Friday, May 29, 2009, 10:02 PM
Atlanta, In the News, Stop the Presses
By Kevin Moreau

Mayor Franklin feeling the heat

It’s a balmy 82 degrees as I write this. But wherever Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is by the time you’re reading it, I imagine she’s feeling a lot more heat than that.

A lot has happened since The Sunday Paper ran a cover story on May 17 about a group of seriously injured Atlanta police officers with complaints about the city’s handling of their medical care—a story that gained momentum as WSB-TV, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other media outlets reported on it in the days that followed.

That Wednesday, May 20, Sgt. Scott Kreher, head of the local police union, uttered the statement heard ’round the world, proclaiming in a moment of frustration that he sometimes wants to “beat [the mayor] in the head with a baseball bat” when he thinks about the unnecessary delays suffered by those officers.

Kreher was suspended for the comments. But the mayor didn’t leave things there, complaining to Fox 5 that she sees Kreher’s remarks as a threat “intended to intimidate me, my family and city officials.”

I’m not the first to point out that such thin skin is unbecoming of an elected official charged with leading a city of some 500,000 people, and by extension a metro area of more than 4 million. I’m also not the only one who thinks Mayor Franklin has used Kreher’s outburst as a smokescreen to deflect attention away from the city’s treatment of those officers. David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, said as much at a May 28 press conference, at which he called upon Franklin to address the officers’ concerns, and to allow Kreher to return to his job.

The mayor would do well to heed that advice. But it might be too little, too late for some residents, fed up with the city’s consistent refusal to acknowledge their concerns beyond a patronizing statement that it’s not crime, but our perception of it, that is on the rise. (I wonder if City Council President Lisa Borders, whose home was burglarized last week for the second time in six months, feels the same way?)

The Georgia Log Cabin Republicans issued a call last week for Franklin’s resignation, urging Gov. Sonny Perdue to “take control of the situation” and bring in the Georgia National Guard or Georgia State Patrol to “stabilize the current crime mayhem in the city.”

Shirley Franklin stands at a critical juncture that could well define her two terms in office. She can exhibit some real leadership and take control of the crime issue, and the issue of the injured officers. Or she can continue on her current course and cement her legacy as a mayor who pointed fingers and buried her head in the sand while Atlanta suffered.

All the Mayor needs to do to save this City to to pass along the message that we are going down.

That's it. Nobody on the Council even understands the Financial complexity of our situation.

Jim Glass does but he hasn't educated the Council, from what I can tell from this weeks Finance Exec.

Jim Glass thinks he is the top financial officer of his organization when in fact he is the lowest level officer in the much larger world of Government.

His Job is to advise the Council and the Mayor, as the Auditors have been doing for years, that Atlanta can not cover the cost of servicing the entire Metro Area on 10% of its residents (Atlanta population)

Our model of operation is old and dated. Cities, like New York, charge people who work, but don't live a Service Fee so that it can provide services to all who wish to visit.

Instead Jim Glass is doing everything a CFO would do to save an organization from Bankruptcy accept realizing that the Federal Government would probably want to know what he knows BEFORE the entire house of cards comes down.

Jim Glass is withholding that information because he believes it will send everyone into the panic which will no doubt cripple us.

He is trying to do us a favor but he and the Mayor are waiting for 'Katrina' to hit so the problem will just take care of itself. At least Ray Nagin sounded the alarm.

Where is Kasim Reed?

Where is Clark Howard?

Where is Ted Turner?

Where is CNN?


IF we go bankrupt we will have to liquidate the Airport at the WORST time and get the worst price for it.

My money says Ningbo China gets it. (look it up)



Just relay the damn message Shirley. Do you want to be known as the hole in the dike that burst and brought this whole country down.

Turner
Friday, May 29, 2009 at 6:08 PM

All Shirley needs to do is issue an executive order that the injured officers are to receive whatever medical care and drugs they need. She sounds like she is going conservative or something.

As for the Republicans wanting her to resign, of course they do. They are Republicans. And even the Log Cabin Republicans are still Republicans, just not as bad as the rest of them. the worst thing that could happen is for Republicans to gain a foothold in Atlanta. Then the officers would be thrown in a nursing home for no more than custodial care and forgotten about. Even a weak, tired Democrat is better than a Republican.

Rhonda
Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 8:51 PM