Common Cause: End favoritism, inside deals and pay-to-play at Atlanta airport

• Tara-Lynne Pixley/CL File

To most of us, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is a very large, occasionally stressful building where planes take us far, far, far away from the drudgeries of life. To some of the city's well-connected businessmen and women, however, it's a place where they can make lots of cash through vending and construction contracts. Sometimes, unfortunately, unscrupulous behavior has occurred.

Among the ethically questionable happenings over the last three decades: A video arcade operated by two former mayors' wives. A former airport commissioner and councilman who was convicted of federal bribery charges. A multi-million-dollar advertising contract that went to former Mayor Maynard Jackson's friend and which sparked a long-running (and recently settled) lawsuit.

Much of the past skulduggery, Common Cause of Georgia claims, was made possible by favoritism, pay-to-play and inside deals between vendors, politicians and bureaucrats. The good-government watchdog has called on the city to place a $250 cap on the amount airport vendors can contribute to political campaigns. Other states, including such capitals of cronyism as Illinois and New Jersey, have already passed similar measures.

The call for reform comes as airport officials prepare to select new vendors to revamp the hub's restaurants, bars and retail stores — one of its biggest deals in years. The airport deals are expected to be announced in September.

"The solution is not simply better enforcement of current law, or even merely more transparency for more transactions between officials and interested parties," Kennesaw State University Professor Kerwin Swint writes in a report released by Common Cause to coincide with the push for reform. (PDF) "Simply put, we need reforms that eliminate the temptation to award public, taxpayer-financed projects to those who have made campaign donations."

Mayor Kasim Reed today fired back with a statement asserting that campaign-contribution limits would force candidates who aren't wealthy to focus all their energy on raising cash. He also said the vendor selection process would be conducted in a "fair, honest, ethical and transparent manner" and expressed his support for Louis Miller, the current airport general manager, and Paul Brown, its concessions director.

Reed said in a statement: “Those who continue to bring up references to corruption and cronyism should have the character and integrity to back up their allegations, or refrain from smearing the reputations of the dedicated employees who manage and work at what is arguably the most successful airport in the nation. It’s time to stop resurrecting the past and instead, focus on the present and the future.”

Before we start focusing on the future, however, let's revisit the past real quick. After the jump, a snippet from Swint's paper listing previous instances of insider deals, favoritism, and even outright corruption at the world's busiest airport.