Atlanta Progressive News

(APN) ATLANTA — After a lengthy process of interviews, questionnaires, and research, the Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has selected our Endorsement List for Candidates for City Council of Atlanta for 2009.

We have decided to endorse: Ceasar Mitchell for Council President, Michael Julian Bond for Post 1 at large, Amir Farokhi for Post 2 at large, Shelitha Robertson for Post 3 at large, Ivory Young for District 3, Lashawn Hoffman for District 4, Natalyn Archibong for District 5, Bahareh Azizi for District 6, Howard Shook for District 7, Yolanda Adrean for District 8, Felicia Moore for District 9, C.T. Martin for District 10, Juanita Smith for District 11, and Joyce Sheperd for District 12.

In Districts 1 and 2, where Karla Smith and Kwanza Hall are running unopposed, we have declined to endorse due to our dissatisfaction with the incumbents.

In several cases, we endorsed incumbents. The two seats where we endorsed a challenger over an incumbent were Lashawn Hoffman over Cleta Winslow (District 4) and Shelitha Robertson over Lamar Willis (Post 3 at large).

In evaluating incumbents, we looked at a number of factors, including their voting record on four controversial votes: (1) Felicia Moore’s 2007 resolution for Council oversight of the public housing demolitions in District 9 [the resolution passed 10-5, a yea vote was seen as favorable]; (2) Felicia Moore and CT Martin’s 2007 resolution to request Mayor Franklin to send a letter of clarification stating the City was not recommending a funding cut for the Task Force for the Homeless [the resolution failed 9-5 on a motion to file; a no vote on filing the resolution–the equivalent of a yes vote on the resolution–was seen as favorable]; (3) the downtown panhandling ban ordinance of 2005 [the ban passed 12-3, and was later found unenforceable and probably unconstitutional; a no vote was seen as favorable]; and (4) a 2003 ordinance to close bars and clubs an hour earlier in Atlanta [which passed 12-3; a no vote was seen as favorable].

Based on these four votes, APN created an incumbent scorecard. Incumbents scored as follows [details below]: Mary Norwood (25%), Ceasar Mitchell (50%), Clair Muller (25%), Lamar Willis (25%), Karla Smith (0%), Kwanza Hall (0%), Ivory Young (75%), Cleta Winslow (0%), Natalyn Archibong (100%), Howard Shook (50%), Felicia Moore (75%), C.T. Martin (75%), and Joyce Sheperd (66.7%; not on Council in 2003).

Our rationale for making the above endorsements is as follows:

CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT–CEASAR MITCHELL

Ceasar Mitchell stated his support for inclusionary zoning during his interview with Atlanta Progressive News on the question of affordable housing; Muller did not offer specific plans in what was a lackluster interview overall.

Mitchell also supported the Task Force for the Homeless resolution whereas Muller did not.

Mitchell also spoke out in favor of allowing public housing residents and advocates to speak as long as they wanted to during a CD/HR Committee meeting when Jim Maddox had proposed arbitrarily limiting time to two minutes. As a Council President candidate, supporting public input is very important.

POST ONE AT LARGE–MICHAEL JULIAN BOND

The great news is, there is more than one progressive candidate running for this seat, which is being vacated by Mitchell. APN was pleased with our interviews with Bond, as well as candidates Adam Brackman and Dwanda Farmer. While we did not get a chance to interview Chris Vaughn, he too seems like a very nice guy.

In the end, we endorsed Bond–the son of Civil Rights Movement leader Julian Bond–because of his extensive experience as a former Council Member, where he passed more legislation than any other Council member, and because of his long-time support for the Task Force for the Homeless.

Again, should Brackman or Farmer win this seat we will be happy to work with them. Farmer, in particular, had a lot to offer in terms of grant-writing experience and familiarity with many different sources of federal funding for community development. Had Brackman run in District 1, where he lives, against Karla Smith, we would’ve endorsed him in a second.

POST TWO AT LARGE–AMIR FAROKHI

For this seat being vacated by Mary Norwood, we felt there was only one progressive candidate in the race: Amir Farokhi, the son of a progressive activist in Cobb County for several years, Beth Farokhi.

Farokhi did a fine interview with APN. Meanwhile, we were deeply troubled by Aaron Watson, former member of the Atlanta Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners. He signed off on the public housing demolition applications despite apparent fraudulent claims and fabricated documents by AHA and despite lack of voucher-leasing opportunties in Atlanta for displaced residents. If that’s the kind of oversight Watson has to offer as a Council Member, we’ll pass.

Knapp entered the race late without a clear initial platform and, although we patched things up, we had a bit of a rocky road in our early interactions with him and his campaign [we’ll spare you the disconcerting details].

POST THREE AT LARGE–SHELITHA ROBERTSON

This seat is currently occupied by Lamar Willis, who’s been plagued for some troubling controversies involving his failure to obtain tax-exempt status for a so-called foundation that he ran, in addition to at least one tax lien. He also had Rick White of GONSO, Alisias, and the Atlanta Housing Authority as his spokesman at one point: definitely something we feel icky about.

Willis scored only 25% on our score card. Willis did not support the Task Force funding; Robertson says she will. Willis supported earlier bar closures; Robertson says she does not.

Robertson, meanwhile, has expressed serious concerns about gentrification around the Beltline, and frankly we need more people on Council who will be willing to address this issue.

Robertson in addition was instrumental in calling the judge to get the Eagle staff members and dancers out of jail. Eagle co-owner Richard Ramey relayed to APN how Shelitha went about asking for their release; we’ve been asked to not reprint it, but let’s say she used some very strong language.

Robertson seems like she could be a promising new addition to the Council.

