Mayor Delivers State of the City Address at First Council Meeting
Mayor Shirley Franklin delivered a high-energy speech to the City Council and many Atlanta residents and stakeholders, at the first Council meeting of the New Year yesterday. She reviewed the progress of her administration during 2004 and set forth the vision for 2005.
Firmly committed to creating an Atlanta that makes all its stakeholders proud, Mayor Franklin outlined three areas of focus for 2005: Homelessness; Education and Economic Development.
The homelessness initiative is in full swing and will see many milestones this year with the opening of Hope House and the 24/7 Gateway Center, both projects have been features in previous issues of City Newsbytes. Mayor Franklin said, "However easy it is to become homeless, it should be exactly that easy to access the help necessary to get yourself back on your feet."
Providing students with access to a quality public education is paramount to Atlanta becoming a "best in class city." Part of the Franklin Administration's focus in supporting Atlanta Public Schools will be to enhance the Booking It With The Mayor program, which encourages and increases reading among elementary children. The plan will also establish a new intiative, "Next Step...The Atlanta Promise", where there will be a Senior’s Desk in City Hall and other City buildings, which will serve as a resource center to assist high school seniors with their higher education and career goals.
At the close of her speech, Mayor Franklin announced her plan for leveraging and increasing the City's economic developmen efforts. Released just before the Christmas holiday, the New Century Economic Development Plan is a roadmap that outlines seven goalsfor the City to achieve by 2009:
- Create 60,000 new jobs in the City of Atlanta
- Create 24,000 new metro jobs related to airport growth and expansion
- Grow property value in the City by $26 billion by adding households and leased commercial space
- Add 10,000 new workforce-housing units through City incentives
- Decrease the City’s crime rate to 5,600 crimes per 100,000 residents
- Increase the high school completion rate of Atlanta Public School students to 72 percent
- Add 1,900 acres of dedicated parks and green space to the City
Mayor Franklin will deliver her annual State of the City Business address to the business community January 5th at the Sheraton Hotel. Look for a special edition of City Newsbytes this week with the full text of her speech. You can also watch both speeches on City Channel 26 beginning next week.
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Mayor Shirley Franklin greets the City Council at the beginning of her address.
The Mayor's Cabinet gets a round of applause for their hard work.
City Council gives Mayor Franklin a standing ovation.
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The Atlanta City Council Approves the Living Wage Policy
After much consideration, the Atlanta City Council approved legislation encouraging companies that do business with the City of Atlanta to pay their employees a living wage at the Council meeting on Monday, January 3, 2005.
A new “living and wage” section will be added to the City of Atlanta’s Code of Ordinances. This section will prompt the City of Atlanta and businesses that benefit from receipt of city funds or from use of city property to engage in responsible business practices by:
- Paying their employees a living wage of at least $10.50 an hour,
- Providing health benefits or an additional $1.50 an hour in lieu of providing health benefits.
This policy ensures that a business benefiting from City funds or property provides health insurance to their employees and practices pay equity.
Members of the council expressed their concern for the health and welfare of all Atlanta residents and felt it is important to approve a living wage policy so that working people are paid a wage that enables them to provide for themselves and their family.
The creation of a living wage standard compliments other city programs that assist with the economic development needs of Atlanta.
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City Joins “Bring One for the Chipper” Effort to Recycle Christmas Trees
The City of Atlanta joins with other local agencies and retailers to encourage residents to participate in the 15th Annual “Bring One for the Chipper,” a program that recycles Christmas trees after the holidays. This effort is part of a statewide effort to reuse Christmas trees. “Bring One for the Chipper” accepts trees at designated drop-off centers. To view a list a of Atlanta-area drop-off locations, click here.
The collected trees will be chipped into mulch or used for various wildlife habitats. The mulch will also be availale free of charge, while supplies last, for public beautification projects. Participants will also receive a free dogwood seedling, while supplies last, as an appreciation gift for their effort.
"We are encouraging residents to participate in this important program to reuse our natural resources and plant new trees," said Public Works Commissioner David Scott. "The seedling trees that will be given to residents complements the Franklin Administration's plan to expand the City's greenspace."
As you prepare your tree for disposal, on January 8th, remember to remove all of the decorations (ornaments, lights, tinsel etc.) and the stand. Your participation in this program will help keep your tree out of the landfill and put it to good use.
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Atlanta Police Department Provided Crisis Intervention Training
Atlanta Police officers were among metro law enforcements recently trained to recognize and address people with mental illness in their communities. The crisis intervention training program was developed by NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) and supported by the NAMI Georgia organization.
Police departments across the country have been reducing the number of people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder that are arrested because of their illness. With this training law enforcement officials will not consider jail as the first option for the mentally ill.
The first training class in Georgia was conducted during a week last summer in Memphis and recently graduated from the Atlanta Police Training Academy.
Law enforcement officers from College Park, Fulton County Police, Fulton County Sheriff, Georgia World Congress Center and MARTA attended the first training.
The goal is to expand this program statewide to better assist the mentally ill.
Members of the Atlanta Police Department, Fulton County Police Department, Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Georgia World Congress Center, College Park Police Department, and MARTA attend training. |
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Week In Review
- Prominent attorney and civil rights activist Donald Hollowell died at the age of 87 from heart failure last week. Mayor Shirley Franklin and a host of family members, friends and well-wishers attended his memorial service to pay tribute to the civil rights legend. Hollowell was took the lead in the desegregation of the University of Georgia where he walked Atlanta natives Charlayne Hunter Gault and Hamilton Holmes to the door on the first day of class. In 1998, the City of Atlanta re-named Bankhead Highway in southwest Atlanta to Donald L. Hollowell Parkway in honor of his great legacy. He will be missed by many.
Donald L. Hollowell at the renaming of Bankhead Highway to Donald L. Hollowell Parkway in 1998. |
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Upcoming Events & Volunteers Opportunities
- This will be the last week for public art enthusiasts to view “Splash…Art in the City,” the National Arts Program Exhibit at City Gallery East. The exhibit will run through Friday, January 7, 2005. The City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs collaborated with the National Arts Program Foundation in sponsoring the 18th Annual National Arts Exhibit which opened on November 5, 2004. The artistic talents of 69 participants representing 14 departments and offices within Atlanta City government are showcased.
If you have not yet seen the exhibit, be sure to stop by. The City Gallery East is located at 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue on the first floor of City Hall East. For more information, contact The Bureau of Cultural Affairs Public Art Division at (404) 817- 6980.
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