Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Guv'ment Airport concessions vote expected today... is a deal in the works?
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Today's should be a big one at City Hall.
The Atlanta City Council today is expected to vote on which restaurants and retail shops should be allowed to conduct business in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The concessions program, which is worth billions of dollars to the lucky vendors who win spots in the world’s busiest airport, has been accused by groups such as Common Cause of Georgia and the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation of not being transparent. They've also pointed out that contributors to Mayor Kasim Reed's mayoral campaign were among those who have been recommended for restaurant and retail slots by a top-secret team of evaluators. (David Pendered has a great timeline about the procurement process if you're looking to get caught up.)
Common Cause has asked the Atlanta City Council to delay the vote to allow more time for review and public comment. The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation this morning said in a press release that the group was "planning legal action against the City if Council votes in the airport vendor contracts that are on today's agenda." Councilmembers Michael Julian Bond and Felicia Moore have expressed concern over the rush to approve the vendors and argued for more time.
The mayor has defended the procurement process — considered the largest in the United States — and maintains he played no role in the vetting or selection of airport vendors. In a statement to Lori Geary of WSB, the mayor's office said that other 2009 mayoral candidates received campaign contributions from airport vendors and that other top Reed supporters didn't win airport contracts.
The mayor and airport officials have stressed the importance of approving the suggested vendors, saying that any delay could cost the aviation hub millions of dollars in lost revenues and potentially delay the new international terminal's spring opening.
A deal could be in the works, however. One possibility — which we should stress is purely speculative — would be to approve only the vendors for the international terminal, which would prevent a delay, and calling time out on the other concourses. Such a move could allow more time for reviewing the suggested vendors by city councilmembers and the public.
We're hearing that top members of the mayor's staff, including Airport General Manager Louis Miller, met with Council President Ceasar Mitchell this morning. Last we heard Mitchell walked across the City Hall atrium to Reed's office, where a deal might be hammered out prior to the mayor's speech at the Kiwanis Club at the Loudermilk Center.
Council is expected to meet at 1 p.m. Can't make it to City Hall? Watch the meeting live online. Stay tuned.
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