What Shirley Franklin said about the mayor’s race
Shirley Franklin has much to say over the next 71 days. But she won’t be pushed. The mayor of Atlanta will say what she wants, when she wants, or not at all.
Last week, Franklin went before the Hungry Club for the eighth and final time as the beflowered ruler of City Hall.
For 64 years, the Hungry Club – a creation of the Butler Street YMCA – has served as the monthly venue where black and white Atlanta has discussed, and sometimes disarmed, the explosive issues of the day.
It was an audience attuned to the fact that Franklin holds one of the last shoes yet to drop in the race to replace her. (Another belongs to U.S. Rep. John Lewis.) A videographer for the Kasim Reed campaign trained a small camera on Franklin and waited.
But the mayor announced she had no intention of making an endorsement. “Today,” she added.
Instead, Franklin continued to build her case against front-runner Mary Norwood, whose chances of becoming Atlanta’s first white mayor in more than three decades remain steady.
Franklin did not mention Norwood by name, nor by race. The mayor’s entry point was Atlanta’s famous – and useful – talent for amnesia. “We look back just enough to understand what has gotten us into either our predicament or opportunity,” she said.
Atlanta’s past great leaders “did not dwell on the mistakes. And they sure didn’t do any paid advertising to tell folks about it,” Franklin said.
Laughter grew as the audience put two and two together. Norwood is the only candidate in the mayoral race with TV ads making serious attacks on the status quo at City Hall.
Norwood has repeatedly said her ability to make decisions during her two terms on the City Council has been restrained by her inability to get coherent and accurate financial data from city departments.
“An elected official who tells you they can only do good work when they are elected to a particular position and haven’t done it before, you’re going to get exactly what they’ve done before,” Franklin said. “Bad leadership continues in elected office.”
Conventional wisdom holds that the Atlanta mayoral race is headed for a post-Thanksgiving runoff. Norwood is a near-certain lock. The question is whether Reed, who twice served as Franklin’s campaign manager, or City Council President Lisa Borders will survive.
Yet Franklin even played coy about dipping into the runoff. “People are already calling me to ask if I will come to a luncheon or breakfast for healing on Nov. 6,” she said. The mayor conceded that her calendar was open. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to waste my time.”
You have to think that Shirley Franklin is feeling a bit wounded this season. Norwood isn’t alone. Borders and Reed also call for changes in her City Hall.
But eight years ago, as the woman who was not Bill Campbell, Franklin was the toast of Atlanta – the candidate who pledged to fix the sewers and banish corruption.
The sewers have been fixed, mostly. And despite any accusations of inefficiency or incompetence, Franklin’s administration has been largely free of backroom dealing.
To the Hungry Club, Franklin emphasized her legacy of a cleaner City Hall.
She told of the many gifts she’s been given as mayor. “Jewelry, scarves, handbags, all kinds of things. They are numbered and entered into a system, and they belong to the city of Atlanta,” she said. “Some folks say that I stretched it too far.”
But ethics are a foundation of good decision-making, she insisted. “You can’t get the kind of investment of resources and money and time from the private sector, the public sector, or any sector if there is a hint of favoritism, cronyism, [or] nepotism.”
At the end of her self-assessment, Franklin addressed the frustrations that came with being Atlanta’s first femalewoman mayor. Early on, her age was included in every article, it seemed. The mediapress treated her ex-husband, whom she divorced in 1986, as if the couple were still married, the mayor declared.
But most surprising was Franklin’s answer to her own implied question: Was the game worth the candle? The mayor said no.
In 2008, Franklin’s grown daughter was sentenced to three years probation, after pleading guilty to one count of illegally structuring a financial transaction. The charge grew out of a federal investigation into her ex-husband’s drug operation. But for her mother being mayor of Atlanta, the media would have ignored the marital debacle.
“I have said to close friends that, if I had known the exposure my family would have to the media, I would have never run,” Franklin said. “It’s the truth. It is the truth.”
The mayor wasn’t quite finished. “The media today is celebrity-driven, and anyone associated with a public figure is fair game,” Franklin said. “This won’t be the last time I have something to say. I’m waiting until Jan. 4 or 5.”
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76 comments Add your comment
Mary
October 24th, 2009
3:15 pm
Hopefully we don’t have Mary Norwood’s incompetence in office next:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS0ekhf6PHM
Krooked Kasim
October 24th, 2009
3:16 pm
http://www.notkasim.blogspot.com
Sally
October 24th, 2009
3:17 pm
lol hilarious video, Mary. I see she’s paying off corrupt black politicians now – Glenn Thomas, Ralph Long, etc. It’s crazy what some will do for money.
Shin Jasher
October 24th, 2009
3:18 pm
Lisa Borders can’t win and this is why: http://therealtruthaboutborders.wordpress.com
Georgia Brown
October 24th, 2009
3:20 pm
Sally,
Don’t forget Able Mable. Mary’s buying up all the blacks! Lord help us Lincoln!
Year of the Rat
October 24th, 2009
3:22 pm
Glenn Thomas is a clown. The only thing he got out of running for mayor was debt. Hence, why he couldn’t qualify and why he’s now supporting Norwood $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Buzz
October 24th, 2009
3:28 pm
Shirley Franklin is only considered a good mayor because those that came before her in recent years were either crooks or even more incompetent.
