Tag Archives: secret meetings

APN Candidate Q&A: David Dreyer, HD 59

david dreyer

(APN) ATLANTA — In our continuing coverage of the Georgia State House District 59 race, to replace State Rep. Margaret Kaiser (D-Atlanta), this article contains the responses of candidate David Dreyer to the Atlanta Progressive News candidate questionnaire.   Dreyer is an attorney and currently serves on the Grant Park Conservancy.   Previously, he served on the Executive Board of […]

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Mandamus Against Mitchell, Johnson Sought in Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA — Yesterday, December 27, 2012, the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, the present writer, filed further litigation in the secret vote lawsuit seeking for the Fulton County Superior Court to grant a writ of mandamus, ordering two specific City of Atlanta public officers–Council President Ceasar Mitchell and Municipal Clerk Rhonda Dauphin Johnson, both in their official capacities–to […]

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Jack Jersawitz, 1934-2012, !Presente!

(APN) ATLANTA — Jack Jersawitz, a radical leftist activist and commentator with over thirty years of significant contributions to Atlanta and Georgia politics, has passed away, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. Jersawitz was 78. He died of esophageal cancer after spending several weeks in the hospital and then in hospice care. Jersawitz was born in Brooklyn, New York, and lived […]

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Summary Judgment Sought in Secret Vote Case

(APN) ATLANTA — After nearly three years of litigation, including all the way up to the Supreme Court of Georgia, all the way back down, and through six months of discovery, a dispositive motion has been filed in the secret vote case.  A copy of the Motion is available online HERE. In May 2010, APN’s News Editor–the present writer–filed the […]

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Closed Transportation Briefing Has Quorum, Tries to Keep Fox 5 Out

(APN) ATLANTA — The ongoing saga regarding the City Council of Atlanta’s closed-door Committee Briefings has taken a new turn, as the City of Atlanta and four Council Members clearly violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act yesterday, October 29, 2012, by holding a closed Transportation Committee Briefing with a quorum of Cmte Members. APN’s News Editor currently has a lawsuit […]

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Supreme Court Bans Secret Votes across State of Georgia

  (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 […]

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Effingham County Takes Secret Vote, Atlanta Case Invoked

  (APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta’s secret vote of February 2010 is having repurcussions across the State of State, just as the News Editor of Atlanta Progressive News, the present writer, warned would happen in oral arguments before the Supreme Court of Georgia in October 2011. “First of all, the ruling–if agencies across the state were to understand […]

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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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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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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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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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Attorney General Reprimands Savannah for Non-Quorum Meetings

(APN) ATLANTA — Attorney General Sam Olens’s office criticized the City Council of Savannah this month for having a series of meetings without quorums, and not allowing the public to attend. The practices of the Savannah Council are quite similar to practices that the City Council of Atlanta has been engaging in, as documented by Atlanta Progressive News over the […]

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