DISTRICT 1– NOT KARLA SMITH

Smith got 0% on the APN score card; we decline to endorse despite Smith’s lack of an election challenger.

DISTRICT 2– NOT KWANZA HALL

Hall got 0% on the APN score card; we decline to endorse despite Hall’s lack of an election challenger. Hall also had co-sponsored a bill for a Housing Relocation Task Force to provide Council oversight of the public housing demolitions, along with Councilman Ivory Young. Unfortunately, Hall backed out of the resolution and left Young hanging out to dry; it seemed quite treacherous.

Recently, Hall stated he would be willing to meet with APN regarding issues of concern to us next Session including inclusionary zoning, and we do hope to take up the offer.

DISTRICT 3– IVORY YOUNG

Ivory scored 75% on the scorecard, supporting the Task Force, public housing demolition oversight, and opposing the panhandling ban.

As mentioned above, he also co-sponsored the Housing Relocation Task Force that, if not for Hall’s abandonment, may have passed Council and actually helped some people.

Young also took the time to meet with public housing resident leaders and with APN’s editor regarding our concerns over the demolitions. While he did not seem to take any action after those meetings, at least he showed up.

We hope that with more progressive allies on Council, Young will feel more empowered to take strong stands in the next term.

DISTRICT 4– LASHAWN HOFFMAN

Incumbent Cleta Winslow scored 0% on our scorecard.

Lashawn Hoffman is a self-described progressive and community organizer who was worked closely with Georgia Stand-UP.

DISTRICT 5– NATALYN ARCHIBONG

Incumbent Archibong may not have made a lot of waves this Session, but she has a 100% scorecard with APN. She supported public housing demolition oversight and opposed the panhandling ordinance and the bar closures. She was absent on the Task Force vote but we believe she would’ve voted in support of funding.

DISTRICT 6– BAHAREH AZIZI

Incumbent Anne Fauver is retiring. With her having a scorecard of 0%, we would not have endorsed Fauver in any event.

APN issued a questionnaire to all six District 6 candidates, where Bahareh Azizi, Steve Brodie, and Liz Coyle responded. As previously reported by APN, Azizi shined in her responses.

Azizi supports the Task Force and had concerns about the public housing demolitions. She would’ve supported Council oversight of the demolitions and says she’ll support seniors in highrises who don’t want to move. Azizi also supports inclusionary zoning.

DISTRICT 7– HOWARD SHOOK

We are lukewarmingly endorsing Shook who supported Council oversight of the demolitions and opposed the bar/club closure ordinance. However, he opposed the Task Force funding resolution and supported the panhandling ordinance. He is running unopposed.

DISTRICT 8– YOLANDA ADREAN

This seat is being vacated by Clair Muller.

Yolanda Adrean is a former leader in her neighborhood association, raised money for fire station improvements, and fought for tax abatements for senior citizens.

While Adrean did not seem too knowledgeable about ending homelessness or the recent AHA demolitions, she came across as very intelligent and personable. Her experience as a certified public accountant will also prove useful in addressing our City’s book-keeping challenges.

As a former member of the Beltline TAD Advisory Committee, she is interested in possibly revisiting how the Beltline’s affordable housing dollars are being spent. APN has raised concerns that the rental dollars are not being targeted towards the most needy and that Beltline-related gentrification has yet to be addressed.

Adrean’s only challenger in the race, Richard Coleman, came across as ignorant, prejudiced, and just rude.

DISTRICT 9– FELICIA MOORE

Felicia Moore has been like the progressive hero of Atlanta City Council this term. She sponsored two resolutions for public housing demolition oversight; she went up against the Mayor, the Housing Authority, Jim Maddox, and Rick White; she co-sponsored the bill on funding for the Task Force; and she opposed the bar/club closures.

Moore was the only no vote against the Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) because of her concerns about the Beltline; she has the independence and courage to stand up for issues even when they’re politically unpopular with the powers that be.

The only time we disagreed with Moore was on the panhandling ordinance.

Moore is accessible and responsive, and we hope that voters deliver a Progressive Posse of new Council Members who can help support Moore in her future legislative endeavors.

DISTRICT 10– C.T. MARTIN

Incumbent C.T. Martin scored 75% on our scorecard. He supported the Task Force (co-authoring that resolution), public housing demolition oversight, and he opposed the panhandling ordinance.

Martin took a strong leadership role in opposing the panhandling ban.

We disagreed with Martin on the bar/club closures, however.

Also, Martin engaged in a troubling, even bizarre campaign to outlaw baggy pants that seemed like an elitist effort to criminalize poor, Black teenage males. But, you know, no one’s perfect.

DISTRICT 11– JUANITA SMITH

Incumbent Jim Maddox is retiring. With his 0% scorecard, his problems staying awake, and his shoddy leadership record at CD/HR, as previously noted by APN, he would not have received an endorsement this year.

APN sent a questionnaire to the nine candidates vying to replace Maddox, and eight responded.

In our view, the top two responses came from Juanita Smith and Ray Abram, although there were many good candidates–comparatively speaking–in this race.

Like Abram, Smith supports inclusionary zoning, the Task Force, seniors in highrises, Council oversight, etc. What pushed her over the top was her proposals to combat gentrification around the Beltline, including property tax abatement and rent control.

We thought Smith’s unsolicited support for rent control was absolutely outstanding. If renters in this City realized their common plight and political power, we could address affordable housing real quickly.

DISTRICT 12– JOYCE SHEPERD

Sheperd supported public housing demolition oversight as well as the Task Force. She did, however, support the panhandling ordinance.

She was not on Council during the 2003 bar/club closure debacle. Her overall APN scorecard was 66.7%.

About the author:

Matthew Cardinale is the News Editor for Atlanta Progressive News and is reachable at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com.

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