And I find it hard to believe she won’t endorse her former campaign manager, Kasim Reed.
What has Shirley accomplished, other than staying out of jail?
All I'm Saying Is...
October 24th, 2009
3:43 pm
Wow! That youtube video of Norwood Unfiltered is scathingly hilarious—-she does not have a clue and comes across as an inarticulate air-head and not anyone I’d vote for mayor.
And Buzz you are right in that Bill Campbell makes Shirley look good but she had a solid first term well deserving and earning re-election. Not really aware of what her goals were going into her second term and, as a result, the perception of her changed. Not sure why she is so thin-skinned about prospective successors criticizing the term-limited incumbent: that’s how the game has always been played.
Georgia Brown
October 24th, 2009
3:46 pm
Shirley should be taking much bigger swings at Mary. The whole reason Mary is in contention and significantly leading is because she throws Shirley under the bus every chance she can. Her whole platform is “Trust me, because I haven’t had access to data, because Shirley wouldn’t look at me for the last 8 years, and because I don’t have the skills, I’m just going to bash the entire administration before me and blame them for everything that is wrong.” Dammit, it is working! Mary has taken ZERO responsibility for the mess Atlanta is in and that is wrong. The only good job she has done is distance herself from Shirley and Kasim (the Machine).
Sweet Mama!
October 24th, 2009
3:56 pm
This Just In! A New Norwood Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koAFMYEvzXc
These are coming out like hotcakes now that she has a chance of winning. Dang Mary, you have rustled sum feathers sista!
Tea 4 2
October 24th, 2009
4:04 pm
What has Shirley accomplished, other than staying out of jail?
so far
Midtowner
October 24th, 2009
4:06 pm
“In 2008, Franklin’s grown daughter was sentenced to three years probation, after pleading guilty to one count of illegally structuring a financial transaction. The charge grew out of a federal investigation into her ex-husband’s drug operation. But for her mother being mayor of Atlanta, the media would have ignored the marital debacle.”
WTF. This paragraph is a joke, right? Or are you, dear sir, that much in the pocket of the mayor’s machine?
The “financial transaction” was knowingly avoiding rules regarding wiring money – to her drug-dealer husband who was a kingpin in one of the city’s biggest cocaine rings (!) – her hubby, who WAS LIVING IN THE MAYOR’S HOUSE WHEN HE SKIPPED BOND AND FLED TO CALIFORNIA !! And the rumor was/is that the money was getting laundred thru Shirley’s husband’s business at the airport, via dear daughter… and wasn’t it convenient that dear father/husband upped and kicked the bucket when he did…
Black Family Mafia. Heard of ‘em? Even if he wasn’t married to the Mayor’s daughter, their huge presence and connection with the murder in Virginia Highlands would still have landed the business in the paper. Maybe not the AJC, but other news organizations would have carried it.
Oh, and how come every audit Shirley ordered was promptly buried as soon as the data should have come out?
Shirly ran the airport, learned at the feet of the master, and is as corrupt as they come.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
October 24th, 2009
4:13 pm
For a number of different reasons the Syndicate was slow to make inroads in Dixie/Atlanta.
Angela Gittens – Top Flight Airport Manager unwilling to play kickbacks, OUT – lighter-skinned manager of Mob-run (per multiple TV newsmagazine hidden camera expose pieces) Newark Airport, IN
Philly judge’s daughter’s campaign manager keeps getting money from Philly.
Hmmm.
Politico
October 24th, 2009
4:23 pm
I am now completely convinced that Shirley Franklin is indeed delusional.
For The People - ALL the people
October 24th, 2009
4:42 pm
Of all people I would never ever have thought Shirley Franklin to be racist – but she sure fooled me. Shirley – I had so much respect for you over the years but your comments have really taken alot of that respect away.
AH
October 24th, 2009
5:09 pm
So Obama can bash Bush as an election strategy and is a genius but when Norwood does the same to Franklin she is an idiot?
GetReal
October 24th, 2009
5:18 pm
@For the people – ALL the people
What was racist about Mayor Franklin’s comments? She just called Mary out for her blather. The problem with some of YOU people is you can’t stand a strong woman telling you like it is.
Come correct next time with a more substantive candidate and watch that candidate win. White or black. Atlanta voters are smart.
Shananeeeee Fananeeeeeee
October 24th, 2009
5:19 pm
She is corrupt just like Obama.
Chris Murphy, Atlanta, GA
October 24th, 2009
5:20 pm
Shirley did some good things, but Midtowner is absolutely right: her daughter’s dealings would have received MORE press had she not been the mayor’s daughter. That case and the tentacles that got hacked off in the investigation deserve their own Federal inquiry.
Even a busted clock is right twice a day, Shirley- maybe you ought to think some more before you decide you hold all the cards.
Politics At Its Finest
October 24th, 2009
5:25 pm
I think there is a reason Franklin has been mum on who she wants to fill her shoes…
An endorsement is not always a good thing when popularity is down and drama is up.
