Category Archives: Councilman Michael Julian Bond

Arianna Sikes, 1979-2014, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA — Arianna Sikes, who served as a Policy Advisor and Senior Council Aide to Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow (District 4), was found to have passed away on yesterday, May 24, 2014.  She was described as a “breath of fresh air” at Atlanta City Hall.   “She was a wonderful staff person of mine.  She will be greatly […]

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APN Full Endorsements: Atlanta Council 2013

(APN) ATLANTA — The Atlanta Progressive News Board of Directors has completed its full endorsement list for Atlanta City Council and Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education for 2013.     To date, we have already announced several endorsements, along with full explanations.  This list includes all endorsements for City Council, including ones already announced and ones that are being […]

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Evelyn Lowery, 1925-2013, !Presente! (UPDATE 2)

(APN) Mrs. Evelyn Gibson Lowery, a civil rights and women’s empowerment hero, died early Thursday morning, September 26, 2013 in her home after complications from a stroke.  She was 88.     Evelyn and her husband, the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, were active in the Civil Rights Movement from its inception.  The two participated in the march for voting […]

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Atlanta Council Approves Controversial New Football Stadium

(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, March 18, 2013, the City Council of Atlanta approved the extension of the Hotel Motel tax through 2050, in order to provide public funding for the construction of a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons football team, in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood, in a vote of 11 to 4. As previously reported by APN, the […]

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APN Issues Updated City Council Scorecard for Winter 2013

(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta Progressive News has updated its Atlanta City Council Scorecard for 2013, adding recent as well as past votes, including: – Two votes taken last week, in March 2013, on whether to set a limit to restrict public comment time at all Atlanta City Council Committees.  Only Keisha Lance Bottoms (District 11), Joyce Sheperd (District 12), Howard […]

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Citizens Defeat Public Comment Limits at Atlanta Council Committees

(APN) ATLANTA — Citizen activists defeated a proposal to limit public comment time at all Committee Meetings of the Atlanta City Council yesterday, after the Committee on Council voted six to one to file the ordinance, and the Full Council voted twice against approving it. Activists including Ben Howard, Brother Anthony Muhammad, and Ron Shakir, along with APN’s News Editor–the […]

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SEC Complaint Filed over City of Atlanta Pension Investment

(APN) ATLANTA — Angela Green, a former City of Atlanta employee and member of the Board of Trustees of the City of Atlanta General Employees’ Pension Plan, has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Atlanta Progressive News has learned. The complaint, filed on January 18, 2013, alleges that the investment consultant for the Pension Fund, Larry […]

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Some Atlanta Councilmembers Seek Vote to Silence the Public, Again

(APN) ATLANTA — Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd (District 12) and six other Councilmembers have set their sights on new public comment rules that would further limit the time allotted to citizens to speak at Council Committees, and would set other restrictions. Currently, each Committee Chair sets their own rules for public comment at each of the seven Committees of the Atlanta […]

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Victory! Atlanta’s Council Briefings Opened to Public, Moved to Committee Room

(APN) ATLANTA — In another major citizens’ victory for transparency, public participation, accountability, and democracy at the City Council of Atlanta, all seven Council Committees have opened their Committee Briefings to the public for 2013, and have moved the Committee Briefings to Committee Room 1, which is accessible to the public.   The seven Council Committees–City Utilities, Committee on Council, […]

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APN Issues Atlanta Council Scorecard for End of 2012

(APN) ATLANTA — With Municipal Elections in the City of Atlanta scheduled to take place next year, Atlanta Progressive News has added six more recent votes to the APN Atlanta City Council Scorecard. To APN’s knowledge, the Scorecard is the most comprehensive, data-driven, and transparent source of information available about the current incumbents on the City Council of Atlanta. The […]

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Mayor’s Panhandling Proposal Allows 180 Days in Jail, Even on First Offense (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA — Mayor Kasim Reed said that he was vetoing legislation that passed City Council concerning aggressive panhandling because it was cruel, harsh, and inhumane; however, Atlanta Progressive News has learned that the Mayor’s proposal in fact provides for the same maximum jail sentence–180 days in jail–for any offense of aggressive panhandling, and adds a minimum jail sentence for […]

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Atlanta City Utilities Briefings Opened to the Public

(APN) ATLANTA — The Committee Briefings of the City Utilities Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta are now open to the public, Atlanta Progressive News has confirmed. As previously reported by APN, for the past several years, all seven Council Committee Briefings have been closed to the public, until in June of this year, when Chairwoman Felicia Moore (District […]

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Channel 2 Errs on Task Force, CBS 46 Errs on Panhandling

(APN) ATLANTA – Over the past few days Channel 2 WSB-TV News and Channel 46 CBS Atlanta have ran stories making major errors in regards to issues affecting homeless people in Atlanta. Channel 2 ran a report stating that the largest shelter in the southeastern US, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, was about to imminently close, citing […]

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Bond Seeks More Prison for Aggressive Panhandlers in Atlanta

(APN) ATLANTA — Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large), who serves as Chair of the Public Safety/Legal Administration (PS/LA) Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, has introduced legislation which seeks to increase the penalty for individuals convicted of aggressive panhandling to six months of prison time, for any third and subsequent offenses. Introduction of the legislation–which Bond said was […]

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Mayor’s Senior Aide Retraces Statements on Bullhook

(APN) ATLANTA — As previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News, David Bennett, Senior Policy Advisor to Mayor Kasim Reed and a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, made a false statement to the Public Safety/Legal Administration Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta last week. Now, Bennett has been forced to retrace his statements, even while he continues to […]

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