Felicia Moore v. C.T. Martin Possible 2017 Match-up for Council President in Atlanta
(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9) and Councilman C.T. Martin (District 10) are laying the groundwork to possibly run for Council President of the City Council of Atlanta, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.
Felicia Moore tells APN that she is strongly considering running for Council President, but that she has not yet made a decision. She said she knows that she will want to continue to serve the public either as a District Councilperson, or in another position, but that she is looking at possibly running for a citywide position.
Moore said she is aware that the seat is likely to be an open seat, given Council President Ceasar Mitchell’s plans to run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2017.
One of the downsides of running for Council President is that Council Presidents cannot vote, nor can they discuss legislation items on the Council floor.
However, Moore said that if she did run for Council President, that she would certainly miss having a vote, but that she would find ways to continue to express herself, including by speaking out in arenas outside of the Council floor. In addition, there is a process by which Council Presidents can temporarily relinquish the floor to the Pro Tem, in order to make substantive comments on legislative items, and then resume directing the meeting when their substantive comments are complete.
Moore has garnered citywide support across racial and geographical lines, as evident on her Facebook page, where her friends and supporters continuously cheer her on for her progressive oversight of Atlanta city government as well as her service to District 9 constituents. Actually, Moore’s Facebook friends seem to think she should skip Council President and run for Mayor.
Moore was elected to the Council in 1997.
According to two sources, C.T. Martin is also considering running for Council President.
Martin is the longest-serving member of Council, having been elected in 1990.
Moore and Martin are both among the more progressive members of the Council, according to the Atlanta City Council Scorecard maintained by Atlanta Progressive News, although Martin’s score has declined in recent years as he has aligned himself with the Mayor Kasim Reed Administration on less progressive issues.
Currently, Moore is the third-most progressive member with a score of 76.6, and Martin is the sixth-most progressive member with a score of 60.
Martin did not immediately return a call from APN seeking comment.
As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, Mayor Reed recently tried to insinuate that Moore was running for Council President, when he commented on Moore’s recent press conference regarding Reed’s lack of transparency with respect to city finances.
“If that’s all he can say, that’s great,” Moore told APN, saying she appreciated the “unsolicited advertisement.”
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