I am sure Reed or Borders would appreciate a vote…. but not a public one.
North Fulton
October 24th, 2009
6:50 pm
Franklins endorsement does not matter. She’s a cooked useless goose. She needs to keep her mouth shut and step aside. Kasim Reed will be the next mayor. Franklin had her chance to support him and she didn’t. See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.
Burroughston Broch
October 24th, 2009
6:57 pm
Shirley’s not ruffling feathers (at least not black feathers) because she is looking for power after City Hall. Look for a spot in the Obama administration.
Truth be told
October 24th, 2009
7:38 pm
Franklin did withhold critical financial information from council and cooked the books to hide the corruption that has been going on at City Hall for decades. She continued to feed the bond lawyers and developers with connections to the Jackson machine. Most of city council went along quietly and nodded their acquiessence in order to stay in good favor with the controller of city services.
But Mary called it like it was and that’s why Franklin’s handmaiden Borders marginalized her committee appointments. In spite of that, Mary showed up at important committee meetings and participated as a non-voting member and pushed through some important legislation.
Reed and Borders are the guardians of the status quo that has drained city coffers of the resources needed to provide public safety and basic services. Mary is the change agent, and Lord do we need a change in Atlanta.
Base
October 24th, 2009
8:16 pm
Shirley is incompetent, the sooner she leaves the better.Maybe she can get a job with Obama.
Don't Be Mad !
October 24th, 2009
8:23 pm
Mary Norwood DID NOT pay Glenn Thomas anything for his endorsement. Check your facts, figures, ‘the’ disclosures and your sources. The city of Atlanta is ready to take back our government from the “Friends Club…Franklin, Reed, Borders, Maddox, Shepard, etc.” Glenn Thomas speaks loudly for a large group of voters…they are called community folk!
Keith
October 24th, 2009
8:25 pm
@Sally-
In what way is Ralph Long corrupt? I’ve only known him to be a hard working and sincere State Rep. What do you know?
Keith
October 24th, 2009
8:29 pm
Sally-
In what way is Ralph Long corrupt? Because he didn’t endorse your candidate? I’ve only known Long to be a hard-working and sincere state rep. What is this corruption you’re talking about?
Jasmine
October 24th, 2009
8:31 pm
Corrupt is installing your brother as the head of minority contract compliance. Corrupt is rewarding your political donors with airport contractors. Corrupt is serving on the transition team that appoints a police chief so inept that a man can be shot 31 TIMES IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.
Wow
October 24th, 2009
8:46 pm
Does it occur to Shirley that people might want a candidate who is not touting the status quo? Norwoods anti city hall speak is possibly what most people want. Amazing. It’s along the same lines that President Obama won the Democratic Primary because he WAS NOT a Clinton.
Piedmont
October 24th, 2009
8:52 pm
Here is a question “Dear Voters.”
Is it better to have a corrupt felon as your Mayor?
Or an incompetent with a cloth flower affixed to a dress who hasn’t been seen in local neighborhoods in years? Oh, did I mention she comes with a detached, hapless police cheif ? Lord Pennington makes Beverly Howard look like Dick Tracy.
Midtowner
October 24th, 2009
9:00 pm
I heard a wiff of rumor some months back that the Shirley was up for an Obama-admin position, but after the Feds started/did their vetting, things quitely did not come to pass. Let’s her it for the BFM and whatever else did NOT make the paper…If she was going to get a position, it would have happened back when…
What i really want to know is why is my favorite local nut case Able Mable backing Norwood… What on earth did Borders/Reed do to drive her over to the dark/white side? It must have been a lulu for her to grind her ax that much in public.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
October 24th, 2009
9:09 pm
Norwood obviously bought Ralph Long, cheap. No doubt Mable was also for sale.
drsoul
October 24th, 2009
9:17 pm
As to her daughter, the apple does not fall far from the tree..look at both parents.. Shirley and Obama, to use another phrase are ‘two peas in a pod’…to wind up in his administration will only serve to endorse all of the negatives of her own time spent in City Hall.. she had good former teachers; why would she be any different, only more devious in a quiet way.. this city has not progressed one inch under Franklin.. there are many financial issues not answered and manipulated… Norwood does not mind challenging the ’status quo’ and stirring up the embedded trickery of the books… they need a good ‘housecleaning’ at City Hall and to erase the names of the last few administrations to give Atlanta the respect it deserves..!!!!
Lewis
October 24th, 2009
9:18 pm
The above article quotes Shirley Franklin as saying:
“I have said to close friends that, if I had known the exposure my family would have to the media, I would have never run…. It’s the truth. It is the truth.”
Let’s all remember this quote when, for example, John Lewis decides to retire. Methinks it is just one more example of never being able to believe what Shirley Franklin is saying when her mouth is moving.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
October 24th, 2009
10:24 pm
Birds of Feather flock together: Andrew Young (and his brother); Jackson; Campbell and Franklin.
Maybe Shirley’s father was hooked up with the Mob in Philadelphia, one of Rome’s bastions in America: Read where he took it upon himself to save the lives of a number of convicted Mafia murderers http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/07/us/judge-bars-a-death-penalty-for-philadelphia-mob-leader.html
What kind of father could he have been as Shirley’s marriage to an “out” gay man only suffered, in her words, from “money problems.”
