The issue of who should control the Atlanta Streetcar – Atlanta or MARTA – emerged as a flash point Wednesday between some Atlanta city councilmembers and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration during a talk about the future of the streetcar amid a $2.5 billion proposal to expand transit in the city.
Tag: politics
Posted inLatest News
Atlanta weighs guidelines for proposed transportation taxes, deadline on Atlanta Streetcar
Atlanta’s project list for the possible 1 percent hike in the city’s sales tax, to expand transit and transportation, may be devised and implemented under guidelines the Atlanta City Council’s Transportation Committee is slated to discuss Wednesday.
Posted inColumns
Fate of Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System as much a topic as fate of Central Library
The fate of the Central Library in Downtown Atlanta will be the red herring at a meeting Tuesday. The real issue that’s not on the agenda is much more significant – the long-term viability of the Atlanta-Fulton Pubic Library System.
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Underground Atlanta sale enabled by golf course swap; continues sale of city assets
The Atlanta City Council voted Monday for a plan that enables the sale of Underground Atlanta to a developer. The plan calls for the city to deed over to the state of Georgia the Bobby Jones Golf Course.
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GSU economist predicts Fed won’t hike rates; local job gains remain muted
The head of Georgia State University’s Economic Forecasting Center has discounted the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at meetings next week.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta expands Better Buildings Challenge to homes in low income neighborhoods
A home south of Turner Field could well be the poster child for a new Atlanta program that aims to help low income residents reduce energy payments, which can consume up to 20 percent of their household income.
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At minimum wage, rent for one bedroom apartment requires an 87-hour work week
Yet another report on the high cost of housing in metro Atlanta, this one released Wednesday, shows that a person earning minimum wage would have to work 87 hours a week to afford the rent on a one bedroom apartment.
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Atlanta airport concessions contracts linger as mayor releases airport GM
The backlog of requests for proposals at Atlanta’s airport includes nine RFPs for food and beverage concessions, including four that date to October 2015. An RFP for a firm to audit concessionaires, to ensure the airport collects all the money it’s due, remains open though it was first issued in September 2015, city records show.
Posted inColumns
Recent firings by Mayor Reed a contrast to Atlanta City Hall under Maynard Jackson
After the news broke of the Friday firings of two key officials from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration, once again I was struck by how much City Hall has changed over the years.
On May 20, Reed parted ways with Miguel Southwell, aviation general manager who was in charge of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport; and Jo Ann Macrina, commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management.
Posted inColumns
Atlanta’s proposed transportation taxes: Views from local, national observers
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed embraces a proposed $2.5 billion transit sales tax before his administration has time to complete a pending update of the city’s comprehensive transportation plan. Two distinct observers – one local, one national – say the process raises some troubling issues.
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Zika virus under attack in Fulton County, though method may not work
Fulton County is taking traditional steps to combat mosquitoes that carry the zika virus, even as controversy over containment methods and funding roils in Congress and the Florida keys.
Posted inColumns
Too much blight, too little low-cost housing: New research could inform debate
Atlanta has too many blighted neighborhoods and too little affordable housing. Now, a raft of research has been released to inform policy makers who want to address the challenges.
Posted inColumns
GDOT’s comprehensive study of Northside Drive already rousing concerns
Northside Drive from I-75 to I-20 is the subject of a comprehensive state study into ways to reshape it to meet travel needs of the next two decades – plans that once suggested redoing the interchange at I-20 and still have MARTA buses serving the corridor.
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Refugee crisis deepens as doctors, hospitals and children attacked
Global health leaders convened in Atlanta to help raise an alarm of the dangers of the ongoing refugee crisis.
The issue has become especially acute because now doctors, health professionals and hospitals are becoming targets – as evidenced by the airstrike on a hospital in Aleppo – killing 14 people, including the most qualified pediatrician in Syria’s largest city.
Posted inDavid Pendered, Latest News, Main Slider
Atlanta City Council closes loophole that benefited developers of luxury apartments
The Atlanta City Council voted Monday to close a loophole that enabled apartment developers to use government subsidies to build luxury apartments in Atlanta without reserving any units for lower income residents, in violation of the city’s practice.
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Atlanta council to vote on proposal targeting financing of apartments to boost affordable housing
Atlanta is poised to start down a path that will lead to a requirement for all homes built in the city with subsidies from local governments provide more homes for people with low to moderate incomes.
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An emotional Mayor Kasim Reed signs lease to keep Delta here for 20 years
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was overcome with emotion during the public signing of the city’s 20-year lease agreement with Delta Air Lines – a lease that also includes a 10-year optional extension.
The mayor’s voice quivered as he fought back tears talking about one of his closest confidants and friends in Atlanta’s business community – Delta CEO Richard Anderson.
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Safe streets groups call for upgrade after impaired driver hits three pupils
Three “safe streets” organizations in Atlanta have expressed condolences to the families of youngsters who were killed or injured by an alleged heroin-impaired driver on April 15. They say the incident reminds of the need to create safer places to walk and bicycle in Atlanta.
Posted inColumns
Local governments should collaborate on transit, transportation network
After many months debating the merits of MARTA’s traffic mitigation, the mayors of 14 Fulton County cities are working together to put a special local options sales tax for transportation (T-SPLOST) referendum on the November ballot. Ultimately, the mayors elected to focus on road spending.
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Census director to visit Atlanta, offer ideas on using commute data in transportation decisions
The director of the U.S. Census is to visit Atlanta Wednesday to talk with local transportation officials about how commuting data collected by the Census could inform policy decisions about transportation needs, according to an alert from the Census.
