The Atlanta Streetcar will be free to ride through 2015 because there is no economical way to collect a fare. That’s because MARTA’s Breeze card technology isn’t feasible to use, Atlanta’s commissioner of the Public Works Department said Wednesday.
Tag: Mayor Kasim Reed
Posted inColumns, David Pendered, Main Slider
Airport’s $1 billion expansion may be managed by two firms based in ATL, one in NYC
Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration has recommended the $1 billion expansion of Atlanta’s airport be overseen by Parsons Brinkerhoff, Inc., H.J. Russell & Co., and Heery International.
Posted inWABE
City Of Atlanta pulls support for Nobel Peace Prize Summit
Original Story on WABE Maria Saporta speaks with WABE’s Amy Kiley about the city’s pullout from summit preparations. More than 20 Nobel Peace Prize laureates are scheduled to meet in Atlanta this November, but it looks like city leaders won’t be in the welcome party. Mayor Kasim Reed has withdrawn the city of Atlanta’s involvement in […]
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Atlanta’s civic leaders celebrate Charlie Loudermilk at opening of Loudermilk Park
Charlie Loudermilk and John Portman sat shoulder to shoulder on a brilliant Tuesday in Atlanta as civic leaders thanked Loudermilk for his public service before cutting the ribbon on the Charlie Loudermilk Park.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Mayor Reed’s office responds to report on proposed sustainability ordinance
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration has what it describes as, “serious concerns over the accuracy of claims made,” in a March 24 report of an Atlanta City Council committee meeting on the administration’s proposed sustainability program for commercial buildings. The following is the complete text of a column produced by Denise Quarles, director of the city’s Office of Sustainability, in response to the story:
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Potential Atlanta mayoral candidates discuss design, development issues with AIA
For more than two hours Thursday evening, four potential candidates for Atlanta mayor in 2017 discussed the city’s design and development issues in a panel discussion hosted by Atlanta’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Mayor Reed’s legacy list grows as Wall Street approves city’s course
Following voter approval of Tuesday’s $250 million bond referendum, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed can add the improvement of Atlanta’s roads, bridges, sidewalks, and public facilities to his lengthening legacy list.
As Reed begins his sixth year as mayor, legacies of his tenure include:
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Atlanta Jazz Festival: Flag flap more symbolic than significant
A tussle over banners for the Atlanta Jazz Festival may be emerging between the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Atlanta City Councilmember Joyce Sheperd.
Compared to other issues percolating in Atlanta City Hall, the banner flap may be more symbolic than significant.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider, Topics
Good news on Atlanta’s water debt may raise support for bond referendum
Atlanta’s upcoming $250 million bond referendum could get a political lift from positive credit rating actions on the city’s water bonds.
Moody’s Investors Service assigned a top investment grade rating to $1.25 billion in water bonds the city intends to sell Feb. 24. Atlanta will use the money to refinance existing debt at a lower cost.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Reed seeks to boost IT sector; lawyers say it’s ready to grow, create diverse jobs
Technology already is a thriving industry in metro Atlanta, and it came as no surprise when Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday he plans to promote the sector by keeping more technology graduates in the city.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Dallas-Fort Worth stakes claim as a place with a shared civic vision
A full-page ad that ran last week in The Wall Street Journal promotes Dallas-Fort Worth as a unified region at a time metro Atlanta is still defining a shared civic vision.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Dallas-Fort Worth stakes claim as a place with a shared civic vision
A full-page ad that ran last week in The Wall Street Journal promotes the Dallas-Fort Worth region as a “well-oiled machine” that’s becoming known as “the DFW.”
This type of ad is about more than regional bragging rights. It speaks to the very real economic competition between two mega regions anchored by Dallas-Fort Worth and metro Atlanta, the later being a place where many are careful not to refer to the region as the ATL.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta could clear $10 million from sale of Underground Atlanta
Atlanta could clear about $10 million from the sale of Underground Atlanta if the deal goes through as expected.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta seeks ideas to cash in on public domain in busy parts of city
Atlanta city officials are to meet Tuesday with vendors to begin the process of monetizing the public space in order to generate up to $5 million a year.
The idea is for Atlanta to collect fees for allowing private companies to install “amenities” in commercial areas. Boston is cited as one example of the concept, for its $21 million, 20-year contract for advertising on street furniture.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Mayor Reed appoints Dan Halpern to serve on Airport West CID board
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has appointed Dan Halpern, a politically influential Atlanta businessman whom Reed previously placed on the board of the Atlanta Housing Authority, to represent Atlanta on the board of the Airport West Community Improvement District.
This CID was formed earlier this year to promote a region west of the airport. The CID’s board approved in June an annual budget of $1.6 million to fund various planned improvements.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta to OK 10-year-old cabs, maybe renew 2011 effort to upgrade taxis with GPS, credit card apps
Atlanta will continue to allow 10-year-old taxis to operate in the city under legislation slated for adoption Monday by the Atlanta City Council.
This is to be the fourth waiver of the age limit on the city’s taxi fleet since Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration began an effort in July 2011 to clean and modernize the city’s fleet of up to 1,600 vehicles for hire.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Dreams of jobs training hit reality; Atlanta vows it won’t surrender
Less than 10 percent of those who applied for a job-training program initiated by Falcons team owner Arthur Blank passed the drug test required for acceptance to the program, according to Atlanta City Councilmember Ivory L. Young, Jr.
Young cited the figure to illustrate the challenge of job training for individuals who have troubles past or present. Of 160 applicants, 18 were accepted, he said.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Atlanta “showing signs” of economic recovery, credit outlook improved, says report with regional implications
The city of Atlanta is “showing signs” that it is rebounding from the recession, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.
Among the signs Moody’s identifies: The tax base is inching up; foreclosures are down to pre-recession levels; the unemployment rate is still stuck above 10 percent, but city officials attributed it to people moving here to look for work rather than to locals unable to find a job.
The report could be a guide in gauging the economy in other parts of the region, though Moody’s did examine only the city of Atlanta in order to rate the credit of a $60 million bond package Atlanta plans to sell Oct. 28.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Tyler Perry hearing involves high flyers of Atlanta’s bar debating rights to build studios at Ft. McPherson
A star-studded group of lawyers is set to appear Friday in federal court in Atlanta to begin the debate over whether Tyler Perry got a sweetheart deal to buy most of Fort McPherson to build a film studio.
Positioned against Perry as the plaintiff’s lawyer is Tony Axam, a noted death penalty attorney who once was called to serve on the defense team of convicted serial killer Wayne Williams – until Williams fired him without explanation at the outset. Axam specializes in complex business litigation, as well as capital and criminal defense.
Leading Perry’s defense is Larry Dingle, a former Atlanta police officer who earned his law degree from Georgia State and rose through the ranks at Atlanta City Hall during the terms of former mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young to the positions of department head and city clerk. Dingle specializes in local government law and land use.
Posted inMichelle Hiskey
As ground breaks for new Braves park, risk rises for men of iron
Shovels were a sign of excitement at last week’s groundbreaking for the new Atlanta Braves stadium in Cobb County, but they also recalled the grave dug for Jack Falls, who died in a construction accident on the old stadium.
He was killed in 1995 when a light tower he was working on collapsed at the Olympic Stadium, which became Turner Field. An engineer had miscalculated the load that the tower could bear. His family recently recovered a stone plaque from Turner Field that marks his legacy.
