Streetalk: What is Mayor Shirley Franklin’s legacy?

It’s either “Her legacy is eight years wasted” or “She’s going to come out historically very well.”

Robbie: She fixed a few potholes, she kind of got the Beltline started, and that’s about it. The sewer still isn’t fixed, crime is out of control, the budget is a mess. She’ll go down as the mayor who didn’t do much of anything. She fixed a few potholes, but there are still potholes. She fixed the budget a little bit, but the budget is still a mess. She started the Beltline, but the Beltline is still so far out of reach. She’ll go down as the mayor who never finished anything she started. Her legacy is eight years wasted.

David: A lot of people give her shit, but she revamped the damn sewer system. It wasn’t popular, but she made tough decisions that had to be done. She’s a decent person. She’s got family issues with her kids, but her legacy will be that she made Atlanta face up to the fact that we were 100 years behind in our infrastructure — and she started the foundation to correct it. She had the guts to do what was necessary. She’s going to come out historically very well.

Zen: Bullshit. People came to Atlanta to party. That’s what we were known as. She took that away. She took away the essence of Atlanta. Now it’s, “What time are the clubs closing? When is the booze going to be cut?” Now it’s, “Why did I even go out?” Ray Lewis had nothing to do with regular old Atlantans. People who do crime are going to do crime, regardless. People who go to clubs go to dance and have a good time. They don’t go to kill people. How in the hell did they get it in their minds that the nightlife was the cause of any crime? She ran this city into the sewer.

(Photos by Jeff Slate)