying saucers.

Talmadge gave him a stern look and reached for the spitoon he kept by his desk.

“If you can’t win the nut vote,” he said, “You’re not going to carry a county in Georgia.”

That anecdote drew a rollicking response back in 2002. I imagine if a similar story were told at the funeral of some prominent politician today, it would still get a laugh, but it would be a more nervous laughter. The nuts have gone from being key to getting elected, to getting elected themselves.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

While battling Vietnam scars, memoirist receives nearly $5,000 in city water fight

by Michelle Hiskey

While Christal Presley was uncovering her and her father’s scars from his service in Vietnam, she also ended up unearthing subterranean trouble familiar to other city of Atlanta homeowners:

Water meter problems.

Despite minimal water each month, and even in a city beset by the highest combined water and sewage bills in the country, Presley’s bills were about double her neighbors’.

To write her book and solve her water problems, she had to probe what for too long had seemed normal.

Answers came from questioning authorities – first her own father, and then the city of Atlanta.

Posted inLatest News

City of Atlanta develops plan for spending its 15 percent of region’s transportation tax

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

When metro Atlanta voters go to the polls on July 31 to vote on a one-penny regional sales tax for transportation for the next 10 years, they will be voting for two pots of money.

One pot — $6.14 billion (or 85 percent of what would be collected) — would go to a list a projects approved by the Atlanta Regional Roundtable, of which 52 percent will go towards transit projects.

The other pot is for the remaining 15 percent, which would total about $1.1 billion, would be distributed to the region’s local governments to spend on their own transportation projects.

Posted inLatest News

Georgia Rep. Stephanie Benfield to become GreenLaw’s executive director

Avatar photo by Maria Saporta

By Maria Saporta

The environmentally-focused law firm — GreenLaw — has hired a new executive director.

Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, a DeKalb representative of Georgia General Assembly since 1999, will become GreenLaw’s executive on April 9.

The news was announced in an email to GreenLaw’s friends Wednesday by Greg Presmanes, who is chairman of GreenLaw’s board.

“I am so excited that Stephanie will be leading our team forward into its third decade of giving Georgia’s environment its day in court,” Presmanes said.

Posted inMichelle Hiskey

Jimmy Carter, Jason Carter inspired by matriarchs and family values

by Michelle Hiskey

The two men, connected by a last name and DNA, separated by two generations and different dreams, together reflected on the forces that have driven their family.

Driven Jimmy Carter past national vilification for his presidential failures, driven him into the humanitarian work that has changed the world, and driven his grandson to appreciate the example set by the older generations – especially the women behind the men.

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