The sins of the parents…and her daughter winds up married to a murderous drug lord.
OTOH Mary Bush’s cousins killed John Kennedy and committed 9/11 and have been Rockefeller and papal vassals for over five generations, as key players in the Roman Anti-Christ’s treasonous “Fifth Column” in America.
Norwood’s part of it, as is Kasim Reed.
Borders is from a good and decent family and is blessed with a son out of Georgia State.
Let’s make Lisa Mayor of Atlanta and help her help us continue to keep Our Town the best place to live, work and raise children in the world.
Teela
October 24th, 2009
11:57 pm
Shirley’s family connections, corruption through the BFM, her daughter…and little was said by any media outfit except….”Creative Loafing”.
yes, I heard the same thing: Shirley was being considered for some position in Obama’s realm, but the money laundering of her daughter, the corruption of City Hall here, the ineffectiveness of her attempt to back off Campbell…well, she is far too corrupt to be in place for much…and yes, watch when Lewis retires….and why the hell does David Scott even exist ??? That is one black politician that takes his ‘entitlement’ far too seriously. He hasn’t…along with Shirley, dropped into the ‘hood in years.
Pennington is a joke….and Shirley was so foaming at the mouth to get him placed…and look what a dude he turned out to be. Go back to New Orleans, Richard. See what you haven’t done there nor here.
WTH is Mary doing with a politician like Mable? That woman is another Joyce Shepard, and probably as crooked. It’s another slum dynasty both of them are running out of the hood.
Mary? You lie down with dogs like this and you get up with fleas.
Shame on you. You slipped a lot in my estimation with that last trick.
And Ralph Long??? I don’t know about corruption, but the man is a hound dog. Another black politician who floundered around in life and decided to set his ass on a leather chair for as long as he could.
PolitOracle
October 24th, 2009
11:59 pm
Mary Norwood has not served Atlanta communities. She has pandered to and bought SOME neighborhood leadership, who can be as selfish as any politician. Any INSIDER watching Norwood’s Beautiful restaurant video can spot many of Atlanta’s neighborhood “leaders”, Most of these people are good people, but some are power-hungry folks that are disgruntled that the city, county and any other gov’t entity doesn’t bend over backwards for every demand they make, no matter how far-fetched they may be. I am a smart voter and will tell you that Mary WONT be our mayor. Not because she’s white, or a woman, but because she’s an ambulance chaser and reactor not a forward thinking or smart leader. Did I mention she’s a major panderer? She really doesn’t do well in the room with smart, independent people (white, black or other). FINAL THOUGHT: For every disgruntled, so-called neighborhood leader, there are 20 smart Atlantans that will vote for the best and brightest candidate. This person will have a proven record and they will be smart enough not to promise the world to folks when they haven’t delivered on much of anything. I am coming to know this person to be Kasim Reed. I was skeptical at first, but he has run a smart campaign and has stuck to the issues – all while challenging his opponents on substance. Nice try Norwood, but voters are smarter than you (think).
Teela
October 25th, 2009
12:04 am
We have such a wonderful choice here: Mary is an incompetent flibberygibbet .
Kasim Reed is already bound up in nepotism and is about as exciting as wet toast…shored up by Andrew Young who only attempts to continue the history of entitlement and little else here in Atlanta.
Lisa Borders is out of the pocket of the developers.
Hold on to your hats for the next four years. Or go indoors and read Gibbons/ something historical…
and try not to repeat with the same corruption. That will be hard to do.
At least we can say that Mary is rich enough not to have her fingers in the city coffers.
And she’s not known for money laundering, or corruption, or nepotism, or …
well, all those are pluses but the city is running into a wall.
DownToTheWire
October 25th, 2009
12:10 am
Looks like the race is now between Norwood and Reed…Borders faded to the back, like most people expected she would. Tjhe question is, why’d she ever get back in the race?
ReedSupporter
October 25th, 2009
12:23 am
@Teela
I hear Kasim pulls down close to a million a year as a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton, one of Atlanta’s most prestigious law firms. He will release his taxes soon, so we’ll all know. Also, another commenter shared that city code bars the relatives of elected officials from working for the city or being granted contracts, so the nepotism claim is growing moot.
Lisa Borders really hasn’t done much in her short career as city president, certainly anything that has been the entire city. She would probably have had a better chance at winning, had she not dropped out of the race for 6 months.
It’s a shame the way some people have tried to paint Reed. I don’t think this guy is perfect, but he has one of the cleaner records among his fellow opponents. As a white woman, I know if there was any dirt on him it wouldve been aired and his chances would be nilch. I think Reed will win this election and set Atlanta a trajectory not seen since the 1990’s.
Truth be told
October 25th, 2009
3:15 am
Here’s the campaign slogan for Kasim Reed supporters:
‘8 more years, 8 more years, 8 more years!’
Adam Jones
October 25th, 2009
10:10 am
This Ralph Long bashing is out of hand. Why would the first-place candidate need to pay for any endorsement, especially the endorsement of a respected elected official? Norwood was leading in the polls before and after her endorsement by Ralph.
