Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Guv'ment City Council approves airport vendor contracts
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 2:17 AM
After more than seven hours of heated debate, legislative confusion, and even some unexpected drama, the Atlanta City Council voted 12-3 to award multi-billion contracts to 150 restaurants and retail shops wanting to move into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and its new international terminal.
The proposals, which include such local eateries such as The Varsity, Varasano's Pizzeria, TWIST, and undergarment powerhouse Spanx (yes!), will fill nearly all existing and new retail and food and beverage spaces at the world's busiest airport. (Ludacris announced on Twitter shortly after the city approved the contracts that he's behind the quizzical Chicken n' Beer concept.)
Councilmembers including Yolanda Adrean pushed today for what amounted to a long work session during which airport and procurement officials answered general questions about the vendor selection process. The move aimed to answer calls from some citizens and watchdog groups such as Common Cause of Georgia and the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation which, over recent months, have expressed concerns about a lack of transparency in the procurement program.
When councilmembers' questions ventured too close for legal comfort — several vendors have apparently already filed protests against the city with more sure to follow — City Attorney Cathy Hampton warned they were getting "too deep in the weeds" and recommended discussing the topics during an executive session.
Mayor Kasim Reed stressed just before adjournment for dinner that Council's OK was vital. He said any delay could cost the airport millions of dollars in lost rent and concession revenue and endanger the city's plan to repay bonds issued to build the $1.5 billion international concourse that officials hope to unveil in spring.
Reed then, much to the surprise of observers, blasted Common Cause. (Reed was expected to — but ultimately did not — deliver a blistering presentation replete with posters outlining why Common Cause's board members, some of whom had accepted political contributions during their own political campaigns, weren't qualified to throw stones.)
Council members Natalyn Archibong and Felicia A. Mooresaid they cast votes against the recommendations because they were dissatisfied with the process, which they said was rushed along by the mayor's administration.
"I thought a 'no' vote would get the message across to the administration," Archibong said. "We get lip service that we're respected but it feels like we're [considered] the entity that just needs to go along."
William Perry, Common Cause of Georgia executive director, said the evening's question and answer session was a good "appetizer" when it comes to transparency but that the group's still waiting for a "full meal." He said the organization never aimed to smear the mayor but thought more transparency was warranted during the process — not just after.
Reed, who returned approximately $20,000 in campaign contributions to airport vendors prior to the procurement program's launch in March, has maintained that the contracting process was the most transparent the city's ever conducted and free of any political meddling. He criticized press coverage of the multi-billion dollar contracting process widely considered the largest in United States history, saying that reporters "besmirched [his] name" by focusing on innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations. He said plans to follow through on his promise to release the name of the proposal evaluators "as quickly as [he's] able." Such a move is unprecedented in the airport's history, the mayor said.
You can also now expect the spurned vendors' lawsuits — at least one of which will probably request the transcript typed by the stenographer who sat just a few seats away from Reed in the front row of Council chambers. (First time I've seen that one.) The Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation reportedly also plans to file a lawsuit against the city over the contracting process, which President John Sherman claimed during today's public comment violated the Open Meetings Act.
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
I heard Reed went OFF on a 25 minute (or maybe it was 20) fiery rant - throwing some GA media outlet's print product to the floor in a fit of burning rage to make a point! All the while talking about how he wasn't going to *allow* papers in GA to say bad things about him. And then he set to some good bismirchin' on William Perry, who's been on a tear through GA media himself!
Is there some video/replay anywhere? Reed loves him some drama, and is quite good at it too.
Man, I hate it when great city theatrics get scrubbed-up so it can masquerade as AP style journalism. Whomever invented *AP style* (I'm assuming the AP back in BC) needs to be taken out back of the woodshed and slapped around some. Or yelled at about *besmirching* by Hiz Honor.
Charles Edwards' report on WABE this morning made it sound like they were all picnicking by a lake at the meeting last night. And I'm scared to look at the glossed scrubbing over at the AJC.
Drama, people, drama! At least when there actually IS some. Now I've gotta go see if TV stations were even aware that we have a city council...
like
dislikeOK, n'mind some of the above comment. I kept scrolling and found the post about Reed going off on Perry... with the link to the Channel 26 video. Which isn't loading for me, but whatever. Maybe it will later. I'm hoping the video replay delivers the goods - and needs its own post all by itself.
So, aside from the soap opera drama, this is great news for the city.
How is it great news for the city when the Mayor and City Council are being called out by multiple watchdog organizations? Or is the good news that Atlanta city government seems more at home trash talking talking as if in a playground hoops game than conducting important business? Perhaps the good news is the inevitable lawsuits that will spring up because of the lack of transparency during a process of one of the biggest contracts of its type in Atlanta or any other city?
Something must have really hit close to home given the amount of ranting/attacks during the meeting and subsequent sockpuppetry. Not to be a sensationalist but as they say, this story has legs.
The airport has for decades been the private piggy bank for Atlanta pols.
Control of the airport should be taken from the city government and given over to a private entity which will pay the city a portion of the proceeds. Then the city could enjoy revenue instead of the relatives and friends of Mayor Quimby.
@ OyDave -
While I agree that the airport should not be a cash cow for the members of the Atlanta political machine, handing over the airport to a private entity will only make its finances harder to keep track of. I'd rather we find some way to keep the airport under public control, with a ridiculous amount of scrutiny applied to all bidding processes. That way we can keep things clean, while keeping all revenues accrued in the public sector. This money can pay for necessities such as pay for firefighters/policemen/infrastructure improvements. I know there is a lot of questionable activity in our city government, but I'd rather the airport (and the vast fortunes that come from its concessions) be with the more accountable of the two devils it can be trusted to.
We should sell the airport to the film industry. I have much more faith in their accounting. While everyone else thought movies like Rain Man, Forrest Gump, Batman, and Harry Potter made lots of money, the accountants in private industry were able to show how they lost huge sums of money. Hopefully they can take over the airport and let private industry work its magic and allow us to know just how much money the airport is really losing instead of all of the silly profit garbage that we've been lead to believe over the years. If we're lucky, they'll let the city in on a percentage of the profits. What's ten percent of negative $50,000,000? Can't wait till we get that number into the city budget!
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