Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Neighborhoods / Guv'ment Harris Street renamed in honor of John Portman
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 1:10 PM
The Atlanta City Council yesterday narrowly approved the renaming a downtown street to honor John Portman, a renowned architect and developer credited with building much of Atlanta's skyline. And also arguably eradicating much of Atlanta's street life with self-contained, multi-use skyscrapers connected by gerbil chutes, but that's a different story. The final vote was 8-6.
If Mayor Kasim Reed OKs the changes, downtown's Harris Street will be renamed "John Portman Boulevard at Historic Harris Street." The sign's ridiculous length is expected to clothesline many, many tourists.
How'd Portman's supporters convince councilmembers to OK Council President Ceasar Mitchell's months-long initiative, which has been staunchly opposed by downtown residents and preservationists who've grown tired of seeing Atlanta's history slowly erased by politicians eager to curry favor with influential, living people?
They nosedived into the Internet and dug up dirt about John L. Harris, the Civil War-era lawmaker and judge for whom Harris Street was named, and asked former U.S. Ambassador and Mayor Andrew Young to deliver the message to City Council. Young claimed Harris was "one of the most ruthless killers and advocates of racism, secession from the Union, and the brutal destruction of people of African descent." (We'd heard from downtown sources that Portman's supporters might have actually confused John L. Harris with J.N. Harris, another former state lawmaker from Murray County, on some points.) Reports 11 Alive's Jon Shirek:
Comments (14)
Showing 1-14 of 14
How sad is it that the otherwise distinguished Andrew Young became a shill for this ridiculous cause? Pretty darn sad, I say.
One upside to the new signage: when you're walking down this street and marveling at the lack of ground-level retail -- and the presence of block-long blank walls shadowed by gerbil tubes -- you'll be able to remember exactly who to blame. "Oh yeah, John Portman. That's his name."
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The City should go after changing the names of streets like Confederate Ave, Dixie Ave, etc. Seems obvious to me. Naming streets after people is always going to be complicated. I'm sure Mr. Portman has some dirt on him if we dig hard enough.
So Andrew Young won't have a problem when Mexicans (or whatever ethnic group) eventually decides to rename Langston Parkway, J.L. Hollowell, Joseph Lowery Blvd., Andrew Young Blvd., Jesse Ivan Allen Parkway, or any other road that has been renamed in the spirit of payoffs and the scoring of cheap political points.
Welcome to the world: majority rules! Always has been; always will be for better or worse...
This is so stupid. The new name makes me want to puke, eat it, and puke it back up again. Someone muse be working Portman's knob real good. Because obviously this is just such a big priority that his camp won't be satisfied until there's a billboard on the Mart saying "Portman was here."
Couldn't one make the case that Andrew Young forever lost any connection to the "distinguished" tag when he wrote that "anybody with common sense" would want Beverly Hall to remain superintendent of APS?
And speaking of common sense, couldn't we avoid much of this nonsense if we just decided to wait until people have passed before naming something after them?
Anyone know the status of the Atlanta Preservation Center lawsuit that sought to block this change?
And is it safe to assume that the council is now in compliance with the law requiring that it obtain (begin quote from AJC, 1/13/11): "75 percent approval from businesses and residents on the street; that the entire street be renamed and not simply sections of it; and that the group wanting to rename the street pay a $2,500 fee up front to cover expenses and post a bond with the Department of Public Works to pay for future maintenance costs involving the name change, such as for new signs."?
The law requires 75 percent approval from businesses and residents on the street; that the entire street be renamed and not simply sections of it; and that the group wanting to rename the street pay a $2,500 fee up front to cover expenses and post a bond with the Department of Public Works to pay for future maintenance costs involving the name change, such as for new signs.
TW: Are you going to follow-up with the John L. Harris versus J.N. Harris point raised in your article? While facts really don't matter when it comes to politics these days, wouldn't it be nice to know if Andrew Young has once again stepped in dog poop?
Please post the nose count as to who voted for and who against this proposal.
I think it'd be very interesting to see whose allegiance (sp) lies where.
Let's play "Find the Spine"...
Voting For Changing the Street Name:
Ivory Lee Young Cleta Winslow C.T. Martin Keisha Lance Bottoms Joyce Sheperd Michael Julian Bond Aaron Watson H. Lamar Willis
__________
Voting Against Changing the Street Name:
Kwanza Hall Natalyn Mosby Archibong Alex Wan Howard Shook Yolanda Adrean Felicia Moore
__________
Not Voting (Absent from Meeting):
Carla Smith
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