@Teela-
How can you even call Rep. Long a “hounddog” with a straight face? Nearly every time I see Ralph, his wife and kid are with him. Can we say the same for Kasim? Oh, that’s right, he’s a successful attorney and Senator who can’t seem to find the right (wo)man to settle down with. Come one Kasim, take your pic. You have plenty of options in ATL, whichever your preference is.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
October 25th, 2009
10:56 am
Ralph Long is a “confused” person. Spend some time with him. Listen to him.
He is not right, just as the Roman Catholic carpetbagger he “endorses,” Mary Bush Norwood, is not right for Atlanta.
HIs twists and kinks are along the lines of Vernon Jones’ support for Mary’s cousin, the 9/11-committing closet-queen and draft-dodger, George W. Bush.
General Sherman
October 25th, 2009
11:06 am
What do New Orleans and Atlanta have in common? Do nothing,big mouth mayors that are racist!
booger
October 25th, 2009
11:10 am
Mayor Franklin said several years ago at a national Mayors conference that her biggest fear for Atlanta was that a White would be elected mayor, thus undoing all of the diversity gains of the last 40 years.
This, along with her statements in the Fulton commisioners race make it very clear why she will not support Norwood. It’s because of race.
shirley
October 25th, 2009
1:03 pm
I didn’t say I had any fear of white political leadership in Atlanta or anywhere. The vast majority of candidates I have voted for and supported with my time and money are white and I expect the same will be true into the future. I support candidates with vision, integrity and intelligence and I have voted for candidates with these 3 characteristics throughout my life. Mary Norwood has none of these. Therefore, I do not support her candidacy for mayor. Should she win I will wish her well and continue my activism in politics and civic affairs. Race nor gender are the issues for me. Competency is. Norwood has not demonstrated vision, competence or integrity in her public life as an elected offical. Rather she has spent her time building a political network to run for mayor. It looks like she’ll be successful. She’s provided no evidence in her service on the Council as to her competence to govern. She has not led on ethics or public policy. In fact she’s known for slips of the tongue about what she’ll do as mayor. Norwood has run against me as if she’s been a force for good in public debate on the issues for the last 8 years. A few weeks ago on the floor of Council she proposed holding up contracts because the new mayor might not agree with them as if the nine month procurement process had not been open, fair, competitive and comprehensive. Ultimately she voted for the contracts but after hours of debate because a new political leader might choose other firms. That is the type of decision making I’ve replaced having found subjective rather than objective and fair processes when I arrived at City Hall in 2002. I am astounded Norwood proposed returning to poltically driven procurement of city services. If you don’t beleive me check the City Council archives of recent Council meetings.
Betsy
October 25th, 2009
1:05 pm
Franklin will endorse Reed, which will end up taking a lot of wind out of his “momentum” (unless his Black Panther crew of party-promoting attorneys think everything in the city has been great for the past 8 years). Last thing we need is a hip-hop mayor to turn Atlanta into Detroit.
Norwood’s incompetency will show up in more and more debates. Unless that woman has a full lobotomy, she’ll only come off as more bumbling as the days grow long. And if you think she has what it takes to be the next Mayor, then you probably voted for that ditz Palin too.
Spikes, Brownlowe, and Keyser are all jokes. They should drop out of the race instead of trying to save their egos with all this political grandstanding. Lord knows none of them are fit to even serve a school’s PTA board, let alone the position for Mayor.
After giving it a lot of thought, and comparing the candidates on their background and the pros and cons, I can say without a doubt that I’m casting my vote for Borders. And if you’re smart, care about this city, and aren’t caught up in all the negative campaigning from the other camps, you’d do the same.
jconservative
October 25th, 2009
2:34 pm
So Franklin will endorse the candidate who criticizes her less?
I do not have a dog in this hunt. But typically endorsements from those being replaced at the end of a term turn into an ego trip for the departing office holder. Appears this will not be different.
Erin
October 25th, 2009
3:32 pm
@Shirley-
Would it kill you to give Mary Norwood credit for designing a platform and campaign operation that have spoken to so many voters? You make such an issue of Norwood “running against you,” but exactly when have you shown leadership? Where were you and your Police Chief when Kathryn Johnston was murdered? What exactly were you doing when the Black Mafia Family was allowed to terrorize our streets, from your own house? Why didn’t you do a better job of mentoring Kasim Reed so that he wouldn’t run such a piss poor campaign? The failures of Reed’s campaign are a mirror image of your failed leadership. You have no one to blame but yourself and your dying regime.
Our city should not be falling apart because we no longer have Maynard’s leadership. He was just one man. You, Andy and the entire machine forgot to use your power to make the city work. The new streetlights on Cascade are cute, but a man was shot 31 times in broad daylight YESTERDAY. Run your city and stay out the Mayor’s race.
It’s getting to the point where your body of work is not as valuable as the prospect and potential of change through Mary Norwood’s leadership. When you do come out to the community, you vent your frustration with the City and talk down to constituents, as if you have no responsiblity for what’s happened here.
