(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown (District 3) introduced a resolution encouraging the State of Georgia to allow cities like Atlanta to adopt rent stabilization, or rent control, laws. Currently, Georgia law, O.C.G.A. 44-7-19 prohibits cities and counties from regulating how much a residential lessor can charge a tenant for rent. “A RESOLUTION ENCOURAGING THE […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — City Attorney Nina R. Hickson for the City of Atlanta admitted in an email response to an inquiry from Atlanta Progressive News that her statement to City Utilities Committee on November 26, 2019, regarding the availability of Comcast reports was “incomplete.” Hickson admitted her misleading statements, after it was revealed through an open records request […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the U.S. calls into question the constitutionality of several Atlanta laws that criminalize homeless people. Atlanta’s laws criminalizing urban camping (106-12), public urination (106-30), and monetary solicitation (106-85) each raise issues under the Eighth Amendment, which is the Federal Constitution’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment.” […]
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Photograph of Fulton County Superior Court Judge C.I. McBurney. (APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta resident and public access advocate Adrian Coleman has filed a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta on yesterday, Thursday, December 13, 2019, for violating the Georgia Open Records Act. The City’s Law Department failed to respond to her open records request within three business […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — After months of debate, the City Council of Atlanta moved forward on an ordinance to limit former elected officials to two minutes of public speaking time to address the Council. Councilwoman Jennifer Ide (District 6) had been the proponent of the ordinance. That means former Mayor Andrew Young, who on occasion addresses the Council, will […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Comcast Cable got their way, with a unanimous vote of the City Utilities Committee of the Atlanta City Council on November 26, 2019; and by the Full Council on December 02, 2019, in support of 19-O-1598, approving a seven year Franchise Agreement with the City of Atlanta. Numerous advocates, as well as the Atlanta Planning […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The City Council of Atlanta wimped out this week on a proposal to ban single-use plastics, by gutting the legislation of any minimum requirements and delegating to the City’s executive branch the authority to decide which single-use plastics, if any, would be banned in city facilities like City Hall and the airport. Rather than hold […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta Progressive News has updated its Atlanta City Council Scorecard with a November 2019 update that includes several new votes that have taken place in the third and fourth quarters of 2019. There is one Full Council Meeting left for the remainder of the year. https://bit.ly/34j2XSq The Scorecard is especially noteworthy at this […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — A proposed seven year Franchise Agreement between the City of Atlanta and Comcast Cable, Inc., worth hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to Comcast, has raised several concerns in the City Utilities Committee of the Atlanta City Council. The Committee has requested an audit of Comcast franchise fees going back the last three years – […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The City Council of Atlanta unanimously approved on Monday, November 04, 2019, an ordinance designating three surplus, city-owned properties as appropriate for use as affordable housing. The City’s Office of Housing will put out a Request for Proposals for non-profit or for-profit developers to acquire the properties for a dollar, or for a price well […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — At the Monday, October 21, 2019 Full Council Meeting, the Atlanta City Council for the second time voted to send a proposal back to committee that would further limit the “public comment” time of former elected officials and current elected officials from the State or other governments to two minutes. Link to 19-0-1541: http://atlantacityga.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=SplitView&MeetingID=3031&MediaPosition=&ID=19455&CssClass= […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — On September 09, 2019, State Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta) and two Cobb County residents, Todd Smith and Kim Baynes, sued the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division for entering into a Consent Order with the Sterigenics Plant in Smyrna, Georgia, which they say was unlawful. https://bit.ly/2lA0Rft Sen. Jordan and the plaintiffs argue […]
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Comcast logo used as image in this article pursuant to fair use doctrine. (APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta is currently considering approval of a seven year Franchise Agreement with Comcast Cable Communications, after operating for several months without a contract, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. However, the proposed contract, which stands to enable Comcast to […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — At the Monday, October 11, 2019 Full Council Meeting, the Atlanta City Council voted to send back to committee, a proposal that seeks to cut the public speaking time of current and former elected officials down to two minutes. The vote was almost completely along racial lines. The vote was eight to six. Councilman Michael Julian […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2 candidate Aretta Baldon, a strong proponent of charter schools who has advanced to the October 15, 2019 Run-off Election, is heavily funded by charter school interests, according to an analysis obtained by Atlanta Progressive News from an APN reader. Baldon is in a Run-off with Davida Huntley. […]
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