(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 […]
Read more(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, […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua has ruled in favor of street vendors in Atlanta who were negatively impacted by the City of Atlanta when the City entered into a contract with a private firm, U.K. – LaSalle, LLC, to manage the City’s street vendors. The case was Larry Miller and Stanley Hambrick v. City […]
Read more(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 […]
Read more(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 […]
Read more(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 […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — At the Full Council Meeting of the City Council of Atlanta on Tuesday, August 04, 2012, the Council approved legislation allowing Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration to move forward on negotiating a controversial sole source contract with a company called Fogfuels, Inc., to convert cooking grease into fuel for the City. The proposal, introduced by Councilman Lamar Willis […]
Read more(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 […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — In a five to two vote, the Public Safety/Legal Administration Cmte of the City Council of Atlanta, voted on Tuesday, June 12, 2012, to approve an ordinance regarding animal abuse that does not include protections for elephants from the use of bullhooks. Council Members CT Martin (District 10) and Joyce Sheperd (District 12) were the two nay […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The City Council of Atlanta voted on April 30, 2012, to move forward with new concessions contracts, instead of delaying them ninety days, despite revelations that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that some of the contracts are not in compliance with federal requirements designed to protect small and disadvantaged businesses. In this article, Atlanta Progressive […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, February 06, 2012, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued its ruling in the case Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., ruling that the Georgia Open Meetings Act indeed requires the listing of the names of those voting against a proposal or abstaining, even in the case of a non-roll-call vote.The present writer filed […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The City Council of Atlanta took an extraordinary vote Monday, October 17, 2011, on whether to grant an additional two minutes of public speaking time to NAME President, an advocate for People TV, the endangered public access station. Ms. President ran out of time while making her remarks at the Full Council meeting, where two minutes […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On Monday, August 08, 2011, there will be a hearing before Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter in the case concerning the City Council of Atlanta’s practice of holding seven closed-door Committee Briefings every two weeks and not allowing in the public. The hearing will begin at 10am, and at Fulton County Superior Court, Courtroom 4D, Justice Center Tower, […]
Read moreAPN Issues 2011 Atlanta Council Member Scorecards By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — Following several important, split votes by the City Council of Atlanta in late 2010 and so far in 2011, Atlanta Progressive News has issued a revised Atlanta Council Member Scorecard for 2011. The Scorecard took into account a total of sixteen votes and other actions by […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On Saturday, June 25, 2011, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony, and Open House commemorating the site installation of an aquaponic-bioponic sustainable farming ecosystem. The event was held at the Bush Mountain Outdoor Activity Center (OAC) in Atlanta’s West End neighborhood. An aquaponic-bioponic sustainable farming eco-system is a system that grows plants and fish. This is […]
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