You have accomplished exactly what people knew you would – turning the city over to white people because of your elitist attitude and inaccesibility. By the way, how is that Obama job search going? I guess you couldn’t pass the background check.
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
3:41 pm
Get real – you meant to write “A strong BLACK woman”, right? There is a difference between a strong woman and a strong BLACK woman, right?
Matt C.
October 25th, 2009
4:00 pm
Franklin had a lot to fix going in to the Mayor’s office and I would honestly be surprised if there was anyone who could have come out of those two terms without plenty of Monday morning quarterbacks offering generous helpings of criticism. That said, I still have plenty of my own criticism to offer and definitly feel it is time for a new Mayor who can offer some fresh perspectives and save our city from slipping further.
All Norwood has to offer is what she has “tried” to do. Being a leader means getting things done even when there are plenty of obstacles in the way and being the Mayor certainly doesn’t remove those obstacles, it might even add more. Norwood has spent most of her time trying to make herself look good and stay politically safe. She won’t have much more than that to offer if she is elected.
Electing Borders probably won’t be far from electing Cousins Properties. With the amount of support she has received from the company it is no wonder she talks so much about privatizing so many pieces of Atlanta. She has talked about outsourcing/privatizing numerous services including recreational centers, tax collection, code enforcement, and zoning and permitting. With Atlanta’s history on privatization the city needs to be cautious. Remember, the city is ultimately responsible to the people it serves but companies are ultimately responsible for how much money they make at the end of the day no matter how much their public relations department tries to make the company look good. The only track record Borders has to offer is with Cousins Properties.
As for myself, I know from experience that a person’s track record speaks for itself. Kasim Reed is the only candidate who has a record to offer, and it is an impressive record at that. I know that the State Legislator is no softball arena and is even more challenging if you are not part of the republican majority that has dominated it for some time now. Couple that with the fact that the majority of Georgia is suburban or rural and the challenge that fighting for the city of Atlanta really is starts to come into perspective. Despite all of this, Kasim Reed has a lot for Atlanta (keeping Marta open 7 days a week, getting Grady the funds it needed, tougher hate crimes legislation, using the State’s credit rating for loans the city needed, etc. etc.) Our city needs someone with a record that proves they can be depended on. Everyone else lacks a record or only has a record as part of the city council that is responsible for the troubles that Atlanta is in today. Kasim has proven that he can work for the city even when it means having to work with others who don’t have Atlanta’s best interest in mind.
Kasim Reed is the best option Atlanta has for its next Mayor. I hope that the majority of voters out there will see past others’ attempts to weasel out of addressing the issues and the attempts to make this a race issue (ex. Betsy’s comment above sloppily throwing around the name “Black Panthers” in an attempt to fallaciously associate candidates with negative stereotypes). The only reason for that name calling and the ad hominem attacks is because Kasim Reed has the strongest resume/record and is the best suited candidate for Mayor.
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
4:28 pm
Let’s be real here. They’re all racists. The AJC bends over backwards to avoid addressing this race for what it is, which is race. Those in power want to keep the power base “black” at all costs. Because we all know if whitey gets back in power then all is lost for “us”. This is jus ignunt!
Matt C.
October 25th, 2009
4:45 pm
I hardly see how this political race has to do with ethnicity, at least not to anyone who has a brain in their skull and uses a reasonable portion of it. Sure there are people who will vote based on someone’s skin color and there are those who perpetuate that attitude with the use of racially charged vocabulary. However, there are serious issues the city is facing and anyone intelligent enough to overcome any subconscious tendencies toward “they look like me” will focus on the issues and how they need to be addressed. If anything, the real danger will come in the form of people cherry picking facts and information sources to support what they want to hear rather than taking a more objective look at the candidates and their track records. People generally don’t want to hear something that contradicts what they think they already know because it means they might be wrong. Luckily, studies show that the more educated a person is the more likely they are to vote. Hopefully Atlanta is not an outlier (we’re in trouble if that is the case).
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
4:54 pm
Matt – you must not have been copied on the “black at all costs” memo mistakenly released and published in this very AJC. You need to read more for an educated honkey.
Chris
October 25th, 2009
4:58 pm
Blacks have gotten very relaxed now in Atlanta. Many do not even go to vote so they no longer care of the past and forgot they could not even vote in 1864. Now today the vote for mayor will be determined by 15,000 on December 1st in the runoff. The sad truth is many blacks will just toss away their voting rights the same as the go to flush the toilet. Shirley Franklin did get the sewers to work so I guess when people flush the toilet they can just flush the vote. For the 15,000 going to vote Dec. 1st you will be the few selected to decide the next mayor. Do not think that all the candidates are not aware of the current apathy of the voters and are counting on you all to stay home and not vote to help them win! If the right to vote is a flush in the toilet just have a good day!
I am a property owner of the City of Atlanta, tax payer this year more than any other year paying more taxes and will vote on 11-3 and 12-01-2009 so will you ? Or will you just flush your vote? Has the history of the South no memory for you? 30 years is a short time if you ask me… like a quick candle flicker…
Chris
October 25th, 2009
5:02 pm
PS Shirley will not give her support to anyone as to do so would be a death sentence so she will remain silent as she is no fool and does not want to have a slaughter.
