Category Archives: secret votes

Georgia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia heard oral arguments in Cardinale v. City of Atlanta, S11G1047, on Tuesday, October 04, 2011, at 240pm. Atlanta Progressive News’s Editor–the present writer–appeared to argue that the City of Atlanta, and agencies across the State of Georgia, are not permitted to take secret votes.   Amber Robinson, a City Attorney, appeared on […]

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Olens, First Amendment Group File Briefs in Atlanta Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA — Attorney General Sam Olens and the Georgia First Amendment Foundation have filed amicus briefs in the case, S11G1047, currently before the Supreme Court of Georgia, and brought by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–against the City of Atlanta, regarding the City Council’s secret vote of February 2010. Oral arguments will be held in the […]

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Georgia Supreme Court Seeks Olens’s Opinion on Atlanta’s Secret Vote

(APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia has requested the opinion of Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens in a letter dated September 01, 2011, regarding the lawsuit currently before the Court, Matthew Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., which was brought by APN’s News Editor–the present writer–challenging the City Council of Atlanta’s secret vote of February 2010. “Dear […]

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City Attorney Defends More Atlanta Closed Meetings, on Eagle Raid

  (APN) ATLANTA — Senior Assistant City Attorney Kristen Denius defended two closed-door meetings involving the Atlanta Police Department LGBT Advisory Board, Mayor Reed and his staff, and APD, in a memo prepared for Glen Paul Freedman, Chair of the Board, dated Monday, August 22, 2011. In this memo, Denius advised Freedman, in the opinion of the City of Atlanta […]

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Nkromo Withdraws from Atlanta School Board Race (UPDATE 1)

(APN) ATLANTA — Kwabena Nkromo, a candidate for the Special Election for Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education District 2, has withdrawn from the race. Previously, Atlanta Progressive News reported that Nkromo did not live in District 2 from at least November 2010 to April 2011 because he lived with his ex-girlfriend in the Poncey-Highlands neighborhood. APN also reported that […]

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City of Atlanta Loses Bid for Secret Memo Injunction, Contempt

  (APN) ATLANTA — In a victory against the City of Atlanta’s ongoing, multifaceted attack upon the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–prevailed in court against the City’s attempt to suppress APN’s publication of the City’s secret memos. APN wrote about four internal City of Atlanta memos prepared […]

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City of Atlanta Attorneys Want Their Memos Back

(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta Law Department has requested that Atlanta Progressive News return four memoranda to their offices, after APN obtained the controversial memos and published their contents earlier this week. One memo, dated April 04, 2011, authored by Kristen Denius, Assistant City Attorney, and sent to all Council Members and Council staff, admits that Council Members […]

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City Attorneys Saw Meetings Violations, Memos Show

  (APN) ATLANTA — City attorneys for the City of Atlanta advised Council Members in a series of internal memos that the Council had violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act, and advised Council Members to change their practices, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. APN obtained four members prepared for Council Members by City attorneys from a source who was granted […]

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Attorney General’s Office Warns Atlanta over Closed Briefings

  (APN) ATLANTA — Senior Assistant Attorney General Stefan Ritter advised the City of Atlanta and Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter’s office that Attorney General Sam Olens’s Office believes the City Council violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act by holding closed-door Committee Briefings, at a status and scheduling conference held today,Monday, August 08, 2011, in Judge Baxter’s conference room. City […]

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Hearing Monday in Atlanta Council Closed Briefings Lawsuit

(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, […]

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Georgia Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Secret Vote Case

  Georgia Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Secret Vote Case By Matthew Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed on Monday, July 11, 2011, to hear a case brought by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–challenging the decision by the City Council of Atlanta to take a secret vote in February 2010. The present […]

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ANALYSIS: Moore, Sheperd Crucial to Pension Compromise

  (APN) ATLANTA — When the City of Atlanta passed a compromise pension reform proposal it was hailed as a shining new example of the City Council coming together in a unanimous vote. But the unanimous vote covers up a non-unanimous count of a vote that never occurred: the nine Council Members who were in favor of the pension reform […]

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City of Atlanta Answers Committee Briefings Lawsuit

(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta and seven Council Members have responded to a lawsuit filed by the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–challenging their practice of holding seven closed-door Committee Briefings every two weeks. The City’s Answer was filed in Fulton County Superior Court on June 17, 2011, and APN’s News Editor received a copy Tuesday, […]

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APAB Votes to Request Atlanta Committee Briefing Records

(APN) ATLANTA — At the Saturday, May 21, 2011, meeting of the Atlanta Planning and Advisory Board (APAB), the citizens’ advisory group to the City of Atlanta, APAB voted to request information related to one of the City Council of Atlanta’s seven regularly scheduled closed-door Committee Briefings, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. APAB President Cathy Richards and senior advocate Ben […]

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APN Editor Sues City of Atlanta for Closed-Door Briefings

  (APN) ATLANTA — The News Editor for the Atlanta Progressive News–the present writer–has filed a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta, to bring openness, public access, and transparency to the City Council of Atlanta’s seven closed-door, private Committee Briefings which occur every two weeks. The case number is 2011CV200639 and is before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter. […]

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