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Thursday, June 11, 2009

News Franklin talks crime, post-office plans, 'getting Philly' at Young Dems event

Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 3:27 PM

As we mentioned yesterday, Mayor Shirley Franklin on Tuesday night rubbed elbows with the Young Democrats of Atlanta at its fundraiser and award ceremony.

Roughly 100 people attended the event at Sweetwater Brewery, including politicos from the local (Atlanta City Council President and mayoral candidate Lisa Borders, Councilwoman and Council President candidate Clair Muller, Councilman Kwanza Hall, and City Hall hopefuls Amir Farokhi and Adam Brackman) and state level (Reps. Rashad Taylor, Kathy Ashe and Pat Gardner, all of Atlanta.)

For nearly 30 minutes, the mayor addressed the crowd on issues ranging from the environment to her online jousting habits. Afterward, she spoke with CL about the recent disputes over how the city's reacted to what is widely considered — perceived! — to be a rise in crime.

After the jump, a bulletpoint summary of the mayor's remarks to the Young Democrats crowd.

Crime: "The crime statistics are whatever they are. And our goal is to work for a safer city. The number of crimes is down, the rate is down as well. In part because of the increased population of the city. It is what is. We report it every year. People have different opinions of what it is we’re doing or not doing. We work toward lowering the incidences of crime. And most specifically we’ve been working against violent crime. Obviously we have more work to do there and more work to do on property crime. Law enforcement is one part of the puzzle. Poverty level is a part of the puzzle. Mental illness is part of the puzzle. Weak gun laws in Georgia is part of the puzzle."

Post-office plans: Franklin rolled out the obligatory "the morning after my successor is inaugurated, I'll sleep late." Other than that, she has no concrete plans. "I'll probably stay in Atlanta or Georgia." She said she wants to be near to help raise her grandchildren. "I'm kind of a second generation check-and-balance when I'm around."

Green building: Franklin said there's been talk about considering a proposed green-building ordinance which would offer developers incentives to build more energy-efficient buildings.

Biggest issues in Georgia that Democrats must tackle:

Immigration: Franklin said the city and state's immigrant population is expected to grow. "We need to be sure we're not excluding people because they're different....Some of them come with documents, some come with pedigree and education. But a lot of them come without documents...Who do we let in the doors?...We need national policy for immigration. And Georgia needs that policy. Because the number of people who are moving here expect us to be as open as we've been for the last 30 or 40 years...If we don't get this right, Atlanta loses. If we don't get this right, Georgia loses." She said press coverage of the issue tends to be divisive rather than informative.

Sustainability: "We live in a state that blessed with great natural resources — despite the fact that we're water-limited. But we won't continue to be blessed with natural resources if we don't" protect them. "There are too many policies in the state that treat land, water and clean air as if they are limitless in supply. In fact, they are not." Franklin said she was "stunned" that sustainability wasn't the biggest issue of last year's presidential election. She said people of all incomes should have the opportunity to live in clean environments.

Education: "We as Georgians and Atlantans continue to create policy that keeps us in the bottom 10 percent." She said the city and metro region will lose large employers like NCR if the educational system fails to teach workers' children as well as the rising workforce. "Sure there are charter schools, sure there are faith-based schools. But the majority of Americans and Atlantans will be educated in public schools."

The Internetz: "I have the best time online when people write me angry things. We go back and forth. And finally I say, This is what it's about. When I was elected mayor, I didn't give up my right as a U.S. citizen to free speech. I didn't give up my rights to have an opinion, even if you don't like it. We need lively debate. And my job as mayor is to preserve that. And in doing so, I intend to participate."

Getting "Philly": "I was in an airport and a man was talking about the Philadelphia comment. And he said, 'We in Philadelphia loved it. You were holding your ground.'"

Couldn't hear the attendee's question, but here's the answer: "Everyone in Georgia are decent folks. And they care about their communities. But we have very limited media outlets. And the media outlets we have make it very difficult to have discussions. So on one hand it's mass communications." She said her "private protest" is to not directly respond to some criticisms so as not to give the outlets "hits."

On what's the biggest Atlanta issue her successor will have to tackle: "I'm going to leave that for them to decide."

(File photo by Joeff Davis)

Tags: News, Mayor-Shirley-Franklin, environment, Atlanta-crime, Sustainability, shirley-franklin, sustainable atlanta

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I wish she would hurry up and "get Philly" somewhere else, preferably Philadelphia. Her comment about "probably staying in Atlanta or Georgia" also speaks volumes. Talk about a commitment to the community in which she was supposedly the mayor. If that doesn't tell you that she viewed her position as a stepping stone for a Washington D.C. appointment than I don't know what does. How about electing someone as mayor who's actually from Atlanta or at least grew up in Georgia for a change.

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