Matt C.
October 25th, 2009
5:36 pm
Ghetto Grandmothers – I read what the writings Aaron Turpeau sent out the day it hit big in the media. One person’s or group’s attempt to turn an election into a race issue doesn’t mean that it has to become that. I also find it interesting that you so quickly label me as a “honkey”. Is this because of how I write? Is it because I say this should not be a racially charged election and will not be for anyone intelligent enough to study the issues before voting? Do you believe that because I make an attempt at posting well written responses that I must be white? Also, why do you insist on using a racial slur to describe me? Of course you can assume that I am white or black because I am challenging your presumption that I am white. The point is that you seem to be making some assumptions without any real evidence one way or the other. Why not try and turn attention to the issues that matter, like the kids in Atlanta who are out on the streets after school and being recruited by gangs because their after school center was closed? How about the dropout rate of Atlanta Public Schools reaching 40% and how over half the kids who drop out (about 60% if I remember correctly) are being convicted of a felony within a year? It is more important how these issues will be addressed, how our kids are going to be taken care of. Why are none of the candidates other than Kasim pledging to reopen the after-school centers within 100 days? (ya, education is a big deal to me in case it isn’t obvious already ^_^)
JOHN ODD OWL
October 25th, 2009
5:39 pm
The voters in Georgia need to get rid of this “at large” voting process.. Most voters don’t know who’s the Democrat and who’s the Republican… The state of Georgia needs a primary system whereas we have a Democrat primany and a Republican primary. The Democrat and the Republican primary winners face off against each other in the general election.. Thats called DEMOCRACY… This at large process gives unfair advantage to the Republicans… I gather that Ms. Norwood is a Republican and the other two candidates are Democrats who will split the Democrat vote an give an unfair advantage to Ms. Norwood.. The primary system is Democratic and American.. The at large system is Confederate and un-American.. The overwhelming majority of the voters in Atlanta are Democrats and its time for them to stand up and begin acting like Democrats.. The Republican Governor and the Republican controlled State legislature are the ones who screwed up everything up in the State. The Republicans don’t have a plan to fix the problems in Georgia.. They’re simply the lap dogs of the rich and elite.. Sonny “Do” Perdue can’t even get rid of the fire ants and the 500 thousand junk cars parked in the yards of dirty, nasty, filthy people. If Atlanta want to continue to be known as the “City to busy to hate”, the voters must elect Democrats..
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
6:03 pm
Matt C. – the memo speaks to the mind set of many in the city’s political infrastructure. It is what it is. I won’t argue with you because you want to rationalize away that which is fact. Go to a board meeting of Grady Hospital, an Atlanta City Council session, Fulton County or DeKalb County meeting. The racial over and undertones are there. I’m not saying it is right or wrong, I’m just saying that it is there. Right or wrong is determined by which side of the fence you are on.
As far as knowing you are white, there are many clues starting with the fact that in all my time in the hood I’ve never met a brother named Matt. Now you can read that as racial, but that is just a fact. I’ve never met a white guy named Donta’ either. There just clues.
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
6:30 pm
John Odd Owl – what makes you think the at-large seats favors republicans?
SillySeasonEnder
October 25th, 2009
7:11 pm
@Ghetto Grandmothers Baby daddy
You’re just downright ignorant to assert that a commenter is white just because they’re named “Matt”. Even though, I’m able to discern your sarcasm, you’re still a clown and part of the reason Norwood will lose next week. Y’all can’t stay focused man on the issues huh?
AND
@Kappa Alpha Psi Norwood Supporter, don’t you dare you my beloved fraternity letters to spread your ignorance and evil. If you were half a Kappa man, you’d be somewhere achieving and not on this blog spewing ignorant, slanderous lies.
Bernie
October 25th, 2009
7:21 pm
Atlanta needs a big change! Clean out City Hall now…maybe former military leaders will do?
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
8:29 pm
Silly Season – ya mama so fat when she sit around the house, she sit around the house. Ya mama so fat when her beeper goes off people think she be backing up. Ya mama so fat the last time she saw 90210 was on the bathroom scale.
The issues is race my brother. Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.
shirley
October 25th, 2009
8:34 pm
Norwood would be a BIG change for sure… No record, rhetoric only.. Norwood voted to weaken the city’s ethics laws, to keep police on furlough, to increase pension payments to employees. She used the public’s money to make friends for her campaign. Norwood is a throw back to pay to play… I thought that game was dead.
BeReal
October 25th, 2009
8:54 pm
I’m voting for Whitey… Look where the city is now, with 30 years of black un-leadership.
Look where the hell the country is headed? Blacks can’t keep a family together, you think they can keep a city/country together?
The corruption is at an all time high, the city is broke. The killing hasn’t stopped, the crime is through the roof. My taxes are at an all time high. My sewer bill is at an all time high, and apparently I’m one of the few in Atlanta that still have a job and can afford things without a handout. Perhaps the city will realize that their “income” comes from the very people they try and walk on and ignore. It’s not the slumdog idiots on Boulevard and the trash wondering the streets on Metropolitan that are keeping the bills paid for the city.. Those are the drains on society that for the last 30 years have been promised to be fixed. Nothing has been done about it. The city hasn’t gotten rid of the panhandlers, because it’s the iconic image of the city. The city panhandles to it’s citizens!!
Think it’s not about race?!
I think not. Don’t dance around the real issues people. It’s black and white, and anyone who wants to argue it, is as slow as the day is long. Act educated, act above the “race” issue. Atlanta is one of the most racist places I’ve ever lived on earth. It’s un-real the level of favoritism that is shown in this city and the way people who aren’t black are treated. This is another “Chocolate City” that needs help. NO and Detroit… Aren’t those wonderful places to live these days..
Matt C.
October 25th, 2009
9:05 pm
SillySeasonEnder – Thanks, no more be said on my behalf.
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 25th, 2009
9:27 pm
Matt C and Silly Season – thanks for playing along. Your consolation prize is the Nobel Peace Prize. We’re giving them out early and often for all the hard work that you are going to do. For anyone else that wants theirs’, please send a self addressed stamped envelop to:
Cynthia Tucker
c/o Where my Nobel at
AJC
Atlanta, GA
Ian Kvosivich
October 25th, 2009
9:45 pm
Wow, BeReal, you are a racist. “Blacks can’t keep a family together, you think they can keep a city/country together?” Are you a straight up member of the KKK?!? The south has a history of holding African Americans back and one of the most long term effects can be seen in the field of education. It just so happens I am one of the people that still have a job as well. I also know some great people who have African American origins and are among the people who still have jobs. The real issue is between the fact that the city has had some incredibly corrupt mayors in the past who have screwed over our city finances and the rising violent crime rates. You want to pretend that Atlanta is one of the most racist places, then have at your fantasy world. There is a lot of racial tension here compared to some places in, maybe, Canada, but comparing the U.S. to the rest of world is just naive. If I as “as slow as the day is long” then that is a damn fast day. I wonder what the all other “Chocolate Citi[es]” are that need help according to you. When is the last time you have studied youth gang issues or attended an OJJDP National Youth Gang Conference? Atlanta needs to address its gang issues before the gangs get an even more serious foot in the door.
Whistler's Mother
October 25th, 2009
11:27 pm
Let the great Farewell Shirley victory tour begin. The rehabilitated sewer system will be Shirley’s “accomplishment” (if you ignore the fact that the watershed department was wasting money on things that had Nothing to do with sewer rehab). The Oracle computer system will be Shirley’s “accomplishment” (if you ignore the fact that went over budget more than most technology projects like it). But having brought ethics back to the City? Really? Even the CEOs of most big companies wouldn’t say that. Not with a straight face. There have been too many people over these 8 years in upper management and department management having dinners and taking trips with city vendors (trying to get a job) to make that claim. And honest but dumb is costing the tax payers just as much as crooked and smart did.
It doesn’t matter which candidate wins. None of them is up to the job they are going after and her chiefs laid off or ran off too many of the competent people (the ones who weren’t friends, relatives or mistresses of commissioners or deputy commissioners) for the winner to get the job done. On January 4 or 5, it will all be just be another portrait in the basement of city hall.
shirley
October 26th, 2009
8:01 am
Ian, check the web the Crime Rate is down not up. The issue isn’t the crime rate; it is the crime. Though the rate is down, there are way too many crimes….
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 26th, 2009
8:10 am
Shirley – crime is down, really??? If it’s down around the Georgia Tech area then I’d rather send my kid to college in Baghdad where she’d be safer. You jus ignunt!
HAHA
October 26th, 2009
8:42 am
@Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
You know good and well; your toothless, meth-addict, incest-loving daughter ain’t going to nobody’s college. You may as well sign her up for the Waffle House waitressing program now.
Ghetto Grandmothers Baby Daddy
October 26th, 2009
8:50 am
Hey HAHA – whatcho talinbout Willis. My BabyDaddy da furst assistent junior manager at da IHOP. Wezz furst class, yu jive ass turkey.
Oprahs Vajayjay B. Painin
October 26th, 2009
8:56 am
Shirley – I guess we need to provide the criminals with a computer and access to the internet, because they apparently don’t know they are supposed to stop the robberies and murders downtown.
Atlanta is well on its way to becoming the next Detroit. Go back and look at the history of that city over the last 40 years and you will see the parallel. As businesses leave town because of high taxes and crime. Without business being located downtown, no one goes there to shop, dine, or anything else. Why? Crime, panhandlers, traffic, etc. And with property values are eroding its just a matter of time……..
Shirley Franklin: Mary Norwood hasn't demonstrated competence to be ATL mayor | Political Insider
October 26th, 2009
10:52 am
[...] The e-mail appears to be an elaboration by Mayor Franklin on remarks she made about Councilwoman Mary Norwood at the Hungry Club last week, as described in Sunday’s column. [...]
Concerned Atlantan
October 27th, 2009
8:14 am
Shirley, are you joking? Actually coming on a blog and writing about somebody else’s questionable ethics? Yes this might just be the “Perfect Storm” that elects an “unqualified politician”…or could it just be the backside of the same “Storm” that elected Obama?